Panel discussion: Do the right thing - ethics in public affairs
The day's final discussion, on ethics in public affairs, brought together four heavy-hitters:
- Simon Banks, director of Hawker Britton, who managed the Kevin 07 campaign
- Karin Fisher from the ethics group of the Australian Public Service Commission
- David Imber from Essential Media Communications, and co-founder of the Australians for Affordable Housing campaign
- Laura Tingle, veteran political and finance reporter with the Australian Financial Review
The panel was chaired by News.com.au chief political writer Malcolm Farr
Ms Fisher first explained how the Australian Public Service Commission had gone through an extensive period of consultation about their values, which incorporated both online and traditional tools.
Mr Imber said it is important that public servants have values to guide them, no matter which party is running the country.
Ms Tingle said journalists and public servants have to consider the role of the public service to inform the community independent of government. Saying it was interesting to watch the tweets from ACT Police during the recent truck convoy protest.
Mr Banks said it is very important that tweets are authentic and it is essential if a member of a politician's team tweeted on their behalf.
Mr Banks said it is a mistake to hide yourself away when you are a member of parliament. He said it is important for politicians to use social media to interact with the community.
Mr Imber said it is vital to keep the audience in mind at all times.
Ms Tingle said she is the only person in the Financial Review Canberra Bureau to use Twitter. She said you have to use Twitter carefully as you would any other source.
Mr Banks said it is important to find an online space where people genuinely want to engage with and to avoid the blogs and sites where people are looking for a 'punch up'.
What do you think? Join our discussion in the comments.
Case study: CEO Sleepout, St Vincent De Paul
Yolanda Saiz and Chantelle Johnson from St Vincent de Paul Society spoke about how mainstream media and social media can join forces to help raise the profile of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout and homelessness in Australia.
Ms Saiz said in Australia each year 105,000 people affected by homelessness, 26% are families with children.She then showed this video about the issue of homelessness.
Vinnies formed a partnership with News Ltd, from which it received a full page spread in The Australian. She said it was unheard of for a not-for-profit organisation.
Ms Saiz said Vinnies faced difficulties in that homelessness was not a news issue and people do not want to see it.Ms Johnson showed this video about social media from Socialnomics.
Case study - The Australian Government's 'Clean energy future' digital engagement campaign
A case study presented by Kate Bradstreet, Senior Director of Communication from the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, and Debbie Dickinson, digital media and communications strategist, Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency
Ms Bradstreet first took the audience on a tour of the clean energy future site, explaining the main driver of traffic was actually a household assistance calculator, but also integrating Twitter and videos.Ms Dickinson explained that the whole campaign was about getting a government voice into a discussion which was already ongoing in the social media space. Ms Bradstreet said the department has had 47,000 views of their YouTube videos.
The department developed case studies to show the impact of carbon pricing on different people. Many of the case studies were based on Treasury modelling.
Ms Bradstreet said their Facebook risk strategy included a 24-hour moderation policy if needed, but the fact the Facebook page is largely self monitoring and worst values were not realised.Ms Bradstreet said there was some nervousness around negative comments but that has improved. Saying most Facebook posts have between 20 to 40 comments. The Clean Energy Future site was built using WordPress and most of the design was done in-house. With the campaign's Facebook, YouTube and Twitter all run by four people. Ms Bradstreet said the most significant costs were probably from animation and videos, and that a lot of the work was done in-house by a very tech savvy employee.Professor John McMillan on the impact of FOI reforms on public affairs
Professor John McMillan spoke on the impact of Freedom Of Information (FOI) reforms on public affairs.
He said information was an important national resource that should be managed as effectively as any other.
He also explained how growing criticisms of Australia's 30-year-old FOI laws prompted reform last year in November.
The main elements of the reform were:
- the establishment of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, headed by three comissioners responsible for FOI, privacy, and information policy, to advise government;
- reform of FOI objects, procedures and principles;
- broad range of powers - complaint handling, review of decisions, advocacy and promotion, publication of guidelines, training, legislative review;
- proactive publication, through Information Publication Scheme and Disclosure Logs.
Professor McMillan went on to explain their impact, in terms of both reinforcing the broader open government agenda and with concrete examples.
He also pointed out the tensions such as how the publication of disclosure logs had led to controversy over when publication should occur, what should be published, and who should be briefed.
Professor McMillan also discussed whether access to government information through the FOI process should be easier.
Other key tensions for Professor McMillan were how far the public interest extended and how far transparency should extend.
Professor McMillan said there was a double standard at work as often material which would be unremarkable if published by a third party makes people anxious when it is published by the government.
The good, the bad and the tremendous, is there a new media best practice?
(From left to right: Kylie Johnson of Kylie Johnson Media, blogger Greg Jericho and Hank Jongen from the Department of Human Services)
Panel discussion between Kylie Johnson, Hank Jongen, and Greg Jericho, moderated by Malcolm Farr.
Malcolm Farr from News.com.au opened the discussion by mentioning the use of Twitter and the concern over lacking control over what is said and how social media is managed within the public service.
He explained the fright has died down since as users discover there is more control over social media than once thought.
Kylie Johnson of Kylie Johnson Media said that communicators are setting up 'best practice' as we go, while still debating whether 'best practice' actually exists within government.
She said there are plenty of projects that have had to be compromised so much so that the term 'best practice' makes her nervous.
Hank Jongen, the General Manager Communications for the Department of Human Services said that most people have an overall understanding of social networking but there seems to be an inability and fear of "going to where the people are".
He said that users within departments must steer away from just tweeting media releases before mentioning a time when tweets had to be approved and moderated.
Blogger Greg Jericho said that there was a culture built across organisations that involves honesty, publishing the good and the bad and answering questions before following through.
He said he felt licensed to follow through with the innovative things that are being done online, saying there was no doubt that in the online environment, "from small things big things grow".
Mr Jericho said it was an evolving process rather than a constraining environment.
Ms Johnson said that in a lot of departments only the Minister was able to speak, but when public servants do speak she wondered what happens to them when they speak incorrectly and it ends up in the papers.
She said there must be social networking practises and guidelines to protect those that speak on behalf of a department.
Mr Jongen agreed, saying that "not everyone has a Sandi" to teach them what to do.
Ms Johnson spoke of how journalists have had social media training, referring to Julie Posetti and her work within social media.
This was opposed to many public service employees who have had no experience and are expected to know common guidelines.
Mr Jericho said that the problems that can happen when personal use of Facebook intertwines with the professional, illustrating a case where a government department posted photos of an alcohol-fuelled party, asking where the line is drawn.
In terms of producing best practise, Mr Jongen said it was a trial and error process, where you learn from your experiences.
He said that when he was learning he had to learn as he went but if he made an error it was his head on the chopping board.
Mr Jongen mentioned the issue within blogging or using social networking throughout your university life before embarking into the professional world, wondering where graduates can turn to know what they can and cannot speak about within their department.
Mr Jericho mentioned the ethical issues that are an important part of training within certain government departments.
Ms Johnson continued by saying that while working at the CSIRO, she met with fellow Gov 2.0 proponents in other departments who supported each other by meeting formally and swapping ideas and guidelines. At the time she said there was nothing like there is now in the way of support networks.
Mr Jericho said that he felt it was not about employees having to put their job on the line while using social media. He said there was a risk by speaking in such an environment, but it is 2011 and that you must think realistically in order to diffuse certain situations.
Ms Johnson agreed, saying there is such a gap between the SES level and lower level public servants and one of the key challenges was getting a social media idea through the different layers of management. She said that you need to have a clear reason for why you may be using certain social networking tools.
Mr Jongen concluded that if you are part of a communications department, you would be silly to not be involved in the online conversation, however, once the conversation gains attention, you must monitor your input.
Govt 2.0 and the new public affairs toolbox
Video interview with Markus Mannheim from the Canberra Times and moderator of the debate.
A panel debate discussion between Tom Burton, Craig Thomler, Sandi Logan and Julie Posetti, moderated by Markus Mannheim
Julie Posetti from the University of Canberra said words like transparency, accountability and authenticity really do have meaning in civic life, and these are words she associates with social media. She adds that there needs to be adequate training - individuals who may have had no experience in publication should not be suddenly asked to maintain a twitter feed.
Ms Posetti said many print journalists are struggling with the instantaneous nature of social media.
Sandi Logan from the Department of Immigration said there are times when public affairs professionals find themselves spending their entire weekends on twitter, and that work-life balance is a real issue when it comes to the new public affairs tools.
"If we want the public service, governments and agencies to understand and embrace this space, one of the first things you have to do is get your CIO on twitter," said Mr Burton.
He said when using new social media tools you need to be prepared to be wrong, prepared to be humble, and be prepared for a 21-year-old to say "don't be lame, this is how you do it."
Mr Logan said journalists often tell him off for 'bagging' them on twitter, but that if he wrote a letter to the editor, it wouldn't be published. Twitter, he said, is a great way to correct the record.
Ms Posetti said this was a displacement in traditional power, which has happened not just in journalism but also in public relations. Journalists are finding themselves under the microscope and are side-tracked by people like Logan, who go direct-to-audience with their message. She added that social media is actually driving cultural and institutional change.
Then Mr Mannheim asked the panel to deconstruct Burton's previous idea that the government agency is becoming a media agency: "Is doing things like building your own apps, your own avenues for communication, going to cost us a lot more?"
Gov 2.0 advocate, Craig Thomler said the question is what is government supposed to do? Identify what the community needs, and deliver it.
He said that you need to put together the tools that let you deliver the outcomes people want from government. Gov 2.0 is a lot cheaper than going around running consultations, and will actually make government more efficient over time.
In terms of apps and other tools, Thomler said if government leads the charge then this will flow into the private sector.
Ms Posetti then returned to Sandi Logan's earlier comment that work-life balance needs to be effectively managed: "It's not to say this is a disease we need to stamp out, this constant connectivity. But it's certainly something we need to watch, especially industrially..."
Tom Burton from Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA)
Mr Burton said that smart phones have become like 'swiss army knives'. He says that a quarter of Americans access their information via smart phones rather than computers.
He says he's not ready to say the PC is dead, but it's essential to think beyond the desktop and plan for increased use of the smart phone.
Mr Burton said some areas of departments would 'rather die' than use new media, but he's confident this will change with time.
He spoke about establishing a presence and learning web 2.0.
He says emaling a password in ACMA is a sackable offence, so staff can text the password or say it over the phone. He says security matters in ACMA.
Mr Burton says he wouldn't spend more than $8000 for a video set up - including the camera, the space and the editing software.
He cited ACMA's Engage site. He says the site itself cost $99 and around $5000 pa for secure hosting.
Craig Thomler - Bringing Gov 2.0 to Life.
Craig Thomler from the Department of Regional Services says Gov 2.0 represents a fundamental shift in relationship between citizens and governments. He says the shift towards Govt. 2.0 is empowering citizens and bringing them "inside the tent" of policy decisions.
He said it's all about opening up public data for reuse by the public.
He says this will allow for better decision making, because it's not as about government as it once was.
Mr Thomler says Govt 2.0 was started outside the government and is driven outside the government.
He believes one major facet of Gov 2.0, is the ability to "rent" an audience, through social networking, in order to get an idea across to the right target. It also gives communicators a direct channel to speak to shareholders, which is a fundamental shift.
He argued it is easier now for the government to engage with their constituents and deliver information.
He says Gov 2.0 allows people to choose when they want to access this information.
Mr Thomler says the government cannot solve situations, but through sharing strategies and communicating, the government adopts the role of a faciliator of dialogue.
One example Mr Thomler mentioned is the data.gov.au website, where with no threat to privacy, government data is available for public consumption. By selling data, it creates discrimination between those that can afford the data and those that can't - so it's much easier just making it available.
Mr Thomler says challenges remain, including a generation gap, a political climate, a public service culture, legislation and policy, speed of change, personal versus professional and adoption of social media and reach.
You can see the slides from Craig Thomler's presentation here.
You can check out his egovau blog here.
Commonwealth Ombudsman Allan Asher - Why So Many Good Policy Ideas Turn To Porridge
Video of Allan Asher explaining his presentation about why so many good policy ideas become a pale imitation of their former selves.
Allan Asher opened his presentation by saying that it is important to look back at good policies that 'turned to porridge' over the past ten years. He said that many of the failures were due to poor communication.
He argued one of the best ways to address the issue of poor communication is a change in mindset. He said departments must be willing to engage and communicate. He says this requires a fundamental change in ideology.
He said one way of addressing problems is for public servants to put themselves in the shoes of their audience and working their way up from there.
Mr Asher said he hoped above all things that social inclusion becomes the 'watch word' rather than the 'buzz word'. He says there is a real danger in it becoming the latter.
How do governments communicate with people? It is worth looking at the daily grind of people on the other side of daily communications which can be quite remote. He illustrates that it's no good looking at a well designed strategy when the people on the other end have no access to receive and access or even understand the message. He said people aren't complaining about the decision, they complain about not receiving the message at all.
He argued one of the problems is government 'jargon', which is often too formal and too complex.
Mr Asher outlined communication breakdowns in the form of computer-generated form letters, or cut and paste text that fail to allow the majority of readers to easily understand what is being said. He also mentioned the problem of putting forward too much information.
"It's going to the fourth or the fifth letter that will end up in the bin...it ends up being a barrier to communication."
Other communication failures Mr Asher mentioned included call centre staff that don't have the authority to solve problems and that another major issue is the failure to provide simple explanations to people.
The inability for many Indigenous people to converse in English was also a major issue for many policies with the communication strategy not thought through properly, Mr Asher explained.
Social inclusion, according to Mr Asher, is a major issue faced by communicators.
He defined this social inclusion as involving those that are marginalised including those dealing with addiction, the indigenous population, the elderly and those living in poverty. Mr Asher mentioned that this group makes up quite a sizeable part of the population but communication schemes are designed to show that these groups needs are highly different and these differences need to be taken into account. The notion has gained a higher level of importance in the government relations discourse.
He mentioned that many members of the public don't know about the Office of the Ombudsman and that was an issue the Office must take into account. Allan made is clear that plain and simple language is at the forefront of good communication.
You can view a post-speech interview with Mr Asher above, and find his speech here.
About Me
WalkleyTeamThe Walkley Foundation communication team is reporting from the Public Affairs in the Nation's Capital Conference on September 6, 2011. The team will provide updates, interviews and information throughout the conference. The team is made up of the Walkley Foundation's Kylie Johnson and Flynn Murphy, along with University of Canberra communication students, led by Grace Keyworth and Mel Evans. Check out the Walkley Foundation website here: http://www.walkleys.com/
