"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 systems 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)