Issue Network Interventions: The Problem of Information Formats

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October 28-31, 2003 Cartagena, Colombia

Information Politics is classically defined as 'truth-telling', bringing to light the unsavory, the scandalous, the previously censored, the 'ought-to-be-told', for political purposes. What is less known, however, are the types of formats that allow for the information intervention to be effective. Especially in issue networks, where effectiveness may be thought of as the production of a collective cause and the circulation of its urgency, the problem of information formats is crucial. Certain networks and certain network actors are more likely to spread information, more likely to join in the intervention, if it arrives in an acceptable format for the network, for example as a press release, a petition, a call to demonstrate, a leaked document, a call for a meeting, a donor funding announcement, a news article. When are which formats spread, by whom, and in which issue networks? When and why do important pieces of information suffer the fate of not being passed on?

In Cartagena, Colombia, Govcom.org cartographers and analysts are on hand to map issue networks, using special software and visualisation techniques. Here, in interpreting the findings, we study NGO information strategies within networks. The lead question for the workshop concerns the circulation of information within networks, from the point of view of the format. Which formats are available to actors? Which networks are more likely to spread which formats?

Over a four-day period, the workshop will provide an immersion experience in Govcom.org's issue mapping techniques, where all participants are invited to use sophisticated information tools to map and understand their issue networks. The participants also are invited to present and share their own tools and knowledge.

Much of the workshop will revolve around using two pieces of software. The first is the Issue Crawler, server-side software, developed with OneWorld International (London) and Aguidel.com (Paris) that locates, analyses and visualises networks on the Web. The second is Issuenews.org by Anderemedia.nl, a press monitoring system that takes advantage of RSS streams, and allows for watching which information, issues and actors are taken up by the press. [See important footnote below.]

In mapping issue networks and monitoring news, we will be able to ask additional questions. Do networks (over)react to news, spreading the news item as opposed to other formats? Do they (over)react to other information types and calls, for example, by donors? More generally, which formats, including news, are also ignored, and by whom?

The workshop is participant-driven, that is, the participants, together with the cartographers and press analysts will map and monitor their own issues.

Some of the questions we together will may wish to pose are as follows:

• What are my networks? What is my relative standing within these networks?
• Which types of organizations and agendas dominate these networks?
• Do the organizations in these networks recognise each other's work? Do they (instead) rely on news coverage as a sign of recognition?
• Which parts of the networks hold together if one takes out funders? Do they hold together if one takes out other agenda-setters, be it (big) media or intergovernmental organizations?
• How relevant is media coverage to the overall effectiveness of my organization? Do NGOs take up issues depending on the press coverage of the same issues?

Format of the workshop.

The format of the workshop intersperses the following:

1) Introduction and Software Training
2) Talks and Demonstrations by the Participants and Cartographers
3) Software Use and Feedback on Findings
4) Designer Map-making
5) Individual Analysis and Presentations of Results
6) Discussions of texts from the Reader

The workshop concludes with a public presentation, with stories, maps and special information design.

The media laboratory, where the workshop is held, has facility for laptops with cabled ethernet connectivity. Wireless connectivity to be confirmed.

To help us prepare for the workshop, please fill in the questionnaire.

Questionnaire

Cuestionario en Español

All workshop participants are asked to submit answers to the following questions.

The questionnaire is as follows:

1. Name your issue/research area(s), e.g., Climate Change, Media Justice, Indigenous Rights, Ancient Forests, Spectrum Policy, low-power FM.

2. Name the most significant organizations per issue area(s), along with their Web addresses (URLs). Please separate URLs with a comma, and use 'deep pages' wherever possible, i.e., http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/campaigns/intro?campaign%5fid=3938 (the Greenpeace Ancient Forests page), instead of www.greenpeace.org

3. List the most significant sub-issues, terms, slogans, individual names per issue.

4. List the 3-5 most important conferences in each issue area, for the past year, the current year and next year, along with the web addresses (URLs).

5. List the 3-5 most significant web-accessible documents in the issue area(s). Provide the exact web addresses for each document.

6. List the most significant news sources for your work and the web locations for these sources.

*Please return the answers to the questionnaire to Richard Rogers. We kindly request that you return the answers, where appropriate, in English as well as your own language.

About Govcom.org

The Govcom.org Foundation, Amsterdam, is dedicated to creating and hosting political tools for the Web, at http://www.govcom.org. Its director is Dr. Richard Rogers, also of the University of Amsterdam.

Govcom.org organizes issue networki mapping workshops. For previous workshops, please see: http://www.govcom.org/workshops.html. For viewing and navigating, certain maps require an svg plug-in, available, for example, at http://www.adobe.com/svg.

Govcom.org also has developed the Web Issue Index of Civil Society. It is a downloadable quicklaunch application and interactive screensaver that shows the rise and fall of attention to important social issues by select civil society actors, previewed at http://www.infoid.org.

Footnote:

Should the RSS streams be limited, we may re-program and make use of Govcom.org's home-made software (developed with recognos.ro). The Issue Tracker monitors online newspapers, and returns counts of press mentionings of issues and actors. For a list of online newspapers, see http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/. For some RSS news streams, see http://www.newsisfree.com/sources/bycat/.

Cuestionario en Español

A todos los participantes del taller se les pedirá que contesten a las preguntas siguientes:

1. Nombre o defina su(s) pregunta(s) o campo(s) de investigación, por ejemplo, Cambios Climáticos, Justicia en los Medios de Comunicación, Derechos Indígenas, Bosques Primarios, Política Espectral, radio FM de baja potencia.

2. Nombre las organizaciones más significantes en (cada uno de) su(s) campo(s) de investigación, junto con su dirección Web (URLs.). Por favor, separe las URLs con coma y use, cada vez que le sea posible enlaces directos, como por ejemplo:
http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/campaigns/intro?campaign%5fid=3938
(the Greenpeace Ancient Forests page), en lugar de www.greenpeace.org

3. Componga una lista de las preguntas subsiguientes mas significantes, así como de términos, lemas y nombres de personas relacionados con su(s) pregunta(s) inicial(es).

4. Liste de 3 a 5 conferencias más importantes (en cada uno) de su(s) campo(s) de investigación para este año, el precedente y el próximo, junto con, para cada una de ellas, su dirección Web (URLs).

5. Liste de 3 a 5 documentos más significantes en (cada uno de) su(s) campo(s) de investigación y accesibles a través de la Web. Provea una dirección Web exacta para cada uno de estos documentos.

6. Componga una lista de no más de 10 organizaciones en el campo de investigación con las cuales haya tenido los contactos electrónicos, via email, más directos en los últimos 6 a 12 meses.

7. Liste las fuentes de información más significantes para su trabajo y la locación electrónica de cada una de ellas.

*Por favor, mande las repuestas al cuestionario a la dirección electrónica siguiente: participant@issuenetwork.org
Le pedimos que mande las respuestas en Inglés o, si es preciso, en su propio idioma.

La Fundación Govcom.org, Amsterdam se dedica a través de su página web, http://www.govcom.org, a crear y albergar, herramientas de acción política por y para Internet. Richard Rogers, su director, es catedrático en la Universidad de Amsterdam, la UVA.

El taller es el octavo de una serie de talleres llamada Social Life of Issues. Consulte su página web, http://www.govcom.org/workshops.html. Para observar y navegar, por los mapas de talleres anteriores pueden requerir un svg plug-in, a su disposición, por ejemplo, en la siguiente página web, http://www.adobe.com/svg.

Govcom.org también ha desarrollado el llamado Web Issue of Civil Society, para su uso exclusivo, en la página http://www.infoid.org.
Se puede instalar esta aplicación y su interfaz interactivo que permite visualizar el aumento y la bajada de la atención por parte de actores de sociedad cívica selectos en función de determinados asuntos sociales.