building relations with the media with examples from statistics slovenia and statistics finland...
TRANSCRIPT
Building Relations with the Media With examples from Statistics Slovenia and
Statistics Finland
Complementary material for theUNECE / UNFPA Seminar on
Census Dissemination and Communication Courtesy to Jussi Melkas, Development Manager, Statistics Finland
Geneva 27 – 28 June 2011
Petteri Baer, Marketing Manager, Statistics Finland
2 - 3 June 2011
Examples of well working media relations
Press releasesStatistics Slovenia See!
Media relations approach, follow-up of media relations and Publication Calendar
Statistics FinlandNaturally there are others
Basic Publication Calendar – almost in all participating NSIsPress releases
Statistics Canada, ABS, all Scandinavian NSIs
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Why Statistics Slovenia deserves to be mentioned?
Well structured press releasesHeadlineIngress/IntroductionBasic textGraphs and visual presentationsLinks to additional informationPossibility to sign up to receive press releases by e-mail by
sphere of interest – good categorization of the supply
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Why Statistics Slovenia deserves to be mentioned?
They follow the golden KISS rule
Keep
It
Short and
Simple
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Why Statistics Finland deserves to be mentioned?
Relaxed general attitude built on mutual trust with the Media
We have developed the Publication Calendar to be the backbone of our main and very modern publication activities in a very systematic way with an extensive use of XML, graphics, GIS and databases See!
This dates back to a long tradition – Publication Calendars have been in use already since the 1980’ies
The present practices introduce the electronic era in real terms
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Finnish stereotype of a statistician
Produces figures on something that is not important
Too many theoretical concepts and indexes, out of touch with reality
Statistics is a special brand of history that has nothing relevant to say about the present
Says nothing or, if does, denies it in the next sentence
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Finnish stereotype of a journalist
Short memory and always in a hurry
Moving in crowds, only one thing at a time seems to be interesting
Bad news is good newsNo methodological knowledge
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Instead of stereotypes...
We should understand that statistics and journalism are two useful institutions/professions which collect and process information on society and different phenomena
Statistics and journalism have different kind of theoretical foundations and culture, of which neither is false or true
Both are useful and inevitable parts of society We should strive for co-operation and possibly synthesis
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Two Cultures STATISTICAL OFFICE
Systematic Condensed info
Standardising Mathematics
Indexes, Indicators Descriptive
Conservative, Time series oriented
MEDIA Intuitive Condensed (not as much) Free-form Humanities Typical cases Searching for answers Oriented towards change,
News and scoop oriented
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The Statistical Agency needs good publicity...
for the same reasons as any organisation: in order to guarantee fiscal resources in order to get good employees in order to get customers
for some reasons of its own:in order to get good data in order to be trusted - statistics has to be trusted in order to serve the public discussion with the data it
can provide
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Journalism needs good statistics…
Because media constantly gives a picture of short term fluctuations in society
Because media offers the public facts and information for understanding and analysing social problems, trends in economy & structure of society
Because statistics validate or do not validate single observations, which journalists make
Because statistics are based on concepts and classifications which help to analyse society
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What is the outcome/experience in Statistics Finland?
More than 50 experts are giving statements on Statistics Finland’s statistics to the media, press and TV
About 750 statistical releases and 70 press releases are published annually, and almost all get a fairly good publicity
3 000 - 4 000 special news stories published annually in the 35 largest newspapers of the country + some abroad
Less than 1 % of the special news stories included in the last 10 years criticism: politically sensitive questions (unemployment, regional development), obvious errors
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What is the outcome/experience in Statistics Finland? (Continued)
Surveys among the Finnish journalists tell that Statistics Finland is evaluated as one of the best sources of information for them
Continuous development of customer contacts to different parts of the media
Familiarity of Statistics Finland 1975–2011
14.4.2011
Sources: TNS-Gallup Finland Ltd. and Taloustutkimus Ltd.
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Reliability of Statistics Finland’s statistics
Data unreliable7 %
Don't know8 %
Data reliable85 %
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Statistics Finland's usefulness
Needless institution2 %
Useful for everybody71 %
Only useful for some21 %
Don't know6 %
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Basic principles of communicating about statistics at Statistics Finland – or anywhere...
Reliability Timeliness Impartiality Clarity Objectivity Confidentiality Relevance
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Proactive measures in media relations at Statistics Finland
Organise visits and educationFocus on the most important groups
television, major newspapers, business periodicals economic, science reporters
Present data sources and service possibilities, tell how to read statistics, discuss also methodological difficulties
Be informalGive special service to every journalist in need of itBuild friendships but do not favour any partner
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The effects of media operations are monitored
Systematic follow-up of media reactionsThematic classificationAttitude classification
Make statistics on the feedback and analyse what should be done better in the future
Pick out stories needing immediate reactionCompile a collection of interesting stories and distribute them in your office
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Rules of reaction to media at Statistics Finland
Be active Don’t be aggressive Be honest, admit you faults Avoid taking a stand on social problems You can react both in public and in private
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A word of warning to statisticians:
Everything you say can be used as a story
The task of a journalist is to make a good story - nothing more
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Advice for Finnish journalists making a story on statistics
Beware:Easy conclusions are seldom right conclusionsIf nobody hasn’t noticed your finding before, there is
probably something wrong in itBe ready to throw away your hypothesis / prejudice
Don’t be afraid:Be critical on truths, which are said to base on statistical
reasoningUse your imagination when reading statistics
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Advice for Finnish journalists making a story on statistics (continued)
Ask first
The statistician surely knows the frequently made errors (FME) in reading and (mis)interpreting statistics
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Helpful materials by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (1)
Communicating with the Media – A Guide for Statistical OrganisationsGeneva 2004http://www.unece.org/stats/documents/media/guide/
Making Data Meaningful, Part 1 – a Guide to Writing Stories about numbersGeneva 2006http://www.unece.org/stats/documents/writing/
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Making Data Meaningful, Part 1 – Main content
What is a statistical story? Why tell a story? Things to take into
consideration when writing a story on statistics
How to write a story Writing about data: Make numbers
“stick” Evaluating the impact Applying good writing techniques Examples of well written statistical
stories Further reading recommendations
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Making Data Meaningful, Part 2 Available at
http://www.unece.org/stats/documents/writing/
A guide on visual presentations of statistical information
How to Make good andavoid making bad graphics
How to make use of GIS, present statistics in map forms
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Making Data Meaningful, Part 3
Principles, objectives and management issues in data dissemination
Organisational aspects Media services Release calendars Dissemination strategy Measuring the impact
Emerging technologies Using the web Dealing with Social media Dealing with negative press
coverage
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Making Data Meaningful, Part 3– Main content
Writing for and releasing information to the media
Who is the customer? What is the product? Making a good website Measuring web performance &
collecting customer feedback Organisational issues
Monitoring and measuring media activities
What statisticians should learn Responding to a media errror Monitoring media – practical examples
Media training How to organize media training?
Handling media crises
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Conclusion
You cannot learn to swim if you don’t go into the water!