This module is concerned with both the practice of communication and with a critical understanding of such practices in the contemporary context. The module focuses on the structures, roles and functions associated with specific communication practices, and it will address discourses associated with a variety of organisations and initiatives.
This module is NOT about what communication is. This module is about what communication does, and what we can do with it, how and why. This module asks: how do we practice communication? How do we engage in the digital mediasphere? Who are activist, what do they do, and according to which ethics?
241MC WORKING GROUPS
FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE:
The module’s approach: experiential learning
Some things can only be learned by doing them. This module utilises an experiential learning approach to enable you to perform a typical PR activity, and to critically reflect on it. The experiential learning approach requires you to be active learners, and to cope with “real life” difficulties such as the scarcity of precise information, things happening at the last minute, tight deadlines, psychological pressure…
To this end, you are given only a certain amount of information, often at specific times. THIS IS ON PURPOSE.
Communication and information dissemination happens through the module blog: you MUST consult it daily to track the evolving situation. Make sure you check all the tabs and pages! I will NOT provide information beyond what is on the blog. If I tell you what to do, you cannot learn from your experience! To succeed, you need to figure your way out of such a complex setup: for example, what do you need to know/do, where to find what you need, how to get things done, how to make sure you have the right material and actions… Check your facts, and beware the grapevine!
BREAKING NEWS – Tragic Fire in Indonesian Sweatshop!
Jakarta, 28 Jan
A terrible fire blazed out of control in the outskirt of the capital. It only lasted for about two hours, but in that time more than 140 people, most of which women and teen-agers, were killed. This is the worst industrial accident Jakarta has seen in a long time.
At midnight, minutes before closing time, fire alarms rang on the top floor of the large wooden edifice where about 200 people were busy producing “Bosco’s for Ethical Trade” jute bags. The employees tried to escape, but the emergency doors had been locked. The building’s one working fire ladder collapsed under the weight of the people trying to escape.
“Up in the sixth floor people were burning to death before our very eyes,” said fire-fighter Asi Batari. He added that “they were jammed in the windows. Down came the bodies in a shower, burning, smoking—flaming bodies, with dishevelled hair trailing upward. They had fought each other to die by jumping instead of by fire.”
“News of the fire really shook people up,” said Jeff Boggs, director of the International Red Cross, who intervened in the wake of the disaster. “We need to investigate how this terrible tragedy could have happened in our day and age. Bosco’s has a lot to answer for.”
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Communication Practice 