A wide use of social media and the development of digital communication channels have changed the game in grassroots activism. Embracing those new ways of communication gives a way to new forms of activism and raises questions about media’s shifting role in the sphere of social movements and collective action. The general aim of this study was to map the role of media in the Let’s Do It! (LDI) movement that fights against illegal waste by organizing clean-up campaigns and by building awareness about the problem among the general public. The purpose was to find out what role media plays in the mobilization of clean-up actions; in communicating with the whole LDI movement and in sustaining the global network. The research questions posed were: What communication channels are used, and how are they used by activists to reach general public and to engage the volunteers when organizing the local and the global clean-up campaigns in the LDI network? What is the value of the global Let’s Do It! network and how is global-local communication organized? To find out about the use of communication channels and the purpose of the global network, a web-survey and in-depth interviews with global and local members of Let’s Do It! were conducted. The results show that different communication channels have a different role in the process of coordinating clean-up campaigns and in sustaining the network. Traditional media is important for gaining wider visibility; digital channels of communication, especially social networking platforms, are multifunctional with combining the internal and the external communication; and face-to-face meetings and interpersonal relationships are deemed crucial in forming strong ties and sustaining the network both globally and locally. The actual media use is also strongly influenced by the cultural context and the resources available for the local teams.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not Public Service Announcements (PSAs) were an effective tool at modifying young adults’ perception of the r-word (the word “retard” or “retarded”). The PSAs included in this study were part of the Special Olympics’ “Spread the Word to End the Word” campaign. This study examined the efficacy of these PSAs by comparing three groups’ perception of the r-word: experimental group 1 who watched a PSA titled “It’s Not Acceptable” (PSA 1 group), experimental group 2 who watched a PSA titled “We Need a New R-word” (PSA 2 group), and a third control group who watched no PSA. The purpose of the control group was to gain a baseline of how today’s young adults perceived the r-word with no influence from PSAs. Six hundred and seventy-five participants were randomly assigned to one of the three groups. The two experimental groups watched their respective PSAs and completed the survey materials comprised of a consent form, their affective and cognitive responses to the PSA, their ratings of the r-word and their demographic information. The control group watched no PSA but completed the survey materials comprised of a consent form, their ratings of the r-word and their demographic information. This study then examined what the differences were between the three groups’ perception of the r-word. It was hypothesized that PSA 1 group would have a more negative perception of the r-word than PSA 2 group and the control group, due to PSA 1’s framing the r-word as similar to other minority slurs, and using affect to facilitate message acceptance. The PSA 1 group participants thought more about the argument within their PSA, and rated higher affective responses to their PSA, when compared to the PSA 2 group; however, PSA 1 group did not have a more negative perception of the r-word than the other two groups. Results found that the PSA 2 group perceived the r-word as significantly less respectful than the participants in the control group. These findings are discussed in terms of message design for future PSAs regarding the r-word

Conclusion. It is probably now appropriate to close a chapter in the history of public communication campaigning. Weaknesses which have usually been seen as instrumental can now be seen for what they are: conceptual failures grounded in compromised ontologies and false epistemologies. As I showed in the last chapter, even when viewed within their own narrow empiricist frame, public communication campaigns fail to satisfy a test of empirical efficacy. But empirical failure reveals a deeper moral failure: the failure of government to properly engage in a conversation with the citizens to whom they are ultimately responsible. Whether public communication campaigns are a symptom or a cause of this failure lies beyond the scope of this thesis. But there can be little doubt that the practice of these campaigns has encouraged the persistence of an inappropriate relation between state and citizens. The originators and managers of mass media public communication campaigns conceive of and execute their creations as persuasive devices aimed at the targets who have been selected to receive their messages. But we do not see ourselves as targets (and there are profound ethical reasons why we should not be treated as such), neither do we engage with the mass media as message receivers. On the contrary, as social beings, we become actively and creatively involved with the communicative events which we attend to and participate in; the mass media, like all other communication opportunities, provide the means for generating new meanings, new ways of understanding, new social realities. But people are constrained from participating fully in public discussion about social issues; the government's construal of individuals as targets and of communication as transmitted messages does not provide the discursive space for mutual interaction. Governments should aim to encourage the active engagement of citizens in public discussion by conceiving of and executing public communication as part of a continuing conversation, not as packaged commodities to be marketed and consumed, or as messages to be received. It is time to encourage alternative practices-practices which open up the possibility of productive conversations which will help transform the relationship between citizens and state. However, as I have argued in this thesis, changed practices must be accompanied by profound changes in thinking, otherwise we continue to reinvent the past. Communication practice is informed by the ontology of communication which is itself embedded within other ontologies and epistemologies. The dominant paradigm of communication is at present in a state of crisis, caught between two views of communication power. On the one hand it displays an obsession with instrumental effectiveness on which it cannot deliver. On the other hand-in an attempt to discard the accumulated baggage of dualist philosophy and mechanistic models of effective communication-it indulges in a humourless critique of language which, as Robert Hughes astutely observes, is little more than an enclave of abstract complaint (Hughes 1993:72). This thesis has been an attempt to open up a space for a new ontology, within which we might create new possibilities.

In China, April 13, 1989 was marked as the "1.1 Billion Population Day." Though it has become the first "demographic billionaire" in the world, China has obtained remarkable results in population control. According to the statement issued by China's National Bureau of Statistics in 1987, the natural population growth rate dropped from 25.83 per thousand in 1970 to 11.28 per thousand in 1985. This has been viewed as an achievement not previously seen in any other population. In the past four decades, the Chinese government has adopted a population policy to organize the fertility transition in a planned way through education, motivation and persuasion. Five communication campaigns have been instituted to implement the policy. The successive family planning campaigns have played a vital role in educating and persuading individuals to accept the new fertility norms advocated by the government. In the communication processes of these campaigns, the strategies used have changed from the media-oriented strategy of the first campaign, to the introduction of an interpersonal approach in the second followed by an integration of media, interpersonal and organisational communication in the three latest campaigns. The integration of the media and interpersonal communication approaches was achieved through group discussion sessions and home visits, in which media messages were mediated and interpreted as a reinforcement to media impact. The group dynamics in the interpersonal communication has played an important role in changing individuals' attitudes towards and behaviour of family planning. As a campaign is an organized activity which requires organizational channels to ensure the conduct of the activity and the flow of information, a well-established organization hierarchy for family planning work has facilitated the management of family planning campaigns and also been regarded as a fundemental element to the success of the later campaigns.

Thesis (M. A. (Communication Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Globally, over the years, health promotion organisations have developed communication campaigns geared towards addressing most major public health issues with the intention of preventing risky sexual behaviour. Teenage pregnancy is a major health, social, systemic and economic challenge, not only for the basic education sector but also, crucially for national development in general. The use of modern contraceptives, specifically implant contraceptives, has the potential to alleviate unintended teenage pregnancies. Modern contraceptives such as implant contraceptives have proven to be highly effective from 24 hours after insertion up to three years. Theoretically, the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour have been applied to guide the study. A quantitative, descriptive survey was used in this study, with data collected using questionnaires. Purposive sampling of six secondary schools under the Mankweng Circuit in the Limpopo province where 306 participants were randomly selected was employed. Data were analysed using the SPSS version 26. The study revealed that that 34% of the participants were willing to use the implant contraceptive method based on the benefits found to be associated with the method. However, 66% were not willing to use the method regardless of the benefits found in using the implant contraceptives. In addition, it was found that only 3.9% of the participants were using implant contraceptives as a tool to prevent unintended pregnancies. This study makes a contribution to existing literature on implant contraceptives uptake among young women in South Africa. It would be informative to organisations and the National Department of Health who propose the use of implant contraceptives to stem increasing teenage pregnancies.

Thesis (M.A. (Communication Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2020 / Health communication is one of the interventions used to overcome health issues in society. Behavioural change is a process that relies on influence, and carefully designed messages about a desired outcome. These messages are captured from health communication interventions such as health communication campaigns about HIV/AIDS. This study empirically measured behavioural intention and followed the introduction of the health communication campaigns at the University of Limpopo (UL) campus amongst students from all faculties. In order to evaluate these campaigns, a positivist research paradigm was chosen, and the quantitative approach was used to measure and determine the relationship between the constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The constructs (or predictor variables) of the TPB model are deterministic of behavioural change. They work together to achieve change in behaviour, where the outcome variable is the behavioural intention. This study used the TPB model to guide the literature and methodology when it came to the formulation of questions for data collection. The target population sampled was aged between 18 and 28, and all the participants belonged to various schools across all faculties at the University of Limpopo. The researcher used of the Stratified random sampling method which is classified under probability sampling; 401 questionnaires were coded, and analysed. SPSS® version 25 was used to analyse the data. The results were-drawn descriptively and inferentially. This was done in order to define the relationship between the theory’s variables. The researcher used both Pearson Correlations and Regression Analysis to define the relationship between the variables. Descriptively, the majority of 148 (36.9%) participants strongly agreed while 174 (43.4%) agreed that they intended to participate in health communication campaigns in the future, as the predictor variable. Inferential findings showed that the behavioural intention variable amongst the students proved to be the one that contributed most towards behavioural change. The researcher suggests that further research should focus on message development. Health campaign messages should be developed that trigger intention, in order to achieve behavioural change for individuals so that they can ultimately participate in health campaigns.

The objective of this thesis is to examine the meaning of the language used in an Entertainment-Education (E-E) radio serial drama RockPoint 256 (RP256) and its representation of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) and HIV/AIDS. The theoretical framework that is used to guide this study is the Cultural Studies perspective. Using Cultural Studies is instrumental to a study such as this that looks to find the source of meaning in RP256’s discourse (Hall, 1993, 105). The methodological research design used is discourse analysis that examines the oral and written data of RP256. Discourse analysis “focuses on the way language is used, what it is used for, and the social context in which it is used” (Punch, 1998, 226). There were two types of discourse analyses used. Gee’s (1999) discourse analysis is used to analyse the linguistic nature of the texts at a micro level while, Fairclough’s (1989) discourse analysis is used to observe the overarching meaning of the discourse found in RP256 at the macro level. The analysis of the data indicates that the representation of PLHA is a product of the societal and cultural markers that are a result of ideological labels given to HIV/AIDS and PLHA. The study concludes that PLHA are ostracised, stigmatized, live in poverty and are mostly women. The societal and cultural markers indicate that HIV/AIDS is still viewed as a plague and as a result PLHA are often silenced, marginalized, and discriminated against in Uganda.

The objective of this thesis is to examine the meaning of the language used in an Entertainment-Education (E-E) radio serial drama RockPoint 256 (RP256) and its representation of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) and HIV/AIDS. The theoretical framework that is used to guide this study is the Cultural Studies perspective. Using Cultural Studies is instrumental to a study such as this that looks to find the source of meaning in RP256’s discourse (Hall, 1993, 105). The methodological research design used is discourse analysis that examines the oral and written data of RP256. Discourse analysis “focuses on the way language is used, what it is used for, and the social context in which it is used” (Punch, 1998, 226). There were two types of discourse analyses used. Gee’s (1999) discourse analysis is used to analyse the linguistic nature of the texts at a micro level while, Fairclough’s (1989) discourse analysis is used to observe the overarching meaning of the discourse found in RP256 at the macro level. The analysis of the data indicates that the representation of PLHA is a product of the societal and cultural markers that are a result of ideological labels given to HIV/AIDS and PLHA. The study concludes that PLHA are ostracised, stigmatized, live in poverty and are mostly women. The societal and cultural markers indicate that HIV/AIDS is still viewed as a plague and as a result PLHA are often silenced, marginalized, and discriminated against in Uganda.

The objective of this thesis is to examine the meaning of the language used in an Entertainment-Education (E-E) radio serial drama RockPoint 256 (RP256) and its representation of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) and HIV/AIDS. The theoretical framework that is used to guide this study is the Cultural Studies perspective. Using Cultural Studies is instrumental to a study such as this that looks to find the source of meaning in RP256’s discourse (Hall, 1993, 105). The methodological research design used is discourse analysis that examines the oral and written data of RP256. Discourse analysis “focuses on the way language is used, what it is used for, and the social context in which it is used” (Punch, 1998, 226). There were two types of discourse analyses used. Gee’s (1999) discourse analysis is used to analyse the linguistic nature of the texts at a micro level while, Fairclough’s (1989) discourse analysis is used to observe the overarching meaning of the discourse found in RP256 at the macro level. The analysis of the data indicates that the representation of PLHA is a product of the societal and cultural markers that are a result of ideological labels given to HIV/AIDS and PLHA. The study concludes that PLHA are ostracised, stigmatized, live in poverty and are mostly women. The societal and cultural markers indicate that HIV/AIDS is still viewed as a plague and as a result PLHA are often silenced, marginalized, and discriminated against in Uganda.

No description available.