Advocacy uses compelling stories to inspire people to think differently or take action to change a problem in society. Consider the following questions to start: What is my “why”? What do I care about? What change do I want to see and be a part of in the world?

You can choose to do this project either individually or in groups.

Advocacy media takes all kinds of forms, and is used to support a wide array of social causes. The key to advocacy media is that at the end of the day, you want the audience that you are trying to reach– to do or feel something that will create positive change.

ADVOCACY MEDIA PROJECT WORKSHEET (use this to help scaffold your work)

PLAN Your Project

Identify the Problem

Advocacy is about addressing a problem in society. Start by defining the problem or issue you want to focus on in this project. The specific issue is up to you, but it should be something that has relevance for society generally, or for specific communities or groups in society.

Here are some questions you can use to help narrow down your topic:

• What do you wish people paid more attention to?
• What do you see or experience that makes you frustrated or angry in society?

Identify the focus of your advocacy, and briefly explain here why you chose it:

Define Your Audience

Think about who your intended audience is- what group of people do you want to reach?For example, your intended audience might be:

• Members within a specific community (for example, members of a school or organization)
• A specific demographic or group (for example, young people or newly arrived immigrants)
• Leaders (for example, politicians or religious leaders)
• The general public

These are just examples – you can choose to focus on any audience you want. Just be sure there’s a clear connection between who you are trying to reach and what you are trying to accomplish. The kinds of visuals, messaging, and information that are powerful for one group might not work for another group, so think carefully about how best to reach your specific audience.

Identify your target audience and briefly describe what you think will be the most effective way to reach them:

Gather Your Evidence

Show the audience why the issue you have chosen is a problem. To do this, you need to provide evidence of its existence and impact. You’ll want to do some research to gather evidence in support of your argument. Not all of the information you find needs to be included in the final project, but the research is important in making your advocacy powerful and well-informed.

Here are some types of evidence you can use:

• Statistics/Research
• News articles
• Illustrative examples (photos, video clips, stories, etc.)
• Personal testimonial (talking about your own story or experience or hearing from another person who has relevant experience)
• Interviews with an “expert” or someone with deep knowledge or experience with the issue (for example, a teacher, worker, writer, or anyone in the community)

Describe some of what you found in your research and list what research you’ll use in your project:

Establish Your Call to Action

Now that you’ve identified the problem and provided evidence of its significance, what do you want your audience to do about it?  It is important to understand and be clear about your intent so that you can project a strong, direct message.

Here are common types of calls to action that you can consider for your project. You can choose to focus on just one, or combine a few in your project.

• Raise awareness or educate
• Change public attitudes
• Change people’s behavior
• Support new or different policies
• Motivate activism

Describe your call to action:

Build Community & Momentum

Social media hashtags are one great way to build community and momentum around an issue by connecting people to each other. Hashtags are specific words or phrases that connect different social media posts, so that many different individuals can contribute to a shared conversation online. For this project, include a hashtag that is related to your topic. You can find an existing hashtag, or you can create a brand new one of your own.

Write your hashtag here:

CREATE Your Media

Here are some tools and programs you might find useful:

Image Editing

• Photopea
• Pixlr
• Kapwing
• Canva

Audio Editing

• Anchor
• Kapwing
• Audacity
• Garage Band (for Mac)

Video Editing

• Kapwing
• Adobe Express
• Movie Maker Online
• iMovie (for Mac)

You can also have a look at the Critical Media Project website for more videos and tips for creating different media like collage, video, digital art, and audio stories.