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MEDIA ADVOCACY WORKSHOP

The media is an essential element to provide for access to justice and promote the rule of law. Indeed, the media has played a significant role in the balance of power in Latin America. Because of this influence, lawyers and legal innovators must advocate in the arena of public opinion as well as the courts of law.

Proyecto ACCESO educates lawyers, judges and justice ministry officials with a common theme - we are all bearers of the rule of law and must all use the tools available in liberal democratic states to bring about access to justice and provide for more transparent, fair, and efficient settlement of disputes. The media is a very powerful tool to assist in the education of the public and the extension of the rule of law.

Participants in Proyecto ACCESO programs learn about the media and how to use it to achieve significant legal reform and work with lawmakers to produce workable systems of adjudication and conflict resolution. Internationally funded democracy projects have focused on the reconstruction of civil society with the belief that a variety of actors - the media, non-governmental organizations, organized labor, and other advocacy groups - could provide valuable solidarity and watchdog services. The media plays a critical role indeed.

It is now time for judges, lawyers, Ministry of Justice officials and other leaders in the judicial reform movement to develop skills to effectively engage with the media and to learn how to advocate in this milieu. The media must be engaged in promoting judicial and legal reform. Part of access to justice is the ability to tell one's story in the public arena. Often this is achieve through the media.

Proyecto ACCESO's media advocacy workshops empower participants with skills to use the media as an agent for legal development work. In order to win public support for judicial reform in various Latin American countries, media support must be garnered and leveraged. Participants learn how to work with editors and reporters, develop stories, and conduct interviews and press conferences with a view to bringing the media into the reform process. They also develop and produce public service announcements for use throughout the Americas. By providing such general education, the popular media can encourage public support of judicial reform as a means for bettering their lives.

Working from the instructors' experiences, students craft public service announcements while focusing on the content, timing, and delivery of made-for-media soundbytes - all with a view to educating the public about the importance of justice and the method by which to seek it. ACCESO focuses on rules of professional responsibility during these workshops.