In 2019-20, we made the most of this disruptive time to elevate a solutions-focused story.
Our change the story work in action
In times of uncertainty and disruption, the stories people see, read and share play a key role in how they navigate the world and define what is possible and necessary.
This year, the story landscape changed rapidly — from frank and fearless student strikers catalysing global attitudinal shifts, to the sharp focus of devastating bushfires and a global pandemic.
ACF is among the most influential NGOs in the country when it comes to media, with our expert commentary making the news on a daily basis. Throughout the disruption, we tirelessly generated media coverage to keep climate and nature prominent in the national debate. Our investigations unit exposed environmental damage and political interference and ensured these stories made the news.
We significantly grew our impact on social media and reached new audiences through an official ACF TikTok account. We broadcast our first live podcasts on Facebook and Instagram with three episodes of Look At Me, hosted by Benjamin Law and Chris McCormack.
We elevated the voices of trusted messengers to engage new audiences across Australia. We reached more than one million people with powerful videos of survivors, firefighters, Indigenous land management experts and wildlife carers in the wake of the bushfires.
We piloted new approaches to connect climate change with sport and health for new audiences. As well as commissioning three reports and generating free and paid media, we ran display ads during the Australian Open and Big Bash cricket featuring cricket legend Ian Chappell.
While we will never have the advertising budget of the fossil fuel lobby, we can change the story by being smart and innovative, and collaborating with hundreds of thousands of passionate ACF community members. This year alone, we trained more than 500 volunteers to share powerful local stories to move their communities to action.
Our impact
- Our climate change and sport ads had 8.3 million views, highlighting the impacts of climate change on tennis, cricket and cycling.
- Our bushfire video stories reached 1,350,331 people.
- We significantly grew our social media reach and impact, surpassing 300,000 followers across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and Twitter.
See more of our impact in 2019-20.
Header image: Annette Ruzicka/MAPgroup.
