Generating research literature on strategic
planning of Communication and Development
by the global South
Bella Mody, PhD
Chair in Global Media
University of Colorado Boulder
• Documenting the substantial “Strategic
planning” of information inputs you do in
Uganda
-Responding to opportunities in our lifecontexts,
-Being wary of threats
-Systematically building on our strengths
-Being wary of our weaknesses
• The need to document our work and build
our own literature on realities in Africa,
Asia, Lat America and the Middle East
-distinct histories, economics, politics,
culture, technologies
• Building our own communication lit:
Media training and capacity can be
improved, yes, but:
Lack of political redress and response to our
investigative reports is not something you
and I can fix in the short run, e.g.
reports on election malpractices,
reports on mass killings and no UN
response
• Which borrowed concepts have we found
appropriate for use in our life-contexts?
-deliberation?
-self-efficacy?
-globalization over development?
-targeting opinion leaders, using discussion
groups?
• Which media do we use most for social
marketing and development support?
How?
• As class differences increase, some
groups have Internet skills, many still rely
on local language radio
• Social disparities result in high educincome groups learning more
• How about free media?
• Which research methods from the
West/global North have problems in our
contexts?
-sample surveys (Social desirability-inflated
baselines) versus ethnographic
observation
• Documenting and making available what only
we know from our work here, exs:
Why did condom use increase, why is it declining
among married men with multiple partners in
Uganda and Nigeria
How we are testing components of web designs
for our unique users
How development subject experts, audience
researchers and media production people work
together to meet behaviour change goals
• Building our own literature, documenting our
work continued:
How have different ownership and financing
sources performed on development
communication
-the state?
-the private sector: foreign, domestic?
-foundations?
-bilateral donors like USAID, DANIDA?
-multilateral donors like the World Bank?
• Documentation continued:
How do our power structures influence our
media
Eg Rwanda
Kenya
• Where are the CDS, what URLS show
research by the South on problems of the
global South?