Getting the Message: Development Communication Strategies in the Kingdom of Tonga

All development initiatives comprise a communications component, whether a public notice in the local newspaper, community meetings or a mass media public awareness campaign. But communication within development involves more than simply informing recipient populations of initiatives, events and targets. Communication is central to eliciting buy-in and creating a sense of community ownership; it is integral to maintaining public trust through the transparency and accountability it encourages; and, most importantly, it allows target populations to have their say in development initiatives that impact on their lives. Different countries, cultures and socio-political conditions will suit different communication types. Determining factors include, literacy rates, geographic distance, telecommunications infrastructure, religion, culture and politics. This thesis examines the communication strategies deployed by NGOs working in the Kingdom of Tonga. These strategies are analysed in the context of wider political, cultural and mass media conditions, with particular reference to the state of Tonga’s news media. In-country research for this thesis was conducted at the culmination of a tumultuous period for the Pacific’s only Constitutional Monarchy. Tonga has experienced rapid socio-political changes in recent decades with an increasingly dependent economy, growing challenges to traditional institutions and the crowning of a new King in 2006. In November 2010, the nation elected the first Parliament in 135 years to give commoners, rather than nobles, the majority in the Legislative Assembly. The General Election was conducted under an amended constitution, and was the first since riots destroyed much of the capital of Nuku’alofa four years earlier. With these events as a backdrop, this research asks what forms of communication work best in Tonga? Are these as effective on the relatively developed main island of Tongatapu as remote, outer islands? And what role does mainstream media play in keeping the population informed of development issues?