Bloggers
Sina Odugbemi, is program head of the Communication for Governance & Accountability Program (CommGAP). He is also the Practice Lead on Governance and Reform in the Operational Communication Department. He has over 20 years of experience in journalism, law, and development communication. Before he joined the World Bank in 2006, he spent seven years in the UK’s development ministry, DFID. His last position was Program Manager and Adviser, Information and Communication for Development. Sina holds a Bachelor’s degree in English (1980) and in Law (1986) from the University of Ibadan, a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Philosophy (1999) from the University College London, and a PhD in Laws (2009) at the same university on the subject Public Opinion and Direct Accountability between Elections: A Study of the Constitutional Theories of Jeremy Bentham and A.V. Dicey.
Sina’s publications include a novel entitled The Chief’s Grand-daughter (Spectrum Books, 1986) and two co-edited volumes: With the Support of Multitudes: Using strategic communication to fight poverty through PRSPs (2005) and Governance Reform under Real-World Conditions: Citizens, Stakeholders, and Voice (2008).
Sina says: ‘I am endlessly fascinated by the role of public opinion in producing social and political change, especially the structural and process factors that either help or hinder that impact. I firmly believe that public opinion is an under-appreciated but critical factor in how governance works. I look forward to exploring these and similar issues with you all.’
Paul Mitchell is a Manager in the World Bank’s Operational Communication Division of External Affairs. He previously managed the Development Communication Division and he also used to manage the Bank wide regional communications network, as well as the communication work in the South Asia and Africa regions. Paul is an internationally recognized expert in development communication with more than 30 years of experience in political risk analysis and management; change management; economic, utility, judicial, and public administrative reform; and also strategic communications, participatory processes, and public consultation. He has worked in more than 50 countries and more than 150 development projects and programs assisting governments with their communications on difficult reform programs and high risk projects. A Canadian national, Paul was the head of communications with the United Nations World Food Programme, where he often served as the chief United Nations spokesperson during global relief operations, prior to joining the World Bank.
After 10 years of being part of every war famine and disaster in the world and then 12 years of work in the field, Paul strongly believes that communication has been consistently undervalued as a long term development tool and that many including communicators themselves do not see that the broader role and meaning of communication.
Tony Lambino is a member of the CommGAP team and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. Research interests include political communication, governance reform, public opinion, and citizen engagement. He also provides training and analytical support to CommGAP’s operational portfolio in Asia and Africa.
Tony worked as Chief Media and Communications Officer for the Office for Regional Development, Office of the President of the Philippines (Manila), news anchor and writer for ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs (Manila), and consultant to the Global Forum for Media Development (London and Amman). He has published original research on Philippine journalism and global media development. He received his M.A. in Political Communication from Penn, Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School as a Fulbright Scholar and Osmeña Fellow, A.B. in Communication, cum laude, from the Ateneo de Manila University as an Aquino Scholar, and was named one of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines for 1999.
In a previous life, Tony was a professional singer and songwriter, cutting albums in the Philippines as a solo artist and with the multi-awarded Smokey Mountain, a singing group named after the largest garbage dump in Asia in the 90’s, with a mission to promote social and development issues through popular music. He is married to Trish Panganiban and father-in-training to baby Monica.
Fumiko Nagano is acting as a consultant to the Communication for Governance & Accountability Program (CommGAP), where she is currently conducting research on measures to strengthen anti-corruption efforts. Prior to joining CommGAP, she worked for the World Bank's Development Communication Division to provide communication support to World Bank operations in sectors ranging from infrastructure to public sector reform. A Japanese national, Fumiko tried her hand in a mix of professions before realizing that for her, happiness at work could only come from being part of an effort to better the world we live in. She holds a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and is fluent in Russian.
Johanna Martinson manages this blog, and mainly leads and supports the implementation of CommGAP’s advocacy activities. She has several years of experience in knowledge management and capacity building, and specifically in developing and implementing global training programs on strategic communication via distance learning and e-learning. Johanna is also interested in how new communication technologies such as social media can contribute to good governance and accountability. She holds a master’s degree in Educational Technology from University of British Columbia.
Caroline is a communications strategist and has worked on strategies in Afghanistan, Somalia, and Iraq and has written articles for national and international publications on public diplomacy, negotiation strategy, and diplomacy for climate change, and published a photographic book promoting peace in Sri Lanka. Caroline is a regular writer for Diplomat Magazine and has several blogs. With a background and training in art & design, Caroline is also a successful portrait artist (see www.jaine.info) and has held successful exhibitions of her work in Europe and Asia. She is the founder of a community organisation which focuses on the role of communications and the arts in conflict resolution and counter extremism. Caroline has spent many years working with the British Government including as Press & Public Affairs Officer in Basra, head of an internal communications programme, winning a public service award for information at the British Mission in Sri Lanka and a spell in the Ministerial Speech Writer's team. Caroline currently works on strategic communications and outreach (Pakistan) in the South Asia Group.
Anne-Katrin Arnold is currently a consultant to the Communication for Governance & Accountability Program (CommGAP). She is also a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication, where her research focuses on issues of public opinion, the public sphere, and political decision making. Anne holds a M.Sc. in Communication Research from the Institute for Journalism and Communication Research in Hannover/Germany and a M.A. in Communication from the University of Pennsylvania, where she started her studies as a Fulbright Scholar.
Anne has tried her hand on all sides of political communication, working as a journalist and radio news anchor, speech writer, public relations officer, and researcher. She was a lecturer in social science methods and political communication at her Alma Mater in Hannover, and is currently a Teaching & Research Fellow at the Annenberg School. Her publications include articles on public opinion theory, on social capital, and on ethnic journalism in peer-reviewed journals, as well as a book on social capital and the media.
Being a true believer in the merits of an open and democratic public sphere, Anne is motivated by the conviction that if citizens had free access to information and the right to free speech, the world would be a more just place.
Tom Jacobson is Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Communications and Theater at Temple University. Research interests include national development, democratization, and public communication.
Tom received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington. Before arriving at Temple in 2005 he served as Chair of SUNY-Buffalo’s Department of Communication and was founding Director of its Informatics Research Center. He has been a Visiting Professor at Northwestern and Cornell Universities and is past President of the Participatory Communication Research Section of the International Association of Media and Communication Research. Recent publications include: T.L. Jacobson, “Harmonious Society, Civil Society and the Media: A Communicative Action Perspective,” China Media Research (Forthcoming, Vol. 4, 2008). Odugbemi, S & Jacobson T. L. (Eds.) (2008). Governance Reform Under Real World Conditions: Citizens, Stakeholders, and Voice. Washington DC: The World Bank. And T.L. Jacobson (2007). “A Case for Quantitative Assessment of Participatory Communication Programs,” Glocal Times, (Web magazine, Issue 9).
Lately, Tom is concerned that despite historical valorization of the idea of the voice of the people, more could be done by governments and media practitioners to actually listen. He is working on survey research protocols to determine the extent to which people feel that media represent citizen interests and that governments listen, in developed as well as developing societies.
Taeku Lee is Associate Professor of Political Science and Visiting Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. His book, Mobilizing Public Opinion (2002), received the American Political Science Association’s J. David Greenstone Award and the Southern Political Science Association’s V.O. Key Award. He is also co-editor of a volume on immigrant political incorporation titled Transforming Politics, Transforming America (2006) and has recently completed a co-authored book titled Race, Immigration, and (Non)Partisanship in America. Lee is presently working on a new book of essays on the uses and meanings of “race” and “identity” in the social sciences, a collaborative study of Asian American political engagement, and is co-editing The Oxford Handbook of Racial and Ethnic Politics in the United States.
At Berkeley, Lee is Director of the IGS Center on Immigration, Race, and Ethnicity and Chair of the Diversity and Democracy Cluster of the Berkeley Diversity Research Initiative. Lee served as co-Program Chair for the 2008 Midwest Political Science Association annual meeting and has also served in advisory and consultative capacities for various academic publications, community-based organizations and NGOs, think tanks, and a Fortune 500 company. Prior to coming to Berkeley, Lee was Assistant Professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He was born in South Korea, grew up in Malaysia and New York City, and is a product of K-12 public schools, the University of Michigan (A.B.), Harvard University (M.P.P.), and the University of Chicago (Ph.D.).
Paolo Mefalopulos heads the Communication Program at UNICEF in India. He holds a doctorate degree in communication from the University of Texas at Austin. His professional career began in the private sector in Italy, where he worked for a national television network and for a training institution of a major private corporation. He has worked extensively in the field of information, education and communication for a number of international agencies such as UNESCO, FAO and the European Union. While working for FAO, Mefalopulos was part of a team that developed an innovative methodology known as PRCA – Participatory Rural Communication Appraisal, adopted by many projects around the world.
Paolo previously worked as a senior communication officer in the Development Communication Division of the World Bank. He has published a number of articles and books on communication. His most recent work is titled Development Communication Sourcebook: broadening the boundaries of communication. His main expertise is in participatory communication research and planning of development projects and programs.
Silvio Waisbord is Associate Professor in the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University. He is the Editor of the International Journal of Press/Politics. Previously, he was Associate Professor in the department of Journalism and Media Studies and Director of the Journalism Resources Institute at Rutgers University. More recently, he was Senior Program Officer at the Academy for Educational Development. He has also been a fellow at the Annenberg School for Communication, the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at Notre Dame University, and the Media Studies Center. His current work focuses on journalism,communication and globalization.
He is the author or co–editor of four books, including Watchdog Journalism in South America: News, Accountability, and Democracy (Columbia University Press). His work on news, politics,globalization, and development has appeared in several academic journals and edited books.He holds a M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California at San Diego.
Susan Moeller is the director of the International Center for Media and the Public Agenda (ICMPA) at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is an associate professor of media and international affairs in the Philip Merrill College of Journalism and an affiliated faculty member at the School of Public Policy. Moeller is also the lead faculty member for the Salzburg Academy on Media & Global Change, a program in Austria that each summer brings 60 students and a dozen faculty together from all over the world to jointly create Global Media Literacy course materials.
Prior to coming to Maryland, Moeller was a senior fellow in the International Security Program at the Kennedy School. Moeller has also taught at Brandeis and Princeton, and was a Fulbright professor in Pakistan and Thailand.
Moeller has just published a new book Packaging Terrorism: Co-opting the News for Politics and Profit (Wiley-Blackwell), and is the author of several other books, including Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death (Routledge).
Darshana Patel is currently a consultant to the Communication for Governance & Accountability Program (CommGAP) at the World Bank, where she is researching and writing on the role of communication in strengthening accountability and governance.
Prior to this work, she facilitated a joint political platform building process with youth and student party leaders in Nepal; worked with DC-based community groups, teachers and parents in transforming the decision making around public schools; and advocated through the U.S. Congress for more democratic corporate and international trade policy. Her sole, consistent belief behind this diverse professional work is that an informed, empowered and engaged citizenry is the foundation for a democracy.
She holds a BSc in Economics and Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and a MA in Governance and Development from the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University.
Watch interviews with experts on issues pertaining to governance reform under real-world conditions, and a BBC World World Debate on good governance and poverty. 
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