TACSO Turkey 4. Local Advisory Group (LAG) Meeting Ankara, CSDC Office

Transcription

1 TACSO Turkey 4. Local Advisory Group (LAG) Meeting Ankara, CSDC Office Participants: LAG Members: Secretariat General for European Union Affairs BaĢak Ġlisulu, Dursun Emrah Birdal, Gürhan Demirel Arı Movement - Elif Aydıntuğ Arı Delegation of the European Union to Turkey - Nalan Özdemir Helsinki Citizens Assembly Sevgi Özçelik Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Interior, Directorate of Associations - ġaban Acar TÜSEV and KA-DER- Zeynep Meydanoğlu Civil Society Development Centre- Suade Arançlı, Sezin Öney TOG- Emrah Gürsel Contortium Partner HRDF-Berna Eren TACSO Project Team: Ayça Haykır, Ayça BeĢtepe, Neslihan ÖzgüneĢ, Mehru Aygül Absent LAG member: DOĞA Association Documents handed out during the meeting: 1. Meeting agenda Guests: Association of Progressive Journalists' (ÇGD) Ahmet Abakay Bianet Erol Önderoğlu Meeting Agenda: 1. Opening and general briefing 2. Visibility of Civil Society in the media 3. Partnership events 4. Results and projection of the upcoming period Technical Assistance for Gulden Sk. 2/2 Kavaklidere Ankara Turkey

2 Meeting notes Participants introduced themselves and their organisations For the people who have attended the meeting for the first time, Ayça Haykır talked about TACSO project and made a presentation on the realized and planned project activities until February Summary of presentation; o TACSO has become a brand name by means of kick off meetings,training programs and information activities conducted through the CSO data bases provided by LAG members, o Relations with the media (activities and visibility of CSOs) has been the missing point within the project context until now. o It would be useful to conduct studies in order to ensure media coverage on CSO best practices, Neslihan ÖzgüneĢ stated that an active study on media has not been conducted yet and added that visibility strategies for civil society should be determined within the 2. phase of TACSO. o Help desk; TACSO has met almost all training and other support requests. o Monitoring; as distinct from other project countries TACSO Turkey has provided support to CSOs for the annual programming process, instead of monitoring. o Capacity building; ensuring the regional trainings, national trainings are scheduled. Tailor made trainings are also delivered. o It is planned to provide assistance to EUSG in the promotional activities for announcing of the call for grants. o Partnership events; are held with the aim of bringing together the CSOs and stakeholders across Turkey, and meetings are planned for the CSOs and stakeholders in the Balkan countries. o LAGs provide substantial contributions to each project country, o A joint meeting to bring LAG members together was held. However, more comprehensive meetings are also planned for the upcoming period. o Upon negotiations with the Directorate of Associations, a joint project with TACSO is developed. As a result of a questionnaire conducted by the Directorate of Associations, 13 provinces were determined to participate in the pilot study. o An additional meeting will be held in order to clarify the 13 CSOs and 13 directors of Provincial Directorate of Associations. Outputs of the workshop will be shared in the conference to be held in December, with the participating directors from 81 provincial Directorates of Associations. Depending on the outcome, activities under specific headings will be planned for Visibility of Civil Society in the media; o Ayça Haykır stated that, in the light of the interviews with media representatives, it is understood that civil society related issues can only be brought to medias agenda if they are newsworthy. Technical Assistance for Gulden Sk. 2/2 Kavaklidere Ankara Turkey

3 o Ahmet Abakay; emphasized that the CSO related news are only published in small single columns, since the agenda is focused on political issues. o Erol Önderoğlu stated that; CSOs tend to submit press releases, but that alone is not enough to be a story, the activity itself with the participants is important. He underlined that CSOs should collect news, photos and information as if they were journalists and they should also use the internet media. He added that the local media is not considered as notable as the central media in Ġstanbul. o Zeynep Meydanoğlu; indicated that most of the big CSOs already work with PR companies. But the small grassroot CSOs usually does not have enough capacity. As a possible solution; she mentioned an international non-profit organisation which offers media relations and PR services to CSOs, and suggested that we should look into this organisation. o Neslihan ÖzgüneĢ; underlined that civil society should be more active and do more than just marching for protest. o Erol Önderoğlu; underlined that the relations with media should be continuant, therefore it is important for CSOs to have a staff/ volunteer experienced in media relations. o Sevgi Özçelik; stated that media is more interested in corporate social responsibility campaigns, than right based advocacy campaigns. Alternative media can be contacted regarding advocacy campaigns. o Zeynep Meydanoğlu; referred to the results of the research conducted by TÜSEV, which had shown that the media coverage of news regarding human rights issues is merely % 1,5. o Ayça Haykır; suggested that TÜSEVs study could be updated with the support of CSOs like KADER that attracts the attention of media. o Ahmet Abakay; emphasized the importance of columnists and suggested that they should be informed about specific news from time to time. o ġaban Acar; underlined that there is a misconception about civil society within the public and media. He brought forward the idea of organizing a breakfast or lunch for the executive editors, columnists and reporters to break the misperception.. o Ahmet Abakay; said that the press is not intersted in such meetings and emphasized the importance of news agencies. o Neslihan ÖzgüneĢ; stated that she had consulted with Birol Güven ( TV series producer) about ways of discussing issue regarding the civil society on television series, in response to her question he suggested that the scriptwriters could come together and work on the issue. o Ahmet Abakay; added that newspaper supplements should also be taken into consideration. o Zeynep Meydanoğlu; stated that it would be helpful to know precisely what could TACSO do for visibility of CSOs. o Ayça Haykır; indicated that with the aim to contribute to the projects positive public image, we are trying to use the limited budget in the most efficient way possible. o Emrah Gürsel; said that the quality of the news is also very important. A CSO that aims to promote its activity could be damaged due to the negative interpretation of a positive activity. o Nalan Özdemir; stated that Flying Broom Association has established its own network of local reporters, KAOS GL is also engaged in a similar activity. Technical Assistance for Gulden Sk. 2/2 Kavaklidere Ankara Turkey

4 SUGGESTIONS Capacity building CSOs could receive trainings on subjects such as writing press releases, skills of making statements to press etc. TÜSEVs STEP report could be updated, Medya konusunda STK lara destek veren uluslar arası medya kuruluģunun çalıģmaları hakkında bilgi toplanabilir, Support could be asked from big CSOs which are experienced in media relations. ( Such as KADER), A network of voluntary reporters could be established, A breakfast/ lunch could be organized with media representatives in order to give them insight into civil society. Bianets study on training local reporters could be used as a best practice, A basic manual for reporters and CSOs could be prepared to be distributed after a workshop/ training, Civil Society could be taught as a lesson in communication faculties, (Ministry of Interior, Directorate of Associations stated that they could take steps in this direction) Studies could be conducted with University clubs, ( TOG will give us support regarding the issue) Study visits could be arranged, A pilot study on perception of CSOs within a selected city or university could be conducted. Results of the study could be shared with the local media of the selected city, Upcoming grant program of EUSG for media employees should be examined in order to plan the activities accordingly, Joint trainings could be delivered to executive editors, civil society conscious columnists, foreign journalists and selected reporters, Supplements of impactful national and regional newspapers could be utilized. How can we take support from LAG members? o Elif Aydıntuğ (Arı); connections with the media could be shared, halls/ meeting rooms of Bilgi University could be utilized when required. o Suade Arançlı; (CSDC) local support centers of CSDC could give support regarding the local media, o Sevgi Özçelik;(HCA) journalist members could be put into effect, draft studies could be shared with press members to get their support, o Zeynep Meydanoğlu; (TÜSEV) planned studies on STEP could be supported by sharing former studies, communication expert members could also give support, o Berna Eren; (HRDF) venues could be provided anytime, health correspondents could also be reached, o Emrah Gürsel; (TOG) network of TOG could be used during the local activities, o BaĢak Ġlisulu; outputs of the CSO dialogue meeting to be held in December, including paralel meetings with some main headings and workshops would be guiding. o Erol Öneroğlu, (ÇGD) deans of Communication Faculties could be of help by assigning media scan regarding civil society to the students, they could also provide us with thesis studies on the subject, Technical Assistance for Gulden Sk. 2/2 Kavaklidere Ankara Turkey

5 o Elif Aydıntuğ, interns of ARI could do research on the subject, o ġaban Acar (Directorate of Associations); each year, Turkish Radio and Television Corporation is being requested to address good practices of CSOs by Directorate of Associations, Information about the upcoming grant program of EUSG for media employees (given by BaĢak Ġlisulu): It has two legs; political criteria and media. Media leg is more general. A media training activity, in which brings together CSO and media representatives and public personnel will be realized. Training modules will be prepared on the basis of needs analysis questionnaires by technical assistance team. Training subject will be Negotiation processes. EU information offices staff of the public institutions will participate in the trainings. They will be trained on ways of effectively communicating with CSOs and media. CSOs could also be included in the process. The project will probably commence at the beginning of Members were informed about TACSO Turkey Training Program. Contributions of LAG members to TACSO Training Program? Emrah Gürsel; transferring the experience to local youth associations, Elif Aydıntuğ; announcement of trainings, Sevgi Özçelik; knowledge sharing about the discrimination mapping study as well as providing connection with Roma. Zeynep Meydanoğlu; (for KADER) supporting the trainings, Suade Arançlı; sharing the capacity building program of CSDC. Members were informed about TACSOs support to Platforms. Members were informed about the pilot Government- CSO Partnership Event. Directorate of Associations requested a pilot study with the aim to improve government s attitude to civil society. The number of participating CSO representatives and Directors of Provincial Directorate of Associations will be equal. TACSO will contribute to the event by providing trainers as well as financial support. Technical and financial support was also asked from CSDC. A survey was conducted for all directors of Provincial Directorate of Associations so as to determine the participants. A short list was formed accordingly. Criteria of selection for CSOs is not been defined yet. A meeting with related institutions and associations is planned on the first week of November. Comments on Partnership Events planned within the context of TACSO project; Neslihan ÖzgüneĢ; suggested that partnership meetings could be held with project countries, particularly when there is an open call for grants. She added that such meetings could also be organized on a local scale. She brought forward the subject of priority areas. Erol Önderoğlu; underlined that the media could not sufficiently monitor the issue of refugees, he added that the subject is suitable for comparative studies. Technical Assistance for Gulden Sk. 2/2 Kavaklidere Ankara Turkey

6 Technical Assistance for Emrah Gürsel; suggested that for the purpose of learning about the developments in other countries on the area of social policies, we should conduct a study together with CSOs that are working on this field. It was decided that the Regional needs analysis that was conducted for TACSO project countries would be sent to LAG members in order to receive comments. It was agreed that the date of the next meeting will be determined later on. Technical Assistance for Gulden Sk. 2/2 Kavaklidere Ankara Turkey