The role of the Internet in a European communication policy

Ramón Jiménez FraileCouncil of the European Union

Hey guys,

Can EU hear us?

Hey guys,

Can EU hear us?

Obviously notObviously not

• Voter apathy and disengagement from the political process

• Rejection of the EU constitution in 2 founding member states

• Brussels bureaucracy more distant than ever

What to do?What to do?

• Keep it simple and effective : less is more

• More openness and transparency

• Better communication

• Plan D : Dialogue, Debate & Democracy

• White Paper on a European communication policy

New communication approachNew communication approach

• Listening

• Explaining

• Connecting by going local

With a little help from the e-channel …

ListeningListening

The direct line : phone, mail, web

online consultation

Online forums, virtual events, chats, blogs

Opinion polls, focus groups, panels

ExplainingExplaining

• Clear information on a well-structured website

• Audience targeting and localisation of messages

• What is the impact on your daily life?

• What are the benefits?

Connecting by going localConnecting by going local

• Address the local concerns, speak the local language

• Cooperate with civil society organisations

• Active participation in online discussions

• Getting the facts straight

INTERNETINTERNET

• Is a powerful communication tool and its impact on opinion building is still very much underestimated

• It has become an important forum of political debate and can increase citizens’ participation in the democratic process

• It will play a key role in the EU institutions communication efforts, who will use state-of-art Internet technology to actively debate and advocate its policies in cyberspace

The internet is a mass medium

– Two-thirds in the net: – 64 percent of Germans are in the web;– 87 percent of young persons aged 25 or less

already have internet access.

– Everyday companion: 44 percent of Germans make daily use of the web.

Internet media usage is mushrooming

– Internet media usage continues to grow powerfully while all other media are losing ground.

– The internet now ranks third in terms of media usage

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Online

TZ

PZ

TV

HF

Poster

Index of net media advertising revenue (year 2000 = 100)

0

100

200

300

400

500

2004

2005

2004 178 151 58 35 26 18 466

2005 168 142 59 34 21 15 439

TV Radio Web Book Newsp. Magaz. Total

Daily media usage in minutes

The internet is "invading" TV

– By 2009, more than 40 percent of all DVDs will be hired out via the web.

Entertainment via internet

By 2015 it will be common:

– 23 percent of households will be using video on demand,

– 31percent music on demand

– 18 percent online gaming offerings.

Weblogs inpolitical communications?

Communication + Trust

Communication Pyramid

Information

Communication Pyramid

Interactivity

Information

Communication Pyramid

Collective Informative Interaction

Interactivity

Information

Communication Pyramid

Debate

Interactivity

Information

Information

Interactivity

Debate

Television

Information

Interactivity

Debate

The Press

Information

Interactivity

Debate

Blogs

TrustHow is it established?

Trust is made by…

• Individuality

• Continuity

• Transparency

• Interaction

Trust

The Press

ContinuityIndividuality

Transparency

Interaction

Blogs

Continuity

IndividualityTransparency

Interaction

Television

ContinuityIndividualityTransparency

Interaction

If you wantCommunication + Trust

Blogs is one good answer

About weblogs

•A weblog or blog (an artifically created word derived from 'web' and 'log') is a website to which new entries are added from time to time. New entries are placed in first position.

– 70,000 new blogs appear in the World Wide Web each day.

– By the end of 2006 there willbe roughly 15 million US blogs and > 40 million worldwide.

Statistics

Typical blog users

– < 30 years old, students, trainees, self-employed persons, "power" internet users

W3B, Fittkau & Maas, www.w3b.de, autumn 2005

About blogs

– Opinion and style: relevant, subjective, variable emphasis

– Links: links to one anotherand blog link lists

– Dialog / interchange: with other bloggers, community, target groups

– Frequency: content is direct and should appear at regular intervals

– Blogroll: collection of links to other weblogs within a weblog

– Trackbacks: The content of weblogscan be integrated into other weblogs. Trackbacks are used to indicate this linkage in the original article.

– Permalink: Link to an article in a weblog that has been in existence for a long time

– Pingback: Means by which blog authors find out that someone is linking to their articles

Result: Because of the intensive internal and external linkages, blogs are often well placed in search engines.

Main characteristics

Networking

Companies have recognized this potential

– Five members of SAP'sExecutive Board blog

– IBM has also launched a major corporate blogging initiative: each member of staff should be an "online evangelist", reporting on IBM products and technologies.

SAP IBM

Blogs can be used to "push" (industry-related) themes and

topicsRFID

Bluetooth– Therfidweblog supplies

information on all aspects of RFID, integrating advertising and sponsored text links

– Latest information on Bluetooth and other wireless technologies

Possible uses of blogsOverview

Internal communi-cations

Marketcommuni-cations

Public relations

Information

Providing knowledge

Focusing on theme

Building image

Backing up contracts

Persuasion Argumentation

Maintaining relations

Resolving

conflicts

Knowledge blogs

Service blogs

Campaigning blogs

CEO blogs Product

blogs

Collaboration blogs

Customer relationship

blogs

Crisis blogs

Source: Ansgar Zerfass: Corporate blogs: Possible applications and challenges.

Blogs in political communications

– www.blogforamerica.com recruited volunteers/donations for the 2004 US presidential election

Blogs in political communications

No.1

in technorati

ratings for

Europe

>20,000 links

"Journalistic" blogs

Blogs in political communications

"Journalistic" blogs in dailys environment

Blogs in political communications

Austrian Media - http://blogs.salzburg.com/perterer/2006/03/foto_ohne_salzb.html

Blogs in political communications

Theme-oriented blog

Blogs in political communications

Blogs in political communications

Blogs in political communications

Political blog (inofficial...)

Blogs in political communications

– Blog of Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the European Commission

Blogs in political communications

• For political actors, the internet represents a direct communications channel which has no media filters and can be used strategically and at comparatively short notice.

• At the same time, however, the direct channel also provides a broad platform for negative campaigning.

http://europa.eu.int/comm/communication_white_paper/index_en.htm

Have your say !

How to involve the media, including new technologies, more effectively in communicating on Europe?

How will the partnership between the key actors, i.e. member states, EU institutions, local and regional authorities, political parties and civil society organizations, work?

A tip…

«The EU institutions and the Member States could pool available resources to set up an independent Observatory for European Public Opinion which would identify and provide in-depth analyses of trends in public opinion. »

White Paper on a European communication policy,

February 2006