"This paper exams the theory and practice of media development by differentiating two major models: The good governance and the sustainable livelihoods strand. Based on this the author questions how governments, organizations, and civil society today collaboratively rethink and organize media system
...
s to enable them to consolidate good governance and development. His critical analysis shows that a great deal of development and reconstruction assistance is invested in strengthening democratic and independent media systems and institutions, an approach conceptualized as media development. This paper makes the case that the discussion on media development is biased towards Western theory and approaches as it has not examined media development approaches outside the dominant syntaxes of neoliberal governance frameworks." (Abstract)
more
"This article analyses 12 cases of investigative journalism in Sub-Saharan Africa. The reporters all claimed to have contributed to change processes by influencing government policy, action by state administration, supporting the uptake of scientific solutions or provoking public debate. An assessme
...
nt of these processes shows that in 10 cases, the journalists indeed helped to trigger change and in two cases they failed to do so. The cases are evaluated through an explorative approach inspired by the dynamic models for communication on public issues developed by Rucht and Peters. Different types of investigative stories in Sub-Saharan Africa are identified and hypotheses are developed on key factors that were important in investigating and publishing the stories as well as in achieving change. A decisive element of investigative journalism in Sub-Saharan Africa seems to be the involvement of and the interaction with other societal non-journalist actors." (Abstract)
more
"There appears to be a research gap for in-depth comparative or meta-analysis examining how, where and why the media – or other infomediaries – has helped translate transparency initiatives into greater government accountability. Nevertheless, the small but growing body of single case studies do
...
es indicate the kinds of accountability impacts that infomediaries are helping to generate. Examples include: improving people’s knowledge of key governance issues and sometimes their political participation, and catalysing changes to service delivery such as increasing school budget allocations." (Overview, page 2)
more
"In the recent years, we have witnessed several protests, initiatives and social uprisings in the SEE region, through which the citizens demanded for government accountability, suggested better policy solutions and promoted better citizen participation. Regional research “Communicating citizens' p
...
rotests, requiring public accountability: Case study from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia” examines the communication practices during these social movements/ initiatives that took place in period 2011–2015, ranging in focus from environmental issues, through education reforms, to wide socio-economic issues. The aim of the research is to understand how the government officials responded to the calls to accountability, what were the practices of citizens/activist in terms of promotion of the movement and its goals, and which role did the mainstream media took when reporting on the protests and social mobilization. Study volume contains an overview of the major results of the research in three countries, and three separate country reports. The study finds that response to protests by both media and the government was rather systemic, with both failing to act in the public interest and to promote government accountability. Protests that included less criticism of the government structures received fairer media treatment, while the more anti-government ones attracted more controversial media converge (ranging from pro-government, more balanced, to supportive of protests) and framing that involved strategies of delegitimization of protests (mainly in BiH and Macedonia). But importantly, even when particular media provided fair representation of protesters (mainly case of dismantling chemical weapons in Albania), the media reports were superficial, lacking in-depth insights and analyses and substantial demands for government accountability." (Publisher description)
more
"This briefing explores some of the key challenges facing the Nepali media. It outlines growing concerns over politicisation and co-option, particularly of the mainstream Kathmandu-based media, as well as other economic and technological challenges facing the media. The briefing further outlines how
...
Nepal’s historically diverse and decentralised media market is increasingly showing signs of fragmentation and discord. It also examines the role that the international development community has played in supporting the Nepali media. The briefing finds that for all the challenges outlined in this report, the media – both nationally and locally – continues to constitute one of the most important and effective mechanisms available to improve accountability. Despite rising threats to journalist safety and growing concerns over politicisation, the media remains most trusted institution in Nepal. The media provides both a growing problem for and a potentially vital solution to the challenges of social cohesion in the country. At present, there is not a sufficient advertising market to sustain a free and independent media that can both serve the public interest and withstand intense political pressures. Development actors are in a position to help to address this market failure if they invest in an independent, Nepali-rooted media that enables difficult and challenging debate to take place." (BBC Media Action website)
more
"The conference called the 'Global Media Forum: The role of media in realizing the future we want for all' was hosted by the Government of Indonesia in 2014 [...] The event brought together journalists, media experts and young communicators from South East Asia and around the world, as a contributio
...
n to the ongoing international debate about the importance of media and information and communication technologies for peace and sustainable development. The goal was to advance participants’ understanding of how a free, pluralistic and independent media can contribute. This was in the context of efforts to have media issues being recognised in the UN debates about the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The output of the Global Media Forum was called the Bali Road Map, a key document that is included at the end of this book." (Introduction, page 6)
more
"Assumptions about the role of call-in programmes as open spaces for pubic engagement and accountability often fail to account for the influence of existing power structures and multiple publics engaging in these programmes for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, the history of call-in programmes rev
...
eals that the nature of the medium itself can restrict participation in ways that have not been considered in the literature on media and development in Africa. As this article has argued, radio call-in shows are dynamic spaces where journalists, audiences and public authorities contribute to shaping the public debate, negotiate and renegotiate their roles, and assert and transform the networks of power that link them together. While these spaces have been hailed by academics, NGOs and donors as tools to promote institutional accountability and democratic participation, our analysis shows that they do not simply offer a new platform for citizens to speak up; they also offer a way for existing power structures to reproduce themselves in new forms. This analysis has demonstrated that motivations for calling in are diverse and reflect the multiple actors who call in, many of whom are not seeking to hold authority to account but rather to build their own reputation and social capital. These radio call-in programmes can take on different forms and be influenced by different structural, political and social factors. They are also invested with different degrees of politicisation by the audience." (Conclusion, page 1521-1522)
more
"This article reflects on efforts to identify evidence about the role of media in fragile states. It explores and compares findings from two research projects and focuses on some of the lessons that have emerged from these exercises as well as on the relevance of the findings for media development.
...
While we know that media matters in areas such as conflict, reconciliation and peacebuilding, neither of the reviews of the literature found substantial evidence supporting some of the widespread claims about the importance of media, suggesting how elusive this evidence can be." (Abstract)
more
"This policy briefing offers an empirical contribution to evolving thinking on governance within the international development landscape. Using the example of media, we argue that interventions designed to foster demand-based accountability may not be as successful in some fragile settings as more d
...
iscursive platforms that aim to tackle problem-solving collectively. The paper thus underscores the need for locally embedded approaches to governance support that are both adaptive and reflective." (Conclusions)
more
"The purpose of the study is to provide baseline data and research-driven recommendations to help inform and later evaluate the impact of ‘Action for Transparency’. Action for Transparency is a three-year, media-for-development programme, managed by Fojo and its partners and funded by the Swedis
...
h International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The programme is designed to help tackle corruption and mismanagement of government funds in Zambia and Uganda by putting the power to change in the hands of citizens. Action for Transparency comprises three phases of targeted interventions designed to catalyse a culture of accountability and transparency through a ripple out effect. The three phases include: 1. Training for up to 4,000 journalists, civil society representatives and public sector employees in Zambia and Uganda on how to access, analyse and communicate information on government spending. 2. Development of ICT tools, including an online application (app) which enables users to compare the amount of government money pledged to specific schools and health clinics against their own observations of what appears to have been spent. 3. Public awareness campaign, through which those who took part in the initial training will launch and champion the new ICT tools, nationally, and raise awareness through a range of promotional activities. This study presents baseline data and findings that will inform and later help evaluate the overall3 impact of the three phases on participating journalists and civil society representatives, and their capacity to (a) access (b) analyse and (c) communicate information about government spending." (Introduction, page 4)
more
"Even as a growing number of authoritarian regimes crack down on the political press, business news is thriving. And the coverage is more vigorous than might be expected. Enterprising journalists are exposing mismanagement and unearthing shady business deals, and even at times exposing official corr
...
uption that otherwise might never see the light of day. While other journalists face censorship, jail, or worse, business journalists are eschewing political stories to provide news and statistics on markets, business deals, and international trade. The expansion of economic and business journalism is not a substitute for truly free and independent media. But it is a sign that.even in the most repressive environments the demand for trustworthy information is strong and growing. And the demand comes not just from investors and citizens trying to keep track of what's going on in these fast.changing markets, but also from governments, who themselves rely on the press for up-to-date information." (Page 1)
more
"This chapter explains the innovative social change strategies that civil society stakeholders, exploring the appropriation and development of information and communications technology (ICT) tools and techniques for the empowerment of ordinary citizens, have sought to develop and carry out in practi
...
ce. The chapter addresses the communicative dimension of ICT and social accountability. It looks at a new generation of social accountability practices that through their creation of a solid evidence base seek to facilitate citizens’ direct forms of interaction with public service providers and government officials. The chapter demonstrates that social accountability mechanisms indeed constitute intentional processes of communication for social change and are beneficially studied empirically by the dominant methodological approaches of the communication for social change (C4SC) discipline." (Summary)
more
"Advocates for media freedom have consistently argued that corruption goes down when journalists operating in a free media environment are able to expose the excesses of governmental leaders. An evolving body of research finds evidence to support this assertion. Measurement of corruption is a compli
...
cated undertaking, and it has received little attention in this literature. This paper focuses on perceptual measures of corruption based on public opinion surveys. It attempts to replicate the finding of a negative relationship between media freedom and corruption using multiple measures of media freedom. The findings challenge the general argument that media freedom unambiguously is associated with lower levels of corruption." (Abstract)
more
"This study has looked at the opinions of ordinary citizens (n=2000) as well as a small sample of decision makers at community level (n=200). Chapters 1 and 2 provide a background sketch and methodology for the survey, followed by a detailed overview of the findings for the general public and decisi
...
on makers in Chapters 3 and 4. Overall, ordinary citizens and decision makers alike feel the Tanzania's media sector is growing and improving over time, and the sector is serving a news-hungry public that wants the media to keep those in positions of power accountable. However, this study also points to perceptions of shortcomings in the media, both in terms of the content it provides to the public and the quality of the services it provides." (Executive summary)
more
"De forma resumida se puede expresar que la razón de ser del Observatorio de Medios de la UCA es la de una instancia que investiga y opina sobre el comportamiento de los medios en el país bajo la premisa que estos deben contribuir al desarrollo humano y sostenible de este país centroamericano. Pa
...
ra la Universidad Centroamericana la libertad de expresión y el derecho a la información son claves para que Nicaragua pueda construir un modelo de nación que le permita desarrollare. La presente publicación recopila parte de las investigaciones que el Observatorio de Medios de esta Universidad Jesuita ha desarrollado en el año 2010 y 2011. La información que se presenta diagnostíca y caracteriza la labor de los medios de comunicación más tradicionales por fiscalizar y comunicar a la sociedad en aquellos temas cruciales de gobernabilidad, corrupción y transparencia. Desde que se creó el observatorio, la intención más importante de investigación ha girado alrededor de estos tres temas que consideramos necesarios para la Gobernanza del país y la construcción de ciudadanía.
El segundo capítulo recoge sendas investigaciones que nos aproximan a las realidades mediáticas vividas en la Costa Caribe del país. Con estos trabajos el Observatorio quiere acercarse a conocer esa parte de los medios del país cuyas prioridades se focalizan dentro de un contexto intercultural muy propio de esa región nicaragüense. El trabajo relacionado a la sociedad civil y los medios nos muestra las expectativas de las organizaciones de la sociedad nicaragüense frente a los medios de comunicación. La investigación da pistas de cómo se podrían facilitar procesos en los cuales los actores de sociedad civil sean constructores de agenda informativa y se apueste por hacer periodismo cívico. El último capítulo brinda una lectura de la labor de los medios de comunicación en contexto electoral. Se aborda la agenda informativa durante las elecciones del año 2011 que resultaron ser muy criticadas por diferentes actores nacionales e internacionales. Este capítulo quiere insistir en la necesidad del debate mediático durante períodos electorales como espacio de diálogo entre los políticos en contienda y la ciudadanía." (Introducción)
more
"From this short survey of some key thinkers, can we conclude that there is a causal link between media and good governance? Does the existence of a free media increase accountability and reduce corruption? Do media influence society in positive ways and liberate the individual? As one would expect,
...
the short answer is “it depends.” There is no consensus or easy, single answer to these questions. Neither is there a set of recommendations in a report such as this one, apart from common-sense recommendations to those donors and policy-makers who may be reading, to thoroughly understand media and politics in a given country before intervening, as well as the caution to do no harm. It is hoped that this report has introduced and shone a light on academic research related to subject of media and democracy. There are obvious differences between the media environments that are studied by the scholars profiled above: established democracies (in the case of Norris), developing countries (Nyamnjoh, Berger, Sen, Reinikka and Svensson, Besley and Burgess), and fragile/post-conflict states (Allen, Putzel, and Stremlau), which show the importance of, above all, context." (Conclusion, page 34)
more