Barnsley Case Study

Funded by the Depart­ment of Com­munities and Local Gov­ern­ment, this work is aimed at coun­tering the growth of rad­ical right-wing ideo­lo­gies in the bor­ough and improving com­mu­nic­a­tions between cit­izens and stat­utory author­ities. This includes identi­fying and working with allies and cred­ible car­riers for mes­sages, who are trusted by the local authority and com­munity to convey information.

  • Coun­cil­lors: We have also helped to train elected Mem­bers and com­munity Leaders to deal with com­peting sources of com­mu­nic­a­tions, cor­recting false inform­a­tion and exposing myths, to main­tain trust and con­fid­ence in the com­munity. This includes media man­age­ment and direct engage­ment with those per­pet­rating myths. Coun­cil­lors have been given the skills and knowhow to con­duct ‘crisis com­mu­nic­a­tions’, use social media and develop blogs.
  • Local Strategy Part­ner­ship: iMedia believes that public per­cep­tion of local author­ities improves when dif­ferent parts of local gov­ern­ment coordinate their com­mu­nic­a­tion, and that coordin­a­tion can also bring effi­ciency sav­ings. We have been helping the dif­ferent ele­ments of the Local Stra­tegic Part­ner­ship refine and develop a com­mu­nic­a­tions strategy that is joined up and effective.
  • Com­munity Pride. iMedia knows that rad­ical groups exploit com­munities who feel insecure. We helped Barnsley Met­ro­pol­itan Bor­ough Council design a tailor-made com­munity pride cam­paign called ‘Por­trait Barnsley’ -  a mass par­ti­cip­a­tion event held on 24 September 2010. Barnsley cit­izens were encour­aged to take group pho­to­graphic por­traits on that spe­cific day and submit them to a central web­site — using SMS, MMS and direct uploads. On the day itself a massive screen in the town centre pro­jected the pho­to­graphs as they were received and a music event provided a focus. In total, more than 2,000 people sub­mitted pho­to­graphs on the day and demand was so great that the web­site (see below) was kept open for the weekend to allow people to send in their pic­tures.  The event is intended to become a com­munity fest­ival of dis­tinct and shared identity.