ORGANIZE A MEDIA BRIEFING SESSION
Objectives
· To offer journalists and others from the media an opportunity to understand better refugee realities and the refugee system, so that they will be able to report better on these issues in the future.
· To make yourselves known to the media as resource persons so that they will contact you in the future when they are seeking stories, information or comment.
Planning the session
· Define the issues you want to cover. You might want to consult with some of the journalists you are inviting to see what they would like to learn more about.
· Include an explanation of the importance of the Singh decision.
· Include some explanation of the refugee systems (in-Canada and overseas), particularly addressing issues where you have noticed the media is confused or ill-informed (e.g. on how many appeals are available to refugees).
· Include some explanation of key CCR concerns (e.g. non-implementation of Refugee Appeal Division, Safe third country, painfully slow processing for privately sponsored refugees and refugee family reunification).
· Don’t try to cover too much. Make sure you leave time for questions.
· Make sure you have well-informed people giving the presentations and answering questions.
Inviting the media
· Consult with local refugee and immigrant-serving agencies for a list of local journalists, particularly key ones you wish to invite (e.g. those who regularly cover the issues).
· Pick a time that works for them.
· Send out the notice of the briefing as widely as possible to media. The notice should make clear that this is an opportunity to get background information on refugee issues and ask questions from experts.
· If you can, call the various media organizations to make sure that the right people received the notice and are encouraged to attend.
At the media briefing
· Have the media people attending sign up with their contact information.
· Hand out relevant CCR materials (including the Glossary of Terms).
· Don’t expect participants to stay overtime – if you cannot finish your presentation and leave time for questions, better to leave out some of the presentation and allow time for discussion and questions.
· Encourage the journalists to come to you in future for story ideas, information etc.
· To offer journalists and others from the media an opportunity to understand better refugee realities and the refugee system, so that they will be able to report better on these issues in the future.
· To make yourselves known to the media as resource persons so that they will contact you in the future when they are seeking stories, information or comment.
Planning the session
· Define the issues you want to cover. You might want to consult with some of the journalists you are inviting to see what they would like to learn more about.
· Include an explanation of the importance of the Singh decision.
· Include some explanation of the refugee systems (in-Canada and overseas), particularly addressing issues where you have noticed the media is confused or ill-informed (e.g. on how many appeals are available to refugees).
· Include some explanation of key CCR concerns (e.g. non-implementation of Refugee Appeal Division, Safe third country, painfully slow processing for privately sponsored refugees and refugee family reunification).
· Don’t try to cover too much. Make sure you leave time for questions.
· Make sure you have well-informed people giving the presentations and answering questions.
Inviting the media
· Consult with local refugee and immigrant-serving agencies for a list of local journalists, particularly key ones you wish to invite (e.g. those who regularly cover the issues).
· Pick a time that works for them.
· Send out the notice of the briefing as widely as possible to media. The notice should make clear that this is an opportunity to get background information on refugee issues and ask questions from experts.
· If you can, call the various media organizations to make sure that the right people received the notice and are encouraged to attend.
At the media briefing
· Have the media people attending sign up with their contact information.
· Hand out relevant CCR materials (including the Glossary of Terms).
· Don’t expect participants to stay overtime – if you cannot finish your presentation and leave time for questions, better to leave out some of the presentation and allow time for discussion and questions.
· Encourage the journalists to come to you in future for story ideas, information etc.