The OneOcean team has been working on a weekly media analysis – the OneOcean Response Room briefing – that looks at the intersections between COVID-19 and environment content, the environment and ocean content, and ocean and COVID-19 content on both legacy and social media.
During the COVID-19 situation, it is important to understand the kind of conversations that are taking place, what is resonating with people and why, to ensure that our communication is as impactful as possible and – at the very least – does no harm in this sensitive time.
The briefing provides recommendations and example materials which reflect the findings from our analysis. Find to follow a summary of the top-line findings of this week’s briefing (covering 13-19 April, 2020).
The full OneOcean Response Room weekly briefing and supporting analysis is available to Flotilla members. If your organisation is interested in receiving this briefing, is not a member and interested in joining, please email travis@oceanprotect.org
Summary of findings
- As the shift in focus around Covid-19 becomes more forward-looking, but the future remains full of uncertainty, now is the time for a contemplative and thoughtful tone in communication around ‘how we do things’ in the future. Ask questions of yourselves and your audiences to reflect upon collectively, using an inclusive ‘we’ that emphasises the connection between us.
- In communications about the current situation, there is evidence of ongoing appetite and traction for good news stories, particularly around the recovery of nature during the lockdown period (for the moment at least). As many people continue to feel some level of anxiety or concern through lockdown, we recommend continuing to use a positive, hopeful tone in communication where possible.
- There is evidence on social media of people using this period to reflect on what is important and what they truly value. Consider ways to interject the many different values that the ocean brings (from nature, to mental health, to food source, etc), so that when future decisions are made the ocean is present in minds as something that needs to be protected.
- There is currently a strong connectedness between the hyperlocal and global experience, for example, people are noticing wildlife in their own backyard and then seeing this replicated across a worldwide community. It is not always necessary to be communicating with broad global messages. Communicate on what is small, tangible, and local to you, and this will feed into the impactful contribution to the bigger conversations and exemplify global issues.