Media

This article analyses the importance of participation in development discourse and examines the effectiveness of theatre as a participatory technique and communication channel. It considers how theatre forms and aesthetics have potential power to produce individual and collective knowledge and alter perceptions. It examines community as a unit of analysis and the role it can […]

Given the centrality of communication to society, who ‘owns’ the media, who gets to speak on behalf of whom, and to what end are critical issues. The regression of ‘mainstream’ media from ‘watchdogs’ of democracies to business ventures resulting in Habermasian ‘refeudalisation of the public sphere’ is worrying. Community media re-engage communities on the periphery, […]

The synergies created through the careful application of both organic and symbolic communication demonstrably reach those most vulnerable to the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS. The Clown Project uses labour-intensive face-to-face street theatre and dialogue, participatory workshops, and symbolic communication such as print-based materials. Some lessons learned in selected communities in Guatemala and […]

This ethnographic study of a participatory video workshop conducted with rural women in Fiji observed how communities engage with processes of production for empowerment, and the implications for dialogue, community building, and representation within Fiji’s fragmented multicultural society. The study found that rural women in Fiji integrate local norms and practices in the production of […]

A wide range of audiences now accesses Indigenous community radio and television across Australia. This article draws from the first-ever audience study of the sector,’Community Media Matters’, completed in 2007. It reveals that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media offer an essential service to communities and play a central organising role in community life. Although […]

This article explores how African women have embraced the blogging phenomenon, and how blogs can be used to promote women’s equality and empowerment. One of the reasons frequently cited for a lack of interest by African women in information and communications technologies (ICTs) is the lack of content available that is relevant to their needs. […]

Alternative’ events focusing on globalisation, such as the European and World Social Forums, and the World Summits on the Information Society generally ignore issues related to women’s rights. This article describes the experience of a team of women – some professional journalists, and others who had never written for publication – which created its own […]