Ivana Leal Silva Raisky (photo), a speech therapist in the state capital, Goiânia, is in charge of media relations at the state’s Spiritist Federation. And that’s what she talks about in this interview – information, public relations and the media:  How did you get involved with public relations and Spiritist media?  I was born into a Catholic family. But I was lucky to come across Spiritism in the best possible way, through an official course organised by the Spiritist

In which way are you putting into practice your professional expertise as speech therapist in your work with Spiritism? 

My professional expertise is very useful when training Spiritist speakers. And, despite never being really a professional broadcaster or journalist, I always kept a close interest in the media and tried to learn about it. So we, as a group of people guided by the same goals, have worked to spread the message of Spiritism through the media. For the last four years we have produced a weekly television programme, called Encontro Fraterno (Fraternal Meeting). You can access it through the Internet on the website of the Spiritist Federation of Goiás (www.feego.org.br). We also publish the Federation’s newsletter every two months, O Trabalhador Espírita (The Spiritist Worker). 

And how much success do you get in getting your message across? 

I’ve come to realise that most Spiritist groups and institutions, especially the smaller ones, still largely ignore the media and public relation efforts. We have made a big effort to raise awareness and highlight the importance of the information sector, and there’s been a clear improvement in the last few years.

As you travel around the country on behalf of the Goiás Federation, do you have the opportunity to access the media and PR work in other parts of Brazil?

The Federations in every state of the country have their own well-structured media departments. There’s full awareness and support from the boards of directors for the work with the media, for communications in general. Some Federations face great difficulties to carry out their work, others who began some time ago provide top quality services. We all know Spiritism provides first-class material with,excellent potential for the media. Our task is to deliver that content with quality and professionalism. FEB, the Brazilian Spiritist Federation, published last year media guidelines, a very useful booklet for all who work in the area. 

What are the biggest problems and challenges Spiritism faces in its dealings with the media? 

I would mention first the lack of professionalism. In many occasions, the content, the message is good, but the final product lacks quality. We can’t produce a “good enough” product, based on “good intentions” only. We must aim for excellence. The other problem we face is the big egos. We must bear in mind that Spiritism should get all the attention, not the individuals who are behind the media effort. We must also be very clear about who our public and audience are. If we don’t do that, we will be missing a good opportunity to achieve our goals of taking the teachings to comfort and enlighten. That is, after all, the main purpose of Spiritism. 

What are the best practices and tools to put your message across? 

We must get hold of all the tools available to us. We must first of all know all the different media, the different ways of putting the message across, the language each one of them uses, its target audience etc. Spiritist literature is vast and new titles are published every day. It’s important to offer guidance to the public, to instruct them to start from the beginning, the core works of Kardec and them move on to other well respected works. And anyone who comes into contact with Spiritism must adopt the approach recommended by the Spirits, of reasoned faith, making sure that whatever you read or watch follows the basic principles of Spiritism. But of course it’s not only about books. Mass media have huge reach, with the TV, the cinema, the Internet etc. They raise awareness to the teachings and encourage the will to learn more about Spiritism. 

Brazil of course has vast territory, great regional diversity and different customs. Is that reflected in the approach used by PR and media volunteers in Spiritist organisations? 

The exchange of experiences between the different regions is a great boost to everyone’s determination. People come back from meetings with their “batteries recharged.” There is indeed great cultural diversity in Brazil, but the aims are the same and it’s paramount to work on the integration of all Spiritist volunteers in the country. That’s why we set up a forum to discuss the issue of public relations and communication across the country. And it’s great to see how much people have been cooperating and sharing with each other, with the more experienced people helping those who are starting now. Our job is about communicating, sharing experiences, and spreading the knowledge, the teachings. We must establish a dialogue among Spiritists and a dialogue with the community, with society at large. More important than disseminating the teachings to others is to establish a dialogue among ourselves. That is the main aim of anyone who works in that area in Spiritism. 

Is there anything else you would like to add? 

Just that we have a duty of disseminate the teachings of Spiritism and supporting those who are involved in that area. I’ll give you an example. When the film Chico Xavier was released here in Brazil, millions of people went to cinema theatres across the country drawn in by the amazing figure of the great medium. I heard from fellow Spiritists criticism, that film producers were making loads of money out of Spiritism. I think that is the wrong approach. Those producers invested money to make the film and of course they expect to get their money back and to have a return for their investment. What we must bear in mind is that the Spiritual benefits of such enterprises are much greater than any eventual material gains.