Wall Jump 8: "Doing" participation; communicating about ageing issues; Journos on Instagram & welcome to the Faroes...
Scott Davidson's newsletter on PR, public affairs & lobbying
Welcome to Jump 8
Welcome to Jump 8. Because practitioners often miss great academic studies. Because I do a lot of reading. The newsletter returns.
Highlights
* “Doing” public participation
* Communicating with older people
* Baby food industry lobbying strategies in France
* Journalists self-promotion on Instagram
* The football stadia of the….Faroe Islands
* New OECD guide with practical advice on how to create structures and events to enable public participation in policy making:
A long-term trend is the growing expectation of institutions creating participatory spaces for stakeholders and citizens to deliberate on policy choices.
Increasingly practitioners are charged with the commissioning, management and promotion of such spaces.
The aspiration is that such spaces enhance public trust and the legitimacy of what in theory should be better informed policy making. In this regard, there is a lot of interest in citizens’ juries or panels. (In a previous life I handled media relations for what was believed to be the first citizens’ jury in the UK – organised by Lewisham Council in London.)
There are several problems with these approaches that I have written about over the years.
Firstly, despite some claims, it is impossible for a citizens’ jury to be representative of all voters, or even of sub-groups; they can be easily guided towards conclusions desired by the organisers; they can be abused by politicians who can use them to seek sympathy from voters….hey see how hard this decision making business can be!; they usually remain advisory and their recommendations are easily kicked into the long grass, especially if the citizens come to expensive or “awkward” conclusions.
Finally, and this is rather philosophical point, rarely in our societies is there universal agreement. There are always choices, always winners and losers. This can’t be wished away, nor can the need for public contests of ideas and values to inform voters, and to assist in scrutiny of proposals. The Report is highly useful and full of practical suggestions. I just wished it had openly discussed the pitfalls of deliberation a bit more.
* Communicating about ageing and older people:
Always timely, this guide from the Centre for Ageing Better is designed as a practical tool to support organisations in communicating about ageing and older age.
Unsurprisingly, as ageism is one the least well recognised and understood of the “isms”, it’s common for both journalists and communicators to incorporate ageist stereotypes into their thinking and writing.
Recently this has included the artificial attempts to pit younger and older generations against each other – going against the evidence of high levels of mutual support and empathy between older and younger found in social research.
I am personally still surprised at the prevalence the word “elderly” in PR and journalism, and if you are unsure about why that’s a problem, this report is a good starting point to reflect on how to communicate about ageing and older people. An excerpt:
Don’t mistake age for wealth. Millions of older people are living in poverty or on low incomes. Generalising about the wealth of older generations is misleading and creates an inaccurate sense of competition for resources between generations.
Avoid inaccurate ‘boomer’ v ‘millennial’ tropes. These mask the diversity that exists within generations and encourage unnecessary social divisions.
Keep images positive but realistic. Avoid unrepresentative images such as older people skydiving. Avoid close ups of wrinkly hands clasped together. The widespread use of this kind of imagery is lazy and dehumanising.
The sociology of ageing is complex. It’s best that we embrace that, despite the alluring simplicity of “generations”. Only this week, two nuggets which blow apart existing older versus younger stereotyping of recent years.
It was with “millennials” where there was the highest proportion of support for the far right candidate, Marine Le Pen, in the first round of the presidential elections in France
And in one survey, it turns out the people aged 50-64 were the most “liberal” on issues of sexuality and gender identity.
OVER THE WALL
* How do journalists use Instagram to present themselves? The evidence from Australia.
Study by Diana Bossio (Swinbourne) interviews Australian journalists, alongside a visual analysis of their Instagram posts.
This paper explores how journalists represent their professional identity and roles when posting to Instagram. This is significant because research about journalism and social media has not yet established how journalistic practices are influencing, or indeed being influenced by Instagram’s visual orientation. The paper argues journalists are openly negotiating their social roles, and audience relationships through the visual cultures encouraged by Instagram.
One interesting finding was that journalists are spending a lot of time promoting themselves, and very little time promoting their employers.
Full paper: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17512786.2021.2001359
Strategies of the baby food industry in France
Documentary analysis and interviews with 42 individuals working for issue stakeholders by Emma Cossez (UniLaSalle) and colleagues.
Headline findings were:
In France, the baby food industry positions itself as a key partner of researchers, health professionals, parents, and children; it has a strong presence in scientific, medical, and civil society circles, where it disseminates pro‐ industry messages and promotes its products.
The industry captures science by generating corporate research and engaging external researchers and organisations; health professionals through training and information, and funding and collaborating with associations; and civil society through forging relationships with organisations and charities.
These activities likely further the interests of the baby food industry by protecting and expanding its market, and by shaping public opinion, so that its products and practices are not questioned.
Full paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/mcn.13301
NOTABLE
*Are major corporations stopping political donations to supporters of the January 6 insurrection (surely we can call it a coup attempt by now). Investigative journalism that tells us….yes and no.
CULTURAL HINTERLAND
This might be subjective, beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that, but this set of photos of every ground in the Faroese top division. Incredible pics. Has anyone been to the Faroes, would you recommend a visit?
Full thread here: