SALGA NATIONAL COMMUNICATORS FORUM Buffalo City Metro case
SALGA NATIONAL COMMUNICATORS FORUM Buffalo City Metro case study: Effective media management 27 September 2018
• About Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality • Communications strategy • Media profile and environment • Challenges • Short term interventions • Long term interventions
• SITUATED relatively centrally in the Eastern Cape Province • HOME to Provincial Capital, Bhisho • AREA is characterized by incorporating urban and rural components • POPULATION estimated nearly 800 000 people, a little more than a tenth (11. 4%) of the Eastern Cape’s population and represents 1. 5% of South Africa’s population. • RACIAL composition Black 92. 9%, Coloured 2. 4%, Asian 0. 2%, White 4. 5% • HIGH levels of poverty, unemployment 21 % and inequality • GOVERNMENT biggest employer, followed by factories (MBSA) • COASTAL City, growing economy, host events, with boxing and music our famous exports
Communications strategy - The City operating on a Communications strategy that is under review - Multi-stakeholder consultation process: SWOT and situational analysis, presentation to Council structures
… continued • Diagnosis presents an opportunity for short and long term interventions. • Introduced a number of innovative communication platforms in the short term to enhance the current information gap that exists between the BCMM key stakeholders.
Media as a key stakeholder
Media environment - Demographics, target markets, ownership, frequency etc - Agenda: Profit driven e. g Dispatch, Herald, : Developmental e. g. Community media : Constitutional obligation: Public broadcaster (SABC) - Content analysis: e. g. . Daily Sun vs Daily Dispatch, Community radio vs Commercial radio
• Media Profile • SABC radio and TV based in Bhisho • No e-News • Algoa FM based in East London • Daily Dispatch • Bureau to Sunday Times and City Press • 4 Community radio stations • Feed into 8 in total • Online radio station • Community TV station based in PE • 3 weekly door to door community newspapers (EL, KWT) • Lots of Fly by nights • Couple Facebook pages dedicated against the City
Media as a key stakeholder Media analysis (In-house stats): Publications Daily Dispatch Saturday Dispatch City Press The Herald i. Africa. com SAbreaking new East London Express Timeslive Stories - 55 + * Politicsweb Sowetan live News 24 Eyewitness Response Not No Letters Required comment 30 5 19 31 21 3 13 + * % 11 1 1 91
MEDIA MONITORING: October 2017 Total stories: 60 Directorate Coverage 23, 00%; 23% 28, 30%; 28% ESS Speaker’s Office EM’s Office Environmental Services Finance 8, 30%; 8% 3, 30%; 3% 6, 60%; 7% 5, 00%; 5% 13, 30%; 13% 3, 30%; 3% Housing Corporate services Health and Safety Engineering Total number of responses = 51 No response =2 Response not required =7 Percentage of total responses = 85%
SENTIMENTS 12 10 9 8 6 6 4 3 2 2 2 1 0 Positive Negative Neutral 1 ESS Speaker’s Office EM’s Office 9 5 1 3 1 2 1 Environmental Services 1 3 Positive Finance Housing 2 2 6 Negative Neutral Corporate services 1 2 Health and Safety 3 2 Engineering 6 11
Media analysis Media issues: 3, 5 3 3 3 2, 5 2 2 POS NEG 1, 5 BAL 1 1 1 0, 5 0 0 0 SCM 0 0 Streetlights 0 Roads 0 0 Refuse 0 0 Public Part 0 0 Traffic Servi
Media interventions Media pitching: - be proactive, eg. audit outcome - pitch your own stories; set the tone for your own coverage, eg. Steve Tshwete games & BRICS - target your “pressers” to specific journos - Target specific days (Sundays) - owning negative stories and turning them into positives, internal follow up processes
Media as a key stakeholder
Media as a key stakeholder Media relations: - accessibility : 3 comms staff deal with media queries - reliability : editorial Comms. Dept; staff assigned per directorates (beats) - personal relationships: understanding their work environment and be flexible. Eg. AG story TV coverage; certain journalists talk to certain people - Media partnerships (SABC, Dispatch)
Media networking
Community media support
Swot analysis WEAKNESSES Inadequate tools of trade to match technological trends Insufficient utilisation of community and social media as alternative and strategic communication mediums Old and outdated website Leaks into the media Lack of responsiveness by departments on queries Non adherence to communication protocols by employees/ councillors “Fake news” External environment (political, social, service delivery protests)
NEW BCMM WEBSITE
Short term innovation interventions Transportation to City events Identify and avail experts Daily sms service: - daily sms service whereby key stakeholders have been identified and grouped together for targeted messaging almost a daily basis. In future the Department is looking to expand the stakeholders within this category and ultimately have every Municipal employee of the Municipality and every account holder on its database. Social media (Daily tweets and Facebook updates: creating your own news) - the Comms Strat has already identified that there needs to be a serious investment from the side of the City. Daily electronic newsletter to all staff: - assists in Departments identifying Communications as a source of news. Monthly printed newsletter for citizens Short videos, Whats. App voice notes (eg. Water contamination)
- Long term innovation interventions - Policies - identify leaks as an institutional risk - Enhancing Community Media relations (Community Media Indaba 2018, training driven) - Set up of BCMM Media Hub (radio & tv studio) - Screens across the City - Rolling out free wifi (hotspots); event hotspot - Complaints management (Editors roundtable, BCCSA, Ombudsman) - Crisis Rapid Response Team to “urgent” media queries - Daily newspaper home delivery to strategic persons
CONCLUSION • • • 24/7 job passion & right attitude Diversify/re-invent yourself Info-driven, be news smart Learn from your peers’ mistakes
THANK YOU
- Slides: 24
