A distress signal on behalf of Teodora Vasquez;

When every national newspaper was talking about Norway being the first country in the world to shut down its FM-radio-network, we decided to hijack the FM-radio-network – and the conversation – to broadcast the first distress signal on the FM-band since the second world war.

First we created the actual distress signal - a recording made from a phone call with Teodora's sister and a reporter from Amnesty International.

We then managed to hijack the FM-band using our own radio-receiver, to broadcast its first distress signal since second world war.

Our receiver could only reach 8km, but by linking the broadcast to social media through a 24/7 live stream, we invited people to help us boost the signal.

On iamlistening.org people could turn their Facebook or Twitter into a radio antenna by sharing the signal. #iamlistening trended on twitter.

In the live stream of the signal we had created a layer where we could communicate in real time with our audience about what was going on. And more importantly, you could see the counter showing how many people who had listened before you. This was our petition.

The campaign was live 24/7 for 9 days.

What started as a national campaign became a global phenomenon.

Results:

- Massive national news coverage

- 317 PR stories as a direct result of the PR-planning and execution

- Every political leader in Norway shared the signal

- Radio stations donated airtime.

In the end "the distress signal" didn't only reach over 2,5 billion people.

It was a new take on the traditional petition campaigns, where people could see their friends listening in.

And on Feb 15th the Salvadoran government overruled the court's decision and Teodora was set free.

Since then, one additional woman has been released and the strict Salvadoran abortion law is now up for review.

The Distress Signal demonstrates how Amnesty International fundamentally works. The campaign sparked conversations regarding the inhumane abortion laws in El Salvador by creating massive social engagement which ultimately led to a global media coverage of a 10 year old human rights case no one was talking about.

This idea recognized that the media wasn't interested in a 10 year old human right case, instead it used what the media was talking about as a springboard into the conversation.

Injustice happens when nobody is paying attention.

Amnesty International had tried several petition campaigns, so we knew we had to try something different.

Insight: Petitions happens behind closed doors. You probably wouldn't know if your friend had signed one.

We needed to find a way where one action could spark the next one. "#iamlistening Are you?"

Then there was the context: Every national news station was talking about the shut down of our entire FM-radio-network. We decided that this was our point of attack.

By hijacking the Norwegian FM-band to start the broadcast of our distress signal we had momentum. National media caught on within minutes.

SITUATION nr. 1:

In El Salvador any form of abortion is prohibited and women are being prosecuted as murderers.

Teodora Vasquez was sentenced to 30 years in prison after suffering a stillbirth. She had already spent 10 years in jail.

Amnesty International had already tried several petition campaigns without any luck.

BRIEF:

To help Teodora, Amnesty International Norway wanted us to create awareness around what was going on in El Salvador.

PROBLEM:

The problem was that no one was listening. Media's attention were everywhere else than a 10 years old human right case. And without media pressure Teodora would spend the next 20 years in prison.

SITUATION nr. 2:

When Amnesty International gave us the brief there was one thing that our national media was talking about. Norway was about to become the first country in the world to shut down its FM-band.

Objective: Put pressure on the Salvadoran government.