Workshop: Developing News Stories on CGIAR Research

The CGIAR has embarked on a new collective approach for conveying more strongly the relevance and importance of its research in national and international media.

Through a "story development workshop" held on May 15-16 at Nairobi, 17 communicators from 10 CGIAR-supported Centers fleshed out a half dozen science story ideas; enhanced their ability to identify, develop and promote stories; and strengthened collegial ties that will facilitate future collaboration in story development.

The event was organized jointly by the CGIAR Media Unit and Secretariat (acting on behalf of the Marketing Group), and it was hosted by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). A final half-day session was held at the Nairobi campus of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). Two media consultants from Burness Communications (a US-based public relations firm working for social change with not-for-profit organizations) joined Media Unit and Secretariat staff in working with Center communicators.

Participants spent most of the time working in pairs or in small groups, analyzing the newsworthiness of story ideas and writing headlines and lead sentences. Each of these sessions was preceded by a brief discussion of key principles and practices involved in story development and promotion.

One of the highlights of the event was a session with Otula Owour, former science editor of The Nation in Nairobi, and Barry Moody, Africa editor for Reuters, who talked about what they look for in science news and offered practical advice about presenting science stories to the media.

In the final half-day session, participants discussed how they can strengthen the CGIAR's collective communications efforts through collaboration in online and print publications, in the organization of exhibits at major events and in theme-based campaigns. In addition, they explored ways to reinforce the network of Center communicators through continued exchanges and active follow-up on story ideas developed at the workshop.

Nearly three-fourths of the participants who completed an evaluation of the event rated its overall value as "very good" or "excellent." Their comments suggested that they appreciated the effort to "bring CGIAR communicators together" and would be interested in making the workshop an annual event.