Social Norms
Social norms action with informed and engaged societies
Social Norms
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Staying Alive - Global

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Media giant Viacom, Inc. and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and their partners have developed an AIDS media campaign to raise awareness and promote prevention of HIV/AIDS in the international youth community. While the Internet is used to facilitate exchange and information gathering year-round, the multi-tiered, multi-media campaign is launched as a new installment each year around World AIDS Day (December 1). These campaigns include celebrity involvement, public service announcements (PSAs), and on-air and on-line products created rights-free for distribution to other TV/radio partners. The Staying Alive campaign seeks to help prevent HIV/AIDS by empowering individuals to protect themselves, fight stigma and discrimination, and engage media and other organisations to form their own response to HIV/AIDS.
Communication Strategies

In brief, the Staying Alive campaign includes long-form programming (such as documentaries, concert events, news specials, and discussion programmes), public service announcements, sexual behaviour polls, a web site in 10 languages, and off-air marketing and grassroots promotions. A key strategy underlying the development of these media tools is celebrity involvement. In an effort to reach the broadest global audience possible, all Staying Alive programming is available free of charge and rights-free to all broadcasters.

Specifically, entertaining music concerts have offered by big-name musicians who have volunteered their time and talent. For example, as part 2002's Staying Alive 4, two concerts were held - one in Cape Town, South Africa featuring Grammy-winning artist Alicia Keys, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, and local artists - and one in Seattle, Washington, USA on featuring Missy Elliott, Dave Matthews, Michelle Branch, and others. Both concerts premiered on MTV channels worldwide on World AIDS Day (December 1 2002) as a 90-minute commercial-free special. These and other archived concerts may be listened to on the Staying Alive website.

Televised documentaries highlighting the personal work and experiences of those who live with or fight to address AIDS are another communication tool supporting this programme's aims. For instance, the 2003 campaign launched with a 60-minute special celebrating the life of humanitarian and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela (click here for a Programme Description) and premiered globally to a potential audience of 1 billion people in July 2003. To cite another example, Staying Alive 4 included a television documentary hosted by singer Mary J. Blige on the subject of youth and AIDS. From Latvia to Cambodia, Blige took viewers on a tour of the lives of young people infected with HIV/AIDS in 2002. (click here for online viewing options).

Dialogue to share information and inspire youth to take action is another has also figured prominently in the Staying Alive strategy. Personal contact, again with big-name figures that youth may be more likely to "listen to", was in the 2002 campaign. The July 2002 Global Forum on HIV/AIDS was held during the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona. It was designed to give young people around the world the opportunity to ask former US President Bill Clinton and other figures from the political, religious, public health, medical, and entertainment communities questions about HIV/AIDS.

Despite the programme's global sweep, a local/regional focus is cultivated in some programming to foster intercultural understanding. For example, for the 2004 (Staying Alive 6) campaign, MTV International and CNN International are co-producing a 30-minute news special on HIV/AIDS to premiere on MTV globally (December 1 2004) and on CNN International and sister network CNN en Español (November 27 and December 1, respectively). Local MTV channels and CNN bureaus around the world will work together to jointly produce news segments focusing on how HIV/AIDS affects young people in each region. Segments will be produced featuring local CNN news reporters or MTV video jockeys (VJs) in several countries around the world. The special will deal with many different issues related to HIV/AIDS, including access to treatment, condom usage, discrimination and rising infection rates, among others. By covering such a wide variety of topics, the show aims to offer viewers the chance to see how the disease touches all people regardless of age, ethnicity, country, or socio-economic background.

Visitors to the website, which may be accessed in Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, are invited to share their personal experiences with, or other stories about, HIV/AIDS. Other features of the site include facts and figures about HIV/AIDS, a survey, a form to submit digital artwork to be included in on-air programming, and Staying Alive screensavers. Youth participation in the yearly campaigns is encouraged through such features as the yearly PSA competion (click here to access a gallery of past PSAs). The 2004 competition invited youth to create a 30-second spot for radio or television focusing on the World AIDS Day theme of Women, Girls and HIV/AIDS. Winners in each of the 2 categories were to receive an Award as well as a Sony DVD cam or a Sony MD player.

Development Issues

HIV/AIDS, Youth.

Key Points

Staying Alive began in 1998 as an Emmy award-winning documentary profiling the lives of six young people from around the world infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

The 2003 Staying Alive campaign reached 74% of the world's TV households.

Partners

A partnership of MTV (owned by Viacom, Inc.) and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Other partners include CNN, UNAIDS, the World Bank, the Kaiser Family Foundation, Family Health International, UNFPA, and Sida.