Embracing the media to increase the impact of audit work

By Luke Eaton, Communications Advisor/Editor, PASAI

Making an issue hard to ignore

About a year ago, one of our members published an audit report [1] which reviewed the integrity of the assessment and approval processes for two government grant programmes. It was not about embezzlement or public money gone missing. There was nothing illegal found about how the money was allocated. However, the impact of this report is arguably still being felt in New South Wales.

Ordinarily, grant administration would not be likely to capture the public’s attention. There’s no obvious civil society organisation that would find such a topic central to its cause. How then did this report avoid the fate of so many others that end up gathering dust on the shelf, despite their notable findings?

There’s no one answer of course but I think it’s fair to say the media did some of the heavy lifting.

When the audit office published the report in its necessarily impartial and measured language, the media realised the findings didn’t pass the ‘pub test’, as many Australians would say. This means that average citizens chatting about the relevant facts of a matter (at say, a pub) would agree there was something unjust about it, even if it might be technically compliant.

And so, having recognised the potential interest in the report, the media gave it ‘legs’ and reported on it with some rather attention-grabbing headlines over several months.

A collage of some of some of the articles related to the audit in question, centre

The benefits of earned media

Now I know many of our members don’t operate in an environment where they can rely on a well-resourced local media to recognise their audit work as potential news stories. Some countries face restricted media freedoms and few media outlets. However, many SAIs simply haven’t prioritised the media as one of their key stakeholders.

Engaging with the media does carry risk. After all, you don’t have editorial control over what an external media outlet will publish or broadcast. However, this separation is what gives extra credibility to your messages. Consider how differently you feel learning about a product on a seller’s website, compared to seeing, hearing or reading about the product in the media. The former is ‘owned media’ and the latter is ‘earned media’. Incidentally, if you learn about something through an advertisement, that’s ‘paid media’.

A SAI’s owned media are its website and emailed content like notifications and newsletters, over which it has full control. As useful as they are, there are limits to the level of public engagement a SAI can have with these tools.

On the other hand, a SAI’s earned media is likely to reach many more people. SAIs should pursue opportunities to have the media amplify the impact of their audit work. This is not to say it’s easy, but the results can be profound.

Pacific Island SAIs should be greatly encouraged by the lead story in our latest newsletter. In it, another of our member SAIs hosted a media conference for journalists representing all of the media outlets. After explaining the role and functions of the SAI, the SAI Head gave on-the-record briefings about his COVID-19 audits, [2] taking questions throughout. The result was four front-page lead articles in the two national daily newspapers and at least 15 other follow up media reports across radio, TV, print and online platforms in the days after the workshop. This extra attention has now boosted the likelihood of the recommendations in the reports being implemented.

Learning how to help the media help you

We were extremely pleased with the interest in and engagement with the communications and media training we offered our members in Fiji last month. For almost all participants, it was the first time they had been trained to prepare for and do a media interview. As they now know, even in earned media, there is still much that is within your control and there are many ways to make the relationship with the media win-win.

Given the success of this programme, we hope to deliver similar training on a more regular basis. This will help put SAIs at ease about actively engaging with the media, minimising the risks and maximising the rewards.

Accountability in action

And what about the report mentioned earlier in this blog post? As well as receiving extensive media coverage it attracted the attention of parliamentary committees and contributed to much public debate. By the time we published an article about the report in the June 2022 edition of our newsletter the audit office had already participated in a related forum moderated by a prominent journalist livestreamed to the public.

After convincing election losses just last week, [3] it’s fair to assume the former government rather regrets the attention the media gave the audit report’s revelations about the dubious ways it allocated $352 million (USD 235,000,000) of grants.

References

[1] Integrity of grant program administration. The Audit Office of New South Wales.
[2] Auditor General calls for strengthening of procurement processes in light of COVID19 Audits. Solomon Islands Office of the Auditor General.
[3] McGowan, Michael; Rose, Tamsin (25 March 2023). "'Back and ready': Chris Minns leads Labor to power after 12 years in opposition at historic 2023 NSW election". The Guardian.

The power of language to create a culture of equity and inclusion

By Annie Subactagin-Matto, Director – Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting, PASAI

The role of language and its impact on organisational culture and stakeholder engagement

Language and communication enable us to connect with and engage others. Both can be powerful drivers of inclusion, and represent an organisation’s values, vision and mission. This is true for internal and external communication. However for communication to be effective, it needs to resonate with the intended audience.

We can use language inside the workplace to make everyone feel respected and valued. This includes conversations during meetings and formal communications cascaded from senior management to the wider organisation, as well as informal day-to-day conversations in the kitchen or cafeteria.

Language and messaging used for an external audience demonstrates what an organisation stands for, and the value that it adds to its diverse range of stakeholders including local and regional communities. We can use external communication to connect with stakeholders by building rapport and creating trust and confidence in an organisation. This is best achieved using effective messaging made with inclusive language. We can also use inclusive imagery to amplify the impact of the messaging.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

“The term equity refers to fairness and justice and is distinguished from the concept of equality. Whereas equality means providing the same to all, equity means recognizing that we do not all start from the same place and must acknowledge and make adjustments to imbalances. This requires us to identify and overcome intentional and unintentional barriers rising from bias and systemic structures.” [1]

© Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Your organisation is likely to have people from different backgrounds, skillsets and with different personalities. As a result, your organisation and the business units and teams within it are diverse in their experiences and expectations by default. The challenge is to create an organisational culture that values diversity and fosters the inclusion of everyone in your diverse workforce, so that they feel valued, accepted and engaged. This is especially important as inclusion has been linked to increased employee engagement, wellbeing, productivity and retention. [2–6]

What is inclusive language and why is it important?

Inclusive language includes phrases and expressions that are respectful and free from bias, assumptions and stereotypes. It acknowledges diversity and promotes the acceptance and value of all people. It aims to foster a sense of inclusion, by including and empowering the audience. It also challenges conscious and unconscious biases, and can be used to shift our beliefs, attitudes and actions. [7]

How can we use inclusive language in the workplace?

You can use inclusive language in the workplace by:

• using words that show others respect and dignity. Avoid words that describe disabled people as sufferers, victims or the afflicted. [8] For example, use the words, “uses a wheelchair,” instead of, “confined to a wheelchair,” and, “was born with a disability,” instead of, “has a birth defect.”

• using genderless terms. For example, use “chairperson” instead of “chairman” and “police officer” instead of “policeman.”

• using universal phrases that are relevant to the cultural context of your communication. For example, if someone were not likely to understand a baseball reference, replace, “Team, let’s work together and hit it out of the park!” with, “Team, let’s work together to achieve something extraordinary/incredible!”

• avoiding language that implies judgement and strengthens stereotypes. An example is reframing the phrase, “Older drivers are dangerous,” to instead say, “As we get older sight loss is more common and as a result driving may become more difficult.” [9]

Other skills related to inclusive communication

We may choose to work on other skills that strengthen our ability to use inclusive language. These include improving our emotional intelligence, empathy and self-awareness. Active listening is an important element of effective interpersonal communication and helps us respond appropriately to both verbal and non-verbal cues. This can be supported by adopting a growth mindset where we make a commitment to continuous learning, development and self-improvement.

Diversity and inclusion at PASAI

PASAI is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing an inclusive working environment that values diversity and where all employees have equal access.

We have mainstreamed gender equality and inclusion by teaching inclusive language in our Communications and Stakeholder Programme. We developed an ‘Inclusive language’ fact sheet, discuss it in all our communications workshops and make it available on our Learning Platform. As language is fluid and reflects societal and cultural norms, we regularly update this resource to ensure it meets the cultural and contextual requirements of our region.

Our self-paced Interpersonal Communications course contains modules on inclusive language and active listening, and will be launched on our Learning Platform in the coming months.

References

[1] National Association of Colleges and Employers. https://www.naceweb.org/about-us/equity-definition/

[2] INTOSAI Capability Building Committee. (2022). Human Resource Management: A guide for SAIs.

[3] Forbes. (2021). 15 Key benefits of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to communicate with team members https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2021/05/19/15-key-benefits-of-dei-to-communicate-with-team-members/?sh=20e038ae195c

[4] Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological safety and learning behaviour in work teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 44, No. 2, p. 350-383

[5] McKinsey and Company. (2020). Diversity wins: How inclusion matters. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters

[6] Fletcher, B. (2016). Diversity and Inclusiveness is good for your well-being. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/nz/blog/do-something-different/201609/diversity-and-inclusiveness-is-good-your-well-being

[7] Fast Company. (2022). How to get better using inclusive language in the workplace. https://www.fastcompany.com/90753901/how-to-get-better-at-using-inclusive-language-in-the-workplace

[8] Ministry of Social Development [2019] Disability language – words matter. https://msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/work-programmes/accessibility/quick-reference-guides/disability-language-words-matter.html

[9] Leyla, O. (2020). Seven ways inclusive language creates belonging at work. https://diverseminds.co.uk/7-ways-inclusive-language-creates-belonging-at-work/