Matthew McGregor, Campaigns Director at Hope Not Hate said, "This was a quick feel-good piece of campaigning. We did it because we were angry and because we thought our supporters would be too. We wanted to say something, even if it was a small thing, to send a message. And in this case we saw our list grow as a result too. It's important to have a theory of change, but our theory on this one was that sometimes it’s nice to say 'p*ss off, Mr President'.
It was this newsdesk thinking that helped grow Change.org from a small site with a few thousand signers to the world’s largest petition platform. It was a bank holiday Monday when the then Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Ian Duncan Smith said on Radio 4 that people complaining about welfare cuts were wrong and living on £50 a week was easy. The reaction on Twitter was instant. Outraged people called him out for being out of touch. Change.org’s then Director of Communications John Coventry spotted an opportunity, reaching out on Twitter to suggest that people should start a petition. Within an hour the petition to ‘get IDS to live on £50 a week’ had started and before civil servants had got back to their offices from the long weekend the petition had ten of thousands of signatures. It went on to be the first petition on the site to reach over a quarter of a million signatures and led the news agenda for over a fortnight, opening the space for people experiencing the sharp end of welfare cuts to talk about their impact.
So how can other organisations adopt newsdesk thinking, we’ve broken it down into 6 steps:
Be ready: Every media outlet has a clear editorial position. You need the same. Having a clear vision of the world you are trying to create, the issues you care about and the values you hold are the essential starting point. Newsdesk thinking isn’t about jumping in with your hot take on every Love Island breakup, it’s about knowing what you care about and being confident to act when an opportunity emerges.
Active scanning: What are people talking about today? That’s the question to keep asking. Keep an eye on leading activists on twitter, instagram and blogs. Often this is where issues rise up before they make news. It’s not about everyone in the office listening to the Today Programme, often 5 Live, Victoria Derbyshire and LBC are more helpful to get a sense of what people are talking about outside of Westminster. Consuming the news and talking about the news needs to be a part of day to day life, not just something the comms team do.
Ideas culture: Journalists are expected to turn up with new ideas for stories everyday. Building an ideas culture in your office is vital. Create a safe space for people to share without worrying if it’s a good or bad idea. It could be at daily stand ups, a ‘have you seen this?’ whatsapp group or slack channel - whatever works for your team. Not everything will lead to an action but it’s only with a culture that welcomes ideas that you’ll spot the golden opportunity quickly when it comes.
Rapid response: When a story matches your issues and values and has got people talking, speed matters. Attention spans are short and to capture the energy of the moment you need to be out with an action quickly, we’re talking hours not days. That means having a set up for rapid response campaigning - a faster sign off process, a way to queue jump to get an action email out and a nimble team that has the permission and power to move fast.
Invest in systems: Spend some time making sure that you can produce beautiful customised landing pages at speed that seamlessly integrate with your email platforms. Time after time we see organisations de-prioritise this type of work and then give the absence of these resources as a reason not to act when they should. If you build the things you need to respond quickly, you will be itching to use them and it will drive your speed of response!
Fail fast, fail forward: If you are taking more risks and testing more actions, not all of them will fly. That’s ok! After each take the time to understand what worked and what didn’t. Moving quickly means taking risks and piloting more actions, so it needs to be ok to fail and learn.
Newsdesk thinking is more than a process, it’s state of mind backed up by practical steps so when you have an idea you have the tools and processes already established to make it happen. It’s an approach that can bring real energy to how your organisation engages with the public and connect your organisation more closely to the conversations people are having everyday.
It’s fun, it’s fast and without the right attitude can deliver big results. We urge you to try it out!
