The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

Time to read
less than
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Published 16 years ago
Last updated 1 year ago
Read so far

Civic Education for Media Professionals: A Training Manual

1 comment

Author

  • Fackson Banda
  • Fackson Banda
As part of its efforts to strengthen the capacities of media professionals in developing countries through a series on journalism education, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has published this training manual, which offers knowledge on the relationship between media functions and active citizenship. The publication focuses on the underlying nexus of democracy, development, and the media based on the fundamental principles of democracy and human rights. It was drafted by Professor Fackson Banda, SAB-UNESCO, Chair of Media and Democracy at Rhodes University, South Africa. The Nordic Information Centre on Media and Communication Research (Nordicom) at Göteborg University, Sweden, and the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) contributed to the finalisation of the manual.

The objective of the manual is threefold:
  • to raise greater civic consciousness among media professionals about the democratic role of the media in the transitional democracies of the developing world;
  • to enhance the civic competence of media practitioners to help them in their analysis and reporting of civic affairs; and
  • to encourage greater prioritisation of civic news among media institutions.
The manual recommends participatory, student-centred training techniques, and proposes a number of exercises aimed at stimulating student reflection and pointers for investigation designed to prod media interest in particular civic issues.

Publishers

Publication Date
Number of Pages

87

Source

UNESCO Webworld, March 30 2009.

Comments