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

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Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism

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According to J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism, the Knight-Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism, a US$10,000 grand prize and up to US$6,000 in special distinction awards, spotlight news and information that is more than multimedia journalism. They reward novel efforts to involve citizens actively in public issues, invite their participation, and create entry points that stir their imagination and engagement. Honoured are pioneering approaches to journalism that spur non-traditional interactions and that have community impact. Entries could consist of online news experiences, news games, novel uses of cell phones, Webcams, iPods, computer kiosks, new uses of software, content management systems, and other advances in interactive or participatory journalism. Entries may also demonstrate simple efforts that notably connect in new ways with a community. Entries must consist of journalism content created by a news-producing initiative. Individuals must have been affiliated with such initiatives at the time of publication to enter. The contest is open to all news efforts originating between May 1 2008 and June 1 2009. Included in the awards programme, funded by the Knight Foundation, are a Citizen Media award and a Wild Card award, to be given at the judges’ discretion. They are administered by J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism.

The deadline for application is June 1 2009.

Application Info

Click here for more information.

Date
Source

The J-Lab website, December 6 2008.