The Drum Beat 498 - Communication, Media, and Development Policy Blogs
The Drum Beat 498 contains these highlights, and MORE:
- Invitation to PARTICIPATE IN A SURVEY on your experience with The CI.
- Comments on a recent blog post from RICARDO RAMIREZ and WENDY QUARRY.
- Comments on a recent blog post from BILL ORME.
- Comments on a recent blog post from JAMES DEANE.
- Three additional NEW BLOG POSTS from Warren Feek.
- Several recent STRATEGIC THINKING articles with policy implications.
- Links to RECENT BLOG POSTS from various bloggers.
Whether we look at development effectiveness from the perspective of the recent global economic downturn or the Paris Declaration [2005] or both - it is vital that policymakers and practitioners put forward, critique, and debate a range of policies, ideas, and strategies.
This issue of The Drum Beat alerts you to new and recent blog postings, comments on those postings, and some strategic thinking ideas with different perspectives on development effectiveness. They appear in our Communication, Media, and Development Policy blog space and in the Strategic Thinking section of the main CI website.
Please read the full blogs and articles on a variety of policy issues and also enter your comments and critique on the ideas expressed within them. Plus, please let us know by sending an email to drumbeat@comminit.com if you would like to become a CI blogger!
PARTICIPATE IN A SURVEY
Li Wang, a doctoral student from School of Communication Studies at Ohio University, USA, is hoping to engage you in a survey about your experience with The Communication Initiative network. Li's research project is independent, but the results will be useful for the continuous development of The Communication Initiative network. The initial email invitation was sent on Wednesday, June 18th, 2009. Also, anticipate a reminder email from Li in the next couple of days. Please take a moment to support her research if you haven't responded. Your input is highly appreciated.
Click here to participate in the survey.
1. COMMENTS RELATED TO "Another Development"
by Ricardo Ramirez and Wendy Quarry
Comments include the following: "Ricardo and Wendy repeat the hard truths learned in decades of pursuing participatory communication -- development decision-makers trained in other disciplines may pay some lip service to the idea of people-centred development, but at the end of the day they are so results-oriented that an artificial time-line pre-empts the participatory approach...I find Wendy and Ricardo's pessimism a bit dark..." - Charles Morrow, Retired Director of Public Information, World Health Organization, Geneva & former Director of Information, CIDA, Ottawa
"...it is somehow therapeutic to read the honesty behind their frustration. As a practitioner of participatory video for 15 years, and as director of an organisation, Insightshare, we have faced the same walls. We have had some successes that we are proud of and developed some partnerships with development agencies that we are keen to sustain and build upon because we can see real results and benefits to communities and other stakeholders..." - Nick Lunch, Director, Insight
"...Do you really think we are 'dark' or simply 'realistic?" I do agree that the idea of participatory communication is widely talked about and written about today much more than the 80's - but that is the problem. In the 80's there was some room for experimentation. Today it is high on talk and paper and very low on action. Ideas get coopted..." - Wendy Quarry (co-blogger)
For a complete set of comments related to this blog post, click here.
2. COMMENTS RELATED TO "Donors, Governance and Media Aid: Some Thoughts from Sierra Leone"
by Bill Orme
Comments include the following:
"Bill wrote: 'Yet much could be done that would foster greater donor collaboration and bring new money to the table.' I misread this at first: 'bring new money to the trade'. Perhaps it's time to recognise that media development is an industry, and that this is not a bad thing..."
For a complete set of comments related to this blog post, click here.
3. COMMENTS RELATED TO "Governance and the Media: the engagement gap"
by James Deane
Comments include the following:
"The media in development is a crucial issue that is hardly put into consideration in development planning. Sometimes the media is grouped with Behaviour Change Communication or material development. Developing the media in itself is a task that needs to be looked at critically as a sector either to be helped from within or by external factors..." - Akin Jimoh
"Carefully worded, the BBC report ignores the 800lb gorilla in the room - corporate ownership of political processes in developing and developed countries. Media have not been a priority in the developing world because independent journalism annoys too many people. Sure the report delivers an understanding of the gaps between media, governance and development, but only from a developed world perspective..." - Anonymous
For a complete set of comments related to this blog post, click here.
NEW FEATURE!
*****5 STAR RATINGS*****
You'll see an added feature on every blog post: a 5-star rating system. Available for each post, you can now rate the blog post according to the question "How useful did you find the knowledge and contacts on this page to your work?"; ratings range from "Awesome" (5 stars) to "Poor" (1 star).
Please take a moment to rate each post after reading - this will serve to provide new readers, and the bloggers themselves, with a sense of how relevant the posts are to your development work.
BECOME A CI BLOGGER!
Do you have experience in development policy issues and challenges? Do you have ideas you want to float past a large group of your peers? Become a CI Blogger.
See the Guidelines for Bloggers on the Communication, Media, and Development Policy website.
NEW POSTS FROM WARREN FEEK
We've received 3 new posts from the ever-prolific Warren Feek:
In this piece, Warren examines the democracy and governance policies of the international development community, suggesting that there are two elements requiring review and adjustment: i) a greater share of South (so-called developing country) "expertise" acknowledged; and ii) a greater emphasis on community debate, dialogue, and processes. [Rate and comment on this blog post - see the bottom of the post page.]
Comments received thus far include: "Real democracy is about much more than voting every 4-5 years - it is about how to obtain meaningful participation in the decision making process, by every citizen interested in being involved. It is also about how to engage those who at first invitation might not be excited about the chance to participate, in other words about the marginalized..." - Anonymous
Here Warren focuses on the growth of international trade and the shrinkage of Africa's share in the export market of that trade, identifying what he sees as a key issue within which communication and media processes need to play a role. [Be the first to rate or comment on this blog post! Read the blog and then scroll to the bottom of the page to rate and comment on it.]
6. Battle Star Development: Prescriptions vs. Platforms
Warren takes a look at the difference between a funder or international agency "prescribing" a solution to a problem and the concept of a funder or international agency providing a platform through which communities can find their own solutions. Warren sees the former as common development practice, but suggests that the latter is a way forward in today's global economy and development landscape. [Be the first to rate or comment on this blog post! Read the blog and then scroll to the bottom of the page to rate and comment on it.]
UTILISE RSS!
Ensure that you are alerted to new blogs and/or comments. Click on the [RSS] button under "Comments on Blogs" or "Recent Posts" within the right column of the Communication, Media, and Development Policy Blogs site.
ACCESSING BLOGS BY ONE CONTRIBUTOR
Got a FAVOURITE CI BLOGGER? You can view (and mark as a "Favourite" in your browser!) all of their blog posts in one page. Simply go to the right column on the Communication, Media, and Development Policy Blogs site and click on "Contributors", then click on the name of your favourite blogger. A list of all posts by that blogger will be displayed.
ARCHIVED POSTS
Wondering where that recent post from "X" on governance and media went to? Click on the right column "Recent Posts" for a complete list of posts, in order of date updated.
STRATEGIC THINKING with policy implications
7. Governance and the Media - A Survey of Policy Opinion
by Kathy Lines
Based on 23 in-depth interviews with policy makers, academics, and practitioners, this paper provides an analysis of current thinking and practice about the role of media in relation to governance outcomes. It highlights current thinking about media and governance and observes the level of attention the connection between the two is currently receiving. Ultimately, it asks if there is a gap between the importance ascribed to media in relation to governance and its reflection in policy, research, and programmatic action.
8. The Field Strikes Back: Decoding Narratives of Development
by Dipankar Sinha
"Based on the author's intensive fieldwork in rural West Bengal and the adjoining state of Jharkhand in India, the paper seeks to reveal how the field, beyond its geographical connotation, becomes as an animated space for negotiating the mainstream development interventions by the ordinary people who are at the receiving end of such interventions."
Learning from organisations such as Search for Common Ground and the U.S. Institute for Peace, who argue that an effective media development strategy is an integral part of creating an atmosphere where democratic processes can develop, this meeting looked at how a comprehensive media development strategy that includes citizen participation is an essential part of peace-building efforts in post-conflict environments.
Arising from the recognition of the need for regional guidance on the principles and good practice for Multiple and Concurrent Partnerships (MCP) campaigning to assist national programmes, in particular, to strengthen HIV prevention efforts for MCP reduction, this document outlines strategic goals, key principles, and messaging guidelines for MCP programming.
This document includes a set of policy recommendations that emerged from a recent international conference. Through discussions among over 500 policymakers, national and local government officials, researchers, civil society and grassroots activists, and representatives of international agencies from more than 50 countries, the conference explored the gendered dimensions of decentralisation and challenged the assumption that decentralisation policies that strengthen democracy and citizen participation are also good for those who have been marginalised from government decision-making - namely, women.
12. Celebrity Diplomacy between Engagement and Entrapment
by Renate Bloem
Summarises a meeting of academics, policymakers, civil society representatives, and journalists which examined the trend of celebrities taking up their role as advocates of public goods and thereby entering into the world of diplomacy and global governance. Identifies the possibility that the trend of celebrity personalities having access to world leaders - and, through this access, shaping the agenda on a wide range of global issues - "could develop into a considerable challenge to the legitimacy and efficiency of traditional modes of state-centred diplomacy, or at least redefine both the priorities and mechanisms of diplomacy."
Other RECENT BLOG POSTS on a variety of topics
Accountability, media and the development system: a complicated romance
The commonalities lens sees AIDS better
A "democratic recession" presents challenges - and opportunities
Governance and the Media: the engagement gap
Scaling Steep Slopes - The Public Policies Helping to Transform Medellin
INTERACT WITH CI BLOGGERS
Have you read a blog through The Drum Beat that you agreed or disagreed with? Let the blogger know! Go to the Development Policy website and click on "Post a Comment or Question" below any of the blogs.
The Editor of The Drum Beat is Kier Olsen DeVries.
Please send material for The Drum Beat to The CI's Editorial Director - Deborah Heimann dheimann@comminit.com
The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
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