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Posted by Anne-Katrin  on  Thu, 04/09/2008

Photo Credit: Flickr User vphillI've been with CommGAP for four months now, and since the fall semeser starts at University, it's time for me to take a little break and go back to school. Intermissions are handy occasions to reflect, and I'll make use of this occasion with some thoughts about the role of communication in governance, and my experience at CommGAP.

Posted by Anne-Katrin  on  Thu, 21/08/2008

"Unless mass views have some place in the shaping of policy, all the talk about democracy is nonsense" - V.O. Key said that in 1961 in his book Public Opinion and American Democracy.

Posted by Anne-Katrin  on  Wed, 13/08/2008

In June 2007, just a few days before he left office, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave a speech on the relationship between government and the news media. Speaking to Reuters news agency, he diagnosed the relationship between politics and the media to be in tatters. He made his position rather clear: The media "is like a feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits." He said that reporting is driven by sensationalism, the need to attack and to exaggerate.

Posted by Anne-Katrin  on  Wed, 23/07/2008

Photo Credit: Flickr User queenkvWhen you're advocating for a better understanding of the media's role in policy making and governance reform, nothing is as disheartening as a well done study that questions the media's role on the basis of sound evidence. Even when you can make a good argument that the study doesn't tell the whole story - you just know that experts in policy making and in academia will buy into what that study argues. That is why I found reading John Kingdon's excellent book Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies rather less enjoyable than the book deserves.

Posted by Anne-Katrin  on  Fri, 11/07/2008

Photo Credit: Flickr User verhoogen.beIn the developed world, radio is a more or less dying medium. In the age of iPods, who needs to switch on a radio to listen to music? Much less to listen to political talk, which you get anywhere from your local newspaper (preferably online) to cable television (also online, of course). Nevertheless, radio has a curious position in the political realm, in particular in developing countries, and to some extent also in the Western world.

Posted by Anne-Katrin  on  Tue, 01/07/2008

The Agora of the Competaliastae: Ancient Greek agoras are the classic archetype of an open and democratic public sphere (photo credits: flickr user wallyg)Having spent a considerable part of my professional and academic life thinking and writing about the public sphere, it still amazes me how nebulous this concept is, and how difficult it is to be clear about what we mean when we talk about "the public sphere." Academics write multi-volume books on this issue, and justifiably so: The public sphere is a constitutive element of democracy. Without it, citizens would not have a space in which to develop and articulate "public will," and no means to influence political decision making.

Posted by Anne-Katrin  on  Mon, 09/06/2008

Photo Credit: Flickr User desi.italy"Social accountability" and "good governance" are two rather popular buzzwords in the world of development agencies these days. There is much talk about participatory decision-making, transparency, and government responsiveness - but there is considerably less talk about one fundamental principle underlying all accountability mechanisms: information, and as intermediary of information, the media.