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In the Service of the Public: Functions and Transformation of Media in Developing Countries
Inspiring Practice

Jan Lublinski, Petra Berner, Merjam Wakili (eds.)

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2014), 300 pp.

"This study constitutes the attempt to draw some initial conclusions from the work conducted by DW Akademie and other media development organizations in the past. It aims at a better understanding of which public service functions former state broadcasters can provide at all and which approaches of ... media development actors have proved to be successful. Reforming of state mouthpieces into public service media can indeed be achieved. This is one of the most important findings of this study. DW Akademie researchers here present examples of media outlets that fulfill their public service remit of creating a public sphere and supporting integration to a substantial degree. Even among the success stories, not all the media outlets studied here have adopted a public service ethos to its full extent. Their work, however, improved considerably. In assisting reform, media development actors were thus able to enhance the public’s freedom of expression as well as its access to information – two basic human rights we see as important prerequisites for peace and democracy. On the other hand, this study shows how difficult and complex transformation is. State media are often highly politicized. Successful transformation, therefore, requires support of a lot of different actors: the political elite, civil society, the management of the broadcaster, its staff, and last but certainly not least, the public as a whole. It is vital that media development actors identify windows of opportunity and profit from them in order to propel change forward. At the same time, this study demonstrates that media development organizations have to think beyond their traditional fields of expertise: capacity development and newsroom consultancy. A much broader approach is needed if substantial and sustainable development is to be achieved. DW Akademie is currently implementing a new, more complex strategy for successful media development cooperation that takes this into account. Political and legal frameworks have become a strategic area of activity. Other equally important areas comprise qualifications, professionalism, and economic sustainability of the media sector, participation in society, and digital change. With regard to public broadcasting, political and legal frameworks are especially important in order to ensure editorial independence of former state broadcasters. Furthermore, media development actors have to engage more in organizational development. Therefore, at the end of this study, we dedicate a whole chapter to this question. This study of selected media outlets from twelve countries does not attempt to provide a final answer to the question of successful public service transformation. It aims at giving an overview of what has been achieved in practical work in this field in the course of the past years. More research is needed to understand which steps of reform are needed for a genuine transformation that is sustainable in the long term. The media are undergoing crucial developments. Digital change, convergence, and social media have increased pluralism of opinion substantially in many parts of the world. At the same time, the media face new challenges with respect to their economic sustainability. The notion of public service media that offer a model for providing journalistic quality without financial dependence deserves further thought." (Preface) more

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Windows of Opportunity: The Transformation of State Media to Public Service Media in Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Moldova and Serbia

Jan Lublinski, Erik Albrecht, Petra Berner, Laura Schneider, Merjam Wakili, Jackie Wilson

Global Media Journal - German Edition, volume 4, issue 2 (2014), 30 pp.

"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 ... more

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Post-2015 MDGs: Freedom of Expression and the Media

Jan Lublinski, Peter Deselaers, Petra Berner

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2013), 6 pp.

"Access to information, freedom of expression and an independent media are important for a sustainable future. They should be explicitly included in a future framework describing UN development goals for the years beyond 2015. We discuss two options: firstly, integration of “information access and ... more

In the Service of the Public: Functions and Transformation of Media in Developing Countries Inspiring Practice

Windows of Opportunity: The Transformation of State Media to Public Service Media in Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Moldova and Serbia

Post-2015 MDGs: Freedom of Expression and the Media

In the Service of the Public: Functions and Transformation of Media in Developing Countries
Inspiring Practice