The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative

After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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Journ-AIDS - South Africa

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Journ-AIDS is an HIV/AIDS and media project that aims to conduct research into media reporting on HIV/AIDS; support media professionals by fostering in-depth, accurate, and critical reporting on HIV/AIDS in South Africa; and develop the capacity of AIDS service organisations and people living with HIV/AIDS to work with the media. The project involves a website which is an online resource for journalists; capacity-building through training; and research into trends in HIV/AIDS reporting. Journ-AIDS was launched by the Centre for AIDS Development, Research and Evaluation (CADRE) but is now managed by the Journalism and Media Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. The objectives of the project are to:
  • encourage and enable journalists to play an informed role in combating HIV/AIDS
  • promote discussion and debate among journalists, editors, health professionals and other key roleplayers in this area
  • provide high-quality academic research, which is designed to ensure an informed and useful debate around this issue
  • monitor the role and the impact of the media.
Communication Strategies

Journ-AIDS draws on research, face-to-face training, and information and communication technologies (ICTs). Its primary activities include:

  • offering 4-6 month fellowships to working journalists to undertake longer-term and in-depth research and writing outside of the newsroom. The writing that results from these fellowships is published in a wide range of media and peer-reviewed journals.
  • identifying and researching gaps in reporting. Previous and current projects have focused on media coverage and audience reception of HIV/AIDS news texts, the role of stigma and gender in prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT), the strengths and vulnerabilities of HIV-positive children, and the role of traditional health practitioners in the mainstream treatment of their patients.
  • operating Journ-AIDS website, which is an online resource for journalists as well as students of public health communication/journalism in South Africa; it features some of the following:
    • News articles from South Africa and internationally relevant articles on HIV/AIDS
    • Factsheets that provide information on a topic and explore how the topic is being dealt with in the South African context
    • HIV/AIDS policy documents
    • Tools for Journalists - these are practical tools for journalists to report on HIV. They include a comprehensive listing of HIV/AIDS-related terms and details on research undertaken on media reporting around HIV/AIDS
    • Contacts and projects database, which are searchable by organisation and thematic area
    • An electronic media distribution list that disseminates alerts or analysis on topical issues to the media
  • running wider discussion forums on HIV/AIDS and the media to stimulate debate and discussion amongst journalists, editors, activists, doctors, scientists, academics, government and other stakeholders.
  • offering training for graduate and working journalists in HIV/AIDS reporting.
  • producing ongoing research, resources and publications.
  • partnering with a number of organisations such as the Nelson Mandela Foundation, SA National Editors’ Forum, NSJ, CADRE, the Media Monitoring Project and the Children’s Institute in areas such as discussion forums, research and analysis of media content.
Development Issues

HIV/AIDS, Technology.

Key Points

The project is based on research undertaken by CADRE from 2000 to 2002 on media reporting on HIV/AIDS.

Partners

The project is jointly managed by the Perinatal HIV Research Unit and the Journalism and Media Studies Programme at the University of the Witwatersrand, and supported by the Health Communication Partnership based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Centre for Communication Programs and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS relief through the United States Agency for International Development.

Sources

Email sent from Richard Delate to The Communication Initiative on March 14 2003; and Journ-AIDS website.