"The main aim of the present study is to assess the status quo and the influencing factors of media viability in developing countries and economies in transition. Accordingly, three general research questions have been formulated: 1. Which factors determine the viability of alternative online news m
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edia organizations in developing countries and economies in transition? 2. What are the transnational similarities and differences for media viability of alternative news media organizations? 3. How are financial sustainability, editorial independence, and journalistic quality interrelated in the context of media viability of alternative online news media organizations?" (Page 21)
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"While global youth is often referred to as a fairly homogeneous generation of digital natives, data drawn from a survey in Jordan, Moldova, and Uganda suggests that this is not the case. Based on an instrument for measuring digital and news literacy, this paper presents a typology of five personae:
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The MIL Novice, the MIL Intermediate, the MIL Veteran, the Digital Literacy Veteran and the News Literacy Veteran. The descriptions of these five types of media users can be employed as prototypes when developing Media and Information Literacy (MIL) programs and materials for 15 to 35-year-olds." (Executive summary)
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"This study aimed to identify the factors that facilitate or inhibit new and aspiring journalists in Bangladesh to prepare for and join the profession. It also sought to determine the factors that would enable or restrict them from acquiring the necessary skill sets (particularly in educational inst
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itutions and media outlets) to succeed in professional journalism. Moreover, it identified the institutional policies and practices that demotivate new and aspiring journalism from continuing in the profession." (Conclusions, page 47)
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"Media viability challenges will not be solved at the individual outlet level. Rather, it is necessary to bring different stakeholders together to look at the bigger picture and assess the health of a country or a region’s media ecosystem. Then, partners can strategically plan projects that contri
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bute to creating an enabling environment for the media, one in which outlets have a chance to survive—or even thrive. Networks can go far in boosting viability, acting as bulwark against political influence as well as helping outlets share resources and scale their potential to access all sorts of revenue sources Finally, what is important to foster media viability at the level of individual media outlets? The most important step is to broaden the perspective beyond the isolated search for new sources of income. A viable strategy finds a balance between the different aspects of Media Viability—economy, politics, technology, content, and community—to set community radio stations, digital start-ups, and local newspapers on a more viable path." (Pages 8-9)
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"Die Bundesregierung hat im erfragten Zeitraum [seit 2008] 143 Vorhaben der Deutschen Welle (DW), der Deutsche Welle Akademie (DWA) und der GIZ
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gefördert bzw. beauftragt, die zum Teil mehrere Einzelmaßnahmen und -aktivitäten umfassen. Das Engagement auf dem Gebiet der Meinungsfreiheit und Medienentwicklung erfolgt in der Regel im Rahmen von Zuwendungen, mit denen auf den jeweiligen lokalen Bedarf ausgerichtete Beratungs- und Trainingsleistungen, etwa in Medienhäusern, umgesetzt werden. Eine unmittelbare Projektbeauftragung erfolgt hierbei nicht." (Seite 2)
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"Women are a great untapped potential in Cambodia. That is the driving idea behind the EU-funded project “Women into Politics! Greater female participation in Cambodia”. This three-year project reached women from different regions in Cambodia and gave them the communications skills they needed t
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o run for political office and talk to their constituents or become community leaders in their own locales. It was implemented by Germany’s leading media development organization DW Akademie, local partners Banteay Srei (BtS) and the Women’s Media Centre of Cambodia (WMC), and two third-party funding recipients, Cambodian Volunteers for Society (CVS) and the Youth Council of Cambodia (YCC). The project made use of media—radio, video and, especially, social media—as well as community forums to reach young people, particularly women and first-time voters, in the runup to communal and national elections. This gave them the knowledge they needed to make informed choices at the polls. The project disseminated information on topics with special relevance to women that emerged from local forums where community women could make their voices heard. The project’s overarching goals, empowerment and greater equality for Cambodian women, were in line with the European Union’s focus on gender equality and its commitment to the protection and fulfilment of human rights for women and girls. This best-practice handbook aims to provide an overview of the project—its goals, its approach, its activities and its results. It will look at who was primarily involved in each activity field, how they contributed or benefited, and what came of the three years of project work. This handbook also examines the challenges involved in carrying out the planned activities in a political environment that saw significant changes during the project period." (Introduction)
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"Urge poner por delante el respeto a la vida, a la integridad física, mental, emocional y a la dignidad de los periodistas de medios privados y comunitarios. Pero este principio no se cumple en una región flagelada por el narcotráfico, las pandillas y la corrupción. Informar y opinar hacen parti
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cularmente vulnerables a los periodistas en zonas alejadas de las grandes ciudades, donde el Estado no está presente. Son los periodistas y medios locales más pequeños y departamentales, quienes muchas veces trabajan sin ningún tipo de blindaje. Se enfrentan a intimidaciones y amenazas por parte de alcaldes, policías municipales y vecinos con negocios oscuros, sin tener protección alguna y sin poner en práctica siquiera las medidas más mínimas de seguridad a su alcance, aun teniendo consciencia de ellas. ¿Cómo asistirles? ¿Cómo convencer no solamente a los periodistas, sino también a sus medios de comunicación de que urge un esfuerzo para proteger la vida de sus colaboradores, y con ello preservar la libertad de expresión? Una respuesta a estas preguntas surgió entre la DW Akademie, la Fundación por la Libertad de Prensa (FLIP), de Colombia y el Centro Civitas, de Guatemala. En un “Diálogo de Medios” en Antigua Guatemala, del 26 al 28 de noviembre de 2018, se construyó un protocolo modelo de seguridad para periodistas de medios locales y comunitarios que pretende hacer consciencia acerca de la necesidad de prevenir y protegerse. No es un modelo abstracto, sino que parte de las experiencias cotidianas de 12 periodistas con poder de decisión en sus medios. Participaron comunicadores de México, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua y Guatemala." (Introducción)
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"Effective campaigns require careful planning and execution. And drawing on the experiences and knowledge of others can help overcome some common stumbling blocks and improve the chances of success. To this end, this booklet profiles eight public awareness campaigns conducted in African countries. I
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t gives an overview of how the campaigns were designed and implemented, and outlines the lessons learned [...] We looked for campaigns with strong links to Africa – that is, they are either run by organizations or individuals in Africa, or they target African countries. We also specifically sought insight from people working on campaigns that were diverse in the way they were created, organized and funded – from large organizations with considerable resources and formal structures to volunteer-led coalitions with limited funding. Despite their different models, however, the campaigns had much in common in that the challenges they faced and the lessons learned were strikingly similar." (Introduction)
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"There are 372 online media websites registered with the National Media Council; some are non-operational, while others use very basic design and graphics. They are also similar to existing media companies in terms of adopting a traditional economic, administrative and editorial model. In fact, ther
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e are not many media startups in Lebanon. These companies face major challenges, including inability to generate revenue, the type of content, and thus the number of readers, innovation on offer and companies interested in advertising on these media platforms. The most prominent media startups in Lebanon are ArabNet, Step Feed and Diwanee. There are also media companies taking their first steps in this field, such as Megafon, Figur-it, Daraj and Labneh&Facts." (Page 6)
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"This document reports on the construction and operationalisation of a proposed annual Media Sustainability Barometer (MSB). The MSB is a quantitative index offered as a tool to both measure and monitor the media ecosystem, in terms of its sustainability across key contributing forces - and much mor
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e. This tool has the power to model how changes in the ecosystem impact on media sustainability in specific countries or blocs, and also to estimate how the media environment impacts on other spheres of society, including those identified in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As such, it addresses the gap in existing initiatives, by bringing together mixed-source media viability indices proposed by UNESCO, Deutsche Welle Akademie and others, into one objectively derived quantitative index. In doing so, it offers the opportunity to analyse and understand the complex dynamics amongst spheres of society that shape, and are shaped by, a sustainable, pluralistic and diverse media sector." (Executive summary)
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"Als Untersuchungsmaterial wurden die organisationseigenen, deutschsprachigen Veröffentlichungen ausgewählt, die auf der Website der DW Akademie dokumentiert sind [...] Insgesamt gingen 113 einzelne Textdokumente in die qualitative Inhaltsanalyse ein" (Seite 73-74) [...] "Unter der Einschränkung
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der angewendeten Methode der qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse als exploratives Verfahren hat die Untersuchung ergeben, dass der verfolgte Ansatz auf demokratietheoretischen Konzepten von Medien, Kommunikation und Entwicklung basiert. Er integriert die Konzepte Partizipation, Empowerment und soziale Gerechtigkeit sowie das Recht auf Informations- und Meinungsfreiheit als demokratische Grundwerte. Der Ansatz zielt auf einen strukturorientierten und partizipatorischen Entwicklungsprozess ab und ließ sich damit als Ansatz der strukturellen Medienentwicklung in den internationalen Forschungsstand einordnen. Dieser schließt sowohl Charakteristika von 'Media Development' als auch von 'Media for Development' ein." (Seite 110)
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"This publication takes a look at current developments in the field of audience research in media development and presents three case studies testing innovative methods that can be of use for research, monitoring, and evaluation. They are meant as an orientation and inspirational source for future p
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rojects in this domain. Based on the information assembled in this study we make the case that media development needs audience research to improve its projects. Media development actors need to know more about the impact on their final beneficiaries if they want their work to be truly successful. However, it does not always make sense for media development actors to conduct or commission expensive and broadly representative research. Budgets and project sizes are limited, and often the results of market or academic research efforts are only of very general use to a particular media development project in question. Therefore ways have to be found to conduct focused audience research in media development – in order to gain specific and relevant knowledge directly related to the interventions. The three case studies we present in this publication are directly related to ongoing media development projects. They apply tailor-made approaches to a particular setting. On top of this, we have assembled more general knowledge from the literature and past studies in audience research that are of relevance here." (Executive summary)
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"In the last Afghan solar year (22 March 2015 – 21 March 2016), twelve journalists and media workers were killed, exceeding any previous year in recent history. In June 2016, the US photographer David Gilkey and his interpreter, journalist Zabihullah Tamanna, were killed in a Taliban attack in Maj
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rah, southern Afghanistan. Approximately three hundred journalists left Afghanistan in 2015. More may follow. The journalists who left last year are relatively few considering the quarter million Afghans who came to Europe in 2015 to seek asylum. Nevertheless, they all share some of the same reasons for leaving. Most important are the high level of threats and the lack of security, both of which affect media workers seriously. In a broad-based Deutsche Welle-report, journalists complain of being “under suspicion from all sides”, and claim that besides the Taliban, the government as well “puts journalists under pressure. Then there are the mafia and the warlords”. The situation has parallels in other countries ravaged by conflict, today not least in Syria and Iraq, but also in neighbouring Pakistan. The difference is that Afghanistan has been in a situation of constant war, occupation, and violent conflict for close to forty years, meaning that a vast majority of the country’s population has not experienced any lasting period of peace and stability. This may be one of the more profound explanations for the current exodus. Hopes have been raised too many times, only to be dashed. Many journalists do not see a future for free media and journalism in Afghanistan, despite the fact that the Constitution guarantees free expression." (Introduction)
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"Der erste Teil geht auf die Anfänge des Auslandsrundfunks in Europa Ende der 1920er-Jahre sowie auf seine Rolle während des Zweiten Weltkriegs ein. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird anschließend die komplexe Gründungsgeschichte der DW nach 1945 dargestellt. Der zweite Teil des Buches beschäftigt sic
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h mit dem Selbstverständnis und der Außenwahrnehmung der Rolle des Senders im Kalten Krieg. Und im dritten Teil geht es um die Neuorientierung der DW nach der Wende: Der Sender übernahm den ehemaligen Auslandsrundfunk der DDR, die Fernsehsparte sowie zahlreiche Mitarbeiter von RIAS und auch die Fremdsprachendredaktionen des »Deutschlandfunks«. Doch weder der technische und personelle Ausbau noch das neue DW-GeSetz konnten die Frage nach einer neuen Rollenbestimmung des deutschen Auslandsrundfunks befriedigend beantworten. 60 Jahre nach seiner Gründung ist die Existenz des Senders immer noch nicht selbstverständlich und wird stets aufs Neue debattiert. Durch das Aufbrechen alter Ost-West-Konfliktlinien und durch die Entstehung globaler kultureller Konflikte in den vergangenen Jahren ist die Frage nach der Funktion und der Bedeutung des Auslandsrundfunks wieder sehr aktuell." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"For decades international radio broadcasters on the African continent were considered the tools of Western imperialism, ideological weapons in the Cold War. Yet international broadcasters also provided a crucial, alternative supply of information in times of state monopoly of the media and when the
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re was a lack of freedom of expression. Over the past 20 years, the media have become more open and numerous in the countries of French-speaking Africa and, as a result, international broadcasters have had to redefine their strategies. Based on expert interviews, this study examines the positioning of “historically established” international radio broadcasters by looking into the strategies of 2 of them, Radio France Internationale and Deutsche Welle." (Abstract)
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"At DW Akademie, we are committed to ensuring all people can freely and confidently communicate in the digital realm. Our digital strategy “Akademie Beta” commits DW Akademie to five strategic objectives in order to realize people‘s right to freedom of expression in the digital world. Akademie
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Beta describes how we as an organization will adapt to the digital reality. Both internally and externally, we will equip ourselves today to meet and master the challenges of tomorrow, whatever these may entail. We will focus on what we do best, and on the needs of our partners and the people in our focus regions. For the next three years, our goals are: 1. Self-determined communication. People in our focus countries can use digital media independently and competently [...] 2. Media landscapes of quality. Our partners look to the future of their digital markets [...] 3. Visionary education. Universities, institutions and journalism schools train digital media professionals [...] 4. Digital rights. Our partners make a difference in shaping Internet regulations [...] 5. Innovative dialogue: People use digital tools and platforms to create newpublic spheres." (Pages 1-2)
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"The Digital Innovation Library is an interactive platform designed to showcase the wide range of exciting digital activities that are taking place across the Global South to challenge some of the issues prominent in media development, such as supporting participation and inclusion, or holding to ac
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count. The user is able to browse the site in two ways: they can use the ‘Discover’ section, using an interactive feature, to get an overview of what approaches, technologies, topics or functions of media development are being used by different projects; or the ‘Thematic Search’ section to get background information on each of the categories above and identify what projects are doing in these different areas. Each project featured in the library has an accompanying factsheet, photogallery and ‘Behind the Scene’ interview." (Publisher description)
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"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 system
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s 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)
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"The existing international media freedom indices provide a variety of different information tools that contain important knowledge for media development practitioners. As shown, the different tools are of varying significance for the relevant purposes within the media development context: while som
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e measures mainly supply general data that provide a broad overview, others publish less information tools but more detailed information about specific aspects [...] In summary, the presented media freedom assessments should never be used as the only source of information. Rather, their data should generally be verified and validated against other knowledge sources. This is especially true because of the shortcomings of the indices’ methodologies. Especially the two global rankings were developed by a few people mostly from Western countries, and their indicators are evaluated by very few people. In turn, the results of such a small group can be subjective and potentially biased. Hence, media development practitioners should be informed about how the assessments are compiled in order to be able to critically reflect their findings. Consequently, the international media freedom indices should be used in the context of media development, but they should be used with caution." (Conclusion)
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