Abstract
This paper explores some of the ways in which the voluntary sector can enter into a series of professional and creatively led communications alliances with the burgeoning media/communications industry. From design to advertising, from programme making to telecommunications, from regulatory bodies to multimedia companies, the paper demonstrates how the formation of the media/communications industry is at a critical stage of its life cycle having witnessed an almost meteoric proliferation of skills, profiles, professional codes and competences.
The paper demonstrates that with its emphasis on creative skills, its ability to amplify and legitimise social messages and values and its constitution being determined by portfolio βspecialistβ careers the media/communications industry presents a unique opportunity for the renewal of the voluntary sector. It also argues that the professional rules of the media/communications industry, its alliances and its ethical codification still have to be defined. Further, that this definition is integral to the growth of a profession and could, if channelled effectively, underpin the repositioning of the voluntary sector for the 21st century.