Human Rights Education A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions Use plain language: Avoid jargon and speak simply. Use words and ideas that resonate with the priority audience and accord with their values. For example, “human rights” can be expressed as “respect”; “equality as “fairness”; and “humane treatment” as “dignity”. Tell stories: Give a human dimension to the issues. Share the experiences of individuals, families and communities. Help people connect to the issue on an emotional level and put themselves in the shoes of another person. Use images: Have photographs and videos that can bring the issues to life and help people to see things differently. A striking image can stay with people for a long time. Offer solutions: It is essential that NHRIs expose human rights violations and systemic discrimination. It is equally important that they present and advocate for sensible, credible solutions to those problems. Encourage people to act: If there is something people can do to promote or protect human rights, ask them to do it. Find simple ways to connect people to the NHRI, to partner groups or to events taking place within their local communities. Keep it short: Providing briefs or summaries that then link out to wider dense reports for those interested. In a crowded media space, repetition is the key to ensuring that a message is heard and, ultimately, acted upon. Media engagement to promote human rights awareness cannot be a one-off event. It requires consistent promotion, across multiple media outlets, over a sustained period of time. 10.7. MONITORING YOUR COVERAGE It is crucial that NHRIs monitor how different media outlets cover the human rights issues that they raise. It is equally important that NHRIs monitor the coverage that other groups receive when they talk on the same issues. Monitoring the media helps NHRIs to: • see how the media covered the story – was it favourable or critical? • address any inaccuracies – were there errors that should be corrected? • chart what “allies” and “opponents” have said – how were their views covered? • listen to community feedback on the issue – are they supportive? If not, why not? • refine the message – was your message confused or at odds with community views? • advance the issue to the next step – what needs to happen next to achieve the overall goal? Monitoring the media can be time-consuming but it is a vital part of the media engagement cycle. It helps NHRIs to review how effectively they have engaged the media, as well as to plan how they can continue to promote the issues and build community awareness. 10.8. CREATING HUMAN RIGHTS CONTENT FOR THE MEDIA A challenge all NHRIs face is to ensure that the human rights issues they seek to raise are reported accurately. Another challenge is to ensure that the issues receive consistent media coverage. In response, a number of NHRIs have established cooperative relationships with media outlets – television and radio outlets, in particular – to prepare, record and broadcast human rights “spots” and programmes and promote community awareness about the role of the NHRI. 98