Develop a Video Advocacy Plan and Review Case

Studies

WITNESS invites you to use, remix and share this curriculum. All materials are under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial ShareAlike 3.0 License. 

You can also find more video advocacy training materials at www.witness.org. 

What does the legacy of the Rodney King incident mean for WITNESS, for human rights defenders, for the individual

stories captured and shared via video every day?

Over the past decade, WITNESS has partnered with groups in over 70 countries, empowering human rights defenders and concerned citizens to use video as a tool to create change.

As part of an advocacy strategy around a particular issue, WITNESS partners’ videos target decision-makers, the media, and the general public to catalyze grassroots activism, political engagement, and change in human rights policies and practices.

. WITNESS’ Mandate

• Share key elements of WITNESS’ approach to mapping out a video advocacy strategy

• Introduce key examples/case studies of video advocacy strategies and have participants practice recognizing key components

.Session Objective

• Using video to help drive changes in human rights policies, behaviors and practices by communicating with particular audiences

• Video as a complement to other advocacy tools

• Video made for a reason, not about an issue

• Creating a space for action

.For WITNESS, Video Advocacy is:

• A substitute for other advocacy tools• Using video primarily as a publicity,

educational or training tool• Just for professional filmmakers or

journalists• Necessarily dependent on strong graphic

imagery for impact• An effective tool on its own; it must be

part of wide range of advocacy strategies

.For WITNESS, Video Advocacy is not:

Mapping out a video advocacy strategy

• Analysis of stage of campaign: inform, cultivate, activate

• S.M.A.R.T. advocacy goals

• Specific, analyzed target audiences

• Message with a clear request for action

.WITNESS Methodology

• Appropriate stories and voices, within the right structure, style and length and creating clear ‘space for action’

• A timed and sequenced distribution strategy

• Reality check… fit with video advocacy strengths and organizational capacity

• Consider how to draw on the power of networks

.WITNESS Methodology

• Establish the purpose of the video within broader advocacy strategy– Is it essential? – How will video enhance other advocacy

activities?

• Set clear and specific objectives for the video, specifying what they are, and how they can be achieved

.Advocacy-Driven Video

• Who has an influence on your advocacy goal? Who should be reached and persuaded?

• What is their perspective or attitude to the issue?

• What is their level of awareness?

• Who are your secondary audiences who can pressure your primary audience?

.Targeting Your Audience(s)

• Courts, tribunals and other judicial and non-judicial bodies

• Legislative and executive bodies• Human rights bodies, Commissions, Special

Rapporteurs, Working Groups, etc.• Key decision makers with influence on human

rights issues (IFIs, corporations, aid agencies, etc)• Your community, and solidarity activist

communities• Broader public via traditional and new electronic

media

.Example Primary Audiences

• What is the message you need to get to this audience?

• Are you educating, engaging or activating?

• What story will be persuasive, compelling or motivating for this audience?

• What voices is it important to have in the video in order to have political, ethical and emotional credibility and impact?

.Audience-Driven Messages

– Emotional credibility: Who speaks to our heart, and to our storytelling instincts?

– Analytical credibility: Who speaks to our head?

– Political credibility: Who speaks to the audience? Who needs to be in to satisfy them?

– Ethical credibility: Whose voices must be in for ethical reasons? I.e. Do we always ensure that those most victimized/marginalized are given the space to speak out?

Who is Credible?

Your audience selection will inform your video’s:

• Story and Structure• Style• Format• Length• Language and Tone• Viewing Strategy

. Tailoring Your Video

• Use timing to your advantage– Is your audience able, available and willing to

listen to you? When and where is best for them to view?

– When is the best opportunity screen the video?

– Choosing “tipping points” where personal testimony, strong stories, and visual evidence will make the final persuasive push

• Choosing the right “messenger”– Who will your audience agree to see, and

listen to?

. Timing and Distribution

1. What was the objective of the video? 2. Who do you think the primary audience

was?3. What was the story of the video?4. What was the message of the video?5. Was there a request for action? What was

it?

5 Essential Questions

• What voices do you hear? What voices did you not hear?

• Did the video and story keep your attention?• Was the video was too short or too long? • Was anything unclear or confusing?• What materials do you think should have

accompanied the video?• Do you think video was essential – the right,

strategic choice?

Additional Considerations

• ‘On the Frontlines’ and ‘A Duty to Protect’ (DR Congo) child soldiers videos for community organizing and decision-maker advocacy

• ‘Bound by Promises’ (Brazil) and ‘Missing Lives’ (Chechnya) for decision-maker advocacy

• ‘Shoot on Sight’ (Burma) for international solidarity organizing and media work

• ‘Book Not Bars’ (prisons in the USA) and ‘System Failure’ (juvenile justice in the USA)- video used in community organizing and decision-maker advocacy

• ‘Witness to Truth’ (truth and reconciliation, Sierra Leone) – video paralleling an official report

• ‘Dual Injustice’ (feminicide in Mexico) – using an emblematic story

• ‘Living Proof’ (mental disability rights, Croatia) – unexpected/positive approach to represent an issue

NOTE: Excerpted versions of most case studies can be seen at WITNESS.org

.WITNESS Partner Case Studies

• Filmed by human rights defenders (most first-time filmmakers)

• Used WITNESS Video Advocacy Methodology and the VAP

• Where video was strategically integrated with other advocacy methods

.Case Study Section

• Human Rights Issue:• Advocacy Objective:• Group / Organization:• Mission:• Location:• Website:

.Why Video Was Used?

• Audience(s):– Primary:– Secondary:

• Story• Message• Voices Included (Excluded?)• Request for Action• Strategic Distribution and Timing

.About the Video

• Length• Amount of Content• Source of Audio and Visual Content• Use of Archived Material• Level of Editing• Cost• Time to Create• Safety and Security Issues• Strategic Distribution and Timing

.Nuts and Bolts

Summary- There are many ways to strategically

use video for advocacy- Video advocacy is audience and

action-based video- Creating a video advocacy plan (VAP)

will save you time and resources – and make your video a more powerful tool for change

Develop a Video Advocacy Plan and Review Case

Studies

WITNESS invites you to use, remix and share this curriculum. All materials are under Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial ShareAlike 3.0 License. 

You can also find more video advocacy training materials at www.witness.org.