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The Individual Action Plan

The Individual Action Plan is the key to helping journalists take home with them what they have been discussing, analyzing, and learning about during this program. It is a device to encourage the participants to actively commit to changing what they do every day as professionals. Moreover, because journalists can commit not only to individual acts, but to working with their colleagues, news organizations, and professional associations and unions, the Individual Action Plan (IAP) can also be a mechanism to influence other individuals and institutions, as well.

The Leader should adapt the IAP form printed below, adding or replacing the questions here, and distribute the IAP at the beginning of the workshop or seminar so that each participant has this outcome in mind throughout the program. The IAP should be discussed by the group before it is filled out by individuals, and the Leader should encourage each participant to be as specific as possible about the goals he or she is setting, the means to be employed, and the timetable to be followed. It is suggested that a six-month time frame be used for the IAP, but this is at the discretion of the leader and the group, which should revise the IAP form until group members become comfortable with the commitments it asks them to make. After the IAPs are filled out at the last session, the Leader should suggest that each participant share his or her Action Plan with the group.

The Leader should make notes on each one to assist in the follow-up discussed below. Ideally, there will be follow-up by the Leader at the agreed-upon IAP deadline. Because the commitment to journalism that is sensitive to diversity issues is often personally and institutionally difficult, this follow-up timetable provides an opportunity to review the material covered in the original discussions, encourage further discussion, and reinforce the original diversity goals. In the best circumstances, such follow-up will be institutionalized in the form of follow-on workshops, publications, and other forms of on-the-job training and support.

To strengthen the credibility and value of newspaper, radio and television news coverage as vehicles for community understanding and tolerance.

• Increase diversity of voices and images in all news coverage
• Strengthen connections with readers, listeners, viewers and potential readers, listeners and viewers
• Expand readership, or the listening and viewing audience to a greater segment of the community
• Foster team work and communication within your news organization

The individual action plan is one of the most important steps in beginning to meet the challenge of applying what you have explored during this program. Each participant should take home a concrete plan of action that you will use as you return to your daily duties as a journalist.

Please take a minute and consider the ways that you can concretely begin to work toward increasing the diversity of voices and images in your work, eliminating stereotypes, employing language carefully and, in general, being sensitive to the diversity issues you have discussed during this program.

Next, write a short description of the actions you will take to meet some of the objectives established at the outset of this program. Consider your plan a six-month plan; at each six-month interval you will review your progress, add another goal as you continue to move toward creating news media that values and encourages community understanding and tolerance. Action Plans are affirmative statements that focus on a specific task that you believe you will be interested in committing to once the program ends. The Action Plan should be considered your personal plan to work toward achieving some of what is described in the mission statement above. It is important to set goals that you know you will be able to attain and sustain for six months or more.

A few examples follow. Use additional space to expand or change the models or to develop an action statement that will work for you.

1] I will discuss the principles of diversity with another journalist where I work and share the materials developed during the training. I will do this by _________________________

2] I will use language more precise and monitor my work to eliminate slurs, clichés and other loaded terms that may be or are offensive to one group or another. I will do this by _________________________

3] I will share my successful strategies for a more precise use of language with other journalists. I will do this by _________________________

4] I will organize a training session for other staff members to discuss the principles of diversity as they apply to _________________________

5] I will monitor the images presented in our newspaper or television broadcasts and make suggestions or plan my news gathering to provide opportunities for diverse images - women, the elderly, people of different racial, ethnic or religious backgrounds - in my news reports. I will begin by _________________________