NID Media Workshop

This initiative drew on an interactive face-to-face exchange of information and ideas to foster media involvement in raising awareness about, and encouraging public participation in, a national anti-malaria drive. This experience was thought to be the beginning of an ongoing collaboration between international (i.e. UNICEF) and local organisations (i.e. Creative Storm) and the media so that they could combine efforts and energies to spur behaviour change toward improved health. To foster this cooperation, the workshop involved both presentations by "experts" and participatory exercises.

The formal component of the programme involved both the provision of background information and encouraging words to spur journalists into getting involved in the NID effort. For example, Mr. Victor Ankrah, Project Officer, Child Health for UNICEF, gave an overview of UNICEF's mandate and spoke about the various child health interventions that the agency with its partners were making to combat child mortality in Ghana. Mr. Dan Dzide, also from UNICEF, demonstrated how the insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are to be used and spoke about their safety and reliability. Media personnel were also involved: guest speaker Professor Kwame Karikari, Executive Director of the Media Foundation of West Africa, briefly charted the recent history of the Ghanaian media and urged the participants to rise about the structural limitations and capacity challenges to contribute to a positive social agenda for development. He noted that de-regulation of the media, occasioned by the break up of state monopoly from the early 1990s, had intensified competition and encouraged sensationalism in news reporting. He argued that this development was now at the expense of social responsibility and professional journalism. He hoped that the NID campaign would serve as a platform to generate imaginative programme making and informative news reporting.

Participatory components were also emphasised, and were designed to generate campaign strategies and ideas for reporting approaches. Following a lively question-and-answer session, a "catch the ball" exercise was held during which participants were given a minute of fame to present their big campaign idea. According to organisers, several ideas and proposals were generated, including "a few instant campaign songs and jungles, sung to enthusiastic applause." Participants then broke into 4 groups to discuss campaign plans and strategies, with the instruction that each group would be asked to report their deliberations to the general plenary. A variety of communication strategies for reporting on the NIDs emerged, leading groups to report on their ideas and to generate questions and dialogue from the general group as a whole in an atmosphere that organisers described as business-like but "upbeat with further renditions of campaign songs and jingles." Here is a summary of each of the group's ideas:

• Group A urged the publicity campaign to adopt their by-line "Be bold, be vocal and keep your credibility". They suggested that the focus of reporting during NID should be the key audiences of the malaria campaign, particularly mothers (many of whom had suffered life-threatening situations as a result of malaria). To this end, they argued that mothers should be encouraged to speak out, and should be featured prominently in news stories and documentaries. They suggested an accurate investigative approach to ensure that ITNs were not resold and that they were fairly distributed.
• Group B had devised a prototype 30-minute radio programme which could also be adopted for television. The focus was on the dangers of malaria and the importance of sleeping under ITNs. Their programme was divided into segments: Malaria News Round Up (with location reporting from communities and health centres), Expert Talk, and Live Chat (a call-in component designed to connect the public to the issues and encourage participation).
• Group C discussed advertising and the making of effective programmes to amplify the malaria campaign. They stressed the importance of using Ghanaian languages to reach the masses. They also cautioned against always trying to re-invent the wheel, indicating the need to use existing programmes such as adult educational, health, and youth programmes to propagate the cause. They felt that programmes should be complemented by promos and jingles which provide consistency and serve as persistent reminders to the public throughout the campaign period. The group suggested that a letter be dispatched to their stations and media houses to facilitate collaboration with the campaign when they return.
• Group D reported what members planned to contribute to the campaign. These plans included proposals from the network of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) radio stations Adom FM and Justice FM. The print journalists were keen on investigative stories that will capture the headlines. The group assured the workshop that they will combine forces to fight malaria and report to ensure fair ITN distribution.

This participatory process led to consensus on many of messages and approaches to be used to generate media involvement in the NID. For example, with regard to campaign messages, participants agreed that consistency was critical, and adopted several key themes to guide the articulation of messages: 1. Malaria kills; 2. Sleep under ITNs; 3. Obtain free ITNs for children under 2 years during the NID; and 4. Keep your environment clean. With regard to programmes and news stories, participants agreed that it is important to produce and present programmes that are of high technical quality, and that also include reliable statistics and information. While expert participation was thought to be key for ensuring accuracy, participants stressed the need to involve the community in programming, especially women and children.

Participants also made specific decisions about the types and styles of media to be used in the NID. They determined that radio stations would play jingles in 7 Ghanaian languages and in English, produced by the campaign, complemented by jingles and sweepers (5-second flash jingles), produced by the stations. The print media was asked to publish stories in a count-down fashion beginning on November 1 2006. Organisers also distributed bed net posters; participants took away bundles for display and distribution. In response to a presentation by Mr. Solomon Parker, Information and Distribution Co-ordinator, in which he outlined the various routes mapped out by his national team and appealed for local support from the journalists and media houses, participants gave critical feedback - Mr. Solomon agreed to streamline the tour to 38 towns and use local groups for secondary distribution and message diffusion. He informed participants that the team's vehicle was to be fitted with megaphones to communicate messages and play the campaign jingles. The distribution, he said, would be complemented by 12 information service vans, speaker vans, and gong gong beaters in each locality visited. Several participants agreed to assist the team when they toured their region with radio announcements and, where possible, interviews.

Immunisation & Vaccines, Children, Women.

According to organisers, "Both the high level of participation by media journalists and programme makers and the positive campaign ideas and proposals generated suggest that the workshop created the basis for an effective national media network to create a 'megaphone effect' during the NID."