‘Invisible People’ showing anything other than invisible impact

I have not blogged for months on end, partly because I had not come across a message that was something that needed to be shared, until now.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/kony2012/kony-4.html

I woke up today 7^th March 2012 at 11:14am to find social media sites going crazy over a video named “KONY2012”. The viral sensation had an image of the world in the background and issued on statues as “inspirational”, “clever” and “powerful”.

What video could have such an impact that even my 15 year old neighbour had to post?

“NOTHING IS MORE POWERFUL THAN AN IDEA, WHOSE TIME HAS COME. WHOSE TIME IS NOW.”

And let’s be fair, that statement has never been more true. This video started with an idea, an idea so little that no 15 year old girl knew about, no student thought about it whilst sat in the pub, and no middle-aged man thought about it whilst he was in his office. Yet, overnight the social media world has come to life, and everybody is becoming aware.

It is true, as the video states, Facebook is powerful, and many people underestimate it. The video cleverly shows the power of social media. How many people have spread this video online today? Millions. How do we know? Check your Facebook timeline, check the trends on Twitter. Social media has the power to spread this message in an instant. Who read about KONY2012 in today’s paper? I’d be very surprised if you did. The way in which we communicate is ever changing, and so many people are oblivious to it.

I was so interested in this video, alongside with its powerful message, it is so cleverly executed that it was able to pull on the audiences emotions, and make people wanted to make a change. 99% of the world knew nothing about Kony and his army. I mean everyone might have had an idea; the film “Blood Diamond” created in 2006 may have given some people a slight inside to what life could be like. But how many people watched that film and thought child soldiers were used now? How many thought that’s awful, let’s try and make a change?

By giving this campaign an expiry date it makes people inclined to help. It ensures they do everything in their power to quickly sign up, try and donate and spread the message. But how long can this video alone last? News gets so old so fast, so this campaign needs more than a week on Twitter, more than a “like” on Facebook and its forgotten, and more than one watch on YouTube on the day you heard about it. It is important it is followed and supported till December 31^st 2012. So how are you going to help?

Epiphany- TwoThirds

Epiphany is getting a good reception after being played AGAIN on BBC Radio Sheffield this week!
Follow TwoThirds on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/TwoThirdsDnB

A few weeks ago I started blogging about the “Get Lippy” Campaign introduced by ActionAid. The campaign hoped to not only raise awareness to International Women’s day, but to allow the world to send their messages of support after women from across the globe shared their traumatising stories. The Get Lippy Campaign was a huge success from ActionAids point of view, and now I have come across another success story come from International Women’s Day.

I have recently just agreed to help promote the “Act for Iraq” Campaign in the Leeds area. The campaign is run by The Iraqi Charity Forum, and it is their fundraising officer who has just made me aware of this story.

Zahra Al Bassam, a woman from Iraq, has won the Most Inspiring Story award; from the United Nations Women Make it Happen Award. Her story is below and can be found, along with other nominees here:

http://endpoverty2015.org/en/women-make-it-happen-awards

 

 “Since she was a child, Zahra Sahm Al-Bassam has been devoted to charity work and championing the cause of the needy, underprivileged, orphans and widows. Her father, an officer in the Iraqi army, was executed under Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime when Zahra was only six.

Growing up without a father and facing a life of hardship only strengthened her. She would think constantly about her society and how to improve it. Her only concern was how she could help her widowed mother, whom she used to watch working tirelessly to provide food for Zahra and her younger sister.

Seeing her mother hunched over her sewing machine, turning out the most exquisitely made pieces of clothing, at the age of nine she decided to try it out herself! She later learned how to make her own clothes and started taking the pressure off her aging mother. It wasn’t long before she was spending all her time, including her holidays beavering away non-stop at her sewing machine.

Banned from finishing secondary school she had no choice but to educate herself. Even after having her own family, she set about devouring whatever books she could so that she could dedicate her life to helping the poor and oppressed in Iraq.

She was forever thinking about ways she could serve society’s vulnerable groups such as widows, orphans and the poor. Eventually she organised study sessions at her house to encourage women to educate themselves, and develop their skills. She helped them set up microenterprise projects such as jewellery-making and running crèches.

Following the recent war in Iraq, Zahra went back to education and was finally able to complete her studies, and embarked on a Law degree in Cairo.

The four years she spent there were among the most productive of her life: She worked on a charity tailoring project and volunteered in a women’s centre she helped refugees from Chechnya and Sudan to save them from a life of poverty and prevent their children being deprived of an education. She was especially concerned with helping victims of persecution or domestic abuse. As well as this she used to run dress-making workshops to raise funds for orphans and the poor. She helped young orphaned girls by running projects to make wedding clothes, and decorate the orphans’ bridal cars.

For Zahra, it makes no difference how strong or self-reliant female victims may appear; she offers her support to all. After returning home she became even more determined to spend her life alleviating the plight of the millions of orphans and widows in Iraq. So when she read about the Charity Bank for Small Businesses, a scheme being run in Baghdad by the Iraqi Charities Forum, she wasted no time in signing up to teach a tailoring course to a group of Iraqi widows.

The women who enrolled said that they had noticed a real improvement in their skills. They had increased their self-esteem, got over their phobia of using machines and learned how to make marketable products.
The Iraqi Charities Forum has provided 43 widows and women in need with sewing machines, fabrics and other materials via interest-free loans. In this way, the project has given women the opportunity to earn their livelihood and work their way out of poverty independently and with dignity. Zahra continues to support the project!”

Story written by: Sara Atia, UK

http://endpoverty2015.org/en/women-make-it-happen-awards

GET LIPPY!

On 8^th March 2011, International Women’s Day (IWD) will celebrate 100 years of being in practise. Women across the globe will come together and fight for their rights. For this next week I will be blogging about the horrific circumstances some women find themselves in, because if we aren’t equal everywhere, we aren’t equal anywhere. 

Today, Neela’s story is told..Commonly seen in Cambodia, Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, acid attacks are a vicious way of assault. It sees the attackers throwing acid onto their victims, usually leaving them with damaged skin tissues and sometimes dissolving bones. 

Statistics show that 80% of victims are female and almost 40% are under the age of 18. Would you find this acceptable for your child? Neela is a survivor of these dreadful attacks, and plans to speak out against the ruthlessness some countries deem acceptable on IWD. However, Neela needs your support.

The consequences of such attacks include blindness and permanent scaring.
No woman, no man, no person should experience these traumatising attacks. So why let it happen? 

 

Action Aid are asking you to send your support to these women. Just a simple message can go a long way in restoring women’s rights across the globe. It is the courage and determination of these women that should not be gone unnoticed. 

Send your messages to Neela at: http://www.actionaid.org.uk/102779/get_lippy.html?utm_source=shortcut&utm_medium=print&utm_content=getlippy&utm_campaign=multiple

Get behind and celebrate 100 years of IWD.

 

GET LIPPY!

On 8^th March 2011, International Women’s Day (IWD) will celebrate 100 years of being in practise. Women across the globe will come together and fight for their rights. For this next week I will be blogging about the horrific circumstances some women find themselves in, because if we aren’t equal everywhere, we aren’t equal anywhere. 

Today, Mina’s story is told..
Unlike usual 6 years old playing in the park, young girls such as Mina are forced to face the reality and strain that we as adults cannot even think about. At just 6 years old Mina was forced into an arranged marriage by her parents, where she was abused by her husband. 

It is forced marriage such as these that lose women and young girls their basic rights of humanity. Although it is seen as a cultural practise in Afghanistan, Mina and other women, who have managed to run away from the life they have been forced into, plan to fight against the tradition on IWD.

It is marriages such as these that are used to boost a family’s status or to settle debts. Is it really fair for women to lose their rights over reputation and finances? 

Action Aid are asking you to send your support to these women. Just a simple message can go a long way in restoring women’s rights across the globe. It is the courage and determination of these women that should not be gone unnoticed. 

Send your messages to Mina at: http://www.actionaid.org.uk/102779/get_lippy.html?utm_source=shortcut&utm_medium=print&utm_content=getlippy&utm_campaign=multiple

Get behind and celebrate 100 years of IWD.

 

GET LIPPY!

On 8^th March 2011, International Women’s Day (IWD) will celebrate 100 years of being in practise. Women across the globe will come together and fight for their rights. For this next week I will be blogging about the horrific circumstances some women find themselves in, because if we aren’t equal everywhere, we aren’t equal anywhere. 

 

Today, Florence’s story is told..
Florence was captured 20 years ago by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the horrendous experiences Florence endured throughout that time were things we as a society today couldn’t even comprehend.  

The LRA, in their fight to overthrow the Ugandan Government, inflicted brutal violence to the innocent civilians of Uganda. In their quest for victory they abducted young girls as sex and labour slaves, also capturing children, mainly girls, and reportedly selling and trading them to arms dealers. 

It is the ruined lives of Florence and many other women that has given her the strength to stand up for what is right. On 8^th March Florence will be asking her Government to stand strong and stop the violence to young women and girls. 

Action Aid are asking you to send your support to these women. Just a simple message can go a long way in restoring women’s rights across the globe. It is the courage and determination of these women that should not be gone unnoticed. 

Send your messages to Florence at: http://www.actionaid.org.uk/102779/get_lippy.html?utm_source=shortcut&utm_medium=print&utm_content=getlippy&utm_campaign=multiple

Get behind and celebrate 100 years of IWD.

 

Is Public Relations Just Publicity?

For an industry so influential, it’s surprising to realise that there is no set definition for PR. Therefore, it can be debated that PR is simply another word for publicity. This is argued by the life-style of Hollywood. A general PR practitioner, who has ‘celebrity’ clients, can be seen as a publicist generating media attention for their client. However, other practitioners claim that PR is a strategic way of promoting and selling. It is undeniable that publicity is a part of PR, but how much of an influence does it have on the industry?

With industries such as Hollywood, celebrity PR is rife, with publicists in competition to gain attention for their clients. According to Borkowski (2008: pp 5) publicists have a clear definition:“The publicist’s skill is to proactively find, tell and sell the stories that make their clients news, and it’s a skill that’s more relevant now than ever.”Borkowski states that publicists “find, tell and sell” linking the traits of a publicist to that of a PR practitioner; therefore it is arguable to suggest that publicity if a big part of PR. For a client to be continuously in the limelight is good PR, showing that publicists are effective. However, publicity is arguably a success, good or bad. In that sense, how much can this be linked this to PR:“There’s no such thing as bad publicity” (Barnum: 1850: pp 12)
Bad press can be good for celebrities, as they are still being talked about. However, can bad press help all people? Press such as sex scandals can ruin careers, therefore how much of Barnum’s opinion can be seen as true? If there is no such thing as bad publicity, is there no such thing as bad PR? 

Although publicity is highlighted as the key area of PR in some areas, other practitioners argue against the idea. According to Levinson, Frishman and Lublin (2008: pp xv): “Public Relations (PR) is the overall planning, approach, and strategy for dealing with the media in general. While PR encompasses publicity, it goes beyond merely publicizing what you are selling.”
The idea that publicity is one tactic used in PR is presented in Grunig’s (1984) 4 models of PR, which is designed to distance publicity from professional PR. Therefore it can be seen that the strategies used by PR practitioners are more than that of a publicist. The CIPR (2005) also state that PR is a planned and sustained effort that builds an understanding between organisations and the public. This debatably contrasts with the view of Barnum, if a strong relationship with a client is a fundamental need for good PR, then surely putting out bad publicity is seen as damaging. 

Publicity can be seen as the main driving force in some areas. The celebrity world thrives upon continuous attention, which could damage the credibility of a client. Although not acceptable to some, it is an effective way of promoting and selling. Nevertheless, there is debatably more to PR then just publicising:“They say publicity is seven times more effective than advertising. But it is just one tactic of an overall Public Relations plan.” (Currie: 2007)
It seems that practitioners outside of celebrity PR have different views to those within it. Therefore, PR in some areas is simply publicity, but outside of this, becomes much more as it’s harder to maintain a loyal public. The amount of definitions given to PR shows that there are many different ways in which it can be successful. For PR to just be publicity is not a bad thing if it is succeeding, but in terms of what PR is really about, it’s more likely that publicity is just a part of something much bigger.