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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ZIMEO Excellence in Media Awards 2015

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The African Media Initiative is calling for entries to its Zimeo Excellence in Media Awards 2015, which seek to recognise "meritorious individuals and organizations that, in their writings, productions or support for media development, demonstrate the highest standards of professionalism, focus and impact." The awards, which will be offered annually, are open to professional journalists and the media industry in Africa.

The winners of the 2015 competition will participate in the African Media Leaders Forum (AMLF) that takes place on November 11-13 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa. They will also have an opportunity to participate in capacity building workshops including networking with media industry leaders and technology and development experts from across the continent. The Zimeo Excellence in Media Awards Gala ceremony will be held on November 13 2015.

The competition will recognise excellence in the following categories:

  • Gender reporting
  • Youth reporting
  • Maritime economy reporting
  • Business and finance reporting
  • Technology reporting
  • Agriculture and food security reporting
  • Health reporting
  • Education reporting
  • Peace and security reporting
  • Energy reporting
  • Natural resources reporting
  • Infrastructure reporting
  • Science reporting
  • Data journalism
  • Climate change and environment conservation reporting
  • News blogging
  • Millennium and sustainable development goals reporting
  • African Union Agenda 2063 reporting
  • Editorial cartooning

The Zimeo awards will also feature special prizes to honour outstanding media governance and exemplary corporate support for the media industry. The categories for these awards are: Media Governance, African Public Institutions that Support Media, and Corporate Friends of Media.

Click here for a detailed description of each category.

Application Info

The Competition is open to any African journalist, including freelancers working in any media, radio, TV, print, photography and digital platforms whose primary audiences are based in Africa. Stories must have been published or broadcast in English, French, Arabic or Portuguese.

According to the awards website, judges will be looking for entries which:

  • "Demonstrate a high quality of reporting/writing in terms of depth, rigour, research, investigative enterprise, innovativeness, clarity, proper sourcing, fairness, accuracy, exhaustive analysis of the context and background and an above average understanding of the subject matter.
  • Are data-driven and use creative digital tools like mapping, crowd sourcing and visualization to help tell the story.
  • Demonstrate journalistic integrity in terms of neutrality in the information provided and transparency in sourcing. Stories laden with anonymous sourcing will be rejected.
  • Communicate the topic in a way that makes the story relevant and engaging to audiences and that contains evidence of its social impact or benefit to society.
  • Were broadcast or published between July 2014 and July 2015. Proof of this will be required. "

All submissions must be in an electronic format. Applications or other materials sent by post, hand or fax will be rejected. Contestants must download and fill in the entry form and send it via email with their updated CV attached to zimeoawards@africanmediainitiative.org

Click here to download the entry form and for more information on how to submit.

Date
Source

African Media Leaders website on July 24 2015.