COM 2008 Volume 13

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http://hdl.handle.net/11660/7239

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Browsing COM 2008 Volume 13 by Subject "Communication"

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    An analysis of successful community develoment communication: missionaries, max-neef and the universal need for transcendence
    (Department of Communication Science, University of the Free State, 2008) Ingle, Mark
    This article attempts to isolate a “sufficient condition” for development communication to succeed. It juxtaposes two case studies - the 19th Century Christian missionaries as a developmental success story, and the malign influence of Soviet ideology as a developmental failure - and analyses these case studies in the light of a variety of socalled “alternative theories” of development. Human Scale Development, as articulated by Manfred Max-Neef, emerges as being the most instructive of these paradigms. Max-Neef sought to identify the key “satisfiers” which would enable true development to occur. It is argued that many of the processes and activities that typically accompanied the communication of the message of Christianity to southern African answer to the “satisfiers” that Max-Neef's schema calls for. The enquiry further argues that humankind's fundamental need for transcendence is the only need which, if satisfied, will of necessity culminate in true individual and, by extension, community development. This line of thinking ultimately draws its inspiration from the Ancient Greek concept of eros which is seen to have informed the early missionary movement's message of hope and faith. * Mark
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    Exco meets the people in the Free State: a window dressing exercise?
    (Department of Communication Science, University of the Free State, 2008) Twala, Chitja
    The new democratic political dispensation has posed numerous challenges and opportunities to both the government communication system and government communicators specifically. The democratic breakthrough of 1994 signaled, among other matters, an ANC government commitment to create space for members of the public to participate in building the new democratic South African state. Communication has thus been viewed as a strategic element of service delivery. Government has created a number of opportunities and structures to pursue the commitment that this accountability and interaction takes place. These include the Presidential Izimbizo and Exco Meets the People (sometimes referred to as the Provincial Izimbizo). For the purpose of this article, the concept of Exco Meets the People is used interchangeably as meaning a communication method by the Free State ANC government as well as referring to a provincial gathering organised by the Directorate of Policy Unit in the Office of the Premier. The article uses field research as the main historical research methodology. This method was helpful to ascertain the impact of Exco Meets the People to the targeted communities, and to determine the views of such communities with regard to this communication method.