Our Publications

Advancing Prosperity Through Regional Development

How can advocates increase support for regional development decisions that address the needs of low-income communities? This report on focus groups conducted in seven Metropolitan regions reveals some unexpected findings and encouraging implications for communications framing designed to set the terms of discussion in ways that make sense to people with widely divergent political views and life circumstances. It suggests that communications on regional development decisions should start with how people affected by the decision have been, or will be, engaged in helping to make the decision. Advocates can mobilize support and neutralize opposition by defining the issue in terms of who’s included and who’s left out.
Open PDF (360 K)

Talking in Public About Growth and Development

Through focus-group research, media analysis, meetings, and consultations, ActionMedia crafted recommendations and a frame for discussion of growth and development. This report includes communication guidelines, checklists, and tips for advocates.
Open PDF (72 K)

Defining "We" in Environmental Advocacy

By reviewing media coverage, ActionMedia learned this: People speaking out for social change had better be pretty sure who they mean, when they say “we.” This booklet recommends strategies for talking about and advocating for the environment.
Open PDF (438 K)

Creating Common Ground

This booklet documents the planning and execution of a broad-based campaign to increase support for open space protection. For a campaign of any size to influence public sentiment and policy, its communications need to emerge from a shared, inclusive, and mobilizing story. Creating messages exclusively around “the problem” can exclude those with different assumptions.

Strategic communications are, by definition, action oriented. For success, an action is required in response to the outgoing messages, which needs to be based in a story others can see themselves in. The Embrace Open Space campaign created clear objectives, and laid the foundation for highly targeted, cost-effective tactics.
Open PDF (193 K)