‘Rights group must revamp communication strategy’

by Janvic Mateo (The Philippine Star), 4 Jul 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Human rights organizations must improve their communication strategies to respond to an “information warfare” that has left their sector tarnished and broken in a short period of time.

In an interview with “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News on Friday night, researchers Jonathan Ong and Rossine Fallorina underscored the importance of making investments in communication strategies for human rights organizations to take back the narrative and win back public trust.

Ong and Fallorina, along with researcher Jeremy Tintiangko, co-authored the study titled “Human Rights in Survival Mode: Rebuilding Trust and Supporting Digital Workers in the Philippines,” which looked into the different strategies adopted by human rights organizations in the country during the Duterte administration.

It found that many organizations failed to make significant investments in strategic communications, rendering them “handicapped in their ability to cope with information warfare under the current political environment.”

“Half of the orgs that we interviewed do not have communication or technology workers hired on a full-time basis,” said Ong, an associate professor of global digital media at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

“How can you participate in the news cycle? How can you respond to fake news and disinformation, to conspiracy theories and disinformation? These are all part of new digital attacks used online and also offline,” he added.

Ong stressed the need for organizations to go beyond what they usually do on the ground and actually participate in a “narrative battle.”

Fallorina, for his part, stressed the importance of investing in communications to take control of the political narrative that has been used to attack the human rights sector in recent years.

“What we’re saying in our report is that beyond these strategic decisions of choosing between front lining and backchanneling strategies, you have to look at the actual investments in communication,” he said.

“More than these strategic decisions, these investments in strategic communication matter most,” added Fallorina, a teaching associate and graduate student at the Department of Sociology of the University of the Philippines-Diliman.

The report, which was supported by The Asia Foundation and published by the Harvard Kennedy School, noted how communication and technology personnel are often peripheral actors within organizations and individual programs.

“Human rights organizations should empower these workers and include their perspectives in organizational decision-making,” it said. “Human rights organizations often treat communication as a tool rather than a real strategy.”

Aside from taking control of the political narrative, the researchers stressed communication and digital technologies may be used to connect with diverse audiences, correct disinformation and support colleagues in peril.

With COVID-19 highlighting the role of digital media in connecting communities and shaping public conversations, they also highlighted the need to develop new ways to use this in bringing attention to the plight of vulnerable communities and challenging populist frames that promote a militarized response to a public health crisis.

“Investment in strategic and creative communication that can address conspiracies across digital and mainstream media is therefore paramount, just as there should be deepened commitment to listening to local communities and rebuilding public trust,” read the study.