the aid library

Evaluating democracy assistance

Krishna Kumar

Boulder, Colo.: Rienner (2013), x, 241 pp., bibliogr. p.219-229, index

"A comprehensive, practical guide to the on-the-ground tasks of evaluating and monitoring democracy assistance programs, from planning and implementation to preparing and presenting evaluation reports." (Publisher)

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Building a community radio network in Afghanistan

Krishna Kumar

In: Promoting democracy in postconflict societies

Jeroen de Zeeuw; Krishna Kumar (eds.)

Boulder, Colo.; London: Rienner (2006), pp. 257-272

"The experience of establishing community stations in Afghanistan provides four distinct, but interrelated lessons ... The project has demonstrated that international organizations can promote community stations in impoverished, war-tron societies that have had no experience of independent or commer... more

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Promoting independent media: strategies for democracy assistance

Krishna Kumar

Boulder, Colo.; London: Rienner (2006), 189 pp., bibliogr. p.167-175, index

ISBN 1-58826-429-7

"This book represents one step in explaining international efforts to promote independent media. It attempts to examine the nature and significance of media assistance, discussing the evolution of the field, the focus of various programming approaches, and the possible impact of such efforts. It pre...sents case studies of media assistance programs in different countries.The book concludes with a set of recommendations for expanding and deepening media assistance for the international community. This book project grew out of a multi-country study that I directed in 2002–2004 to examine media assistance programs funded by the US Agency for International Development. The overall purpose of the study was to assess the nature and effectiveness of USAID programs and make policy and programmatic recommendations for the future. In writing this book I have mostly drawn from the massive information collected during two years of research and analysis. The book is based primarily on three sources of information. First are reviews of literature covering scholarly writings, project and program documents, and articles in popular magazines and newspapers on media assistance. Such reviews were country specific as well as global in nature. Because the academic literature is extremely limited and media assistance is hardly covered in magazines and newspapers except in high-profile cases such as Bosnia and Serbia, reviews largely relied on program documentation. I had the unique advantage of perusing thousands of documents that are not available to the public. Although mostly descriptive and often self-serving, they identified critical gaps in our knowledge and illuminated the challenges and achievements of international media endeavors. Second, my colleagues and I undertook extensive fieldwork in seven countries/regions—Afghanistan, Bosnia, Central America, Indonesia, Russia, Serbia, and Sierra Leone. In each of these cases, research teams conducted extensive discussions with international donor agencies, officials of host countries, project staff and contractors, and local media experts and journalists. Every possible effort was made to interview all those experts and managers who had intimate knowledge of the ongoing media assistance programs. Teams also examined locally available documents and reports and used translators to translate documents into English when necessary. In the absence of hard quantitative data, they largely relied on available documentation, indepth interviews, and their own knowledge of the media scene for their findings and conclusions. Finally, I organized a series of meetings in Washington, D.C., to discuss the findings of the country studies and explore new directions for media assistance programs. Such meetings helped to identify many problems and challenges facing media assistance programs and helped in formulating a set of recommendation for policymakers." (Chapter 1, p.10-11) more

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Promoting democracy in postconflict societies

Jeroen de Zeeuw; Krishna Kumar (eds.)

Boulder, Colo.; London: Rienner (2006), xii, 331 pp., tables, abbrev. p.291-298, bibliogr. p.299-309, index

"This study critically evaluates international democratization assistance in postconflict societies to discern what has worked, what has not, and how aid programs can be designed to have a more positive impact. The authors offer a unique recipient perspective as they explore three dimensions of demo... more

Critical issues in communication: looking inward for answers. Essays in honour of K. E. Eapen

Srinivas R. Melkote; Sandhya Rao (eds.)

New Delhi; Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage (2001), 491 pp., index

ISBN 0-7619-9511-0 (USA); 81-7036-990-8 (India)

"This book looks at the political economy of communication and information, media in development and social change, media theory and practice, international communication technology and communication values and ethics." (Publisher)