The following projects and services integrate to achieve AIDC's strategic objectives. The projects/services are structured in two overarching programmes: Knowledge Production for Dialogue and Communication Capacity for Dialogue

Knowledge Production for Dialogue 

AIDC’s research and knowledge production is oriented to the production of specific media such as the Amandla! magazine, occasional booklets, other publications and radio and television programmes. In addition, research and publishing work provides the content inputs into the training and capacity building programmes.

Research

Research plays two critical functions at AIDC: a) Content for relevant publications and programmes; b) content for the long-term AIDC objective of developing radical alternatives to existing neoliberal policies and strategies. Much of the research is produced by Associate Researchers on a commissioned basis. AIDC’s focus remains on alternatives to globalisation. In this regard three major research projects are being undertaken. Research will be published as research reports, but in addition will form the basis for a series of articles in Amandla! magazine and for the website. They will be the basis for a series of broadcast programmes for radio and, in the case of Cape Town Community Television, for TV.

Amandla Magazine

Amandla! magazine is a progressive bi-monthly magazine. It has a broad target audience including politicised workers, progressive activists, academics, journalists and other opinion shapers. The aim of the magazine is to provide a critical analysis of developments in the political economy of SA, locating these within the global context, as well as incorporating environmental and feminist perspectives and issues that are critical to developing alternative strategies and visions as part of renewing socialist ideas. Amandla! provides coverage of current political, economic, social processes, events and struggles from a radical perspective and provides extensive coverage of the issues, activities and debates of South Africa’s social, labour movements and other popular organisations. It presents proposals from a broad range of sources for alternative strategies and perspectives that can deepen the process of reconstruction, democracy and social development in South Africa and the Continent.

Amandla! Forums

AIDC’s Amandla Forums provide an opportunity for inserting critical perspectives on current issues and for putting forward alternatives. They also provide an opportunity whereby AIDC can source material for the Amandla magazine, promote the analysis of issues covered in Amandla! and encourage dialogue amongst progressive movements and policy makers on strategies and alternative perspectives. The Forums assist in communicating our research findings and activities to the public. The forums take different forms from book launches to seminars and extensive conferences. The Forums take place in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and other sites where AIDC develops partnerships. You can view details of various events at http://www.amandlapublishers.co.za/events and http://www.communitymedia.org.za/component/tag/event.

Amandla! Website & Social Media

The Amandla! website – www.amandla.org.za - forms part of our strategic objective of building an open non-sectarian space wherein perspectives on alternatives can be analysed and debated. Research work undertaken will be made available for download. A professionally designed, well-written web site is also centerpiece of our marketing and distribution strategy.  It will showcase our programmes, publications and activities and is an important means of promoting the Amandla! magazine. In addition AIDC maintains a presence of various social media platforms including http://twitter.com/AmandlaMedia and http://www.facebook.com/amandlamedia.

Amandla! TV, Radio and Mobile

AIDC must take advantage of the full spectrum of media modes to ensure its information and analyses reach the widest audiences. Amandla!’s articles lend themselves to radio and TV, now that community television is becoming more mainstream. AIDC produces audio products and partners community radio stations to facilitate local discussion around issues that we raise. Partnering other organisations working in the television and radio production field will provides AIDC with the expertise and capacity to bring this to fruition. AIDC also monitors the development of mobile phone technology which is moving rapidly to enable mobile phones to receive a wide range of multi-media formats. This promises to facilitate the rapid flow of information en mass.  AIDC will examine to what extent this can be used to facilitate mass access to progressive material and news analysis.

AIDC Resource and Information Centre (RIC)

AIDC maintains a Resource and Information Centre (RIC) with over 5000 books,  journals and films covering a wide range of socio economic issues. Much of the material in the RIC is not available in public and academic libraries, making it an invaluable resource in the Western Cape. The Resource and Information Centre is a gathering point for activists and runs a series of activities including reading circles, film screenings, and discussions.

Communication Capacity for Dialogue

The Capacity Building for Dialogue aims to strengthen the analytical and communication skills of civil society and community media activists. The programme resonates with the adult learning cycle of action and reflection, thesis and praxis.

Communication Activist Trainings

AIDC’s Communication Activist Trainings build the capacity of community media and civil society activists to use the local and national media to advance social justice.  In the Workshop a group of civil society activists from a specific area, or sharing a common concern, come together to conduct an advocacy campaign using the media to influence policy makers, implementers, or the public. The focus, content, and goal of the campaign is created by all participants. The training comprises Contact Sessions and Practice Sessions. Participants gather in Contact Sessions periodically, initially to engage with the concept of advocacy and the media, and to then design their campaign. During the Practice Sessions participants implement their plan. Periodically participants reconvene in Contact Sessions to draw lessons by reflecting on their implementation and build technical capacity to implement more effectively in the following Practice Sessions. Contact Sessions take the form of facilitated reflections and experiential skills training; Practice Sessions are supported with regular follow-up and coaching phone calls.

AIDC integrates economic literacy into its capacity building programmes to assist both PMOs and CSOs locate their work in the broader context in which they are shaped and develop the analytical skills to produce alternative media. For more details on the training visit: http://www.communitymedia.org.za/communication-activist-network/143-cat2010.

Popular Media Mindblast

In keeping with the tradition of the SA Students Press Union’s annual Media Mindblast, the AIDC hosts an annual ‘festival of ideas’ brining civil society communicators and community media practitioners together from across the country. The Mindblast incorporates workshops on communication theory, practical sessions on media planning and production, discussions on the AIDC’s substantive themes, and provide time and a structured space for personal reflection and informal networking. The first Popular Media Mindblast took place in partnership with the National Community Radio Forum (NCRF) in Upington in December 2009.

Best Practice Website & Publications

AIDC Maintains an online resource for civil society communicators and community media activists at http://www.communitymedia.org.za. This site aims to support, promote, and document the work of alterative and community media in South Africa and beyond. From case studies and good practice, to policy issues, tools, reviews, links, and other resources. AIDC also publishes a quarterly Amandla Alternative Media in partnership with the National Community Radio Forum. The publication highlights critical issues confronting alternative media practitioners and includes a quarterly calendar that details key upcoming events and provides the contact details of relevant sources for these events to support media activists to shape their programming and ensure they cover important national and international developments. The calendar is published as a poster that can be displayed in their newsrooms.

Media Strategy & Support

AIDC offers a strategic planning service to assist civil society organiations to develop and refine their communications strategies from audience analysis and message development through to skills development and programme design. At time we also assist partners to implement communications strategies, including the drafting and release of press statements and articles, the coaching of spokespeople, and engaging Feature and News Editors to ensure coverage of events and stories. This will be done with an emphasis on building their capacity in order to limit any dependency on an external agency. We have not planned for this intervention and will respond to requests from partners as and when they arise.

Community Media Index (CMI)

The Community Media Index (CMI) is an action learning and self-assessment tool developed by AIDC to enable participatory reflection and planning amongst community media organisations. In the CMI process activists and staff in a media project sit with stakeholders in their communities and focus on four dimensions of a project’s performance to establish a full picture of the current state of the project and to serve as a basis for strategic planning. AIDC promotes the use of the adoption of the CMI amongst stakeholders as well as modeling its application though our own capacity building work. To learn more visit http://www.communitymedia.org.za/community-media-index.