"Information dissemination is constrained by political sensitivity, the vulnerability of public information campaigns to manipulation, the difficulties of ensuring accurate information flow and the logistical impediments of conveying information across Darfur. For these reasons, existing initiatives
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have been confined to ‘safe’ information – largely related to humanitarian programmes – using existing community structures and word of mouth. A few efforts have been made to incorporate drama, public address systems and illustrations instead of printed information. Mass information campaigns have attempted to reach a broader audience but the methods used are in need of improvement. The major shortfalls are the lack of outreach work by NGOs, an over-reliance on dissemination through sheiks, the lack of explanation as to the long-term nature of protection work, inadequate dissemination of agreements on and principles of voluntary return, the absence of impartial and trusted internal media and a platform on which IDPs can discuss their views and concerns. With regard to safety and security, the situation remains too precarious to engage in informing IDPs on secure areas. In respect of all other categories of information, there are sizeable obstacles to dissemination but it should be possible to circumvent them. The need to do this has been recognised. Darfuris and the humanitarian community need a medium of mass communication through which pressing issues can be dealt with. Existing word of mouth methods can be improved and supported but there will be no substitute for a public platform for discussion and dissemination." (Conclusion)
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"Media support should have a long term approach (3-5 years); media support should be framed to capacity building related to media production supporting development of media management targeting mainly women; development of producer skills and screenwriting targeting women and young people; developme
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nt of civil society and its media capacity targeting especially Human Right focused organisations and associations; development of internal democracy in media entities, and development of a platform for young media producers in the Middle East and North Africa. Media support should mainly target the audiovisual media sector; Media support should promote exchange between different Arab regions and promote exchange between the Arab Region and the Western world." (Executive summay, page 13)
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"This study examines the impact of the international media assistance on the democratization of the press in Ukraine. Ukrainian government has been notorious for years for the suppression of the press and for censoring the content of the nation's media. Vital issues of the country, such as corruptio
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n, political and economic reforms, and opposition actions, have been ignored by the media because of the censorship. This study examines how Ukrainian online publications supported by the international donors differ from the unsupported media. Textual analyses shows that the supported online publications practice fair journalism and do not practice self-censorship, unlike the unsupported media that are under the governmental control." (Abstract)
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"The Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development obligated at least $40 million in fiscal year 2004 for the development of independent media, including activities such as journalism and business management training and support for legal and regulatory frameworks. About 60 p
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ercent of the fiscal year 2004 USAID and State obligations we identified supported independent media development projects in Europe and Eurasia. However, precise funding levels are difficult to identify due to a lack of agencywide budget codes to track media development obligations, differing definitions of independent media development, and complex funding patterns. State and USAID face challenges in designing performance indicators and accurately measuring and reporting results directly tied to the performance of U.S. independent media efforts. The tools most frequently used by State and USAID as performance indicators—Freedom House’s Freedom of the Press survey and the IREX Media Sustainability Index—are useful for determining the status of the media in selected countries but are of limited utility in measuring the specific contributions of U.S.-sponsored programs and activities toward developing independent media in countries when used alone. Several country-specific and programmatic challenges can impede the implementation of media development efforts, including a changing political condition, sustainability of local media outlets, and coordination between donors and providers. Specifically, a country’s changing political condition or lack of adequate civic and legal institutions can create challenges for a mission to plan, implement, and measure the results of its efforts. The sustainability of program recipients can also impede the overall success of efforts or specific activities at the country level. In addition, when coordination of activities is unstructured or informal, redundancies and confusion of responsibilities can impact project implementation." (Summary)
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"Newsroom managers throughout the Middle East recognize the need for improved standards among the region’s journalists, and training programs are proliferating. It’s no surprise that reporters in places like Iraq need to learn the most basic skills of the craft. But in the rich oil states of the
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Gulf the sheer diversity of newsrooms, where as many as a dozen nationalities work together, can pose problems as different journalistic cultures clash. All this has turned media training into a large and growing business, with governments and foundations underwriting training work carried out by NGOs, as well as by some of the media industry’s biggest names. Some, however, question the utility of it all. By some estimates as much as $30 million was spent on media training in the Balkans and, by some accounts, things are worse now than they were before the well-meaning Westerners arrived. Moreover, the training environment in the Middle East now involves many of those same players. So in the Middle East, it needs to be asked when the money is spent, what the trainees really will take back to their newsrooms." (Summary)
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"Takeuchi (Sasakawa Peace Foundation, 2005) completed an evaluation of a program that, from 1991 to 2004, brought 81 journalists from the Pacific Islands to Japan for visits of differing duration. The purpose of the program was to expose the journalists to Japanese culture, politics and media. Takeu
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chi surveyed participants and reviewed stories written upon their return to assess impact of the program. The evaluator concluded that the program undoubtedly was successful in exposing a group without prior experience to Japanese life, but there was little evidence the program had an impact on the professional development of the journalists. It also had limited impact on what the journalists wrote or did after they returned." (Becker/Vlad et al. 2006, cited in Becker/Vlad in: Trappel/Meier 2011, page 23)
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"[...] It is too early to assess the full impact of media development efforts undertaken since February 2002, given the short timeframe and the absence of reliable audience surveys. Nevertheless, OTI and Internews deserve credit for adopting an innovative, cost-effective approach to media assistance
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that helped open up civic life in towns and villages across the country, while planting the seeds for Afghanistan’s first commercial radio market. Emphasizing sustainability and quality programming, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and Internews appear to have avoided pitfalls that have plagued projects in other postconflict settings. Internews carefully chose aid recipients, stipulated that the aid would be phased out, and organized training courses relating to core editorial and management skills. The main pillar of the assistance effort has been a loose network of community radio stations where journalists and business managers receive training, equipment, and a relatively modest level of funding. The network was launched February 2003 with a $327,897 grant from OTI. A subsequent grant was awarded to expand the network, which, by November 2004, had 25 community stations with a potential audience of 7.47 million Afghans, or 36 percent of the population. It is hoped that plans to add an AM component to the network will not prove too ambitious or burdensome for the stations. The community radio stations may sound amateurish at times, but they have helped raise community issues for public debate for the first time and held local authorities accountable. Other stations have provided an unprecedented arena for discussion of social concerns and formerly taboo women’s issues, including forced marriage and domestic violence." (Executive summary, pages ix-x)
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"This paper will examine American efforts to create a vibrant free press in Iraq and Afghanistan. A $200 million project in Iraq was the largest attempt ever by the United States, or any country, to help create independent media in another nation. Run by the Pentagon, it was a near total failure in
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its first year, with Iraqi journalists, American trainers and U.S. government officials assailing it as wasteful, amateurish and counterproductiv. A far smaller, $15 million State Department effort in Afghanistan, by comparison, appears to have been more effective. In both countries, many local journalists have performed well, particularly when given proper resources and training. But in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as around the world, murder and violence is now the single largest threat to the creation of an independent news media. Government officials, criminals and terrorists are increasingly using assault and murder to silence the media. Supporting, respecting and, most of all, securing local journalists may be the most critical way the United States can foster the creation of a vibrant free press in Iraq and Afghanistan." (Abstract)
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"This is a brief overview of international assistance to media development in Iraq from the time of the invasion in 2003 to the formation of the Iraqi government and first weeks of the constitutional process in April-May 2005. This paper does not claim to give an exhaustive picture. It is meant as a
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n introduction to the main foreign actors and to some of their initiatives and plans. It is written with the clear premise that media development in Iraq has been, is and should of course continue to be led and inspired by the Iraqis themselves." (Introduction)
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"Aid efforts have encountered a number of problems: oversupply of basic courses, overlapping and duplication of courses and a lack of understanding of local conditions on the part of some donors [...] Better planning and coordination could improve the situation, as could efforts to encourage journal
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ists of all political orientations to attend training. The one major gap in aid is seen to be the lack of attention to the skills needed to run a news medium as a commercial enterprise." (Conclusion, page 53)
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"In this study, the researcher examined the development of the various theoretical frameworks that define the practice of development communication, and then reached out to the international development community through a survey to discover: a) whether an assumption that development communication i
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s not sufficiently appreciated by decision and policy makers in development organizations is correct; and b) if it is, what possible reasons there could be for this. The researcher found that where this assumption is correct, possible reasons for it could be a) a deficiency of empirical indicators on which policy makers can base their budgeting decisions; and/or b) a lack of effective communication between those that advocate for development communication and those at the top of the organizational hierarchies." (Abstract)
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