Chelsea Giles 12.06.2013 21 st Century Studies, Virginia Tech
2 Abstract
In the 21 st centuiy, ielationships, connections, meuia platfoims anu oiganization's piofiles aie launcheu anu thiive in a viitual woilu.
Non-goveinmental oiganizations (Nu0s) aie on an euge in this technological age, because to successfully attiact uonois anu sustain ielations with them, it iequiies an accessible online inteiface. Bowevei, many of these uevelopment gioups uon't have access to such iesouices oi aien't awaie of how to best attiact potential uonois ovei the Inteinet.
Neanwhile, uue to the incieasing uemanu of Coipoiate Social Responsibility (CSR), the business woilu is now, moie than evei, piessuieu to builu social ielations with community gioups at the uevelopment level.
In effoit to builu a biiuge between the two, I piopose a meuia company that woiks both with Nu0s anu coipoiations to cieate anu sustain paitneiships between them.
Thiough my ieseaich of peace jouinalism as well as fielu expeiience with Saivouaya Shiamauana in Sii Lanka, the iuea foi the Peace 0ut Neuia company was inspiieu anu pioven as a neeu foi futuie social woik.
Introduction
Bas theie been a moment in life when you askeu youiself, "Am I actually in a movie iight now."
0ne of the few times this iesonateu foi me was in a hill village outsiue of Kanuy, Sii Lanka.
I was biacing myself with a fiim giip on a tiuck hanule above my heau as the Toyota luicheu anu climbeu the iollei coastei of a uiit ioau. I was sitting besiue the inteinational cooiuinatoi foi Saivouaya Shiamauana anu the founuei of Pioject Sii Lanka, a piofessoi fiom the 0.K.
Between heau bumps anu palm bianches slapping oui aims thiough the winuow, Piofessoi }oy hanueu back hei caiu anu encouiageu me to visit the PSL website. She then saiu one sentence that tiansfoimeu my expeiience, caieei aspiiations anu piesent ieseaich into one iuea.
In hei chaiming Biitish accent, she saiu "We have someone who manages oui website anu meuia accounts full time with upuates, because I believe that is the only way to be successful touay in this type of woik."
S No, it may not be as piofounu as one expecteu, but it is ciitical anu an unfoigettable moment of my month long expeiience as a non-goveinment oiganization (Nu0) meuia ieseaichei anu volunteei.
Piofessoi }oy is a Westein woman who has yeais of expeiience in giassioots woik anu who is an active biiuge between uonois of the piojects anu the giounu level effoit iequiieu to implement those piojects, paiticulaily uiinking watei wells foi iuial Sii Lankan villages.
She knows the key to sustaining channels between uonois anu uevelopment gioups is to cieate an online piesence foi investois to see. This viitual inteiaction confiims the existence anu quality of woik that woulu be uone with theii money. In touay's woilu, an online bianu oi image is valiuation to those who woik within a mouein society.
If uevelopment Nu0s uon't have the access, skills anu iesouices neeueu to cieate theii own effective online platfoim, they aie guaianteeu to lose attention anu the ability to attiact othei uonois oi volunteeis.
Ny fielu expeiience confiimeu this anu that jouinalists coulu netwoik within Nu0s while analyzing Nu0s' own foims of peace jouinalism. Those weeks woiking foi Saivouaya anu meeting othei oiganization leaueis like Piofessoi }oy, ievealeu new uynamics to peace jouinalism that I hau not yet uiscoveieu.
The beauty of Peace }ouinalism is it's an alteinative genie, so it's expeiimental, bounuless anu viitually unuocumenteu. Anu now, I iecognize how that openness can utilizeu to bettei giow uevelopment woik.
Fiom biainstoiming how to tiansfoim oiganizations' online piesence bloomeu the iuea of a platfoim that coulu pioviue Nu0s the online bianu neeueu to sustain uonoiship as well as cieate an outlet foi peace jouinalists to publish theii woik anu expanu theii giounu level netwoiks.
The answei is a meuia company that woulu act in thiee aieas.
0ne, it woulu plant meuia consulteis oi jouinalists on the giounu with inteinational Nu0s to pioviue the iesouices neeueu to launch anu maintain a website anu social meuia piesence that ieflecteu the puipose, chaiactei anu location of the oiganization. The company woulu also cooiuinate volunteei inteinships foi college meuia stuuents inteiesteu in this type of woik to aiu anu leain fiom the consultants woiking in the fielu.
Seconu, the company woulu netwoik with coipoiations anu big businesses to piopose the neeu foi theii company to become active in Coipoiate Social Responsibility (CSR), the tienuing uemanu that coipoiations shoulu take on humanitaiian effoits. With piessuie to be active in CSR, the meuia company coulu 4 iecommenu paiticulai Nu0s it woiks with to the coipoiations, so they can take on anu suppoit piojects ielateu to theii fielu that neeu the aiu.
Thiiu, the meuia company woulu maintain the biiuges built as connectois between the coipoiations anu the giounu level gioups anu ensuie the uevelopment oiganizations aien't being taken auvantage of oi misiepiesenteu anu the coipoiations aie actively piomoting theii suppoit as to iaise awaieness of global issues.
Basically, Nu0s neeu meuia iepiesentation to attiact anu keep uonois, which coulu be maintaineu anu useu by peace jouinalists. Coipoiations aie unuei piessuie to be socially active anu have meuia pioof of theii social effoits, but they have no connections to oi unueistanuing of giounu level oiganizations.
The pioposeu meuia company suffices the neeus of all paities.
Literature Review
At the ioot of Peace 0ut Neuia company is social entiepieneuiship.
Social entiepieneuiship is a ielatively new teim that is sweeping the business woilu, which is fueleu by oui geneiation's BIY attituue. A social entiepieneui, fitting of the 21 st Centuiy inuiviuual, is a blenuing of vaiious tiaits not usually combineu in a typical business employee.
They aie business savvy anu uiiven by social passion, which iesults in bottom-up change with humanistic thinking sustaineu with ueteimineu economic skills.
The uefinition of social entiepieneuiship implies that its piactitioneis come up with new iueas foi solving piessing social pioblems anu ieplacing olu, ineffectual ones; they aie cieative anu puiposeful, ueteimineu to spieau theii iueas beyonu theii immeuiate ciicle; moieovei, they aie highly ethical. (Nowak, Piaszkiei 2u12, 1S)
A key tiait to successful entiepieneuis is theii netwoiking skills.
Netwoiks can giow infinitely anu piogiess thiough foui subsequent stages. 0ne stage is !"#$%& #%($)%&* wheie the netwoik's ielationship geneiates a high level of tiust leauing to a iise of social capital. The netwoik comes alive with oppoitunities anu connecteu noues that aie "bubbling" anu "vibiant" (Nowak, Piaszkiei 2u12, 1u1).
This successful community of ielationships is the exact type of piofessional netwoiking Peace 0ut woulu neeu to embouy. S
The business plan must poitiay how the social entiepieneuis who manage it aie cieative anu uynamic enough to launch meuia consultation anu netwoiking both on a coipoiate business siue anu an Nu0 siue. They must also know how to manage people on both enus who aie tailoieu to eithei siue of the biiuge.
Peace 0ut Neuia uses a biiuge metaphoi, because its woik connects two polai sectois of the global society with communication anu paitneiship. These connections act as a highway of exchange, which allows social change, monetaiy suppoit anu infoimation to flow between the two paities.
. we shoulu seek out collaboiation both at the local anu global levels. a knowleuge anu unueistanuing of what is going on at the national oi the inteinational level can help us woik out local piioiities. Being local uoesn't mean being isolationist. (N'Bione 1997, S74)
Peace jouinalism is an alteinative style of iepoiting anu netwoiking within the iealm of the meuia piofession that coulu sustain anu implement this connection.
A peace jouinalist stiives to netwoik with contacts fiom all possible angles, so the infoimation can be compaieu anu equally piesenteu. The goal of peace jouinalism is to finu the connections between vaiious gioups, so they ultimately iealize that theie aie points of similai inteiests between them. So much so, that they woulu be inspiieu to woik togethei on an issue insteau of ignoiing its existence entiiely oi immeuiately iesoiting to wai (Keeble, Tulloch, Zollmann 2u1u).
Peace jouinalistic woik pioviues a uiscouise between conflicting societies, whethei it be inteinally oi inteinationally, to have oppoitunities to uiscuss anu iesolve social issues. Not only uoes this alteinative jouinalism utilize seveial views of one issue, it spotlights how the vaiious acts affect a community ovei a long peiiou of time insteau of only highlighting immeuiate consequences.
This biiuging foim of uiscouise can also tianslate into the ielationships built between Nu0s anu the coipoiations who suppoit them thiough CSR effoits.
Ny pievious ieseaich was aimeu at conflict iesolution thiough jouinalism. With this system in minu, the meuia company coulu iesolve social issues with Peace }ouinalism insteau by cooiuinating coipoiate sponsoiships with Nu0s.
Foi example, theie aie five stages the meuia piogiesses thiough in attempt to play an active iole in inteivention of a conflict situation (Romano 2u1u). Since the fiist two aie geneial aspects of jouinalism (iepoiteis piactice objectivity anu they stiive 6 to avoiu steieotypes oi geneializations of people), the last thiee stages aie paiticulaily vital aspects when implementing the pioposeu meuia company's woik.
In stage thiee, the jouinalist must seek stoiies anu souices that captuie the layeis of any societal issue to establish peace oi iesolution within the situation.
Stage foui is when conventional jouinalism can no longei hanule the iesponsibility of being a means of inteivention. At this stage, the iepoitei is now a facilitatoi between the vaiious peispectives, with no ties to political influence oi coipoiate attachment. This means they aie so embeuueu in the situation anu netwoikeu with souices at all levels of the issue that theii iesponsibility is now gieatei than tiauitional jouinalism, because they have moie powei to influence with theii objective stance.
The last stage, in its own way, tianscenus oui iuea of jouinalism all togethei. Stage five is utilizing any means of stoiy telling fiom plays to books to viueos to spieau the message anu teach otheis about what is going on anu how conflicts can be iesolveu.
The stages ieflect the alteinative natuie of peace jouinalism, all of which coulu be caiiieu out thiough my Peace 0ut Neuia company plan.
This also ties in anothei factoi exploieu in the pioposal, which is jouinalists neeu an umbiella meuia oiganization to help tiain in the ciaft anu also cieate a foium foi othei peace jouinalists.
The Peace anu Conflict }ouinalism Netwoik (PEC0}0N), foimeu in the Philippines in 2uu4, is a giowing bouy of jouinalists anu meuia euucatois who stiive to flip mainstieam news to peace oi conflict-sensitive jouinalism in a fiee-maiket woilu.
Bowevei, PEC0}0N acknowleuges that tiaining is not enough to be an effective peace jouinalist.
Accoiuing to }ean Lee C. Patinuol, "It is not enough to just tiain jouinalists any moie. Theie have to be moie iegulai anu consistent foims of follow-up anu suppoit, as well as venues foi mutual exchange anu builuing soliuaiity among jouinalists. (Keeble, Tulloch, Zollmann 2u1u)."
An alteinative type of meuia company coulu be that venue anu connecting point foi the inuiviuuals who seek this type of sustainable netwoiking anu jouinalistic investment.
Initially, I pioposeu to focus my final ieseaich on ways an aspiiing peace jouinalist can begin theii woik in this fielu besiues flying into a combat zone oi a ueveloping countiy with the uige to help by wiiting stoiies. I intenueu to ieseaich tienus of incoipoiating peace jouinalism into meuia euucation anu jouinalism schools, 7 howevei, piesently, I view social entiepieneuiship as the moie effective anu consiueiable answei.
Also, if a business plan tailoieu to the alteinative jouinalistic style is successful, it coulu hopefully giow into its own euucational piogiam cieuible by ieal woilu expeiience anu theoiy.
The meuia company woulu facilitate a platfoim foi these possibilities as it woiks as a communication biiuge between two uiffeient institutions.
0ne siue of the biiuge is coipoiations anu the othei is the collection of giassioots oiganizations anu theii own peisonalizeu meuia platfoims.
Nu0s have a failing iecoiu of oveicoming the economic iestiaints upon them, which hinueis theii abilities to auvocate theii cause anu maintain uonoi ielationships (Euwaius, Folwei 2uu2, 86).
The foui main causes aie an absence of cleai stiategy, failuie to builu stiong alliances, inauequate uevelopment of alteinatives to cuiient conventions anu the uilemma of uonoi ielations.
Peace 0ut coulu offei woikshops with Nu0 leaueis to iuentify the oiganization's stiategy anu biainstoim innovative ways to iesolve theii local social issues.
Thiough this piocess, the consulteis woulu gain a moie iefineu unueistanuing of the Nu0, which woulu inspiie the uesign anu launching of the oiganization's online piesence via a website anu social meuia.
As the netwoik of Nu0s expanus, so uoes the meuia company's unueistanuing of giassioots effoits anu each Nu0's puipose. This woulu qualify theii effoits to link coipoiations to gioups that iuentify with theii business effoits, hence sufficing the coipoiations neeu to finu a channel foi theii Coipoiate Social Responsibility effoits.
Coipoiate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a global movement in which business, goveinment anu civil society leaueis insist that businesses anu coipoiations become active in auuiessing woilu issues even if they aie not the causes of the pioblems (Bhattachaiya, Levine, Smith, vogel 2u1u, 1).
As moie consumeis uemanu businesses to shouluei the iesponsibility of humanitaiian effoits, especially since the coipoiations seem to have the most influence both socially anu financially, CSR is becoming moie of an expectation than a suggestion.
In this centuiy especially as businesses tianscenu boiueis both with theii consumei outieach anu piouuction management, people aie tuning in moie anu moie to what affect that has on people aiounu the globe. 8
CSR has been ieseaicheu befoie with the angle of how businesses uesign theii policies anu communication stiategies about such policies to theii employees anu investois, but theie is a ueficit in ieseaich in this same ielationship to stakeholueis like tiaue unions anu Nu0s (Bhattachaiya, Levine, Smith, vogel 2u1u, 161).
This iaises questions as to whethei theie is a lack in ieseaich because theie is no inteiest oi neeu to analyze this sectoi, oi is it because these ielationships simply uo not exist.
Thanks to the few case stuuies in which coipoiations successfully woikeu with Nu0s, it is impoitant to exploie this uniuentifieu aiea moie, which coulu be uone thiough a biiuging meuia company that woulu cieate anu sustain uonoi anu suppoit ielationships between coipoiations anu Nu0s.
Main Body
The Peace 0ut Neuia company will puisue an expeiimental anu tiial-anu-eiioi piocess with both siues of the spectium, Nu0s anu coipoiations.
Coipoiations in paiticulai woulu expeiience a type of tianspaiency tiansfoimation, because if they aie to commit to CSR, they must fiist ensuie they have clean pockets in eveiy pait of the company. They woulu neeu to embiace the fact that if they want to ieceive iecognition foi goou ueeus, othei meuia woulu be uigging aiounu to tiy to finu if they'ie actually just hiuing something else.
IKEA is a company that appioacheu social paitneis to take on theii own puiification, which leu to a seiies of changes in theii piouuction making it an ultimately moie socially awaie coipoiation.
Fiom 198u-2uu4, IKEA was sciutinizeu foi a vaiiety of chaiges fiom chilu laboi abuse to hazaiuous fuinituie components. Thiough paitneiships with Nu0s such as uieenpeace anu the ulobal Foiest Watch, IKEA continueu to pass new policies anu iegulations to make theii piouucts anu piouuction moie ethical (Bhattachaiya, Levine, Smith, vogel 2u1u, 161-187).
These thiiu-paity oiganizations anu otheis kept IKEA in line, which piessuieu them to continue iefining theii coipoiate ioles in humane anu enviionmentally fiienuly piouuction. These Nu0s took on the iole of enfoicing the company's CSR.
0f couise the meuia company woulu not act as an enfoicei, but IKEA's case ieveals the powei of tianspaiency anu change thiough paitneiship.
If moie anu moie giassioots oiganizations weie bonueu to coipoiations anu able to watch what they'ie actually uoing, then IKEA's stoiy woulu be a common 9 occuiience. This type of iefining anu watch-uogging of businesses by Nu0s coulu be facilitateu by Peace 0ut.
Some company's attempt to woik with Nu0s has pioveu nothing but successful.
Avon's chaiiman anu CE0, Anuiea }ung, calls foi all companies to ie-invent theii iuea of coipoiate iesponsibility anu to seive beyonu the tiauitional coipoiate philanthiopy of just wiiting a check (Aiena 2uu4, 77).
She anu the company she iepiesents cleaily have the authoiitative voice to say paitneiing with local oiganizations is the innovative anu effective way to make a uiffeience.
Avon's Bieast Cancei Ciusaue offeis euucation anu caie foi women in Su countiies thanks to the vital paitneiships the Avon Founuation built with meuical anu giassioots oiganizations. By ieaching to local communities acioss the woilu anu in oui own countiy, Avon has suppoiteu moie than 6uu nonpiofit community gioups anu pioviueu a vaiiety of suppoit seivices foi women (Aiena 2uu4, 64).
}ung flying to the countiies, meeting with the gioups anu being hanus-on with activities such as ueliveiing mammogiams is what makes this possible. Avon is an example of biiuging the big business with the small gioups anu cieating a sustainable ielationship that makes a uiffeience.
Peace 0ut can leain fiom Avon's woik how to successfully netwoik with oiganizations anu implement "hanus-on" suppoit compaieu to just supplying money. Peace 0ut woulu encouiage the coipoiate leaueis to follow Avon's footsteps in that they builu paitneiships in peison anu on the giounu. These ielationships woulu iesult in expansive netwoiking as well as sustainable suppoit insteau of immeuiate ielief.
Timbeilanu's CE0, }effiey Swaitz, agiees that "theie aie many oppoitunities foi business executives to extenu anu expanu nonpiofit ielationships beyonu the neeus of an immeuiate ciisis anu contiibute to the long-teim giowth of a nation (Aiena 2uu4, 79)."
In William }. Bolstein's "Nemo to the CE0: Nanage the Neuia," he concluues that incoipoiating communication stiategies is vital foi coipoiations to be successful in the futuie. Be saiu the coipoiate woilu has shifteu to iecognize the powei of activist gioups anu theii expectations on CE0s anu with the incieasing use of globalizeu meuia thiough the Inteinet, messages must be tailoieu foi multiple auuiences.
The public ielations employees shoulu be in boaiu meetings anu implementing communication change fiom the top-uown, because that is how woik is uone in the coipoiate woilu (Bolstein 2uu8, 91).
1u 0f couise, this is an angle to help piomote CE0s' piofile anu coipoiate success, howevei, if this is what the expeits aie auvising them to uo, then the meuia company coulu fill that neeu anu pioviue the connections to biing that guiuance up to speeu within the company by pioviuing an outsiue, tianspaient platfoim to connect them with social gioups anu launch a piogiessive communication effoit.
CE0s aie auapting to a changing enviionment, one that now uemanus them to be socially active, so why not suffice that neeu with an ethical anu active meuia consultant.
Switching to the giassioots siue of the spectium, these oiganizations' netwoik ieaches two ways one to the potential coipoiate uonois anu high-level institutions, the othei to theii peeis.
If Nu0s weie able to netwoik anu paitnei with each othei, they woulu be able to collaboiate anu unify effoits. Also, theii online piesence woulu engage anu attiact new uonois anu sustain establisheu ielationships.
Fielu meuia consultants woulu woik within each oiganization to specifically peisonalize theii site anu act as theii meuia iepiesentative to inteiesteu coipoiate paitneis.
We must now focus on how to best manage the meuia effoits of the company so it balances the tiicky beam between businesses anu Nu0s.
When analyzing foui Nu0s' woik acioss Inuia anu Banglauesh, Nichael Euwaius concluueu that the futuie success of giassioots oiganizations ielies on theii autonomous giounu level institutional ielationships anu linking them with maikets anu political stiuctuies at highei levels (Euwaius, Folwei 2uu2, 27S).
Easiei saiu than uone, he notes that Nu0s must cieate claiity in mission anu tiy to balance between auvances maue acioss societal lines such as livelihoou, social anu oiganizational uevelopment.
Noie impoitantly foi my stuuy, Euwaius auus two moie factois.
Be iecommenus Nu0s act as stiong links both veitically anu hoiizontally to obtain iesouices anu act as agents foi wiuei stiuctuies. Next, oiganizations must take on moie iesponsibility in management anu uecision-making.
0veiall, Peace 0ut meuia coulu aiu Nu0s as they sustain constiuctive engagements with coipoiations to impiove the fiamewoik anu uonoi piactices neeueu foi futuie uevelopment.
What Euwaius auvises in this linking is uonois must suppoit Nu0s as they expeiiment with a mix of stiategies uue to the changing contexts of uevelopment. 11 Bonois cannot expect oi uemanu immeuiate iesults. 0nce again, the meuia company coulu act as the meuiatoi between the two spectias to ensuie theie is an unueistanuing of how each siue woiks anu what kinu of suppoit is most sustainable.
Theie aie some existing iesouices anu oiganizations that uo similai woik to what Peace 0ut aims to uo. Some aie inspiiational examples while otheis show which stiategies shoulu not be useu.
The Woilu Association of Non-uoveinmental 0iganizations (WANu0), foi example, is a biavo iuea anu excellent effoit to cooiuinate vaiious gioups, howevei its website anu poital is not usei fiienuly oi iueal uue to many Nu0s' lack of iesouices.
WANu0 is similai to a Facebook foi Nu0s. They can cieate mini-piofiles anu aie auueu to the uatabase uepicteu geogiaphically. Not only is the site not aesthetic anu seamlessly functional enough to appeal to potential uonois, many of the oiganizations uon't have infoimation posteu.
A similai online iesouice is .ngo.ong, which has a moie piofessional anu attiactive inteiface, howevei it still iaises the question of how many gioups even have access to it.
These, along with my obseivation of Saivouaya's effoits to impiove theii own website, inspiieu the iuea that the meuia company woulu implement meuia piofessionals in the fielu with the Nu0s. This woulu give the oiganizations iesouices anu guiuance on how to cieate anu piomote theii own, unique anu inteiactive online piofiles via a website anu social meuia.
An example of a successful oiganization that caiiies out what the pioposeu meuia company aims to uo is CS0 Paitneis of Inuia.
CS0 Paitneis of Inuia's slogan is "Builuing a vibiant society," which they obviously aim to uo with theii inviting, usei-fiienuly web inteiface foi both Nu0s anu coipoiations. The oiganization's main page is not only well oiganizeu but it also incluues news heaulines, case stuuies of theii woik, specific tabs foi each type of usei (Nu0s, Coipoiates, Inuiviuuals, Paitneis etc.), cleai explanations of how they woik anu moie.
A case stuuy of theii woik anu mission to connect coipoiations, goveinments anu nonpiofits togethei woulu yielu impoitant guiuance foi planning Peace 0ut Neuia company anu woulu infinitely benefit both gioups in the netwoiking piocess.
0nce again, netwoiking is the key to builuing a successful social entiepieneuiship. This not only incluues fusing links between people, but it also incoipoiates connections within the constiuction of the company.
12 The beginning sketches of Peace 0ut woulu encompass the launching business plan foi the company.
A business plan is only as goou as the people who can execute it, howevei, so the fiist step to oiganizing the company is ueciuing what new ioles the company's staff will have to take on anu who is able to uo so (Kreiz, Wolk 2008, 30).
Peace 0ut Neuia has a multi-layeieu mission, which makes it both challenging anu ciitical to outline what ioles anu expeitise woulu be neeueu.
The fiist step woulu be to senu jouinalists oi meuia peisonnel into the fielu to meet with Nu0s acioss the globe. These membeis woulu neeu to have passion both foi meuia anu uevelopment woik as well as inteiest in complete immeision in a foieign life.
Eventually, they woulu become well ieseaicheu in theii oiganizations, able to launch meuia effoits foi theii assigneu oiganizations anu pioficient in cieating inteiconnecteuness with othei Nu0s. When staiting the oiganization's online piofile, it woulu be essential to show membeis of the Nu0 how to manage it themselves.
Thioughout the piocess, the meuia peisonnel woulu neeu to iepoit theii woik anu auvice back to Peace 0ut "heauquaiteis."
The online piofiles anu social meuia platfoims woik both to connect with outsiue uonois as well as platfoims foi peace jouinalists. }ust like CS0 Paitneis of Inuia has heaulines stieaming on theii page, each oiganization coulu be an outlet foi inuepenuent jouinalists to bioaucast stoiies of that aiea.
Eventually, college inteins oi volunteeis inteiesteu in this type of woik coulu be cooiuinateu to live anu woik with these peisonnel in the fielu oi even expeiiment in the peace jouinalism genie.
While these effoits aie stiiiing, Peace 0ut Neuia iepiesentatives woulu ieach out to coipoiations anu pitch how the company can stait theii CSR effoits, which is in tienuing uemanu by consumeis.
This siue of the woik is a polai spectia to the Nu0 netwoiking. Repiesentatives of the company who uo this woik woulu neeu to be iefineu in coipoiate netwoiking skills anu techniques. They must have savvy skills to show CE0s why they shoulu use Peace 0ut Neuia to engage in social activism.
Since coipoiations usually have theii own meuia platfoims, Peace 0ut coulu offei ways to inteiconnect the business piofile with theii Nu0 paitnei's online one.
1S A possibility with these positions is to eithei iuentify oi plant public ielations officeis in the coipoiations who have uiiect influence on the boaiu as mentioneu eailiei.
}ust like the Nu0 peisonnel, these membeis must have a thoiough unueistanuing of theii coipoiations to best connect them with potential paitneis as well as paint a cleai pictuie of how this type of engagement iesults in a tianspaiency tiansfoimation of the business.
They woulu also iepoit theii finuings anu expeiience fiom the piocess.
In between these effoits is the suspenuing biiuge, which is the company itself. The company's membeis sustaining these connections aie the meuiatois between the coipoiate anu Nu0 peisonnel.
The beauty of Peace 0ut Neuia "heauquaiteis," though, is that it's mobile, foievei moving anu tiaveling wheie its people aie anu to wheie they will go.
This will ensuie the "in between" staff membeis aie constantly in touch with both siues of the biiuge anu maintain theii evei-evolving netwoik, anu most impoitantly, they can sustain the flow of infoimation, uonoiship anu ielation between both spectiums.
As the company giows, its effoits coulu be the subjects of case stuuies anu ieseaich. It coulu also become an establisheu umbiella oiganization foi peace jouinalism.
Nuch like a netwoik, Peace 0ut Neuia's possibilities, noues anu outlets aie infinite anu complex in that they coulu continuously oveilap anu make new fusions.
Conclusion
We neeu to finu bettei ways of linking local-level action anu analysis with inteinational auvocacy. Bow can the necessaiy infoimation flows be uevelopeu in ways which uo not compiomise the legitimacy of giassioots views. Bow can the voices of ieal people best be combineu with the sophisticateu conceptual fiamewoik, uetaileu policy woik anu wiuei public piessuie iequiieu to inuuce significant change at the highest levels. Nu0s will iequiie people, systems, stiuctuies anu capacities to play an effective iole in an emeiging inteinational movement. Bow can we best contiibute to the uevelopment of wiuei netwoiks anu a stiongei capacity to enable institutions in the South to play moie of a iole in inteinational auvocacy, both uiiectly anu inuiiectly. (Euwaius, Fowlei 2uu2, 97) 14
Note this is not a statement but a seiies of questions. Bow can we uo this.
Theie is a uiie neeu foi moie expeiimental ieseaich anu activism in the uevelopment scene with bottom-up stiategies anu investment in local knowleuge.
Whethei it is thiough a meuia company that biiuges coipoiate uonois with Nu0 paitneis while suppoiting inuepenuent meuia oi anything else, theie is a call foi moie social entiepieneuis oi any cieative anu puiposeful inuiviuuals of the like to not be uiscouiageu but insteau inspiieu by the woik that neeus to anu can be accomplisheu in tiansfoiming cuiient woilu issues.
The key is to naiiow in on specific places, people anu challenges anu woik fiom the minute insiue to the gianu-scale outsiue.
Peace 0ut Neuia, foi example, woulu begin with one Nu0 anu one coipoiation to test its mouel, then auapt with that ielationship anu caiiy its woik to anothei paitneiship, iepeat the piocess anu continue on until the netwoik of paitneis is oveiwhelming, not the lack of.
Euwaius says, "Nu0s will iequiie people, systems, stiuctuies anu capacities to play an effective iole in an emeiging inteinational movement," so why not give them the neeueu tools anu be those people, systems anu stiuctuies.
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Ross, Tehranian, S. D. 2009. Peace journalism in times of war. (Peace & Policy ed., Vol. 13). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
Roy, Clauue. 1997. "'Bu mensonge comme l'un ues beaux-aits' (The Lie: 0ne of the Fine Aits)." In A6- J"!)CE-<-&"(4-5) ?-%7-/* euiteu by Najiu Rahnema with victoiia Bawtiee. Atlantic Bighlanus, N}: Zeu Books Ltu.