AFRO-NETS> Rhythm Time Two - Culture, Private Sector, News and Information

[Warren Feek <wfeek@coastnet.com>]

Rhythm Time Two - Culture, Private Sector, News and Information
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The second in five special issues from The Communication Initiative. 
The issue for discussion, POLL and from-the-ground ideas below are 
derived from observations about the programming experiences, informa-
tion and ideas submitted by the network and summarised in The Drum 
Beat, Media Beat and on The Communication Initiative web site. They 
are designed to support your communication strategic thinking and 
programme interventions on development issues. 

Scroll down for summarised comments and most recent POLL Results from 
Rhythm Time One. See the web site [Drum Beat 37] for background paper 
and explanatory notes. For those without easy access to the WEB, 
please let us know what interests you and we will e-mail material as 
attachments. 

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1. For Discussion: CULTURE?

I come from a small city of 40,000 people - New Plymouth in rural New 
Zealand. 12 miles away is a smaller town of 10,000 - Waitara [it is 
probably smaller now because the freezing works closed down]. When we 
were doing local community action stuff in New Plymouth we tried to 
engage the citizens of Waitara. Not a chance. Why? Because in their 
opinion - the only opinion that matters - what worked in New Plymouth 
could not possibly work in Waitara: because Waitara is different. 
Waitara is predominantly Maori. New Plymouth is predominantly Euro-
pean. Which brings me to the question of culture. A quick review of 
the communication related Change theories and Planning models summa-
rised on the C.I. web site http://www.comminit.com shows that few of 
them overtly focus on CULTURE as a key component of their thesis and 
approach. Why? Does it matter? If it does matter why has it been ig-
nored? Or have we summarised the wrong theories and approaches? 

Should culture not be a more central part of our communication think-
ing and planning? Or are there some universal principles for behav-
ioural and social change communication that apply to all cultures - 
effectively being culture neutral? What do you think? How does your 
view affect your work?  WF

In addition to your personal reflection and team discussions we are 
interested in sharing your views and opinions with others. Please use 
the comments facility in the web site:
http://www.comminit.com/comments.html

or
mailto:wfeek@coastnet.com

if you do not have web access. We will compile the comments and opin-
ions and share with the network. Thanks.  

2. The C.I. Poll: EVALUATION

Please complete the following straw poll by voting on the web site 
[URLs follow each question]. As well as hopefully being useful to 
discussions in your organisation we are interested in gauging overall 
opinion. Please send comments by using the comments facility in the 
web site http://www.comminit.com/comments.html 

or
mailto:wfeek@coastnet.com

if you do not have web access. We will compile these comments and 
share them.  

Q. Are partnerships with private sector, profit oriented companies 
acceptable for development organisations? 

Yes   -   No

Not sure 

To vote access this URL:
http://www.comminit.com/bin/survey.cgi

Alternatively, if you do not have web access just e-mail your answer 
and comments - see above.

3. On-the-ground Experience: NEWS AND INFORMATION

Can we suggest that you take a look at the following communication 
programme descriptions on the web site. Is there anything from their 
approach that can assist the positive development of your work?

a. ANDI [Brazil] 
http://www.comminit.com/power_point/pds_12-21-98/sld009.htm

b. Development through Radio [Southern Africa]
http://www.comminit.com/power_point/programme_descriptions_dec4/sld015.htm

c. Tambuli [The Philippines]
http://www.comminit.com/power_point/pds_12-28-98/sld005.htm

For a broader range of NEWS and INFORMATION communication programmes 
use the SEARCH facility:
http://www.comminit.com/search.html

Click on the elements of interest to you and, hopefully, a number of 
interesting programmes will appear. Please send us your programme de-
scriptions for adding to this database.

4. Peer Communication and Support

If you could select someone at a distance, within a different country 
or even continent, with whom to communicate about the work you are 
undertaking, what experiences would you want that person to have? 
Where in the world? [e.g. Perhaps someone in Latin American is inter-
ested in an African perspective and experience.] Working on which is-
sues? [e.g. Perhaps someone working on health is interested in the 
perspective of someone working on environmental issues.] With a focus 
on which communication styles? [e.g. Entertainment, News and Informa-
tion, Community Communication, Interpersonal, Awards, ??] Working in 
which organisational setting? [National NGO, International NGO, Bi-
lateral, Foundation, UN, Private Sector, etc.]. Are you interested in 
an outside consultant? With what skills and knowledge?  

Please mailto:wfeek@coastnet.com  with your preferences and we will 
try to link you with someone in the network who meets your criteria 
and interests.

Also, please send us your one paragraph issue for discussion and/or 
poll questions. We will find a way to communicate them.    

*******************************************

Update from Rhythm Time ONE - Jan 17, 2000

1. For Discussion: MESSAGES?

MESSAGES SHOULD NOT [repeat] NOT BE A CENTRAL COMPONENT OF 
DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMMES - ? 

Responses include:

"On telling people what to do - we are involved in setting up a pro-
gramme for behaviour change on AIDS, (based on a Pro-change pro-
gramme) which does not tell people what to do, it gives them informa-
tion, and then creates the space within which they make up their own 
mind as to whether, how, and when they might like to change their be-
haviour."  Roy Williams - UK

"Do people not like to be told what to do? Our experience and even if 
one examines ones own experience is that life is difficult and com-
plex and people are only too grateful if they are provided with in-
formation on how to keep healthy etc. Have you ever heard a parent 
saying "I wish my children had come with a manual"? Its not that one 
sends messages, but how one does it that is important."  Sue Gold-
stein - South Africa  

"...to my absolute surprise, when I interacted with the slumdwellers 
myself to gather first hand information, I was asked why it is that 
everyone always seems to "pick" on the slum dweller as if they are 
the ones who need to be "fixed" so that all the problems of society 
can be alleviated by them doing what they are told to do. This as-
tounded me because I realised just how "picked" upon they have felt 
when I also sensed the indignity they were referring to." Moyna Singh 
- India 

"...as long as we live in a market economy, communication is submit-
ted to criteria that don't help the evolution of mankind..."  Lillian 
Lieberman - Mexico

Please use the comments facility in the web site:
http://www.comminit.com/comments.html

or
mailto:wfeek@coastnet.com

if you do not have web access. We will compile the comments and opin-
ions and share with the network. Thanks.      

2. The C.I. Poll: EVALUATION

Q. Is it possible to measure the long-term impact of a communication 
intervention on a development issue? 

At 25 Jan 2000 the results were: 

Yes       58.9%
No        28.2%
Not sure  12.8% 

Comments include:

"Yes We have been doing this in research sponsored by IDRC"  Augustin 
Hatar - Tanzania

"Certainly not, unless you are trying by all means to justify the 
funds you spent. If "measure" means numbers, you can't measure the 
long-term impact of a communication intervention on a development is-
sue. How can you discriminate the impact of the communication activi-
ties and other factors that may have helped, such as community or-
ganization, improved economic situation..."  Alfonso Gumucio Dagron - 
Guatemala

" Yes, I think you can measure long-term impact although you may not 
be able to measure it to two decimal places. My example is not a com-
munications strategy but I think it is analagous. In Barbados (WI) 
men used to be reluctant to be seen with their young children. Then 
Rastafarian influences took root in the community and the belief that 
a 'real' man - a king - took care of his woman/women and children. 
Now young men are routinely seen walking their young children to 
school, etc. We may say that without a baseline study..." Andy Taitt 
- Barbados

"I think possibly through: sustained messages; offering information 
with advice - ie implementation of long-term prevention strategies, 
so different measures can be made, ie safe sex, counselling, making 
informed choices, STD treatment." Aulora Stally - Zimbabwe

Full comments will posted on the site shortly 

The Poll continues to run. Vote at:
http://www.comminit.com/bin/survey.cgi 

Alternatively, if you do not have web access just e-mail your answer 
and comments - see above.  

3. On-the-ground Experience: ENTERTAINMENT

At Jan 25 2000, user sessions for these pages for the 10 days since 
the launch of Rhythm Time were: 

a. Soul City [South Africa] 95 user sessions
http://www.comminit.com/power_point/programme_descriptions_may_15/sld066.htm

b. YATV [Asia] 87 user sessions
http://www.comminit.com/power_point/pds_12-28-98/sld019.htm

c. PARI [Bolivia] 85 user sessions
http://www.comminit.com/power_point/programme_descriptions_may_15/sld056.htm

Best wishes,

Warren Feek
Director
The Communication Initiative 
Tel: +1-250-658-6372
wfeek@coastnet.com
http://www.comminit.com 

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