Voice, Citizenship and

Civic Action
Current Challenges in Communication for
Development

Communication

for development at a

crossroad
Role of network society and media
developments in the new dynamics
between citizens and decision-makers
Dominant paradigms in communication for
development
Case from Tanzania: civil-society driven
media platform
New opportunities of voice

Todays presentation:

transformation

of the relation between

production of media content, technology
and audiences

social

media have altered the relation

between sender and receiver in
communication processes.

The Crossroads

public

connection
public sphere engagement
citizen journalism
participatory journalism
citizen media
civic engagement

ComDev on the move

Altering

relations between decisionmakers and citizens?

Leading

to new spaces of deliberation and

public debate, critique and civic action?

Unpacking

the processes of empowerment

and citizen participation?

Civil Society-driven Media

Platforms

Co-evolution
Citizenship:

everyday life

of new and old media

a social practice grounded in

Civic

action: active manifestation of citizens

as claimants of development

Citizens

as media producers, citizen

journalists, bloggers

Communication, Citizenship and

Social Change

 in

a world marked by the rise of mass selfcommunication, social movements and

insurgent politics have a chance to enter the
public space from multiple sources. By using
both horizontal communication networks and
mainstream media to convey their images and
messages, they increase their chances of
enacting social and political change even if
they start from a subordinate position in
institutional power, financial resources, or
symbolic legitimacy (Castells 2009. 302)

Communication Power

Innovation:

social media offer us a new

communication model: dynamic and
interactive

Caution:

The media dont drive social

change. The sentiment of exclusion is the
driving force.

Innovation and Caution

Development Support Communication (UN/FAO)

Development Communication (Los Banos)
Behaviour Change Communication (Public Health)
Information, Education and Communication
Participatory Communication
Alternative Comm (Latin American Scholars)
Communication for Development
Communication for Empowerment (UNDP)
Communication for Social Change
Comm for Social and Structural Change (Servaes)
Comm for Social and Sustainable Change
Social and Behaviour Change Comm
C4D (UNICEF)

Dominant Paradigms in

Persuasion
Behaviour

change communication
Social marketing
Information, education and
communication (IEC)
Participatory communication
Communication for social change

Models of communication..

process

of public and private dialogue

through which people themselves define
who they are, what they need and how to
get what they need in order to improve
their own lives. It utilizes dialogue that
leads to collective problem identification,
decision making, and community-based
implementation of solutions to
development issues
(www.communicationforsocialchange.org)

Communication for Social

Change

CfD - Multiple Approaches

(Obregon & Mosquera, 2005)

Communication Continuum

Diffusion/
Individual

Participatory/
Structural

Diffusion/
Persuasion/
Social Marketing

Information/
Education/
Communication

Behavior
Change
Communication

Social
Ecological
Approach

Communication
For Social
Change

Convergence model
No magic formula
Diversity of frameworks + diversity of strategies
+ multiplicity of interventions = growth of the field =
New conceptual approaches

Civil Society-driven Media Platforms

The case of Femina HIP

Tanzanian NGO, 1999-

Largest print media

producer in Tanzania

Many donors on board, but

is a homegrown
organisation

Entertainment-education
through real life stories

Multi-media platform

Femina HIP Objectives

To build supportive
environments in Tanzania
where:

Young people in their

communities enjoy their
right to access information
& services and are
empowered to make
positive informed choices
around sexuality and lead
healthy lifestyles in order
to reduce the negative
impact of HIV/AIDS.

Femina HIP Objectives

To build supportive
environments in
Tanzania where:
Communities

exercise
their right to express
themselves,
participate in public
debate & engage in
civil society. (Femina
HIP Logical
Framework, 2007)

FEMA
FEMA.

A glossy
magazine, 64 pages,
170.000 copies

Published

4 x a year.
Targets youth aged
15-24 especially
secondary school
students in every
region of the country

SiMchezo
Si

Mchezo! 32
pages, 170.000
copies.

x a year. Targets
out of school youth
and their
communities
particularly in rural
areas.

Multi Media Platform

Pilika Pilika. A radio soap

opera. 4 x week.

FEMA Tv Talk Show. Half

hour talk show, national TV 4
times a week.

ChezaSalama (play safe).

Interactive website. First of
its kind in Tanzania.

5-600 Femina Clubs in

schools and communities

Community outreach
programme

Reach and Social Media

Femina

reaches
approx. 10 mio of
Tanzanias 42 mio
people
Social

Media Use:

- ChezaSalama
Femina Facebook
SMS-strategy

Outcomes
Continuity

sustains
engagement
Community
mobilization enables
engagement
Young people engage
in journalistic practice
Sparks motivation and
self-confidence
New public spheres
emerge

Accountability
Upward

Accountability:
Gaining political
clout
Balancing social
critique and political
influence

Downward

accountability
Balancing a mass
vehicle for millions
of audiences with
space for personal
engagement

Allowing

voice in public for a vastly

increased range of people
A greatly increased mutual awareness of
these new voices
New scales of organisation
Understanding what spaces are required
for political organization
New forms of listening

Why voice matters

- the role of media and technology in carving out space

Efforts

made by ordinary peple to create

spaces for themselves, overcoming power
structures to which they are subjected

Citizen Tactics

 The

term citizens media implies, first, that a

collectivity is enacting its citizenship by actively
intervening and transforming the
established mediascape: second, that these
media are contesting social codes,
legitimized identities and institutionalized
social relations: and third, that these
communication practices are empowering the
community involved, to the point where these
transformations and changes are possible
(Rodriguez 2001/2006: 774)

Citizen Media

Thank you!