Moving Qualities

This presentation by Warren Feek, Director of The Communication Initiative, given at the Fourth World Summit on Media for Children and Adolescents (WSMCA) in Rio de Janeiro, focused on social movements and their impact on social development. The presentation began with a pictorial review of images, cartoons, and pictures that captured moments in a variety of social movements including women's civil rights, anti-tobacco, environmental, peace, land rights and others. These images framed the rest of Feek's analysis.

Feek suggests that “good” programmes are not the goal, but instead, "…you will want those to connect to and be important parts of much bigger MOVEMENTS on the issues and concerns central to the radio, TV, print etc initiatives you are undertaking." In relation to children, these issues include "improved literacy, reduced child abuse, legislated and enforced child rights, minority language protection and enhancement, improved preschool education etc..."

Feek continues by stating that "we should learn from the qualities of the major changes that have taken place around us..." He also points out that there exists a growing list of peer reviewed literature on social movement communication, providing examples of just a few.

Feek poses this question: "and what do the social movement experiences and the literature suggest are QUALITY essentials for effective change?" He provides the following five qualities in response:

• Quality 1: Structured around dialogue and discourse
  
  [Initiatives, including media and children work are rooted in debate and discussion]
• Quality 2: Increases children’s voices as central to that dialogue
  
  [Effective, sustainable change comes when the voices of the people most affected are central to the exploration of that issue – both analysis and action]
• Quality 3: Expands Popular Discourse (on the issue that is the theme of the media initiative)
  
  [The media programme contributes to more public debate and discussion on the issues in question – creates the “space” for that discourse – supports and allows that issue – eg healthier friendships – to be more widely agendaed and discussed]
• Quality 4: Strong links to other action on the same issue
  
  [There need to be clear, tangible, organised two way links between the media initiative and the face-to-face action – media work will never have a sustainable impact by itself – the children’s radio initiative on violence needs to be linked to and learn from anti-violence community and school work]
• Quality 5: Links the theme of the children’s media initiative to broader societal issues and concepts
  
  [Children’s issues have both roots and resolutions in broad social questions – not in the specific presenting problem – eg child abuse has deeper roots in child rights – these links need to be made]