When journalists ask voluntary associations for a “story” they are sometimes viewed with distrust. In some cases they are even accused of chasing after the more folkloric aspects of reality, almost as if they want to look at people’s lives through a keyhole.
But the story of a person, of a group, of a cause has nothing folkloric at all, on the contrary it has an irreplaceable value: it gives plasticity to a concept, it helps the reader to pass from the world of ideas to that of things and to understand, through the strength of concrete experience, because a given situation can be positive or negative, what it feels like to stay in it and what it feels like to get out of it. But what criteria must those who find themselves in a position to “mediate” the stories between those directly involved and journalists follow? In collaboration with the Social Editor, CSVnet has drawn up a handbook for the communicators of the Service Centers for Volunteering and for all those who carry out this function in third sector organizations. Here is a summary.
- Awareness. Free yourself from the inferiority complex towards journalists: we are dealing with topics that are crucial for the life of the entire population.
- Originality. It is not difficult to find a story (a project, a person out of the ordinary) in volunteering activities, but the right one must have elements of originality and interpret the mood of the moment.
- Values. The social value of a story is “presumed”: it must never be taken for granted, but it must be reconciled with the “objective” values of the communication (number of viewers, copies or clicks, possibility of making an opinion, etc.).
- Emotion. Finding elements in the story that have the emotional strength to illuminate the issues they recall.
- Meeting. Always try to meet (or make meet) the protagonists personally, leaving them the word, to enter the places where the story takes place.
- Facts. Don’t overdo the explanations. It’s the story that speaks, not our comment or the predefined categories we are often fond of.
- No santini. Stories are often not linear. It is not a question of building holy cards, but of knowing how to tell the complexity of life, with its chiaroscuro.
- Self-referencing. The history of people is more important than the association, its methodologies, intervention models, project reports …
- Sources and language. Valuing social workers as sources. But the communicator must also be able to “translate” their language (without distorting or trivializing it) to make it understandable externally.
- Context. Knowing how to offer all the information (research, surveys, data) that allow you to place the story in a broader picture.
