Key? Know the media 

Phnom Penh September 10: Knowing the media is the first step towards successful political communication, the participants of the 2nd CALD Communication Workshop completing its third day, agreed here Friday.

Continuing to contribute their positive input for the use of media in political communication, the participants set about finding the right strategies for earning media for their messages and the leadership of the parties.

It was stressed that the political parties need to handle media professionally and approach them with the right messages and news angles, as there was no use of media interaction if the right message is not delivered.

The participants also shared their internal communication mechanisms. As was expected Korea’s Uri Party and Taiwan’s Democratic progressive Party have the most efficient secretariats working full time for internal and external communication. It also emerged that parties like Liberal Party in Philippines were failing to establish a proper mechanism of internal communication. 

In the words of Dr. Ronald Meinardus “until and unless the party leadership was not able to communicate its decisions down to the lower rung of party membership, it was bound to loose credibility very quickly. Staffing and working of the political parties’ headquarters and thereby their efficiencies also emerged with increasing focus.

End of the day deliberations saw a consensus emerging that the group gathered here needed to coordinate and communicate with each other continuously so that the process started here could be strengthened. Some useful ideas were discussed and agreed upon to ensure that the group networks seamlessly and shares experiences on regular basis.

Not less important was a consensus that materials emerging out of the workshop and successful case studies out of Asian political communication experience should become basis of a book on political communication to be edited by Cecil Balgos.

Nightcap

Phnom Penh September 10:The nightcap of the last full day of the workshop was a dinner at Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC) on the famous riverside of this beautiful city. The dinner was also an occasion for certificate awarding ceremony. Honourable Sam Rainsy, Cambodia’s opposition leader awarded the certificates to the participants of the workshop.