1. Communication with public via media and social media Anu Ots Communications Manager of Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015

2. The main channels through which official statistics reach the media Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015 News releases Press conferences Articles written by the employees of the statistical organisation

3. News releases The Dissemination Policy states the following: Official statistics are first published in the Statistical Database. In case there is a news release based on the same data, the news release is published at the same time that the data are made available in the Statistical Database. Official statistics are available on the website from 8:00 on the announced date. Statistics Estonia publishes about 150–160 news releases a year. All news releases are in Estonian and English. Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015

4. Top ten news releases based on the number of media mentions, 2014 Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015

5. Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015 Views of news releases on Statistics Estonia’s website by month, 2010–2014

6. Press conferences Press conferences are scheduled in the internal work plan of the Marketing and Dissemination Department. The published statistics and statements made at press conferences are objective and impartial. 1–2 days before the press conference there is a trial press conference to go through all the statements and presentation slides. The press conferences at Statistics Estonia are always separated from political communications. Politicians are not invited to make presentations at press conferences related to the first release of statistics. Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015

7. Articles in the press Articles are published to transmit a certain message to the wider public. Their purpose is to react to topical issues in the society. SE also responds to any misinterpretations and misuse of official statistics in the media. In 2014, the employees of Statistics Estonia authored 11 articles that were published in the media (7 in 2013). Of these 11 articles, 10 discussed official statistics and one article was a response to the misinterpretation of official statistics. Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015

8. Media training for employees The Dissemination Policy states the following: It is essential for SE’s reputation that the spokespersons would understand how the media functions. They need to know how to formulate their message – we have to ensure that media channels present information to the public as adequately as possible. SE’s spokespersons receive regular training on the following topics: writing news releases; speaking at product presentations and press conferences; giving written and oral interviews; writing opinion pieces. Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015

9. Statistics Estonia’s experience in using social media 23.09.2015 Statistics Estonia

10. Preparations for using social media To disseminate and promote official statistics, Statistics Estonia opened its account on Facebook and launched its statistics blog in 2010, in 2015 we re-opened our Twitter account. Information on these sites is provided in Estonian. Our main aim is to make statistical information available to Estonian people in Estonia and abroad. 23.09.2015 Statistics Estonia

11. Goals of using social media: to promote official statistics and statistical literacy; to provide more international comparisons and various discussions on different subject areas; to change the attitude of citizens who often characterise statistics as dry and formal; to find new customers and keep the current ones. 23.09.2015 Statistics Estonia

12. Background Facebook is the most popular social media channel in Estonia. More than 500,000 Facebook users in Estonia as at the end of 2014. 23.09.2015 Statistics Estonia

13. Statistics Estonia on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Statistikaamet https://www.facebook.com/Statistikaamet Statistics Estonia’s news releases News releases from Eurostat and our neighbouring countries Promotion of Statistics Estonia’s publications and blog posts Information on jobs available at Statistics Estonia Ca 2,000 fans (as at 22.09.2015) We monitor the number of fans, total reach and shares of FB posts 23.09.2015 Statistics Estonia

14. Statistics blog (1) http://statistikaamet.wordpress.com/ http://statistikaamet.wordpress.com/ Annual record – more than 106,400 views (in 2014). Daily record – 6,128 views. We monitor post views on the publishing day and the number of media mentions. 23.09.2015 Statistics Estonia

15. Statistics blog (2) http://statistikaamet.wordpress.com/http://statistikaamet.wordpress.com/ Writing for the blog helps authors to develop their analytical skills and offers them a possibility to become an opinion leader in a specific field of statistics. The blog provides a means for publishing information that does not match the style of traditional channels. 23.09.2015 Statistics Estonia

16. Visits to Statistics Estonia’s blog by month, 2012–2014 Statistics Estonia

17. Statistics Estonia on Twitter https://twitter.com/eestistatistika https://twitter.com/eestistatistika Statistics Estonia relaunched its Twitter account on September in 2015. SE has nearly 1,000 followers on Twitter. News releases Blog posts 23.09.2015 Statistics Estonia

18. Promotion of new dissemination channels Icons referring to the blog, Facebook and Twitter are presented on our website. Icons are added to promotional e-mails used for advertising statistical publications. Information about new blog posts is sent to journalists. 23.09.2015 Statistics Estonia

19. Measuring the efficiency of communicating with the public Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015 Media monitoring User surveys

20. Media monitoring The Marketing and Dissemination Department has monitored the media coverage of SE since 1993. Starting from 2007, SE uses the media monitoring service offered by the company ETA Monitooring. ETA regularly monitors more than 120 media channels (incl. national and regional newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV channels and Internet portals). We track three keywords: Statistics Estonia, census, statistics blog. Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015

21. Media monitoring Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015

22. Media mentions by month, 2010 and 2014 Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015

23. Survey on Communication between Government Agencies and the Media The research firm Turu-uuringute AS carried out a survey among journalists to assess the media relations of the Government, ministries and selected government agencies in 2014. Statistics Estonia was assessed by 63 journalists. It was an online survey with various aspects scored on a scale of 1 (the lowest score) to 9 (the highest score). The media activities of Statistics Estonia received an average score of 7.56 – this was the second-best result among the institutions included in the survey in 2014. Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015

24. General rating of media relations, 2014 Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015

25. Assessment of Statistics Estonia, 2014 Journalists gave the highest score – over 8 points – to Statistics Estonia’s reputation and independence from party policy. The scores for all other components of media relations were also higher than 7. Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015

26. Statistics Estonia 23.09.2015