Running Head: Swaziland Distance Learning

Technology is the classroom: Using Internet media to deliver a journalism course to Swaziland

Tamara L. Gillis, Ed.D.* Robert C. Moore, Ed.D.

Assistant Professor of Communications Professor of Communications

Department of Communications Department of Communications

Elizabethtown College Elizabethtown College

Elizabethtown, PA 17022 Elizabethtown, PA 17022

Submitted to the International Symposium on Intelligent Multimedia and Distance Education in conjunction with the 11th International Conference on Systems Research, Information and Cybernetics

April 25, 1999

* Direct correspondence to this author

Abstract

This paper is an overview of the course design process, delivery and student outcomes of a public journalism course taught via interactive Internet video to mid-career journalists in Swaziland. The authors constructed a model of public journalism based in part on Arthur Charity’s model outlined in Doing Public Journalism, the concepts of developmental communication, and practice materials provided by the Pew Center for Civic Journalism.

The project was made possible in part by a grant from the U.S. Information Agency’s Distance Learning Initiative and a grant from the Elizabethtown College President’s Fund for Distinction.

The Swaziland Distance Learning Project in Public Journalism was a pilot course for the application of this current media initiative to an international setting. The course emphasized the important connection between communities and their media — print and broadcast. Using an investigative approach and case study analyses, mid-career journalists from print and broadcast organizations in Swaziland developed an understanding and appreciation for civic/community journalism, its practices, and its development and implications for communication of issues critical to the development of Swazi communities.

This course was delivered through a combination of interactive Internet video and a two-week field experience conducted by the authors.

INTRODUCTION

The Swaziland Distance Learning Project in Public Journalism was a pilot course and exhibition project to illustrate applications of Internet media technology within an international distance learning setting. The course, designed and delivered by the authors, emphasized the important connection between communities and their media — print and broadcast. Using an investigative approach and case study analyses, mid-career journalists from print and broadcast organizations in Swaziland developed an understanding and appreciation for civic/community journalism, its practices, and its development and implications for communication of issues critical to the development of Swazi communities.

The primary purpose of this course was to encourage journalists to address the basic value and principles of traditional journalism in light of new democratization and community empowerment initiatives within the Kingdom of Swaziland.

The secondary purpose of this course was to demonstrate to the college in Pennsylvania and the media community in Swaziland the possibilities of distance learning via the Internet.

Participation in the course, in conjunction with the course projects, gave the journalists:

. •insight into the practice of journalism as an agent of social change and empowerment;

. •the resources and skills to develop civic/community journalism practices in their daily work as journalists; and

. •a foundation for developing journalism initiatives as social change agents.

The outcomes of this course — course projects — illustrate that the model of public journalism currently practiced and encouraged in the United States is transferable to other cultures, who are also concerned with empowering citizens through the media.

The course was delivered through the use of interactive Internet video for weekly discussion meetings, email conversations and a newsgroup for the greater discussions. The authors/instructors of the course concluded the project with a two-week field experience with the journalists to facilitate the completion of public journalism projects for each of the participating media in Swaziland.

DEVELOPMENTAL COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC JOURNALISM

Development efforts were essentially an effort to help nations grow and to assist in "the rapid increase in the productivity of society." (Schramm, 1964, p. 21) In a very simplified sense, developmental initiatives were an attempt to provide money as an intervention to third world countries so that they could engage in projects to improve societies and economies. It was evident early on that money itself was ineffective in bringing about change. Billions of dollars had little impact on advancement due to inefficiency, lack of experience, and corruption. The evolution of developmental initiatives led donor countries to operate more projects and provide materials to be used in development rather than cash. This type of dependency between developing and donor countries was counter productive in bringing about permanent improvements. The reason was simple; people and hard work bring about change — along with money. Without the commitment of the people, little change is self-initiated or sustained. In the 1960s, a movement began that used modern communication to encourage productive attitudes. (Schramm, 1964)

Daniel Lerner (1958) found evidence that societies can change through the apparent influence of mass communication. Schramm (1964) further advocated the use of media because they had the ability to enhance development and social change. Citing three great communication tasks — as watchmen, as participants in the decision process, and as teachers — he said the media were able to: broaden horizons, focus attention and raise aspirations, create a climate for development, help change attitudes or valued practices, feed interpersonal channels, confer status, and enforce social norms, and help form tastes. (p. 127-144.) The effects, however, were often seen as a form of "cultural imperialism" and fueled attacks on the theories of Lerner and Schramm. Actual evidence of the success of the approach to improve societies and economies was slight and countries often abandoned communications development efforts. Communication and media play a role in growth but alone are not successful.

The New World Information and Communications Order, NWICO, and the developmental communication movement of the 1970s share, in fact, many of the same foundational elements for the current trend in public journalism. The goals of developmental communication go hand in hand with the current goals of public journalism.

Developmental communication may be defined as the utilization of mass media — radio, television, newspapers, etc. — to help build and develop a nation. This concept was both a very important and a misunderstood initiative in nation building. First, mass media have a unique advantage of being able to reach many of the citizenry of a country. It was believed that if the media communicated information that was important to the development of culture, health, education and so on, that there would be a net gain in the growth of newly independent third world countries. Unfortunately, these countries, generally socialist in nature, owned or controlled the media. As such, the governments of countries took the opportunity to use the media to inform the populace of what they thought was important to the people or what the government wanted the people to know and learn. Popular access to the media and freedom of information was nonexistent.

These actions disenfranchised the citizenry and the mass media. Government took greater control of the media. Information communicated to the people became political indoctrination and seldom took the role of improving the lives of people; media were used to keep the government of the day in power and often to keep citizens uninformed. The manipulation of information had a negative effect on the citizenry. "The carrying of facts, discussion, persuasion, and argument, are parts of the process by which consensus is attained in any free society...the social effect of free information is to liberate...man [and] to free him from ignorance..." (Schramm, 1964, p. 36.)

In terms of nation building, changes are brought about by people, not solely by government and not by the media alone. No matter how much people are told what to do or what to believe, without a commitment to the concept and an active role in the process, people do not develop; nations do not develop. This inevitable collision of philosophies eventually undid the intended good of developmental communication. The media are agents of social change but do not effect change by themselves.

The improvement of literacy, health, education, standards of living, and even political awareness are the key elements of people building and of nation building. While the leaders of these developing countries generally agree with this supposition, the way in which they chose or permitted the media to pursue these goals was counter-productive. As the 1990s arrived, the developing world was clamoring for a political change. The people of these countries wanted to be empowered to determine their futures. Governments were being challenged and authoritarian policies and socialist economies were failing to accomplish the goals of independence.

Along with this emerging movement was a simultaneous movement to democratize the media. In this sense, the intent was not to politicize the media, but to make it responsive to the people. The late Mann Sichalwe, director of the Zambia Institute for Mass Communication and lifelong broadcaster, spearheaded an effort to realize that goal in Zambia and southern Africa. (Moore, 1992) The media is a matter of human rights, the right to communicate is an extension of the advances toward liberty and democracy. Democratizing the media cannot simply be additional facilities. It means broader access to the media by the general public, and the interchange of information between people without the dominance of any person or one group. (UNESCO, 1984)

In order to democratize, the media of a country must work very hard to overcome the four traditional barriers to access. Physical barriers cost money and require ingenuity to overcome. Social/psychological barriers require changes in attitudes and cultural beliefs and practices. Political barriers can only be circumvented when governments no longer fear the free exchange of information and the inevitable debates and arguments that result. Personal and public growth result with the increased flow of information and the healthy exchange of views. Economic barriers both at the citizen level and that of the nation are critical to access to media and the securing of resources for operation of the media. (Gallimore, 1995, p. 53)

Here is the merger of developmental communication, democratization of the media and public journalism. The media serve the people and the people use the media to get the information that is critical to them in their daily lives. That means that citizens must participate in the media; no hierarchy between the media and the general populace may exist. The media are partners with the people. The media have to seek out what is important to citizens — reach out to all corners of a country and levels of society, and provide information that is timely and important to the citizens. It is this information that provides self-help, personal growth, and nation building.

While these goals of developmental communication sound lofty and are laudable, it is these same goals that public journalism seeks to imbue. Through public journalism, the media develop a relationship with citizens. Together they are participants in the democratic process and as a grass roots movement use journalism to build themselves.

Public journalism is responsible to the people. People — citizens — are participants in the public journalism model. Journalists in this model are citizens, too; journalists are partners with the people and servants to the citizens' needs. In this model, media and the information they share is for the citizens, all citizens regardless of their station in the community. Public journalism is a relationship between the media and the citizens to whom it is responsible.

This concept of responsibility to the people is a return to the roots of journalism. According to Ed Fouhy, executive director of the Pew Center for Civic Journalism (1996), "Civic journalism is a fresh label on an old idea — that journalism has an obligation to provide people with the news and information they need to make the decisions they are called upon to make. In a self-governing society, it helps people behave as citizens." This is a return to what journalism was all about when Ben Franklin and other forefathers started writing newspapers in their communities. It wasn't for themselves, and it wasn't for government, it was for the people, so that everyone could feel that they had a voice and knew what was going on in their community, and they knew how to participate in their community. That's what public journalism brings media back to, a movement with the people leading the media, and telling the media what is important to them by providing a forum for the public in which they can engage in problem solving.

People want the media to serve their information needs. Public journalism is one process by which the media can reconnect with their communities as a civic partner here in the United States and in other countries.

A MODEL OF PUBLIC JOURNALISM

Public journalism asks journalists to change the way they think about identifying news, gathering information for news story development, and developing a public's point of view in the news story writing process. This process should bring closer journalists as citizens with their fellow citizens in the community at large and in specific arenas such as the government.

Public journalism focuses on the community and the role of the journalist is a member of that community as a partner with the people. It is grounded in the concept that journalists from all media have a responsibility not just to report on public issues, but to actively facilitate their debate and resolution. The media can encourage active dialog on the issues without becoming involved in the decision-making.

A Classic Model of Public Journalism

A model for public journalism begins with the three main phases explained by Charity (1995). As an overview, Charity's model includes: 1) consciousness raising, 2) working through the issue with the community, and 3) resolution. The process of public journalism is a cycle; the resolution phase leads back to the initial phase for further issue development. The consciousness-raising phase includes activities like listening and issue development in which the media seeks public input to develop an agenda of community issues. This initial phase also includes citizenship building activities on the part of the media, i.e., activities by which the media reconnects with the community and returns to their role as citizens within the community. Predominantly the first phase is a phase of research and resource development.

In the second phase of working through issues with the community, the media address the issues that the community has identified in the first phase (the public's agenda). The media begin to construct news stories about the issues on the public's agenda from the people's point of view. A second activity that occurs in this phase is additional research activities like public forums and public meetings by which the media and the citizens (and the government) begin to fine-tune the identification of important issues within the community. These activities lead to the third phase

— resolution.

In the resolution phase, these plans for public journalism projects developed from the initial listening and fine-tuning activities can be implemented. These projects may include ongoing series or sections in a newspaper or on a broadcast news program or may include a short-term project like an election. While the resolution phase sounds like a final step, it leads back to the initial phase for debriefing and analysis. Like links in a chain, the phases of this model of public journalism create a loop that continues from one project to another. Community problems aren’t always resolved; sometimes when one challenge is met, new problems are revealed. Thus, the public journalism cycle begins again, providing the community with a public forum for discussion and resolution.

A Model for Export

The model developed by the authors for the Swaziland Distance Learning Project (Gillis and Moore, 1997) included elements from Charity's (1995) model as well as elements from models developed by the Kettering Foundation (Rosen, Merritt, & Austin, 1997), Radio and Television News Directors Foundation (Porter, 1996), and the Pew Center for Civic Journalism (1996). This model for export to Swaziland included the following six steps: 1) public listening; 2) developing community issues and a time frame; 3) developing community forums; 4) collaboration between media within the community; 5) promoting the concept with the community; and 6) conducting the project and evaluating community response.

Dovetailed with the Charity model, the Gillis-Moore model further delineated the relationship building process between the media and the citizens of the community. The Charity (1995) phase of raising citizen and media consciousness of community issues can be seen in the activities of listening to citizens within the five layers of civic life — the official, quasi-official, public gathering places, incidental, and private layers (Pew Center for Civic Journalism, 1996); developing issues and community forums in which to flesh out the context of the issues; before moving on to the development of a time frame and media plan for addressing these community issues. Developing a collaboration between media and a promotional plan with the community (steps 4 and 5 of the Gillis-Moore model) amplify Charity's (1995) phase of working through the issue with the community, before coming to a resolution (Charity, 1995) or the phase of producing the news packages. The Gillis-Moore model also acknowledges the importance of media unity in facilitating community building — and nation building. According to Porter (1996), "Improved communication between the news organizations and the community will lead to better coverage of issues important to its citizens." (p. 14)

The model for export along with Charity's (1995) classic model both acknowledge through activities, on the part of both citizens and the media, the two-way nature of the public journalism process by initiating dialog between the media and the citizens (not merely media consumers). The final step in the Gillis-Moore model further strengthens the cyclical nature of the process by evaluating the citizens' responses in an effort to better meet their needs with future public journalism or other media projects.

COURSE DESIGN AND DELIVERY

The Swaziland Distance Learning Project in Public Journalism was initiated through a grant from the U.S. Information Agency's Distance Learning Initiative and a grant from the Elizabethtown College President's Fund for Distinction. Delivering this course using new technology like Internet video was a first for Elizabethtown College as well as Swaziland.

The design of the project included:

. •two teleconference meetings (held in September and October 1997) with the instructors, the public affairs officer of the American Cultural Center, and the heads of the media houses in Swaziland to gain their cooperation in the project (This cooperation included permission for journalists to take time away from their regular media duties to attend the class and pursue the class projects.);

. •twelve interactive Internet video meetings with the students (mid-career journalists representing all media in Swaziland) facilitated by the staff of the American Cultural Center in Swaziland (held in December 1997 and January through April 1998); and

. •a two-week field experience by the instructors (May 1998), at which time the course projects were completed and presented to the Ministry of Public Service and Information and the heads of the media houses involved.

Prior to the delivery of the course, it was critical to the success of this project that the heads of the media be committed to the success of this project. The managers of the state operated media and independent media — television, newspapers and radio — met with the instructors and the public affairs officer of the U.S. Embassy in Swaziland by telephone conference call to discuss the purposes and potential outcomes of the course, as well as the time commitment necessary for the course projects to be successful. These managers also assisted in the identification of course participants. At this point in the development of the course it was important that the media managers understand that the participating journalists would be working in collaborative groups to produce public journalism projects that will be immediately useable in May 1998. The course was not to be an academic exercise, but a practical experience for the journalists.

The course was delivered through the use of interactive Internet video for weekly discussion meetings. The technology used included an Internet video camera and sound system. The software used was NetMeeting. This technology allowed the students and instructors to see one another in simulation of a classroom. According to Brenner (1997), face-to-face communication in the learning model is critical to student participation and facilitating student learning, especially in the virtual learning environment.

In addition to the weekly meetings, students corresponded with the instructors via e-mail concerning course readings and discussion questions posed during the weekly sessions. Students gained access to the Internet, World Wide Web, and e-mail by contract with the Internet Cafe in Mbabane — adjacent to the American Cultural Center. E-mail is a very personal way of communicating one-on-one, or with copies to specific individuals. E-mail messages provided a controlled and private channel for students to access instructors and peers. E-mail, when used in the learning process, facilitates an active teaching and learning environment (Gillette, 1996). Furthermore, "[w]hen people write about anything, they learn more about it. Often, they learn more than they intend - about what they know, what they donÕt, and where they need to go next." (p.15, Fulwiler, 1997)

To further facilitate these virtual discussions, a news group was set up at Elizabethtown (Pa.) College for students to share discussions. The news group was an extension of the e-mail system of the class. Students accessed the news group in the same way that they accessed the email system. Through the news group the instructors and the students communicated as a group. Instructors and students posted questions and responses to the news group to build a dialog between class sessions. The news group provided a more public forum for discussions and amplified the discussions from week to week.

The text for the course included Doing Public Journalism (Charity, 1998) as well as a number of pieces of practice literature (texts and videos) provided by the Pew Center for Civic Journalism. Other materials were provided by the Kettering Foundation, RTNDF, and Poynter Institute. Additionally, a large collection of research reports and journal articles drawn from the discipline were used as support materials.

A course website was developed to facilitate student involvement with a number of research sources. The course website for the Swaziland Distance Learning Project (1997) included the standard course syllabus, reading lists and additional journalism websites of note, as well as hot links to instructor e-mail and the course news group.

The authors/instructors of the course concluded the project with a two-week field experience with the journalists to facilitate the completion of public journalism projects for each of the participating media in Swaziland.

When the weekly Internet portion of the course concluded in April 1998, the students formed two groups to develop media packages on the following topics: rural health care and rape/incest issues. The two student groups included representatives from each of the media — state controlled and independent, broadcast and print. Prior to May, when the instructors arrived for the field experience portion of the course, students developed background research, public listening projects and community contacts with the Swazi people. They also developed public journalism plans, which included a detailed list of listening activities, issue identifications, and contacts at each of the five levels of the communities. This plan served as a map for the group to meet its public journalism goals.

When the instructors arrived in May 1998, the instructors assisted the students in pursuing their public journalism project plans. The goal of this part of the Swaziland Distance Learning Project was not to conduct an academic simulation of public journalism, but to have the journalist teams develop projects that could be immediately used by the Swazi media.

COURSE ACTIVITIES AND OUTCOMES

Preparatory Activities

Preliminary teleconference meetings were held with the media managers beginning September 15, 1997. These media managers included editors and news directors of the Swazi Observer (national print), The Times of Swaziland (independently owned print), Swaziland Television Broadcasting Corporation (national television), and Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Service (national radio). In two one-hour sessions, the course instructors (Gillis and Moore) along with the public affairs officer of the American Cultural Center in Mbabane, Swaziland, set course goals and discussed the operations of the classes to be held with participants of each of the media houses. The media houses included one independently owned newspaper and the three state-owned media.

The parties who participated in the preliminary meetings agreed on two criteria for selection of participants for the course: first, the journalists were to become change agents in the development of civic initiatives and, second, the participants should be able to identify key initiatives for each of the media to undertake in a program of civic/public journalism for their particular employer/media house. Fundamental to these goals was a common definition of civic or public journalism. It was agreed that public/civic/community journalism was a reform movement with the media acting as a functioning member of society. The media would be community-based, raise issues, talk about problems, and seek to empower people to develop solutions to civic problems.

The instructors and the media managers agreed that participants in the course should not be entry-level journalists, but instead those with 3 to 5 years of experience so that the course content could depart from the discussion of basic media principles and seek to develop techniques for the journalists to connect with communities and the citizens. Further, it was agreed that participants would represent a variety of beats and each media (state-owned and independently held print and broadcast).

The media managers agreed to provide logistical support for the release of these journalists from regular work duties to attend the course on a weekly basis during the spring term of 1998 and for the two-week field experience in May 1998; the media managers also agreed to provide assistance with special course work assignments and to support and encourage efforts that were outgrowths of the program.

Course Instruction

The first meeting of the course convened with selected participants on September 29, 1997. The purpose of this preliminary class meeting was to introduce the faculty to the participants as well as to discuss of the goals and operation of the Swaziland Distance Learning Project in Community Journalism. Specifically, the expectations regarding readings, assignments, the weekly teleconferences and the field exercises were addressed. A schedule for the course was reviewed, the course text, Doing Public Journalism (Charity, 1998) was introduced, several preliminary articles were reviewed and the course website, news group and email procedures were discussed. See the appendix for syllabus, bibliographies, and website information.

The content covered in this first meeting included the definition of civic/public journalism, potential applications to the work of the participants and the various media of the country, a discussion of public journalism as it relates to national development and developmental communication, and a review of the New World Information and Communications Order.

On December 9, 1997 the course participants met for a second time. In this session, it was expected that the text and many of the articles assigned had been read and the participants were familiar with terminology and content in order to hold a discussion of key elements of public journalism. Using the Charity text (1998) as a catalyst, the class discussion addressed American based examples and possible interpretations for similar applications in Swaziland. Additional topics of public listening, methods for connecting the media to the community were the current topics of greatest concern to the Swazi participants.

The goal of this second-class meeting was to develop a common base of terminology, concepts, and applications of a largely American movement to indigenous situations. With this accomplished, assignments were made on a weekly basis in which participants were required to read from assigned texts and practice literature, to interpret concepts in familiar contexts from current issues in Swaziland, and to place comments and questions in email to the faculty or to post such on the news group for all members of the course to share.

From the end of January 1998 through April 1998, participants explored text materials, guides and supplementary material provided by The Pew Foundation for Civic Journalism, The Kettering Foundation, The Freedom Forum, RTNDF and other organizations. Three course meetings were devoted to viewing videos of successful civic journalism projects or panel discussions about the issues driving this journalism movement. In all instances, teleconferences (facilitated by Internet video meeting software) focused on the understanding of the concepts, application of information to the Swazi context, and analysis of how the journalists might develop similar projects for their media establishment.

Midway through the course, the class was divided into two smaller groups with hypothetical project topics. Discussions and assignments designed to apply the concepts and the practical model of public journalism (described earlier in this paper) were completed by the participants in the smaller groups. The intent of the small group projects was to make the content more relevant to the participants, to give the participants an experience in making actual judgments about ideas and stories within the framework of public journalism, and to begin to show the participants that members of different media establishments could work cooperatively on a journalism project. These exercises were then shared and discussed with the instructors and other participants in subsequent teleconferences, via email or the news group. This experience was seen as very important since it simulated the group work that would culminate in the field experience to come at the conclusion of the course. These simulation projects allowed participants to apply their knowledge and understanding of public journalism and make decisions that otherwise might seem alien to them.

Preparation for the field experience portion of the project commenced during the March 17, 1998 teleconference. Once again the class was divided into two groups; each group represented a balance of the media, gender, experience, and education levels. The two groups were instructed to meet regularly between the last teleconference meetings and to begin planning their group project. A group leader and recorder were appointed and expected to present the information to all participants and the instructors at each remaining teleconference.

Each group was directed to: establish a mission statement; generate ideas for media coverage to include partnerships and cross promotions among all of the media; create a plan for assessing the community's needs at all layers of society; plan for testing their idea; and create an outline for the framing of the various coverage of the topic.

In subsequent meetings, the groups were instructed to: create a plan for generating dialog with the community; establish public listening opportunities; establish leads for stories; create devices for citizen participation in the debate; and work to develop several possible ideas for action. The two groups identified the following as issues for the field experience projects: rural health care and rape/incest issues.

The participants proceeded on these assignments within the groups from the time the teleconferences ended in mid-April until the arrival of the instructors (Gillis and Moore) in mid-May. From May 18 through May 28, 1998, the instructors conducted field experiences in which each group was expected to present their final planning documents for comment, revision, and mobilization.

Field Experience

During the field experience, the American Cultural Center provided meeting facilities, meals and transportation for all participants of the course. Sessions ran from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, Monday through Friday. In the first few days of the field experience, the two groups revised work plans, determined story assignments, and finalized the logistics necessary to carry out the projects. Public listening and interviewing trips were conducted to rural and urban areas throughout the country. Framing decisions and development of news leads led group members to residents and civic leaders as part of story development.

During the story writing and production phases, additional travels were scheduled as necessary to secure needed meetings and follow up interviews with various contacts representing the five layers of civic life (Pew Center for Civic Journalism, 1996). Once travel was concluded, participants returned to the American Cultural Center where final analysis and development of stories was completed.

On the final day of the field experience, Thursday, May 28, 1998, all members of the course presented a summary of the group projects and planning materials. Then they proceeded to present full broadcast productions and print stories, which were produced from the field exercise. In attendance at this public session, were managers of the various media establishments, representatives of the Ministry of Public Service and Information including the Honorable Minister, representatives of the Swaziland National Association of Journalists, the Media Institute of Southern Africa, the University of Swaziland, the United States Embassy, the British High Commission, journalism colleagues and other interested parties.

Outcomes

At the close the two-week field experience, each participant from the two groups within the class came away from this project with a completed news story or news program suitable for publication in each of the media represented — radio, television, and newspapers. Along with the news packages, the groups created planning documents for inter-media promotions of the news stories which coordinated and complimented the three media and the issues at hand — rural health care and rape/incest issues. All news reports were produced in English unless otherwise indicated.

Rural Health Care: The Human Side of Crime on Health Care

"The Human Side of Crime on Health Care" was the promotional catch phrase developed for this group project that dealt with criminal activities that were preventing the routine operations of rural health clinics.

Over the previous four years, out of 60 clinics in the country, at least half had been attacked numerous times. This crime (looting, break-ins and thefts of money and medical supplies, and personal assaults) led to closure of some of the health centers in the rural areas. Nurses were victims of these attacks and as a result had abandoned the clinics causing a reduction in health services to the community. In some communities, there was fear that their clinics may also be potential targets. Few of the criminals were arrested and none had been brought before a court of law. During the two-week field experience, nurses of the country staged a march to the Prime Minister's office to deliver a petition challenging government to address the security problem at the clinics. Because of the weak infrastructure in the remote areas of the country, closings of rural health clinics posed major risks to regions of the country that rely on the basic health maintenance services these facilities provide. Criminal activities that led to many clinic closing could be measured in mortality rates and epidemic conditions in these rural areas of both the northern and southern regions of the country.

"The Human Side of Crime on Health Care" public journalism project plan included the following news stories and cross promotional items:

. •The promotional plan included cross-promotional messages designed for use by each medium, which highlighted the topic, news stories, dates, and the medium on which the stories would appear.

. •Each medium planned to follow their individual story with another story directly related to listener/reader feedback received after the original piece appeared. The follow up story was designed to serve as an additional opportunity to promote the next regular installment of the series and build on this media/citizen partnership concept.

. ¥The first story in this group project introduced the public journalism project and the series by providing an overview of the project topic of health care. The television story for the Swaziland Television Broadcasting Corporation provided an overview of the crime issue and an advance look at the topics that would comprise the inter-media project titled "The Human Side of Crime on Health Care."

. ¥The second story in this series titled "Jericho: An Area with No Health Care" was written for the Times of Swaziland, the independently owned newspaper. This story focused on the crimes associated with the health clinics and the small rural community of Jericho. The central issue of the story is the impact that crime has had on the lives of the people in a community now without a health clinic. Interviews with local residents, local officials and ministry officials help tell this story.

. •The third in this series was a call in radio show produced for the Swaziland Broadcasting and Information System (national radio). This program included mini news features interspersed with commentary from the listening audience. The host discussed the two previous news stories in the series and specifically asked for input from listeners concerning their views regarding the issue of crime and health clinics. Solutions were sought and personal experiences were requested. The program opens with a feature at the beginning of the hour and another at :30. Every 10 minutes the host briefly introduced a new aspect to the subject asking callers to communicate on that point.

. ¥The fourth and fifth news stories in this series were written for The Swazi Observer, the state-owned newspaper, and were titled "Nkwene Community Takes Steps to Bring Back Good Health Care" and "Nkwene Residents Mobilise Against Crime on Health Care." These stories focused on the solutions that are possible to stop crimes associated with health clinics. Highlighted in these features are grass roots efforts of local communities determined to create a safe and healthy environment for their citizens. One community provided guards and security to ensure the safety of the health care workers and the facility from vandals.

CONCLUSIONS

The outcomes of this course — course projects — illustrate that the models of public journalism currently practiced and encouraged in the United States across all media are transferable to other cultures that are also concerned with empowering citizens through the media.

While not always the case in public journalism projects, all the media cooperated on the projects within the Swaziland Distance Learning Project and coordinated their efforts for the benefit of the citizens. Inter-media cooperation was a key to informing the public on the two issues chosen by the participants in the Swaziland pilot project.

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Gillette, D.H. (1996, Fall). Using Electronic Tools to Promote Active Learning. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 67, Fall 1996, p. 59-70.

Gillis, T. L. and Moore, R.C. (October, 1997). Swaziland Distance Learning Project — Community Journalism. Online: http://www.etown.edu/home/com/swazicj

Lerner, D. (1958). The Passing of Traditional Society: Modernizing in the Middle East. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press.

Moore, R.C. (1992). The Political Reality of Freedom of the Press in Zambia. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America.

Pew Center for Civic Journalism. (1996). Tapping into Civic Life: How to report first, and best, what’s happening in your community. Washington, DC: The Tides Center and the Harwood Group.

Porter, C. (1996). Community Journalism: Getting started, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: RTNDF.

Rosen, J.; Merritt, D.; & Austin, L. (1997). Theory and Practice: Lessons from experience. Dayton, Ohio: Kettering Foundation.

Schaffer, J. & Miller, E. D. (1996). With the People: A toolbox for getting readers and viewers involved. Washington, DC: Pew Center for Civic Journalism.

Schramm, W. (1964). Mass Media and National Development. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.

UNESCO (1984). Many Voices, One World (The MacBride Commission Report). New York: Unipub.

APPENDIX

Swazi Distance Learning Project 97-98 Community Journalism Seminar Teaching Materials (1/98)

Civic Journalism Articles/Research Papers

____________. (1996). Civic journalism. The C Q Researcher, vol. 6, 35.

Blomquist, D. and Zukin, C. (1997, May) Does public journalism work?: The "Campaign Central" experience. Pew Center for Civic Journalism, Washington, D.C.

Clark, R. (1992). A call to leadership. The Poynter Papers: No. 1. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, St. Petersburg, FL.

Davison, W. P. (1987). Mass media, civic organizations and street gossip: How communication affects the quality of life in an urban neighborhood. Working paper. Gannett Center for Media Studies, New York.

Miller, E. (1994). The Charlotte project: Helping citizens take back democracy. The Poynter Papers: No. 4. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, St. Petersburg, FL.

Newby-Fiebich, C. (1997). Issues and agendas: The case of Wichita, Kansas revisited. Paper presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Chicago.

Olorunnisola, A. A. (1997). Radio and African rural communities: Structural strategies for social mobilization. Journal of Radio Studies, vol. 4, 242-257.

Poindexter, M. (1997). Radio in Paris: Can community stations survive? Journal of Radio Studies, vol. 4, 258-273.

Rasinski, K. A. (1997). Effects of media on support for the California civil rights initiative. Paper presented to the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Norfolk.

Rosen, J. (1993). Community connectedness: Passwords for public journalism. The Poynter Papers: No. 3. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, St. Petersburg, FL.

Sirianni, C. and Friedland, L. (1997, January). Civic innovation and American democracy. Change.

Civic Journalism Reports

____________. (1996). The Citizens election project case studies. University of Maryland, College Park.

____________. (1995). Civic journalism: Six case studies. The Pew Center for Civic Journalism and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

____________. (1997). Civic lessons. The Pew Charitable Trusts, Philadelphia.

____________. (1996). Community Journalism: Getting started. Second edition. RTNDF.

____________. (1997). Of the people...by the people...for the people...with the people. The Pew Center for Civic Journalism and the Poynter Institute for Media Studies.

____________. (1996). Tapping civic life: How to report first, and best, what’s happening in your community. The Pew Center for Civic Journalism.

Texts

Charity, A. (1995). Doing public journalism. Guilford Publications, New York.

Lauterer, J. (1995). Community journalism. Iowa State University Press, Ames.

____________. (1996). Community Journalism: Getting started. Second edition. RTNDF.

Rosen, J., Merritt, D., and Austen, L. (1997). Public journalism: Theory and Practice. Kettering Foundation, Dayton.

____________. (1997). Speaking of public journalism (at the American Press Institute). Kettering Foundation, Dayton.

____________. (1996) Tapping civic life: How to report first, and best, what’s happening in your community. The Pew Center for Civic Journalism.

Videotapes

Civic Journalism: Covering Your Community Through Creative Partnerships. Radio & Television News Director’s Association Conference. 1995. 84 min.

Civic Journalism: It's More than Just Good Journalism. The Pew Center for Civic Journalism. 1996. 30 min.

Civic Journalism: A practical Guide. The Pew Center for Civic Journalism. 1995. 33 min.

Civic Journalism Periodicals

The Freedom Forum FREEDOM FORUM NEWS The Freedom Forum World Center 1101 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA 22209 703/528-0800 703/284-3570 - Michael Hemsley

The Kettering Foundation CONNECTIONS 200 Commons Road Dayton, OH 45459-2799 937/434-7300 937/439-9804 - Sharon Hardin

The National Commission on Civic Renewal NEWSLETTER 111 Van Munching Hall University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 301/405-2790

The Pew Center for Civic Journalism CIVIC CATALYST 1101 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 420 Washington, DC 20036 202/331-3200 202/347-6440 (fax)

Community Journalism Supplemental Materials Research Reports

AFRICA

Henry, Kathleen (1988). Using radio to promote family planning in Sub-Saharan Africa. Paper presented to Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

_____. (1989). Human rights issues in Africa. United States Department of State — Bureau of Public Affairs, Washington, DC.

Jakobowicz, Karol. ( ). Broadcasting and cultural identity in black Africa: Can they go together?

Palmer, Allen (1989). New world journalism in Mauritius: The credibility of development news in the third world. Paper presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Pratt, Cornelius, & McLaughlin, Gerald W. (1989). Nigerian journalists' perception of editorial ethics and of the role of editorials in national development. Paper presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Paterson, Christopher. (1994). Broadcasting for national development in the new South Africa. Paper Press. AEJMC.

Sparks, Allister. (1994). South Africa: The secret revolution. The New Yorker. April 11, 1994.

Snyder, Leslie B. (1987). UNESCO-Sponsored Community Media in Kenya: Political and organization deterrents to community participation. Paper presented to the International Communication Association.

__________. (1994). Understanding Africa: Emerging trends in business, politics, communication and development. The Institute of Marketing Management, Johannesburg.

Developmental Communication

Agrawal, Binod C. (1982). Satellite communication technology for development: The Indian scene. Paper presented before the International Association for Mass Communication Research.

Boyd, Douglas A., & Straubhaar, Joseph D. (1984). Developmental impact of the home video cassette recorder on third world countries.

Hudson, Heather E. (1983). The role of telecommunications in development: A synthesis of current research. Publication unknown.

Kothari, Rajni (1989). Communications for alternative development: Towards a Paradigm. In Development Dialogue 1/2.

Kuma, Keal Joe (1988). Approaches to people's media in India. Paper presented to International Communication Association.

Lee, Paul Siu-nam (1988). Development journalism, economic growth, and authoritarianism/totalitarianism. Paper presented to International Communication Association.

McKay, Floyd J. (1992). Development journalism in an Asian setting: A study of depth news. Paper Presented to AEJMC.

Nicol, Lionel, & Webber, Melvin M. (1986). New communications technology for development. In Habitat International 1/2, 105-114.

Rodriguez, Lulu. (1994). What people get from the news: Shaping a rural audience's understanding.

Rogers, Everett M. (1987). Communication and development today. Paper presented at the Seminar on Communication and Change.

Sanders, Keith P., & Haghmed, Gamaleldin O. (1988). Developmental play: A new approach to the role of mass media in developing countries. Paper presented to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.

Servaes, Jan (1988). Communication, development, and new social movements. Paper presented to the International Communication Association.

Sherry, John L. (1995). An evaluation of research on pro-social soap operas for development. Washington, DC: AEJMC

Singhal, Arvind, & Rogers, Everett M. (1987). Television soap operas for development in India. Paper presented to the International Communication Association.

Tehranian, Majid. (1988). Communication, peace, and development: A communitarian perspective. Paper presented to the International Communication Association.

General

Brown, William. (1989). The role of television in development communication. Paper presented at the Intercultural and Development Communication Division of International Communication Association’s 39th Annual Conference.

Gurstein, Michael. (1989). Broadcasting and cultural identity in Canada: Some possible lessons for the third world.

Kelly, James D. (1987). Application of theory to a technical assistance experiment: Development communication theory and the basic village education Project in Guatemala. Paper presented to International Communication Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Lull, James. (1987). China urban families' uses of television in the modernization of the People's Republic of China. Paper presented to ICA.

Singhal, Aruind. (1989). Combining entertainment with education: Effects of "Hum Log" A television soap opera in India. Paper presented to ICA meeting.

Somavia, Juan. (1981). The democratization of communications.

White, Robert A. (1988). "NWICO has become a people's movement." Media Development. Jan. 1988 : 20-25.

Supplemental Materials Media and Social Change (of interest or related reading, not required for the Community Journalism course) Materials must be ordered and purchased from the publisher.

Berrigan, F. (1977). Access: Some western models of community media. Paris: UNESCO.

Berry, William E. (1995). Lastrights: Revisiting four theories of the press. University of Illinois Publishing.

Bordenave, Juan E. Dias. (1977). Communication and rural development. UNESCO.

Bourgault, Louise M. (1995). Mass media in Sub-Saharan Africa. Bloomington, IN: IU Press.

Browne, Donald R. (1996). Electronic media and indigenous peoples. Ames: Iowa University Press.

__________. (1995). Communication and democracy: Ensuring plurality. Southbound,

Videazimut & Cendit, Malaysia. Dikshit, Boden, Donkor, Bonzon, Alarcon, Kostal and Powell. (1979). Rural radio: Program formats. UNESCO.

Fisher, Desmond. (1982). The right to communicate: A status report. UNESCO.

Foster, George. (1979). Traditional societies and technological change. 2nd ed. New York: Harper and Row.

Goodwin, Crawford and Nacht, Michael. (1995). Talking to themselves. New York, NY. Institute of Internal Education.

Hancock, A. (1981). Communication planning for development: An operational framework. Paris: UNESCO.

Hartmann, Paul. (1989). The Mass media & village life: An Indian study. NY: Sage.

Hedebro, G. (1982). Communication and social change in developing countries: A critical view. Ames: Iowa State University Press.

Hornik, R. (1988). Development communication. Information, agriculture and nutrition in the third world. New York: Longman.

Hudson, Heather E. (1984). When telephones reach the village. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Lull, James. (1988). World families watch television. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.

Lustred, David & Drummond, Phillip. (1985). TV and schooling. London: British Film Institute. (Video Tape)

MacBride, S. (1984). Many voices, one world: Towards a new more just and more efficient world information and communication order. Paris: UNESCO.

McAnany, E. (1980). Communications in the rural third world: The role of information in development. Paris: UNESCO.

_________. (1994). Media development and democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean. Santiago, Chile. United Nations/UNESCO.

Moore, Robert C. (1992). Freedom of the press in Zambia. Lanham, MD: University Press.

Nariman, Heidi Noel. (1993). Soap Operas for social change. Westport: Praeger. (Video Tape).

Narula, Uma & Pearce, W. Barnett. (1986). Development as communications: A perspective on India. Carbondale: S. Illinois University Press.

Ngwainmbi, Emmanuel. (1995). Communications efficiency and rural development in Africa. University Press of America.

Servaes, Jan. (1989). One world, multiple cultures. Leuven: Acco.

Stevenson Robert L. (1988). Communication, development, and the third world. New York: Longman.

_________. (1985). "Telecommunications Development: International Communication." Journal of Communication. ICA.

Walker, R. (1984). Culture, ideology and world order. Boulder: West View Press.

Woods, B. (1993). Communication, technology, and the development of people. New York: Routledge.

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