"There is a general consensus that media are an essential element of democracy if they fulfil particular quality requirements in their reporting. Abundant literature deals with media quality from a theoretical perspective, but empirical knowledge on journalistic practice with regard to its role in d
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emocratization is rare, and this is even more so in the case of African countries. First, this article seeks to assess the quality of radio in Liberia, which is the country’s most popular medium. Second, the article tests a specific methodology in order to measure the contribution of radio to democracy. It argues that radio stations in Liberia strongly differ in their quality, each with specific shortcomings. These findings are confirmed by interviews with civil society representatives and by audience research." (Abstract)
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"The symposium Measuring Change. Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation in Media Development focused on the utilisation aspect of evaluation1: The adding of “Planning” to “Monitoring and Evaluation” in the subtitle indicates that emphasis was laid on learning from monitoring and evaluation experie
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nces, to facilitate the improvement of existing projects and programmes at all levels, from planning to implementation and follow-up." (Executive Summary)
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"In order to get a sound base for its future decisions on the role of media for peacebuilding, the Political Department IV of the Swiss Foreign Ministry has asked the swisspeace Center for Peacebuilding (KOFF) to initiate a process for compiling the current knowledge, existing experiences, and futur
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e challenges in this field. This should support the decision process in the Ministry on how media assistance could play a major role in their endeavor to contribute to peacebuilding efforts. The first step in this process was to commission a study on the state of the art in the field of media and peacebuilding. The second step was to convene a workshop, in which the first draft of the study was presented and discussed by experts and representatives of Swissbased media NGOs. In this workshop the media NGOs were also given the opportunity to present their view of the role and strategic position of media in peacebuilding and formulate the challenges they see for media projects in peacebuilding. The workshop participants also formulated common recommendations and open questions. This report compiles all the workshop’s input and presentations, and it summarizes its recommendations. In combination with the study “Media and peacebuilding: Concepts, actors, challenges” it hopefully contributes to the international debate on the role of the media and supports the ongoing process of reviewing their contribution to peacebuilding efforts." (Introduction, page 1)
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"A concise overview looking at the approaches, activities, and challenges of governmental, international, and nongovernmental organizations in the field of media and peacebuilding." (commbox)