January 2018 Newsletter
Welcome to IBT’s January newsletter with an update on our work and relevant news from the media industry.
View the latest IBT Newsletter in PDF format.
IBT annual review for 2017
Today we publish our annual review for 2017 which highlights the work we have done throughout the year. Highlights include the publication of our Video First report which gave concrete guidance to IBT members wishing to produce their own online videos. Feedback on the report was excellent and we intend to produce more practical guides in the future. We held a record number of briefings with media executives and two training events on digital change and social media. Our lobbying efforts proved successful when the BBC published its new operating licence which included a high level commitment to international factual content. I’d like to thank all our members for their continued support.
Social media refresher, January 18th
We have a few places left at our social media training session. Our regular trainer, Martin Carter, will take participants through the latest trends across the main social media platforms – Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter – and he’ll give examples of best practice from a range of NGOs. This event is designed for anyone who is a regular user of one or more of these platforms. The session will run from 9-2 on Thursday January 18th. Lunch will be included. This is a free event for IBT members. If you’d like to attend, and haven’t already registered, you can do so now via the IBT website.
Tips on achieving digital change
Last month, Zoe Amar ran our workshop on digital change. You can watch Zoe giving her top tips to NGOs here:
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Follow us on Twitter
For more frequent updates from IBT please follow us on Twitter where we will be sharing other stories which may be of interest to our members @_ibt
Networking breakfast with the new team at Unreported World, January 23rd
This is our first networking event in response to requests from members for more opportunities to network with their peers. Joining us for the breakfast will be Marta Shaw, the new series producer on Unreported World. Many of you will know Monica Garnsey who has now left Quicksilver to work on other projects. Marta will bring with her the two Associate Producers who have joined for the current run. The new series is now in production with filming taking place from January to March. Marta is very much open to ideas for the current run. The breakfast will take place from 9-10.30am on Tuesday January 23rd. If you wish to attend, please register via the IBT website.
Last chance to nominate your favourite international TV programme of 2017
Last month we announced that we would be sponsoring a new award for the best international TV programme broadcast in the UK in 2017, to be nominated exclusively by IBT members. The closing date for nominations is January 15th. Please email me on mark@ibt.org.uk with the names of the programmes you’d like to nominate (a maximum of six per person).
IBT report on fake news
Next month we’ll be launching our new report Faking It – fake news and how it impacts on the charity sector. Much has been written about fake news but this is the first report that looks specifically at its impact on the charity sector, with examples from several international development charities including Save the Children, ActionAid and MSF. Invitations to the launch event will go out shortly.
New fund to support children’s TV
The Government has announced a new £60m fund to support children’s TV. This is in response to widespread concern that the opportunities for making children’s content in the UK are severely limited. As part of the BBC licence settlement the Government had previously announced a contestible fund which it was thought would extend to a whole range of programmes. It’s now been decided that the fund will be limited to children’s content.
This is very welcome news. IBT has lobbied extensively on this issue over many years. We will now be approaching the BFI which will manage the fund, to try to ensure that some of this money goes to international content such as CBeebies’ excellent series Where in the World. If you have any views on this please get in touch with Sophie Chalk, our Advocacy consultant Sophie.Chalk@btinternet.com
Research on where people go for their news
The communications consultancy, MHP, has published new research which looks at where people in the UK go for their news. Television is still dominant with 56% saying it’s their main source of news; 16% go to social media and 18% to newspapers and newspaper websites. Television is also the most trusted source of news. The research was published last month to coincide with MHP’s Who Won the News event. Key themes of the discussion were the rise of the podcast and a growing audience appetite for ‘slow news.’
Research on how news performs on Facebook
The media research agency, Kaleida, reports that in 2017 there was a significant decline in the performance of news on Facebook. Analysing more than 1.5m articles, they found that more than half received fewer than 36 engagements. However, the decline is masked by a change to Facebook’s reporting methodology, since the overall figures are up. This is because the highest performing stories are becoming more dominant, and have more engagements. Kaleida have also published a list of the top 10 news articles on Facebook in 2017.
Celebrity fundraising under attack
Comic Relief came in for further criticism last month following an earlier attack by David Lammy. Writing in The Guardian, Afua Hirsch argued that fundraising campaigns fronted by white celebrities like Ed Sheeran (for Comic Relief), Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hardy (both for the DEC), removed all dignity from those who were suffering. Afua was invited onto Newsnight to make her case, with Oxfam CEO Mark Goldring robustly defending aid agencies.
A different approach to campaigning
If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth taking a look at a new campaigning video from War Child which features Batman. Ben Ramalingam from IDS has written a moving blog, reflecting on his own childhood in Sri Lanka.
Best wishes
Mark
IBT’s mission is to use the media to further awareness and understanding of people’s lives in the developing world and the issues which affect them
