"To ensure that Ukrainian media move from mere survival to long-term vitality, we propose a comprehensive strategy encompassing the following five pillars: 1. Innovative funding mechanisms; 2. Prioritisation of local-level media; 3. Constructive enabling environment; 4. Professional development; 5.
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Media literacy. This holistic strategy aims to foster a resilient, independent, and effective media sector integral to Ukraine’s ongoing development and recovery." (Page 1)
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"Despite the grim outlook, media development efforts in Burma between 2010 and 2020 may be instructive not only for donors pondering the way forward, but also for media assistance efforts in other countries in transition. This report, part of the Center for International Media Assistance’s “Medi
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a Reform amid Political Upheaval” project, highlights the resiliency and impact of the extensive projects that media assistance actors and donors took in advance of Burma’s 2010 opening. It also serves as a case study in the dangers of supporting captured institutions, such as Burmese state media, when the entities that control those institutions are not committed to a democratic transition. In Burma’s case, the mainstream media reform agenda was guided by influential media development donors that supported government priorities to the detriment of independent journalists and grassroots activists who had an alternative vision for the country’s future. Finally, this briefing looks at two coalitions that undertook major reform campaigns during Burma’s opening, and draws on interviews from 42 people in the sector to outline principles that donors and media assistance organizations might use to navigate the post-coup environment." (Pages 2-3)
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"[...] there has been a growing recognition that traditional approaches to media development are struggling to deliver the anticipated results. This acknowledgement has led some donors to conduct far-ranging needs assessments in order to better understand the priorities of their beneficiaries as wel
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l as the environmental constraints that have blunted the impact of media development initiatives in the past. At the same time, the recipients of donor funding are increasingly asking to have a say in determining the kind of support that is provided by the international community. They say that programmes should be driven by demand rather than by donor assumptions or thematic priorities that do not fully reflect the situation on the ground. The calls for proposals reviewed during this study suggest that donors are responding to these concerns. There is clear evidence of concerted efforts to make funding more accessible to local organisations and to move the centre of gravity away from international partners. Although some programmes remain out of the reach of local players due to the size of their budgets or their regional scope, they often include very significant sub-granting programmes aimed at helping local media to become viable businesses and at supporting the production of public interest content. The themes embraced by the calls also reflect the urgent need within the media sector to build resilience to economic shocks, political bullying and disinformation campaigns. There is a marked insistence on promoting usable skills such as factchecking and mobile journalism, accompanied by provisions for ensuring that training is delivered by “media professionals as opposed to professional trainers with minimal or no experience in the media industry”. These are positive developments which, to a large extent, have been driven by sustained dialogue between stakeholders and far-ranging needs assessments. Of particular note in Lebanon is the unprecedented success of the Media Recovery Fund, initiated by the Samir Kassir Foundation, which marks a dramatic shift in the implementer-donor relationship. There is a strong possibility that this approach could form the focus of future coordination efforts and could, in time, serve as the cornerstone for a national media development strategy. It could also become a blueprint for other countries in the region." (Executive summary)
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"This thesis examines the impact on the Media Assistance sector of the arrival of digital technologies into the ‘information ecosystems’ in which it operates. Whereas historically in Media Assistance, broadcast media and the press have been the preferred (or available) media for achieving develo
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pment objectives, digital technologies such as mobile phones and social media are radically altering the landscape of Media Assistance. In Africa, where mobile phones are heralded as a “gift to development”, donors have been exploring the potential of these tools to achieve their development objective. As a consequence, the area of ICTs for Development (ICT4D) has flourished. At a time when the narrative in the western media has been of an “Africa Rising” and of techno-determinism, this research asks whether these digital technologies are indeed being used to achieve Media Assistance objectives in practice. If they are being integrated into media development programmes – or even replacing media development programmes - to what level of success? To answer this question, the thesis focuses on two countries in East Africa – Kenya and Tanzania – and interviews 40 stakeholders working in media assistance in these countries. The research finds that in fact many projects continue to use traditional methods. This is due to issues such as the digital divide, technical literacy, and continuing preference for traditional media by wider populations in these countries. Furthermore, the study notes that the virtual public sphere facilitated by the internet is not accessible to all, nor is it an ideal public sphere. Finally, citizens of these countries, the research finds, do not necessarily use these technologies for participation or accountability ends. Thus, despite widespread diffusion of technologies such as mobile phones in both these countries, there is still an important role for traditional media development approaches to achieve donor objectives in the new information ecosystem." (Abstract)
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"Since 2009, 3,106 funders gave $1.7 billion in journalism-related grants [in the U.S.]. Of that, $306 million was directed toward the Newseum. Excluding grants to the Newseum, the top 9 journalism funders to U.S.-based organizations have given $550 million, via 1,776 grants since 2009. Of the $1.7
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billion, $326 million was for investigative journalism projects; $88 million was for constituency journalism projects; $42 million for citizen journalism projects; $185 million for advocacy journalism projects; $1.6 billion for projects in the journalism, news and information, general category." (Page 2)
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"This chapter is drawn primarily from Jane Madlyn McElhone's thirteen years of in-field experience in Myanmar and other nations in transition, as well as key informant interviews she conducted in 2017 and 2018 [...] Our discussion is driven by a series of interlinked questions. Who were the key medi
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a development actors during the time of the military junta, what kind of support did they offer, and who benefited from it? What were the assumptions driving the aid? With hindsight, what are the lessons learned that can be applied to Myanmar's contemporary media development sector, and to regional and international media development efforts? What is the legacy of the many years of pre-transition aid? What have we learned from the response to the Rakhine crisis?" (Pages 96-97)
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"This books draws a comparative balance of twenty years' international media assistance in the five countries of the Western Balkans. The central question was what happens to imported models when they are transposed onto the newly evolving media systems of transitional societies. Albania, Bosnia-Her
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zegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia undertook a range of media reforms to conform with accession requirements of the European Union and the standards of the Council of Europe, among others. The essays explore the nexus between the democratic transformation of the media and international media assistance. The cross-national analysis concludes that the effects of international assistance are highly constrained by the local context. From today's vantage point it becomes obvious, that scaling media assistance does not necessarily improve outcomes. The experiences in the region suggest that imported solutions have not been very cognitive in all aspects of local conditions but international strategies tend to be rather schematic and lacked strategic approaches to promote media policy stability, credible media reform and implementation. The book offers valuable insights into the nature and effects of media assistance and the strategies deployed by international aid agencies, local political forces, media professionals, civil society organizations and other actors." (Publisher description)
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"Experience in conflicts, in former Yugoslavia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Pakistan and Afghanistan over the past twenty years has shown that citizens with access to reliable, professional, and independent news and information must be a key element in any effort to support a sustainable resolution to conflict
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that will begin a political process that will stabilize the situation, counter extremism, ensure more democratic outcomes. Donor support to Syrian media has been critical to ensuring that the nascent independent media sector grew and survived as the conflict worsened. However, four years into the conflict, donors, implementers, and Syrians must re-evaluate their approach based on the changing nature of the conflict and the lessons learned from previous support efforts. In its coordination work with Syrians and media development professionals working on Syria projects since 2013, GFMD has developed the following summary recommendations for donors, implementers, and Syrian media: Long-term, flexible, and adequately funded donor engagement supporting independent media must play a key role in the response to the Syrian conflict [...] The Syrian audience must be central to donor projects, including support for understanding the news and information needs of the Syrian public and improving the distribution of independent media to the Syrian public [...] A comprehensive approach to the Syrian media sector will be most effective [...] Syrian media professionals, media development implementers, and donors must coordinate their work." (Executive summary, page 4-5)
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"While in 1990s media assistance efforts focused on ensuring the survival of independent media outlets under the authoritarian rule of the Miloševiæ regime, the scope of the assistance expanded after the regime collapsed in 2000, to address a range of issues, such as legal reforms, the establishme
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nt of regulatory bodies, the transformation of the state TV into a public service broadcaster, professionalization of journalism, and management of media outlets. However, in many ways the reforms still depend on continuous external support. Hence, this policy brief outlines key challenges to the media reforms, and lists several lessons that could inform the future media assistance efforts in Serbia." (Summary)
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"This dissertation is a study about the growth and development of media in Afghanistan and its role and contribution to national and international collective efforts to build a modern, stable and democratic Afghanistan in the last decade. In pursuing my dissertation, I have examined the Afghan media
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landscape by focusing on the regulatory environment, the type and breadth of broadcast and print media, the role of donors and foreign aid and the extent to which media has a played a role in fostering democracy in the country. The dissertation concludes with analyzing the future of Afghan media and freedom of expression following the departure of foreign forces and international community at the end of 2014 and their impact on sustainability of media in light of support they have received from the outside world. The dissertation concludes that, while there are challenges ahead, Afghan media has benefited from a decade of foreign assistance, has contributed to fostering democracy in Afghanistan and can stand on its own with the decline of foreign aid to Afghanistan in the future." (Abstract)
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"Libyan media’s deficiencies are vast and cover all facets of production. For one, the media industry’s decades-long isolation from the Arab and international markets poses a particular challenge to its reconstruction by comparison to the transitional media industries in Egypt and Tunisia. Media
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reform in Libya therefore requires tailor-made solutions that can address the specific needs of the national mainstream industry. While most training available to media staff with little professional experience focusses on basic media practices, it is crucial that these courses provide programmes that are targeting media practitioners of different media platforms (print, magazine, television and radio) as well as different levels of media professionalism (junior reporters as well as senior managers). This process should be based on a deeper understanding of the needs and challenges facing the media industry. It is a must that these programmes target institutions and contribute to their development towards professionalism. In doing so, international and regional agents working in media development should base their operations on a deep understanding of the media industry, its needs and its challenges—a matter that necessitates direct connections with this industry. It is clear that most of the training programmes had targeted citizen journalists recruiting trainees through local centres. They must now focus on media institutions and therefore target their staff with specific training programmes." (Conclusion, page 68)
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"Overall, the scope of media assistance in Albania has been rather ambitious, aiming to reform all key segments of the media sector. It is therefore not surprising that the results have been mixed at best. The important elements of the regulatory framework have been put in place, but the reforms aim
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ed at public broadcasters, the introduction of self-regulatory mechanisms, and professionalization of journalism have proved to be particularly challenging. While media assistance has been crucial in media development, external factors such as the market, the existing informality, the interaction between politics, business, and media, etc., have affected the outcome of donor efforts in the media field." (Summary)
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"In conclusion, it should be reiterated that the use of the Western liberal media models as a guiding model for the media set up in Kosovo might have been too ambitious a goal. It gave too much credit to the cultural ethos at the time, assuming it to be an environment in which a liberal media sector
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could firmly take root. Obviously, Kosovo is on a path of progress, having moved from a point where there were no institutions to the point where, however imperfect, the new institutions continue to operate. Overall, however, Kosovo media institutions, judging by their current condition, might still be years away from achieving functional independence." (Discussion of findings, page 52)
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"South Africa’s news media has become, in the post-1994 democratic era, among the most concentrated in the world, affecting the quality of its content and the sales of its newspapers. A significant decrease in international development support, and post-1994 changes to the nature of that support,
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has exacerbated that process. The few cases in which dedicated, targeted support has been provided have, in sharp contrast, contributed to the development of islands of investigative journalism excellence able to exercise influence both on other media and on broader South African society." (Preface, page 5)
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"Bearing in mind the political and economic circumstances in the early stages of development of a democratic Macedonia, international donors played an important role in providing a vibrant media landscape including legal framework and relevant institutions. Donors in Macedonia engaged in a number of
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media assistance projects producing varying results, but mostly providing short-term improvements. The reasons behind the donors’ limited success can be explained through Berkowicz’s ‘transplant effect’. In particular, the reforms in the Macedonian media sector were conducted according to the model of the liberal media system, underestimating the potential dangers of the local context. In that light, the local context of high state politicization, strong business and political parallelism and ethnic segregation were to a great extent overlooked. In addition to the lack of understanding of the local context, there was an absence of a coherent donor assistance strategy. This has contributed towards the overall limited success of the assistance efforts. With several notable exceptions, most of the media assistance in Macedonia was of short and mid-term orientation, which finally resulted in short-term results." (Conclusion)
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"Overall, international media assistance has been very important in shaping the current media landscape, though it has by no means been the decisive factor. The complete legal reform in the media and establishment of its main institutions has seen the continuous involvement of international actors.
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International assistance has also been crucial in introducing new principles of journalism with the change of regime, and in improving professional level of journalists. Although self-regulatory bodies have not materialized yet, the professional debate on ethics has become significant part of the profession. Media assistance efforts have been less successful in terms of supporting member-based organizations, hindered by the lack of tradition in this field. Finally, although strengthening the notions of professional journalism has been the main focus of international support, Albanian journalism has ample room for improvement." (Concluding remarks, page 54)
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"The case of BiH demonstrates that media reform is a slow, time-consuming process, which is closely related to the consolidation of democratic institutions that foster free media. The four case studies presented here amply demonstrate a deep tension between externally-driven reform initiatives and t
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he democratization agenda on one hand, and the complex set of contextual challenges to the reforms on the other. Our findings support Mcloughlin and Scott who claim that media reforms "can only produce results at the same pace as democratic evolution in a given country, and should be integrated into broader democratic governance reform." (Conclusion, page 57)
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"Donor funded media development is a relatively new phenomenon, resulting in minimal impact. Modest gains have been made: technical improvements in television production, some better skilled journalists, development of journalists’ associations and a code of ethics, and greater citizen engagement.
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However, balanced and in-depth reports are scant and there remains limited space for freedom of expression. Professional media reports based on fact rather than opinion, on a range of sources (especially on a range of political sources) are the exception rather than the rule [...] Improvements require considerable time and effort which often extends beyond the life of a short to medium term donor horizon. AusAID, KAF, UNDP and USAID are current donors who understand this." (Conclusion, page 39)
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