Aid bodies dominate NGO table after Cancun failure

Results for September show that August’s leader, the Red Cross, again gained the most coverage, with Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam, Greenpeace and UNICEF all retaining top ten placings.

According to researcher Louise Speake of survey compilers Infonic, the collapse of the WTO talks in Cancun, Mexico, last month meant that ‘the media rushed to find reasons for the breakdown’.

She said: ‘This gave NGOs the chance to really push their policies on international trade and development.’

Speake praised Oxfam for its robust stance in blaming the US and the EU for the breakdown. Action Aid, which has a top-ten placing for the first time, did well due to coverage of statements referring to the US and EU as ‘cheap conmen’ in relation to the WTO.

The Red Cross’s domination of the table was caused by the house arrest of the Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, emergency disaster relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Isabel, which hit the Bahamas and the south-eastern USA, and the organisation’s ongoing work in Liberia and Iraq.

Speake anticipated that aid work in Iraq, as well as the involvement of environmental groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth in the GM crop debate, will again generate considerable coverage for NGOs in October.

Elsewhere in the top ten, the RSPCA retained second spot due to the continued coverage of limited industrial action by staff over job cuts. The charity also got coverage for light-hearted stories such as its annual bravery awards.

Cancer Research retained its fourth place thanks to its comment on a study that questioned the effectiveness of sun creams in preventing skin cancer.

And despite being ranked outside the top ten, with 19 mentions, Breast Cancer Care also performed well because of its revelation that most women over the age of 50 do not know they are the most at-risk group in terms of contracting the condition (PRWeek, 19 September).

Age Concern has reappeared in the top ten after coverage gained by its campaign against age discrimination in the workplace.

Infonic examines coverage of NGO campaigning and advocacy in UK regional, national and online media. This does not include broadcast coverage.