"How we talk about COVID-19 affects how we respond to it": Ella Saltmarshe on framing our corona-stories towards the common good
A month so ago we posted a 2018 Stanford Social Innovation Review paper by Ella Saltmarshe, narrative expert, on the kinds of stories that motivate change and transformation for communities.
Now, in our hour of need, she’s come up with a fantastically useful Medium post that updates her insights in light of the coronavirus.
Drawing on a global community of “frame makers” (which we’ll source below), Ella gives us eight tips on how to take care of our language and narration, when talking or doing media about the pandemic.
And for the really busy, she summarises:
Craft messages that evoke care, agency, the common good, solidarity and interdependence,
NOT messages that evoke fear, division, passivity, fatalism and individualism.
Read deeper here, but they are in short:
1. This crisis has different phases. Adapt your framing accordingly
Don’t rush in with opportunistic narratives, and realise the Covid story will have an arc:
Beginning: frames and messages that make people feel reassured, supported and interconnected.
Middle: stories of kindness and reciprocity
End: messages that motivate, galvanise and inspire people.
[From cultural strategist Alice Sachrajda]
2. Emphasise the common good over individual protection
Instead of giving instructions about how to protect yourself, try talking about how this affects us all and how ‘we’ can protect our communities.
“When we wash our hands and keep our distance, we protect everyone in our community. Let’s come together by staying apart.”
VS:
“Protect yourself and fight the virus by washing your hands and practicing social distancing. It is not safe or responsible to leave your home at this time.”
[From “Deploying a Common Good Frame”, briefing paper by FrameWorks. Sign up here for their weekly Covid-19 framing updates]
3. Celebrate solidarity over spreading panic
Sharing stories of solidarity will give people hope, reassurance and activate them to help where they can. We need more care, not more catastrophising.
Uplift in Ireland suggest this messaging:
“No matter who we are or where we come from, we are all in this together. If each one of us makes a change to protect ourselves, our families, our neighbours and communities, we will protect each other”
VS
“This crisis is going to get much worse and people are being selfish. In a few weeks, we could descend into mayhem and anarchy.”
[See Uplift’s Covid-19 framing guide for more info]
4. When advocating for vulnerable groups, stress moral collective duty
,,,Research shows that appealing to our moral sense and activating shared values is a powerful motivating force. When telling stories of vulnerable groups who are suffering disproportionately, appeal to people’s sense of morality. FrameWorks suggest using language like, “The right thing to do is ensure we all have what we need to be well”…
Framing expert Anat Shenker-Osorio suggests language like:
We pull through by pulling together, like we have done in the past. This means demanding the care and paid time every one of us needs.
See Anat’s Covid-19 Messaging Document for loads more framing insight.
5. Pick your metaphors with care
The Workshop in New Zealand has a COVID-19 Framing Guide. For more on metaphor also check out this helpful piece from PIRC.
6. Balancing respect for expertise vs acceptance of authoritarianism
Where possible we should seek to evoke values like compassion and benevolence in our communications, rather than values like obedience and conformity. We should always stress their temporary nature.
These temporary guidelines help us protect everyone in our communities.
VS
You need to obey government guidelines to stay safe, so we can win the battle against Covid-19
7. Beware of intergenerational divisiveness
Ella: “Last week, I found myself sharing a load of those comedy tweets about superstitious older people and WhatsApp. They initially felt funny and on the money, but I found myself feeling increasingly uncomfortable doing this.
“I realised that none of this age-related divisiveness helps us right now. Older people are being forced into isolation, dependence and are scared for their lives, this is not the time to laugh at them and tell them they need to pay back their collective debt to the young.
“Young people are being denied access to education, income and friendship, this is not the time to label them as irresponsible and carefree. We need stronger communities where we respect difference and come together, not divided ones where we blame, accuse and disrespect each other.”
8. Who is missing?
Ella: “The missing voices could be the voices of migrant workers in India embarking on 650km journeys home on foot to try and survive, or those in overcrowded quarantined refugee camps in Greece, or the isolated person at the end of your street.
“This is a time for those of us with more privilege to share our platforms. This might be as simple as posting these kinds of stories on WhatsApp groups, or helping them find larger audiences, so that all of us get the help we need in this challenging time.”
For more depth on this, please read the original post.
And see Ella’s other work on stories and framing at The Point People and her Gulbenkian paper on “story-telling that changes systems”.