Muddy perceptions/dirty water: messages for clearing the visions of the public and the powerful

Globalism does not usually work when it comes to spreading the word about water! There is no one formula for explaining water issues to the public or to public officials. Sometimes you should go to reporters. Sometimes you should focus on educating editors. Sometimes you concentrate on educating teachers, sometimes the business community, bureaucrats or elected officials. Sometimes your message concentrates on fisheries, sometimes health, sometimes tourism. Often, you will want to emphasize something else – even sales of genetic material that might be dependent on biodiversity. In short, your message must be adapted to the local circumstance. Your methodology will depend on whether you must stimulate immediate action, or whether you have the luxury of pushing a longer-term message. The Web opens many new possibilities. Cost of Web distribution is low. The Web offers a combination of many effective storytelling tools such as audio, video, and animation. Multi-lingual materials are easier to prepare than for film. But at this stage of Web development it may be more efficient to provide material to existing publications' Web sites and to NGOs and official sites, than to establish special stand-alone Web sites. I propose a “resource” Web site for those who have responsibility for water projects. The site would contain articles and explanatory material provided by media organizations, attracted by a modest contest-and-prize system.