"A five-year, media capacity-building programme in Sudan gives some valuable pointers about how to keep a media-development programme alive—and the positive results that can be achieved through perseverance and a collaborative effort by stakeholders. The results included the introduction of a new
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reporting style that highlighted issues of public interest, not previously understood, and journalists who were given the confidence to minimise self-censorship." (Abstract)
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"Recent trends in journalism education in Africa indicate a substantial increase both in scope and specialisation. While this increase is usually attributed to higher education institutions’ response to market trends, certain journalism education programmes are born out of development assistance i
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nitiatives that envision nation-building imperatives of democratisation and development. The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) is notable for its involvement in higher education journalism training at a graduate level in select countries in the Global South. This article assesses the presently discontinued involvement of NORAD in the establishment of a graduate journalism programme at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia between 2004–2007. In doing so, it reviews what has been learned over the lifespan of NORAD's sponsorship of the programme by discussing what worked and what did not work. Findings generated from document analysis, an online survey, and interviews indicate the project fell short of its mission due to its top-down, “magic-bullet” conceptualisation of democratisation that failed to take into account the political and legal-rational conundrums of the Ethiopian state. However, unanticipated yet useful contributions emerged from the project in terms of forging small-scale partnerships that yielded favourable results in the development of journalism education in sub-Saharan Africa." (Abstract)
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"La nature de l’enseignement et l’évaluation de la pertinence du choix des formateurs sont également sujettes à caution. En effet, 54,3 % des participants estiment que les contenus dispensés ne sont pas adaptés au contexte national. D’une certaine manière, ceci est confirmé par les form
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ateurs eux-mêmes puisque 82,3 % d’entre eux estiment ne pas connaître, ou très peu, les réalités du journalisme en Tunisie. D’une certaine manière, ceci est confirmé par les formateurs eux-mêmes puisque 82,3 % d’entre eux estiment ne pas connaître, ou très peu, les réalités du journalisme en Tunisie. De nombreux élèves ont été amenés à mettre en cause, ouvertement (pendant les sessions) ou dans le cadre des entretiens, le caractère décontextualisé ou inadapté des formations. Au-delà, il existe une corrélation entre les évaluations négatives des formations et le nombre de formations suivies par les participants. Ceux qui ont suivi plus de cinq formations (18,9 % de l’ensemble des participants) estiment à 86,3 % qu’elles ne sont pas adaptées pour plusieurs raisons : elles ne sont pas coordonnées ou harmonisées; ce qui est enseigné d’une formation à l’autre présente des aspects contradictoires; les méthodes ne sont pas praticables dans leur rédaction. Enfin, l’évaluation des formations ne semble pas pouvoir contribuer à adapter plus finement les formules pédagogiques puisque la prise en compte de la mise en pratique des contenus dispensés, sur la courte ou la moyenne durée, ne fait pas partie du protocole des opérateurs. La viabilité et l’assimilation des contenus in situ ne sont donc pas prises en considération." (Paragraphe 25)
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"In conclusion, therefore, training and capacity building programs for journalists are likely to continue to be one common form of media assistance offered by development agencies and domestic stakeholders, but these types of activities can be expected to strengthen useful technical skills for news
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workers, improving how they do their work, more than altering their underlying ethical standards and values, and what they do. Many alternative types of policy interventions are available to supplement training and strengthen the quality of news coverage by independent media during election campaigns. This includes through working with local NGOs advocating legal reforms of the regulatory framework (such as lobbying for Freedom of Information laws and protecting journalists), expanding investment in the digital infrastructure in poorer countries and fighting internet censorship in repressive states (to widen public access to pluralistic communication platforms), and building the domestic capacity for systematic media monitoring (to highlight problems in election coverage)." (Conclusion)
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"This article has provided a benchmark for further detailed examination of the issue of foreign aid and media education in Solomon Islands. It acknowledges that aid funding comes with a political agenda and that there are difficulties in evaluating the effectiveness of media education where recipien
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t countries did not start as empty vessels to be filled with Australian values and behaviour. Drawing on the thinking of Kincheloe (2008), this article acknowledges that students (of journalism, or of anything else), need to be aware that power comes through attempts to win people’s consent, by social and psychological means. Despite some early political mistakes in the way media assistance was conducted by Australian staff, the later SOLMAS project performed some important work, especially around the 2010 election, with staff acutely aware of the limitations of the project and of the work of expatriate trainers. This article also raises concern about ABC International’s lack of transparency over the SOLMAS project (in fighting access to documentation about the project). It is ironic that the ABC International managers in Australia clearly saw their role firstly as part of Australian foreign policy, rather than journalism trainers/supporters of the Fourth Estate in the Pacific." (Conclusion, page 46)
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"According to the methodology (page 81-82), the basis of this research "is a rhetorical analysis of literature concerning journalism training programs conducted by international development organizations in South Sudan since the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in order to determine the valu
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es and priorities of these organizations and understand how they view the role of media and how this impacts their approach to training. A rhetorical analysis is based on the idea of rhetoric being “writing and language with intent” (McCloskey 1994)—in this case, the intent being to persuade donors, taxpayers, even participants that the trainings are necessary and beneficial to the recipient country’s wellbeing." The author concludes (page 90) that "the ethical questions facing media development are not very different from those faced by the larger international development sector as a whole. Though media development superficially appears to be more value-neutral than other sectors, in reality it is just as steeped in the modernization paradigm and promotion of one culture’s values over another’s." (commbox)
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"The literature emphasizes the importance of accounting for specific needs when it comes to media assistance in conflict-ridden contexts. The reviewed recommendations boil down to establishing communication between different actors (such as oppositional players or media and public professionals) and
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to institutionalising this communication in the form of round-tables, press conferences, or other modi vivendi of dealing with one another in a democratic way. Two aspects are salient throughout the reviewed areas “journalism training”, “capacity building for civil society actors”, and “capacity building for political leaders”: The need for multi-stakeholder dialogue and an emphasis on creating awareness of the general value of communication. Differences across the reviewed areas seem rooted in the amount of practical experience gained so far with the respective group of beneficiaries. Future research is well-advised to adapt its focus accordingly. Examining “best practices” is especially relevant when it comes to journalism training. An understanding of support offered to activists can be gained by identifying specific challenges to civil society organisations." (Executive summary)
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"The recent growth of journalism education around the globe offers new ways for media development organizations to work with budding journalists in places where the media sector is struggling. Improved communications technology and emerging international standards for quality journalism mean top uni
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versities outside the United States can be partners in training younger journalists before they enter the work force." (Page 1)
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"BBC Media Action has been involved in media development since it was founded in 1999. Over the years, we have designed and deployed a broad range of evaluation approaches and methodologies to assess the impact of and learn from our work. This has generated much internal discussion: Are we measuring
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the right things? Where can we realistically expect to see change? How much should we spend on evaluation? How can we tell whether that change is sustainable? This paper is our attempt to bring that discussion to the wider media development community. In it, we set out our working evaluation framework and methodology alongside the findings generated by applying this framework to five different capacity-strengthening interventions." (Executive summary)
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"Using Bourdieu’s field theory, this thesis describes journalism education from the perspective of Australians who specialise in teaching outside Australia. It uses three data sources: a content analysis of media in Solomon Islands; a survey and in-depth interviews with Australian journalism educa
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tors; and a case study of Solomon Islands. It is significant in that for the first time this thesis describes a group of Australian journalism educators (as opposed to journalists) in depth. In the case study, the thesis describes the work done in rebuilding the media in a post-Conflict situation (Solomon Islands), paying attention to the characteristics and influences of Australian educators and contrasting the educators’ views with those of Solomon Island journalists and civil society leaders. This thesis features in-depth interviews and surveys of 44 Australian educators as well as 25 people connected to the media in Solomon Islands." (Abstract)
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"This baseline study has been conducted within the inception phase of the project Capacity Building of the School of Journalism and Communication, to support the School of Journalism and Communication (SJC) under the University of Rwanda. The findings rest mainly on eight brief background papers ana
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lysing the media context and the environment in which SJC operates. The key outputs consist of proposed logical framework for the programme including indicators and baseline values under each of the four outcomes. The system for measuring and evaluating of the progress under the indicators throughout the four-year programme is a second important output of this study." (Executive summary)
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"Through its strategic approach of producing better-trained journalists, the project is contributing to a positive long-term impact on the quality of media reporting in Bolivia and the level of information of its citizens. However, since no training cycle had been completed at the time of the evalua
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tion, there is as yet no answer to the question of continuation. The importance of media development cooperation and capacity development of journalists for democratic and sustainable development has been confirmed in recent years by various international actors (UNESCO, BBC et al.). It can therefore be assumed that ProPeriodismo will contribute to a general improvement in reporting standards if sustainability is ensured. However, it is a long process that depends not only on journalistic training, but also on other factors such as media policy developments in the country and region. The evaluation reveals two problem areas that detract from the intended impact: 1. So far, only a comparatively small number of journalists and lecturers have benefitted from the support. Furthermore, neither trainees nor university lecturers have the opportunity to systematically pass on their knowledge to colleagues in editorial offices or teaching institutions. 2. Changing media reporting for the better requires not only good journalistic training, but also an appropriate political and structural framework." (Page 5)
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"En las últimas décadas, las organizaciones del periodismo boliviano, círculos políticos y la sociedad en su conjunto, han advertido profundas deficiencias en la práctica del periodismo. Uno de los problemas identificados es la escasez de periodistas calificados. Según estudios realizados por
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organizaciones académicas, una de las causas que origina la baja calidad profesional es que la mayoría de las universidades enfocan sus planes de estudios hacia la comunicación corporativa, las relaciones públicas y el desarrollo, entre otras áreas de la comunicación, dejando de lado al periodismo. La otra, el poco interés de los estudiantes por dedicarse a este oficio. Esto ha originado que el mercado laboral del periodismo adquiera una configuración especial: existen pocos periodistas profesionales y, de ellos, sólo algunos tienen las capacidades que requiere esta profesión. Por ello, varios medios forman periodistas en la práctica, lo que ha originado una distorsión, no sólo en la calidad de los productos periodísticos, sino también en el nivel salarial. Bajo esa perspectiva, con el apoyo de la Deutsche Welle Akademie (DW) y la Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) y bajo el liderazgo del Ministerio de Comunicación del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia, la Fundación para el Periodismo (FPP) impulsa un proyecto sostenible de formación y capacitación de periodistas en el que se integran medios y profesionales." (Antecedentes)
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"In this paper we describe how quality in reporting could be measured through content analysis. We show that this approach, although somewhat technical, is feasible. It can help projects to become better and more successful. As a suggestion for practitioners in media development we present three opt
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ions for measuring quality of reporting for monitoring and evaluation purposes." (Abstract)
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"Zu Recht stellt sich die mit viel Glamour gestartete Journalistenakademie Intajour als Erfolg dar. Aber warum wickelt Bertelsmann sie jetzt ab? Und warum verhindert das Medienunternehmen den Fortbestand als unabhängige Akademie?" (Seite 30)
"The Tanzania Media Fund (TMF) supports individual journalists and media institutions to produce quality public interest and investigative journalism content that better informs the public, contributes to debate and thereby increases public demand for greater accountability in Tanzania. TMF has used
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lessons learned from its first phase (2008- 2012) to develop a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework that captures TMF’s achievements in phase 2 (2012-2015) and beyond. This article provides an overview of the practical implementation of the M&E framework, and challenges encountered during implementation." (Abstract)
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