Abstract:
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?
