Antirumor Strategy

The main reason for all the hate in the world comes from prejudices and preconceived perceptions of people different from us. Destroying these false understandings of each other would bring change towards a civil society. The Council of Europe’s Intercultural Cities program emphasizes how we must not deny diversity nor overemphasize it. Over emphasizing diversity will only build barriers between groups and denying it will cause for a greater misunderstanding of each other. I agree and believe there needs to be a balance that will allow for the appreciation of different cultures. We need to learn how to be comfortable with having different ideas of the world and want to understand others rather than thinking negatively of those different than yourself.

The antirumors strategy was first promoted in Barcelona and seeks to “prevent discrimination, improve coexistence, and harness the potential of diversity by triggering a change in perceptions, attitudes and behaviors among the general population and specific target groups.” Instead of debunking discriminatory rumors directly, the program works to influence the root causes and by understanding their complex nature. ARS is not a brand new approach of fighting antirumors, but a combination of other similar programs that have had effective techniques. In order to be successful in this strategy, it needs to influence people’s emotions. Simply promoting factual data will never change the way a person thinks and acts towards others.

The ARS works on making people aware of the negative impacts of prejudices and encourage people to help recognize and reduce them. One point I found interesting was their target group. The ARS does not target those who are engaged in fighting discrimination or those who are self proclaimed racists, but those in the middle. The common population who may not think much about the prejudices they may have and helping them become aware of the way they think and act towards others. I think this is the perfect target population because most people have ideas about people that they may not even realize changes the way they interact with others on an everyday basis. Being informed and acknowledging that we hold these prejudices is a huge step towards seeing change in the world. It may be even just taking an extra second to think before being so quick to judge people.

In order to get the message to stick with people, it requires some creativity. Not necessarily creative in tools but in how the message is sent out to the world. The ARS uses creativity to reach a wider audience as well as working immensely with specific target groups. The way the message is presented also must be high energy and exciting in order to catch the attention of the audience.

The strategy will most likely not create world peace but it hopes to see a long term social change in the world. I believe even changing the views of a small group of people may spark a domino effect in passing along these ideas of understanding your own prejudices and changing the way you treat those around you.

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