"More and more news outlets rely on philanthropic funding. With such funding come new questions about the effect that media content has on citizens and policymakers. Traditional metrics, most observers agree, are insufficient. But the value of alternative metrics is an open issue. Two scholars analy
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ze an array of current approaches to gauging whether and how news organizations make a difference in the world." (Introduction)
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"This thesis explores how the impacts of Australian media assistance on social change and governance can be most effectively evaluated and understood. It is based on a three-stage research design, using predominantly qualitative research methods. In doing so it contributes in-depth insights into the
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politics, theories, and practices of media assistance evaluation, with illustrations of how this knowledge can be directly applied to improve practice in this area. The findings of this research suggest the importance of early investment in participatory planning of evaluation designs, which are then periodically revisited. These evaluation designs should be based on a theoretically sound link between models of change, evaluative questions and methods." (Abstract)
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"This paper suggests that the problem of impact evaluation of media assistance is understood to be more than a simple issue of methods, and outlines three underlying tensions and challenges that stifle implementation of effective practices in media assistance evaluation. First, there are serious con
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ceptual ambiguities that affect evaluation design. Second, bureaucratic systems and imperatives often drive evaluation practices, which reduces their utility and richness. Third, the search for the ultimate method or toolkit of methods for media assistance evaluation tends to overlook the complex epistemological and political undercurrents in the evaluation discipline, which can lead to methods being used without consideration of the ontological implications. Only if these contextual factors are known and understood can effective evaluations be designed that meets all stakeholders’ needs." (Abstract)
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"In this paper we describe how quality in reporting could be measured through content analysis. We show that this approach, although somewhat technical, is feasible. It can help projects to become better and more successful. As a suggestion for practitioners in media development we present three opt
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ions for measuring quality of reporting for monitoring and evaluation purposes." (Abstract)
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"The Tanzania Media Fund (TMF) supports individual journalists and media institutions to produce quality public interest and investigative journalism content that better informs the public, contributes to debate and thereby increases public demand for greater accountability in Tanzania. TMF has used
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lessons learned from its first phase (2008- 2012) to develop a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework that captures TMF’s achievements in phase 2 (2012-2015) and beyond. This article provides an overview of the practical implementation of the M&E framework, and challenges encountered during implementation." (Abstract)
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"A results-oriented culture of performance and service has been enforced since the 1990s in the EU. Evaluation systems have been a powerful catalyst in driving the transition from media support to media development and in making the latter more independent from broadcasters and donors. In recent yea
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rs, changes in media assistance procedures and aims have profoundly modified the traditional landscape. This article will not question these changes, their origin and motivations. It will focus on implementers’ coping strategies to adapt (or not) to these new procedures and aims and how results-oriented evaluations can drive the shift from outputs to outcomes in a changing media development sector." (Abstract)
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Provides indicators of performance along 9 parameters: 1. Content Generation and Programming; 2. Policies and Guidelines; 3. Volunteers; 4. Technology: Access and Management; 5. On-Air Standards of Broadcasting; 6. Governance; 7. Feedback and Grievances; 8. Content Sharing and Networking; 9. Revenue
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Generation and Financial Accountability. Themes such as participation, inclusion, gender, and capacity-building cut across the 9 parameters.
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"This chapter first discusses evaluation of communication for development in relation to ideas around participation and social change, before presenting the framework for evaluating communication for development and social change, and the key principles that underpin it. It then describes some of th
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e most interesting current trends and debates in development evaluation that informed the development of the framework, and outlines some strategies for overcoming the many challenges and issues associated with implementing this alternative evaluation approach. The chapter discusses some of the aspects of systems thinking and complexity theory that informs the framework, and gives brief examples to illustrate their relevance. Finally, the chapter discusses the implications for increasing the sustainability and effectiveness of communication for development and social change." (Summary)
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"The purpose of this review is to contribute to the evidence base on health communication evaluation research in order to aid public health professionals and researchers in the development of future evaluation strategies. The review is divided into two sections. In the first section the focus is on
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reviewing evaluations of campaigns undertaken in European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries, however, examples from the wider European region are also included. The second section, addressing challenges posed by campaign evaluation, draws on broader international literature pertaining to the identification of health communication campaign evaluation tools, frameworks and models. It would appear that there has been very few high quality European evaluation studies carried out in the last decade in relation to communicable disease prevention campaigns. Nevertheless, it is evident in reviewing the literature that there are valuable existing frameworks and guidelines that can help guide and inform evaluation research development. The review examined the international English-language literature published between 2000 and 2011 . The reviewers retrieved 160 references of which 35 were examples of evaluations of health communication campaigns carried out in EU/EEA Member States." (Executive summary)
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"This report seeks to answer the two-pronged question, “What is ‘impact,’ and how can it be measured consistently across nonprofit newsrooms?” A review of recent, relevant literature and our informal conversations with experts in the field reveal growing ambitions toward the goal of developi
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ng a common framework for assessing journalism’s impact, yet few definitive conclusions about how exactly to reach that framework. This is especially the case when journalism’s “impact” is defined by its ultimate social outcomes — not merely the familiar metrics of audience reach and website traffic.
As with all journalism, the frame defines the story, and audience is all-important. Defining “impact” as a social outcome proves a complicated proposition that generally evolves according to the constituency attempting to define it. Because various stakeholders have their own reasons for wanting to measure the impact of news, understanding those interests is an essential step in crafting measurement tools and interpreting the metrics they produce. Limitations of impact assessment arise from several sources: the assumptions invariably made about the product and its outcome; the divergent and overlapping categories into which nonprofit journalism falls in the digital age; and the intractable problem of attempting to quantify “quality.”
These formidable challenges, though, don’t seem to deter people from posing and attempting to find answers to the impact question. Various models for assessing impact are continually being tinkered with, and lessons from similar efforts in other fields offer useful insight for this journalistic endeavor. And past research has pointed to specific needs and suggestions for ways to advance the effort. From all of this collective wisdom, several principles emerge as the cornerstones upon which to build a common framework for impact assessment." (Abstract)
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"This publication is a diagnostic tool for a "health check" or assessment of the sustainability of community radio stations. The check includes five areas: mission and governance of a community radio station; management and staffing; infrastructure and finances; programming; and community involvemen
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t. Core aspects of these five areas are succinctly described in the first part of "The healthy community radio station". The second part provides checklists of ten factual questions (which require a simple yes/no answer) and two qualitative questions for each of the five sectors, and proposes combining the "checklist scores" and "judgement scores" to get an overall picture of the "health" of a given radio station. Also included are guidelines for focus group discussions. This publication is highly recommended, both because of its convincing concept of five "pillars" of community radio sustainability and its practical approach." (CAMECO Update November 2013)
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"This book has been written largely as a result of the success of the Smart Toolkit for Evaluating Information Projects, Products and Services (2010) and in response to suggestions made by stakeholders to produce a compact primer. For many, the Smart Toolkit represents a major work that, despite its
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simplicity, at first glance appears overwhelming and daunting to use. It is envisaged that this book will provide a short overview of the Smart Toolkit for policy- and decisionmakers and managers (also known as enablers) in agricultural and rural development institutions in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific countries, as well as act as a quick reference for users." (Foreword, page 5)
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"The guide has been formatted to be useful to people at all levels of familiarity with media evaluation. The next section begins by presenting a core framework: four “building blocks” that distill a diverse set of evaluation frameworks into a straightforward process you can use to plan a new mea
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surement effort. We follow with a discussion of each phase of the evaluation process, offering examples from the media world and tips for both basic and advanced measurement methods. There’s a lot to absorb, so to make it digestible and practical we have included planning worksheets at the end of each section along with a list of recommended resources: tools, how-to instructions, white papers, articles, and books you can turn to for more support in specific areas." (Page 3)
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"Evaluating Communication for Development presents a comprehensive framework for evaluating communication for development (C4D). This framework combines the latest thinking from a number of fields in new ways. It critiques dominant instrumental, accountability-based approaches to development and eva
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luation and offers an alternative holistic, participatory, mixed methods approach based on systems and complexity thinking and other key concepts. It maintains a focus on power, gender and other differences and social norms. The authors have designed the framework as a way to focus on achieving sustainable social change and to continually improve and develop C4D initiatives. The benefits and rigour of this approach are supported by examples and case studies from a number of action research and evaluation capacity development projects undertaken by the authors over the past fifteen years. Building on current arguments within the fields of C4D and development, the authors reinforce the case for effective communication being a central and vital component of participatory forms of development, something that needs to be appreciated by decision makers. They also consider ways of increasing the effectiveness of evaluation capacity development from grassroots to management level in the development context, an issue of growing importance to improving the quality, effectiveness and utilisation of monitoring and evaluation studies in this field. The book includes a critical review of the key approaches, methodologies and methods that are considered effective for planning evaluation, assessing the outcomes of C4D, and engaging in continuous learning." (Publisher description)
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"In this fully revised and expanded Fourth Edition, Ronald E. Rice and Charles K. Atkin provide readers with a comprehensive, up-to-date look into the field of public communication campaigns. Updated to reflect the latest theories and research, this text extends coverage to new areas, including sun
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protection, organ donation, human rights, social norms, corporate social responsibility, condom use, ocean sustainability, fear messages, and digital games. Classic chapters include updates on topics such as campaign history, theoretical foundations, formative evaluation, systems approaches, input-output persuasion matrix, design and evaluation, meta-analysis, and sense-making methodology." (Publisher description)
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"The European Commission has begun to integrate a political economy approach throughout the project cycle. This guide tailors the political economy approach to the media development sector specifically. Using a political economy media matrix (PEMM) as its basis, it explains how to integrate the PE a
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pproach throughout the programme cycle." (Background, page 4)
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