“It’s putting the people who you are creating the content with at the centre of it, and their interests at the centre of it, and also… your supporter’s interests… I see charities as the vehicle of connecting the supporter, the people that are passionate about your cause, and the people that you help… those are the two people whose interests should be at the forefront of the charity’s mind and their actions.” - Emma Bracegirdle
In this episode we speak to Emma Bracegirdle about ethical content creation. We speak specifically about video and the considerations charities should make in how they go about creating engaging videos of their work in an ethical way. We also talk about the benefits of doing this, both to the charity and also to those they seek to support.
1. Giving people space to tell their story
When it comes to encouraging people to tell their stories, especially when they are very personal and filled with strong emotion, it is vital that both the process of recording those stories and the delivery of them to an audience are done ethically.
Transparency and honesty is a key component of this, both for those contributing their stories and for those receiving them. In the case of the former, the person sharing their story needs to be made comfortable and given space to tell their story in their own way, and their voice needs to be reflected in what the audience subsequently experience.
As Emma says: the story should always be enough.
2. Co-design for authenticity and to demonstrate your charity’s values
Co-design with the person sharing their story is a crucial element to creating ethical content creation, and while this risks a longer process the benefit to charities both in terms of maintaining their integrity and organisational values, and demonstrating this to audiences, make it a good practice approach.
The pity inducing stories that we have seen in the past are now rather out of date. Empowerment rather than pity are what we should be seeing as the focus in all of our communications to supporters.
3. Find out more
Here is the link to the workshops: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-saltways-creates-effective-films-and-animations-for-charities-59531784713
Here is The Saltways website where you can contact Emma: www.thesaltways.com
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We hope you enjoy this week’s episode.
Related episodes that you may be interested in:
E244 - Storytelling and animation with Gavin Strange
E145 - Small Charity Leadership with Macarena Martinez
E93: Tips for Video with Hannah Kaplan