As part of its efforts to strengthen the capacities of media professionals in developing countries through a series on journalism education, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has published this training manual, which offers knowledge on the relationship between media functions and active citizenship. The publication focuses on the underlying nexus of democracy, development, and the media based on the fundamental principles of democracy and human rights. It was drafted by Professor Fackson Banda, SAB-UNESCO, Chair of Media and Democracy at Rhodes University, South Africa. The Nordic Information Centre on Media and Communication Research (Nordicom) at Göteborg University, Sweden, and the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) contributed to the finalisation of the manual.

The objective of the manual is threefold:

• to raise greater civic consciousness among media professionals about the democratic role of the media in the transitional democracies of the developing world;
• to enhance the civic competence of media practitioners to help them in their analysis and reporting of civic affairs; and
• to encourage greater prioritisation of civic news among media institutions.

The manual recommends participatory, student-centred training techniques, and proposes a number of exercises aimed at stimulating student reflection and pointers for investigation designed to prod media interest in particular civic issues.

87

UNESCO Webworld, March 30 2009.