Edward Herbert is currently the Digital Engagement Officer at Amnesty International. He will soon be departing for a new role as Digital Advocate at Human Rights Watch in New York City. Edward joined Amnesty in April 2010 as an Assistant Editor, after a year he changed positions to become the Social Media Coordinator, which he carried out for a further 3 and a half years. Prior to this, Edward worked as an Online Coordinator for the BBC and as a Commissioning Editor for Science Journal Publishing Company. You can follow him at @ed_herbert.
Here's a day in the life of this social, digital and news-savvy professional:
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM This hour is important preparation time for the day ahead. Without fail I switch on the TV and flick between Al Jazeera and BBC World news, while eating breakfast and drinking a coffee, in order to gage what is making the headlines and what may be coming up throughout the day. Simultaneously and generally more importantly, I check my Twitter notifications and several of my different Twitter lists set up for human rights news. When working in digital activism it is essential to know what is trending on social media as this often dictates the tone and subjects we communicate and campaign on at Amnesty International.
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM On my walk to the station I download news from several apps–including Al Jazeera, Associated Press, The Guardian and Zite–in order to read them on my tube journey. I focus on the human rights stories and prepare some tweets to send out upon regaining coverage. Having a strong online presence is an important part of working for Amnesty. Promoting Amnesty’s work through social media is as important as any other task in the day.
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM At 10:00 AM every day of the week I meet with the News Writers, Regional Press Officers and Head of News to run through the news over the past night. Press Officers are experts in their region and are in constant contact with journalists and reporters out in the field. It is here that I am able to make judgment calls on what stories are going to be big that day, what to campaign on and when press releases are likely to be going out. After this meeting I meet with the Blog Editors, Campaigners and Head of Digital to iron out what everybody is working on that day and to talk through any ongoing issues with current work.
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM By this time I usually have a relatively large quantity of emails to look through and respond to. Many of these are requests for topics to be campaigned on lead from a digital perspective. It is my job to make the first call and prioritise what I believe will succeed online. Once I’ve made this decision I begin to work on a strategy with the relevant campaigner outlining aims, audience, key dates and messaging.
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM I usually have several meetings on current and up and coming campaigns during the afternoon. This gives everyone involved a chance to catch up on the status of a campaign and how everybody is doing in terms of deadlines. Amnesty is a global organization with offices all over the world. I have the privilege of working with the digital people in these offices either sharing work we have created or planned in a Facebook group or over a Skype call. I also often attend creative sessions for the lead up to any planned actions. These involve a brief on the topic at hand and then we split into groups and brainstorm methods common and novel on how to approach the campaign. This is then fed back to the room and discussions are had on the best ideas.
7:00 PM – 11:00 PM I often go to the gym, write and record music or socialize in the evening to unwind. I think it is crucial to give yourself a break after a day's work. This can be said for any job but especially working for a human rights organization, where you are dealing with disheartening, controversial and sensitive topics day in day out. Once I’ve had dinner I will read international news and make sure to tweet as much human rights news as possible, especially because this is prime time to reach US audiences. The evening is also a great time to reflect on the day and what to expect in the coming days. I often check how successful Amnesty social media posts are and the numbers of petitions signatures we have gathered to any given campaign.
The best bit of advice I could give anyone considering a career in digital advocacy is pick a topic you are truly passionate about. It might seem obvious but if you are not 100% involved with what you are campaigning on you are probably not going to be capable of your best work. Keeping up to date in the field can be very taxing but it is all worth it when you achieve something, however big or small. Although it might feel like the digital age is well upon us, there are still a lot of skeptics out there. Be prepared for a challenging battle to convince those you work with and the general public that you can change minds and make a difference online. The beauty of social media is it allows you to start campaigning from the home, but don’t forget to get out there and show your support at demonstrations and vigils. So what are you waiting for?
