Madonna determined to make a difference in media

This success is an important precedent for WACC and paves the way for other scholars to take courses, up to this level, without them having to leave their home and family or the often rapidly changing communication environment they work in. It means less separation between studies and work, making both more meaningful. Furthermore this model saves on travel and accommodation costs and allows WACC to invest in communication leadership training in a much more cost-effective way.

While the Mass Communication course gave Madonna a tremendous volume of work, she selected modules that she has a passion for, such as public information and campaigning. Currently working on communication strategies and training with clients that include the government of Trinidad and Tobago, she says that the course has provided her with practical methodologies and knowledge that she uses on a daily basis. Though sometimes she says she finds it challenging to bring clients up to speed with best practice, in areas such as post-intervention evaluation for example, she says the course has provided her with methods of working and knowledge that allows her input to be much more valuable.

Madonna explains that all the course materials, in print, video and audio tape arrive by post and the course provides feedback by e-mail and by post from tutors. This way of working, she says that she found very satisfactory, and suitably flexible. She did much of her dissertation research at the University of West Indies library, focusing on Mass Media, Race and Nation Building in Trinidad and Tobago.

"The course has given me a platform to evaluate media practice and tools for using communication as a competence for my whole life mission which is healing and empowering relationships" she said, adding that "with communication you have access to the homes of thousands and thousands of people. Some people use it quite casually, without thinking about what they are saying or the effect they will have. You have to want to make a difference, and I'm going to make a difference".

Visiting the UK for her graduation ceremony Madonna gave an interview with BBC Caribbean on the need to look at the London bombings in the context of ethnic diversity. "We have a tendency to see things in a polarised way on the basis of ethnicity and religion, and it will be easy for Londoners to get angry and label all Muslims as radicals" she said, "but this is frightening and should be avoided. We should see this as an opportunity to get out of our comfort zones and help us to build understanding rather than accentuate our differences". This is underlying subject of her new book Healing Conversations.

As well as writing and running a communication consultancy, Madonna became a mother of two children during the course of her studies.

Healing Coversations, by Madonna Sampson-Doyle points the way to gentler relationships across age, gender, religious and cultural differences within families, workplaces, churches and communities. The way is through healing conversations: a combination of soulful dialogue artfully mixed with robust, intellectual communication principles.

The book is available in paperback from Barnes and Noble ( http://tinyurl.com/8hkon ) or as an e-book on the internet from various providers such as ebookmall ( http://tinyurl.com/7soje )

For more information on the MA in Mass Communications at the Centre for Mass Communication Research at Leicester University visit:
http://www.le.ac.uk/cmcr/dl/course/info.html

More information about WACC's Communication Leadership Training programme of scholarships is available on this site.