"In this chapter, we argue that citizen access to information is a catalyst to the achievement of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) [...] We examine how citizen access to information varies across a range of population sub-groups, different countries, and across a variety of topics and the exte ... nt to which access to information is related to people's health, finance, livestock, and agricultural practices. We draw on data from the AudienceScapes Research Initiative, gathered in three countries. Zambia, Ghana, and Kenya." (Page 245) more

"Our approach is based on an understanding of access to information as a composite measure of access to source/s or platform, exposure, evaluation, content and self-reported differences in citizens’ reporting of the impact of their use of Information, Communication and Media (ICM) resources (Power ... , Khatun and Debeljak 2011). The data that were used to test this approach were collected within InterMedia’s AudienceScapes research initiative, which was co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and aimed to improve development outcomes through knowledge sharing and dissemination of research and analysis in a user-friendly format (see www.audiencescapes.org). Within the initiative, InterMedia conducted nationally representative surveys in Kenya, Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania, which focused on how the general population in all four countries obtains, shares and uses information on development related issues. The analysis provided insights into understanding citizen’s access to information in a number of key development areas, such as education, health, governance, agriculture and personal finance, and enabled the InterMedia team to examine our approach to ICM resources and the five dimensions of “Citizen Access to Information”, discussed here. In this article we use examples from these four studies to demonstrate the variation in citizen access to information in developing countries, and illustrate the proposed dimensions and sub-dimensions of our approach." (Pages 19-20) more