Posters: balancing overkill and freedom of expression

The number of posters put up at CERN to inform, engage and invite is growing quickly, and they are taking over an ever-increasing number of walls, doors, pillars and glass panels. In the interests of freedom of information, no official restrictions are in place, but we are nonetheless obliged to maintain a fair balance. Here we discuss this issue.

 

Posters clamour for our attention, becoming more and more invasive and often eternal as they are never taken down... While the need to inform and to be informed is a legitimate one, we also have to respect our workplace. It’s no surprise that walls or pillars (sometimes freshly painted) at junctions in corridors that are busy at peak times are seen as ideal targets by people who want to publicise their events or activities, but this abundance, or overabundance, of posters is sometimes seen as vandalism of communal areas.

What's more, the posters themselves are sometimes vandalised: comments, sometimes offensive, may be added and they may be partly or completely defaced. Such misdemeanours violate the Organization's Code of Conduct and its goal of fostering a sense of mutual understanding and respect in the workplace. This kind of behaviour is particularly unacceptable when it targets a particular group. If a poster provokes a strong response, it is better to contact its creators than to act in a way that could jeopardise the current relative freedom with respect to bill posting.  

A number of spaces are clearly identified as being dedicated for posting, each with its own rules. For example, in the main building, only the Press Office is allowed to put posters on the boards by the entrance to Restaurant 1, while the Users' Office is responsible for managing the information displayed on the windows all along the walls at the bottom of the stairs. Some buildings also have official noticeboards, which are clearly marked and are the responsibility of the relevant secretariats. Aside from those places, posting on other structures is just tolerated, as is the diversity of their content and graphic styles.

In order to preserve this freedom of information, which forms part of our Organization’s culture, it is essential to strike a balance between respect for the workplace and tolerance of other people’s right of expression. In this context, various electronic tools offer good alternatives to printed posters – the Staff Association website, for example, where details of club activities can be found, and Indico, which provides information about scientific events. The Bulletin also includes an “Announcements” section and an “Events” section in order to meet to the growing demand for information to be visible and shared.


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by CERN Internal Communication and HR Department