"Journalists in many countries are experimenting with how to build trust and engage with audiences, and our report examines their efforts. In our study we profile organizations that are working to build bridges with their readers, viewers and listeners and deliver relevant news to local audiences. W
...
e surveyed 17 organizations and conducted interviews with representatives of 15 organizations, one of which chose to remain anonymous. Among others we spoke to Chequeado in Argentina, GroundUp in South Africa, Raseef 22 in the Middle East, 263 Chat in Zimbabwe, Krautreporter and Correct!v in Germany, as well as Bristol Cable in the UK [...] Although the groups we surveyed are concerned by the broader phenomena of falling trust in media and media credibility, they are also, by necessity, focused on immediate fixes important to their organizations and readerships. Some believe that media credibility depends on engagement with readers. Some place more emphasis on journalism practices, including audience engagement, ethical standards and news gathering practices. The outlets we profiled use digital technology to communicate with audiences. Some also involve their readers in sourcing and sometimes verifying information. Some conduct focus groups and online surveys. Responding to comments online is part of their engagement efforts. Readers appreciate investigative reporting as well as stories that touch on their daily lives [...] There seems to be a tradeoff between audience size and the quality of content produced. Some groups with large followings (Hivisasa and 263Chat) promote headlines and short snippets rather than carrying out deep investigative reporting [...] Several groups said their audience is different from what their founders had originally expected. The reach of the outlets we surveyed is generally not as diverse as they had hoped. Their audiences tend to be educated and urban and, in some cases, include large diaspora communities. The outlets largely cater to niche audiences, but they have broader reach through their online presence and national influence when their stories are picked up by legacy media or other outlets." (https://gijn.org, accessed: June 8, 2018)
more
"This report explores the current state of university-based journalism education and describes avenues for engaging those international media developers by highlighting three strategies: • Universities are important for entry-level journalism training. International media developers should conside
...
r investing in journalism schools; however, the type and level of assistance should depend on local circumstances. • International funders are showing interest in mapping journalism education worldwide. Such efforts must draw information from every part of the world in order to help media developers find the most promising entities for investment of their limited development funds. • The media sector has changed dramatically, but many journalism programs fail to meet the new challenges of the industry. Media developers can help overcome this gap in several ways: funding teacher training and curriculum development, providing updated educational materials and adequate equipment, facilitating the creation of student-run media to develop practical skills, and funding cross-disciplinary partnerships and programs." (Executive summary)
more
"Draws together thinking and analysis that covers the breadth and depth of the media development landscape. The opening section, 'Why Media Matters: Global Perspectives' gathers the work of several thought leaders on major trends that cut across both the communications and development policy arenas;
...
this is followed by an examination of the current debate that is engaging researchers, development professionals and media assistance experts alike, namely 'How Media Matters: Measuring its Impact'. The third section, 'Challenges in Media Matters: Practitioner Experiences' presents a range of regional and sectoral case studies, and the final section forms a guide to current information sources and studies of the field of media support, in 'Mapping the Sector - Literature, Surveys and Resources'. Media matters has four key aims: 1 To help development policy makers and practitioners understand the relevance of vibrant, independent media systems to their wider goals; 2 To highlight work on the evidence of the relationship between media, communications and the development agenda; 3 To flag key global and regional trends and opportunities in media assistance; 4 To map the media assistance sector, its growing body of literature, and the emerging international research partnerships that will help define its priorities to 2015." (Overview + executive summary)
more
"When the Communist barricades collapsed in 1989, hundreds of Americans rushed to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics to spread the gospel of democracy. Among them were some of America’s most altruistic journalists, who hoped to midwife a newly independent press. Since then, the U.S. go
...
vernment and private agenc ies have spent more than $600 million on media development. The payoff for these millions has been the training and empowerment of thousands of journalists, the establishment of numerous television and radio networks, the resurrection and creation of newspapers and, in some countries, the toppling of corrupt governments due to reporting that was unimaginable before 1989. Balancing these successes, though, is a second wave of repression and censorship in many places, including the core post-Communist societies where most of the money was spent. In much of the former U.S.S.R, for example, millions of dollars in aid have not produced a viable independent media." (Introduction)
more
"Determining that the time had come to derive lessons from past efforts, think afresh about media assistance, and perhaps add some new models - including approaches for Africa and Asia, where the cultural preconditions and economic prospects are quite different from those of Europe - USAID’s Burea
...
u for Policy and Program Coordination (PPC) undertook a year-long evaluation and review of USAID’s media assistance programs. The goal of the review was to develop a set of learning tools and promote a more aggressive media development agenda. The media assistance review was launched in July 2002 by PPC’s Dr. Krishna Kumar, who convened about 30 USAID and public diplomacy officials, congressional aides, journalists, and NGO media development practitioners to assess what has worked, what has not, and what might be done differently. Much of the discussion focused on the need to create professional, independent media that can give voice to different sectors of society, provide useful information, and hold powerful institutions and individuals accountable. The candid discussion also revealed areas of tension. Media development practitioners cited tensions arising from the possibility that the goals of public diplomacy were sometimes incompatible with the goals underlying the promotion of the development of independent, indigenous media. Another tension related to the competing priorities and methods of media work in conflict zones versus those of long-term media development in more stable developing democracies." (Introduction, page 7)
more
"The essays collected here capture the richness of current discourse about democracy and cyberspace. Some contributors offer front-line perspectives on the impact of emerging technologies on politics, journalism, and civic experience. What happens, for example, when we increase access to information
...
or expand the arena of free speech? Other contributors place our shifting understanding of citizenship in historical context, suggesting that notions of cyber-democracy and online community must grow out of older models of civic life. Still others consider the global flow of information and test our American conceptions of cyber-democracy against developments in other parts of the world. How, for example, do new media operate in Castro's Cuba, in post-apartheid South Africa, and in the context of multicultural debates on the Pacific Rim? For some contributors, the new technologies endanger our political culture; for others, they promise civic renewal." (Publisher description)
more