The Drum Beat 500 - And the Beat Goes on...
This issue includes:
- A CI RETROSPECTIVE: The Drum Beat in the life of The CI.
- PARTICIPATE in a CI survey!
- PERCUSSIVE EFFECTS: Why The Drum Beat is called what it is.
- The CI PARTNERS' experiences with The Drum Beat.
- Selected ARCHIVED Drum Beats about The CI.
- Vote in our POLLS.
- CI STORIES: Tell us how The Drum Beat has changed your work!
The Drum Beat is and has been the foundation of communication among The CI Global network. Through this electronic tool, tens of thousands of communication experts, practitioners, academics, and funders have shared, critiqued, debated, and connected around projects, publications, problems, and philosophies of communication and media for development. This community has guided the development of the e-magazine by suggesting themes, sending new information in response to current issues, sending critiques and Suggestions, and contributing opinion pieces for publication. Without the community, the e-magazine has no purpose. Without the community, there is no e-magazine. Without you, the Drum Beat would not resonate the way we have heard from you that it has - far and deep within the network.
With this 500th issue, we celebrate you - The Drum Beat community. Thank you for your inspiring work and engagement in this collaborative process.
The Communication Initiative (The CI) began as a small knowledge website with a bi-weekly electronic newsletter - The Drum Beat - and a network of approximately 300 people and organisations. The very first Drum Beat issue was published September 1 1998, and featured programmes ("insights into the action"), sources ("information and ideas"), connections ("meetings and consultations"), websites ("recently developed or noticed"), and people ("new challenges"). Click here for the complete, sortable, list of archived issues.
The website grew as the partners and members of the network provided additional information, ideas, and opportunities. The network grew as people heard about the newsletter, subscribed to it, and began visiting the website to contact and interact with those featured. Response was so great that The Drum Beat expanded to weekly distribution in 2000. In September 2002, The Drum Beat process was honed further by adding bi-monthly niche mailings called "DB [Drum Beat] Clicks", which include recently posted items within specific interest categories - such as children, democracy and governance, information and communication technology for development (ICT4D), and media development (among others).
Subsequently, La Iniciativa de Comunicacion launched in mid-2001 with a bi-weekly e-newsletter (Son de Tambora) and a knowledge website in Spanish specifically focused on Latin American projects, ideas, and opportunities. There are also "Click" niche mailings associated with specific interest areas, including health and youth (among others). Soul Beat Africa launched in late 2003, with a bi-weekly e-newsletter (The Soul Beat), a knowledge website in English specifically focused on African projects, ideas, and opportunities, and - later - niche mailings called "Extras" focusing on topics such as community radio, edutainment, and HIV/AIDS.
PERMUTATIONS OF THE DRUM BEAT
There have been different species of Drum Beat issues over the years. Those with the title "Communication and Change News and Issues" feature a smorgasbord of tastings from either 2 or 3 of our knowledge sections (e.g., Experiences and Evaluations). Our regularly appearing theme-specific issues have explored a range of specific development issues, tools, strategies, regions, papers, and so on. Each trimester we publish a Drum Beat including a selection of awards and funding opportunities with impending deadlines. A more recent addition to the mix are periodic Drum Beat issues alerting readers to new and recent postings and comments appearing in our Communication, Media, and Development Policy blog space.
Now retired, our Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) series emphasised the impact communication is having on efforts to meet each of the 8 goals. The Analysis series, a precursor to our blog space, featured a range of critical commentaries from CI network members, and were meant to inspire dialogue throughout the month via our (now closed) drumbeat chat forum.
We are hungry to consider different items for our Drum Beat menu, so please do not hesitate to send along your ideas! Send to drumbeat@comminit.com
SURVEY DEADLINE APPROACHING: More Participants Needed
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 CI network. Li's research project is independent, but the results will be useful for the continuous development of The CI network. The survey will be closed on Friday, July 17 2009. More participants are needed. 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.
WHY DO YOU READ THE DRUM BEAT?
"From local to international action we are keen to communicate and share your news with this network of 1400 plus people involved in communication and change activities..." - notice within the inaugural Drum Beat issue (#1), published September 1 1998.
One of the questions asked of the 2,334 people from 153 countries who participated in the March-April 2006 CI Network Survey was why they subscribed to The Drum Beat/Son de Tambora/The Soul Beat. 82% selected the option "it publishes information relevant to my work/interests". In response to a question asking why they read The Drum Beat/Son de Tambora/The Soul Beat, 59.4% said to "find resources for my work". But all the possible selections were checked by over 25% of the survey respondents - for example: "Conduct research for programmatic/strategic purposes" [40.4%]; "Find people who are doing similar work (networking)" [31.8%]; "Find training courses" [37.1%]; and, "Find events" [36.4%] (you could select more than one option).
A vital principle for The CI process is that the individual members of the network decide which knowledge, contacts, ideas, and support are of most value to them within their own contexts: that is, that they decide which information and interaction are relevant to the issues they are addressing. To that end, one survey question asked people to identify how often they "click on the links associated with the abstracts within The Drum Beat/Son de Tambora/The Soul Beat to read the more detailed information". Though 6% of respondents said "every issue" and 28% said "frequently", the more encouraging response was that 47% said "sometimes, whenever something interests me". In response to the statement "I forward issues or portions of issues of The Drum Beat/Son de Tambora/the Soul Beat to my colleagues/staff to use" 6% said "often", 11% said "periodically", and 45% said "occasionally - one to five times per month". It appears that it is the user, then, who is selecting relevant knowledge according to his or her needs and requirements.
"The drum in African culture holds a specific and significant place. It is used as an instrument of praise and worship, and for communication and celebration. The drum was the voice of the people and had stories to tell both of magical and of ritual significance." Read more.
EXCERPT FROM "PERCUSSIVE EFFECTS": The CI's Warren Feek Reflects
"The Newseum is now housed in a shiny new, modern, large, much-celebrated building in Washington, DC. As someone from a small town in rural New Zealand it is completely overwhelming - makes me feel so small. I fondly remember the old Newseum across the river in Arlington, Virginia. It was cozy, cramped, shambolic, and homely, oozing the spirit of the struggles of peoples to connect with each other, discuss, debate, analyse, sift fact from fiction, share knowledge and information, and fight for their understanding of what it meant to be free...
One of the most striking aspects of the old Newseum was the very first thing you saw upon entering through the narrow, obscure, hallway: a drum. The new Newseum has a helicopter right smack bang in the huge amphitheater-style foyer - well, hanging above it, actually, in a very dominating manner indeed...
The drum was there in the old Newseum hallway because it was one of the very first forms of communication and media - the Twitter of its day. This old Newseum drum was labelled something like..."An African drum - a very early form of communication". That is why it was one of the first things you saw on entering. But really they could have chosen some form of percussion instrument from almost any culture.
The mention of a drum stimulates very powerful images related to communication and media. Drums have history - long history. They have been used in all sorts of ways across almost all cultures - as warning signals, to broadcast news, for celebration and mourning, to wage war and declare peace, for entertainment and education, to name just a few. The drum can communicate in many different tones - somnolent, happy, reflective, joyful, threatening - the whole range of emotions. We can all relate to a drum - from childhood to the later ages of life everyone at some time taps a rhythm out on something...
Resonance is a vitally important concept for everyone involved in media and communication for development action. Sure, concepts such as 'independent" (as in "independent media"), "message" (as in "main messages to be delivered"), "free" (as in "journalistic freedom"), and "delivery" (as in "the media options to deliver your communication") are vitally important. But I think that there is something a little deeper than each of those vital concepts that provides huge compound value for each of them. That deeper element is resonance - the extent to which media and communication processes connect with people and reflect and convey their situations and dynamics - a connection at emotional, cultural, analytic, debate, and knowledge levels - real connection. Resonance ensures scale and depth. Drums resonate. It is resonance that creates the space for change - creation of space being a key communication and media for development principle.
Finally, there is something about the drum that feels grounded, earthy, and connected. Whereas helicopters fly high above the action looking down and observing, drums are right there smack bang in the middle of the action. Drums are not elite - they are common...
The beating of a drum encapsulates all we believe about the vital importance of communication and media for development...And the beating of a drum also worked...as a highly resonant image for how we wished to try and support your vitally important work....Our role is to provide the platform (the drum beat - metaphor and actual e-magazine) upon which you can: share your knowledge with others; identify programmes, strategic thinking, and people that may be able to help you and your organisation strengthen your work; and draw upon support processes - training, materials, events, books, jobs, etc - that you identify as potentially adding value to your capacity to do what you want to do.
In these 500 issues of The Drum Beat we have received from the network and shared about 7,500 knowledge items with the same (or greater) number of contact people - a social network - and links to the in-depth information. We want to get as many people as possible off our URL and onto yours!
This knowledge is communicated without comment or qualification. There are no "bests", "global leading", or "universe shattering" descriptors in a Drum Beat. You will decide that - not us - and that is vitally important....Our role is...to give you the space to describe what you want, to connect with whom you wish to connect and decide for yourselves what strategic and programmatic directions you wish to pursue in your specific contexts.
Central to the compilation of every issue of every Drum Beat is recognition that you are very busy with little time [sadly] to read and reflect and having virtually bulging in-boxes. We therefore take great care to add value to your day by writing short, well crafted summaries - one paragraph for the Drum Beat...
From feedback we receive it is these factors that are central to each issue of The Drum Beat that has seen its subscriber base rise from 200 of my closest friends who had no option 11 years ago to 44,000-plus freely subscribing people and organisations today...
Such is the story of The Drum Beat and why we adopted this name for our e-magazines. Drums are percussive in the best sense of the word - a great beat that provides the platform for people to give voice to their perspectives and ideas and at the same time that beat shakes things up a little. We are honoured to support you as you perform this vitally important role. Hey, maybe we can also bring the drum - and all that it means - back to the Newseum entrance!..."
- To read the full version of Warren's "Percussive Effects: Supporting the Communication and Media for Development Community", click here.
The Communication Initiative is a partnership. In addition to providing resources to support the work, these Partners shape the overall vision for The CI process, determine the specific strategies for each year, and review progress on the key performance indicators. For more information about these Partners, click here.
Reflections from a few CI Partners on this Drum Beat milestone:
"We are writing as two staff members in UNICEF. Both of us work in the New York Headquarters and we are at opposite ends of the career spectrum....For both of us, Drum Beat supports CI's overall mission by highlighting, presenting recent evidence and providing a forum for specific issues related to development...[One of us] appreciates Drum Beat's focus on different issues and its inclusion of references to which she often refers. Drum Beat is, in fact, one of the few 'regular' mailings that she opens on a regular basis. (For example, she also is on the distribution list for four or five other development-related journals or organizations). The Drum Beat is unique in presenting a single theme, always with descriptions of projects and other sources of additional information. We like the polls that are offered, even if we do not always respond to them.
What might the 1,000th issue look like? Hopefully, social change will have evolved in a positive direction to such an extent that most of the write-ups will be on successfully monitored and evaluated programmes or projects! We hope successful projects will have been taken 'to scale' and replicated in other countries. We envision far more gender equality in countries where girls and women have been excluded from education, the labour market and other public realms.
For...[the other one of us], the CI has been central to his career, for three reasons. First, as a global on-line source of information, reference and networking for practitioners and academics on communication for development and social change. Second, it contributes to overall knowledge-sharing of theories and case studies. Third, it constantly provides professional/academic opportunities...
Thank you for the Drum Beat and keep up the good work."
"Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication has been one of the partners on the CI since its inception and has witnessed the growth of the Initiative into a major platform for knowledge sharing, dialogue and debate. Drum Beat has been central to this trajectory, in its ability to reach large readerships with cutting edge thinking on C4D. Stimulating, informative and at times provocative, it has been able to engage with a substantial and diverse subscriber base globally and in the South. It has connected projects and people together, generated new ideas and a facilitated a global cross fertilization of ideas and innovation. We celebrate its 500th anniversary - it has emerged as major feature on the C4D landscape."
For a further retrospective of how The Drum Beat has developed, please also see these previously published Drum Beats about The CI and The Drum Beat Network:
The Drum Beat 415 - NEW CI WEBSITE!
The Drum Beat 354 - CI Network Survey - Initial Insights
The Drum Beat 331 - CI Stories
The Drum Beat 269 - The Communication Initiative
The Drum Beat 212 - The Communication Initiative
The Drum Beat 162 - New Developments of The CI
The Drum Beat 63 - The Communication Initiative
The Drum Beat 45 - The Communication Initiative
As well as these other milestone Drum Beat issues:
The Drum Beat 400 - Big Time Participation
The Drum Beat 300 - Connecting People and Ideas
The Drum Beat 200 - Voices on Communication and Change
The Drum Beat 100 - Global Forces
The Drum Beat 101 - Local Choices
The Drum Beat 102 - Critical Voices
The Drum Beat 103 - Telling Stories
PLEASE VOTE!
Share your voice in an instant...by quickly participating in one or more of The CI's polls! Located on the right side of each of our theme sites, the polls help you not only quickly weigh in on pressing issues but also see what your colleagues think. Once you vote, each time you visit our website while logged in, you will be able to see how the votes are dividing up. A visually efficient way to keep your finger on the pulse of the communication for development community!
Participate!
Democracy and Governance - click here.
Early Child Development - click here.
HIV/AIDS - click here.
ICT4D - click here.
Media Development - click here.
Natural Resource Management - click here.
Polio - click here.
Curious about what other network members think about a particular topic? Send ideas for future polls to info@comminit.com
CI STORIES
The CI is embarking on a new way to assess how participation in the network has impacted the work of practitioners accessing our website and contributing to and reading The Drum Beat. The purpose of this endeavour, called "CI Stories", is to celebrate CI-enabled connections only with the hope of stimulating more of them and strategising about how to sustain and strengthen existing ties. Do you have a vignette about how The CI has specifically led you in a fruitful direction? If so, please share it! Send your thoughts at any time to info@comminit.com Your experiences may, with your permission, be featured as part of the launch of our CI Stories initiative. Details to come...!
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.
To reproduce any portion of The Drum Beat, click here for our policy.
To subscribe, click here.
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