ORGANIZING A LOCAL INFORMATION CAMPAIGN |
As soon as a city expresses interest in developing its strategic plan for economic development (SPED), information support of the process must become an integral part and one of the priorities for the project team.
An information campaign should strive to develop community members’ awareness and understanding of the efforts of the local government and the city’s business community. This understanding will provide vital public support for the initiatives promoted by the Strategic Planning Committee and should help to facilitate the work during SPED implementation phase.
Experience has shown that the concept of strategic planning is not familiar and not very well understood by general public, especially those living in small towns. Therefore, when launching such a program, one can expect a skeptical public attitude towards this initiative, even from potentially important members of Strategic Planning Committee (SPC).
The SPED development process will be more successful if the local government makes efforts to explain to the community the rationale behind the program, what is expected to be done, and who will be doing the work.
Most frequently, the launch of the strategic planning process is announced by the mayor, who, acting through his or her press officer or another support staffer, holds a press conference to announce that the city has organized a project/consulting team who will be starting their work in the city to help prepare a long-term plan of economic development, which, the city expects, will help attract investments and create new jobs.
When doing this, however, local officials rarely make the extra effort to ensure that members of the press fully understand what will be happening in the city during the next six months. A press officer's mission is not just to inform journalists but also to educate them. From experience, it is not an easy task, as local reporters are mostly interested in covering very down-to-earth local events. It is important to be able to explain to interested journalists the full ramifications of a successful strategic economic plan. Keys to building this awareness and understanding include:
- A press officer with a good working relation with all media outlets operating in the city.
- The provision of identical information packages to all media organizations, irrespective of their position.
- The production of specially prepared materials, which would briefly, clearly, and vividly explain the key principles of strategic planning. It is very useful to illustrate the basic material on the principles of strategic planning with concrete examples of real changes brought about thanks to SPEDs developed in other cities (foreign cities, as there are no Ukrainian examples yet).
The press officer has to engage in a dialogue with journalists in such a way, that they would realize that SPED is important to the city’s economic development, that covering this topic would be advantageous to their media organizations, and that the information would be of great interest to their readers. The Press Office should support such journalistic initiatives such as the launching of special columns, interviews with SPC members, and analyzing of public support.
The editors of the city’s most influential media outlets could be invited to serve on the SPC, if they have a valid role in the development of the program.
While journalists are a very important link in the communication chain, it is also advisable to think beyond traditional media outlets to get information out and to attract public interest. The actual formats of such activities will depend on the local environment.
These could include:
- Roundtables with representatives of NGOs and political parties.
- Special information events for youth, including competitions for high school and university students.
- Disseminating information through SPC members, as each of them communicates with and has an influence over a certain (sometimes, quite broad) group of residents.
- The publishing of special handout literature, etc.
As a rule, public hearings are included in the strategic planning schedule of activities; however, they can be successful only if city residents are already well aware about the process of strategic planning for economic development of their city and what it entails. Then, having created a well planned and implemented citizen information campaign, the local government will be able to carry out the project in a way that will bring maximum benefits for their city.