Media strategies for strategic communications
This Strategic Communications Incubator resource page pulls together practice, tools and reflections on how to effectively engage media when conducting narrative change work, based on years of hands-on practice supporting strategic communications practitioners.
At the core of the narrative change and strategic communications logic, there is the need to ensure narratives reach and influence a broad spectrum of the public. The aim is that overtime progressive stories become one of the dominant narratives in the public debate, which grow public demand for change and ultimately, shape contexts within which policy rules are made. A key target in this intervention logic is getting consistent and broad reaching media coverage to support the ambition of policy change/action.
In more technical language, the aim is to build and sustain “presence” of the target narratives: ensuring consistent voice, visibility and surround sound of target frames and narratives in media spaces. Achieving “presence” is the first target in the theory of change of strategic communications (the long-term process of transforming the norms that shape the boundaries of political and public acceptability on more policy/legal decisions – often described as shifting the Overton Window). It should be clear then that long term, proactive (not only reactive) media coverage that reaches, resonates, convinces and builds support for progressive agendas, well beyond the existing supporter base, is essential in building the presence envisioned.
These resources have been developed by ICPA partners who are campaigners and media experts working in the area of narrative change.
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