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.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Example Message 3: Identification, Verification, Monitoring and Fact-checking

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Across the full range of Development action the provision of accurate information is crucial. There is little value added, and lots of negatives, from seeking to tackle a development problem based on poor, wrong or deliberately false information. A vital part of the communication role is to ensure that accurate information is available for and fed into private dialogue, public conversation and policy consideration and development. Checking that the information provided is accurate requires monitoring, verification, de-bunking of bad information and verification.

The UNESCO and ITU report: Balancing Act: Countering Digital Disinformation While Respecting Freedom of Expression (summary here) has a focus on falsehoods, verification, fact-checking and monitoring. There is a summary of this aspect of the report at this link: Identification Responses - From the Report: Balancing Act: Countering Digital Disinformation While Respecting Freedom of Expression

Six key strategies are outlined including:

1. Resource independent fact checking.

2. Advocate for and support the principle of access to information.

3. Promote the overall societal value that comes from fact-checking. 

4. Help develop collaborative fact-checking operations in your context.

5. Reinforce fact-checking capacity within news organisations.

6. Encourage donors to invest specifically in countermeasures to disinformation.

We would very much welcome you sharing through this thread, in support of the work of others and as a contribution to expanding and strengthening work related to digital, elections and freedom of expression:

  1. Any experiences you have had in seeking to act along the lines outlined above in the four recommendations just stated.
  2. Any questions you may have about how best to put these recommendations into action.
  3. Any observations/analysis that you may have about the strengths or limitations of these recommendations.
  4. Any proposals you may have for better strategic actions.

Many thanks for engaging and sharing.

As a further contribution to this hugely important theme below please find some relevant experiences shared on the Communication Initiative platform:

Ethics in the News

Fighting falsehood, reducing harm? Lessons from Africa's complex countries

Innovation in Development Reporting Grant Programme (IDR)

Journalism and the Pandemic: The Disinfodemic

Covering COVID-19: Handbook for Journalists

We look forward to your contributions. With much strength for your vitally important work.

Guy