The smartphone way to get a message across

Storytelling has become a crucial skill for non-governmental and civil society organisations wanting their voices to be heard. Traditionally they would have relied on third parties to highlight issues such as human rights and make video content for them.

But the smartphone and access to social media have changed that.

The Thomson Foundation has been working with organisations, training them to use their mobile phones to produce videos, to help them communicate their messages effectively and accurately on their websites and social media.

Two recent projects have been in Thailand and Ukraine, both countries where journalists can face restrictions on their freedom to report.

Thailand

Most participants were communications officers for human rights organisations, whose work highlights sensitive issues.

Some looked at problems associated with land rights: there have been a number of murders and arrests in the south of the country where forests are being cleared by loggers or for crops. Others worked in the north of the country where Burmese refugees have fled across the border.

Training took place in stages over two one-week courses. Stage one focused on the technical aspects of using a smartphone for filming and editing as well as basic storytelling techniques.

Course participants then had to conceive an idea for a film before returning for a second week where they were helped to develop the idea into a professional-quality video.

The programme, funded by the British embassy in Bangkok, covered a wide range of topics, including:

• Bo, who works for non-for-profit, online newspaper Prachatai, was making a film called 'The Jeans' about student protesters killed in a university massacre in 1976. He interviewed a victim’s sister at an exhibition where the jeans her brother was wearing when he died were on show. The emotional interview captured the loss and anguish over the deaths.
• Plot works for the Cross Cultural Foundation, an organisation which works on justice and the protection, promotion and monitoring of human rights in Thailand. He told the story of a grandmother who lived in a neighbourhood of Bangkok that was about to be demolished to make way for luxury housing. She talked movingly about her joy at being able to look after her granddaughter after school in the tight-knit community but how the destruction would change that forever.
• Neung, from Triple H Music, is a musician whose lyrics were inspired by young refugees from Myanmar. He turns human stories into songs that people will enjoy and dance to. He used interviews and performances to show how he makes the songs about how the refugees found themselves living in Thailand.

An E-learning course in Mobile Journalism is available in the Thai language to join the course please click here.