"Russian speakers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania rank Kremlin-backed media as the least trustworthy among international, Russian Federation and domestic news sources, according to research presented by the Broadcasting Board of Governors. In addition, only those survey respondents who considered R...ussian-backed media to be credible showed a majority support for President Vladimir Putin’s domestic and international policies. In the three Baltic nations and Moldova, consuming Russian-backed media did not correlate with support for Russia’s policies. The BBG data found that domestic media ranked first in trustworthiness in Estonia (80 percent) and Latvia (79 percent). International media took first in Lithuania (74 percent) and in Moldova there was a statistical tie between international media (45 percent), Russian-backed media (42 percent) and domestic media (42 percent)." (BBG website)
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"The transformation of state media to public service media (PSM) is one of the most ambitious endeavors in the field of media development. Not many efforts to free the national media from government control have succeeded in the past decades. In this paper the comparatively promising cases of Kyrgyz...stan, Mongolia, Moldova and Serbia are discussed. The PSM in these countries all have a new legal basis, including a public service remit and a relatively independent governing body in which civil society is represented. The services delivered to the public by these media are analyzed according to a number of societal functions which are assembled under two general headings: “creating a public sphere” and “supporting integration”. Based on this analysis, a differentiation between “PSM in initial transformation” and “PSM in advanced transformation” is suggested. In all cases studied, different actors successfully used windows of opportunity: general political agendas to reform the media, a specific engagement from the management as well as support from the population and civil society. Media development actors here helped to advance the processes of change in different ways. Recommendations for future media development include strategic planning, inclusion of local actors, the pooling of legal expertise as well as structured processes of organizational development and capacity building." (Abstract)
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"The Five Communication Management Decision Tool helps reformers and their teams develop a framework for their communication strategies. This decision tool helps managers see change initiatives through the eyes of those who will be affected by the reforms. When the decision tool is used in the early... stages of the development of change programs, reformers gain an even deeper understanding of the stakeholders’ perspectives on the reforms, which influences stakeholder opposition or support for them. Such understanding will not only be instructive, but possibly transformative—for both change agents and those stakeholders whose support is critical to the success of reform. Reform agents may recognize the source of stakeholder resistance and be able to revise reform goals and redesign change interventions. Stakeholders who have a shared understanding of why the status quo is not acceptable and change is necessary are more likely to create coalitions of committed allies and supporters who will work together to achieve reform goals. This workbook illustrates how the decision tool can be used for various types of change and reform initiatives—from policy reform, to country and donor partnership agreements, to sectoral reforms." (Back cover)
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