Scoring points with the voters - Media Programme Southeast Europe
Event Reports
A coordinated strategy for online and offline, fair and professional relations with the media and authentic appearances by candidates are key elements of a successful election campaign. This was confirmed in the exchange of views of 16 PR experts of political parties from South East Europe, meeting in Zagreb with colleagues from the CDU and KAS for the second "E-lection Bridge".
A polarised political landscape and media reporting with little attempt at balance are typical for South East Europe. Trust in the media and politicians is in some parts extremely low, as representative surveys by the KAS have shown. For example, in Romania and Bulgaria, only seven and eight percent respectively believe that they are well-informed by politicians about their decisions.
Parties in this region in particular face the challenge that party programmes are of little significance and the personalities of candidates all the more important. In addition, parties are competing for attention in political discussion with NGOs. "NGOs are today regarded as sexier but the parties still play the central role in the formation of political opinion," according to Frank Priess, Deputy Director of the KAS Central Department for European and International Cooperation, during the official opening. "That’s why we want to support parties in being attractive to citizens and potential members."
Christian Spahr, Director of the KAS Media Program South East Europe and host of the "E-lection Bridge", called for a modern understanding of political communication, in which citizens and journalists are not only target groups but also dialogue partners. The "E-lection Bridge" should be a bridge over which positive approaches and new trends in political campaigning will be exchanged, between Germany and South East Europe but also between the individual countries of the Balkan region. Among other aspects, the participants from 11 countries were concerned with improved internal processes in the preparation of campaigns, effectively reaching floating voters, and building trust in candidates.
The main speaker of the "E-lection Bridge" 2016 was Holger Haibach, Head of Internal Management of the German CDU and former member of the Bundestag. He argued that it is not only questions of PR but also the internal organisation, personnel policy, and financial concept of a party that are crucial for successful campaigns. According to Haibach, "we can have the best ideas and produce the best policies but to put them into practice we must convince our co-workers, members and supporters". Without involving broader circles in the membership no party headquarters could conduct an election campaign. In addition, it was essential to establish and highlight priorities in key messages. These must, furthermore, suit the personality of the leading candidate. It was not advisable to change the strategy, once chosen, in the middle of the campaign. This could undermine credibility.
More in the event report.
