"In the discussion of possible solutions to the business crisis facing legacy media, insufficient attention has been paid to existing arrangements that channel public money to media serving marginalised audiences, particularly in Global South countries. Argentina and South Africa are upper middle-in
...
come, often turbulent countries that have set up official mechanisms to help fund local and community media. They are here compared with Norway, where such mechanisms are a key, long-standing element in a media system that is often held up as the gold standard of public communication. Three main mechanisms are compared: indirect subsidy, direct subsidy and government advertising. Differences in political and media history and landscape have led to variations in the relative importance of the various mechanisms, the media platforms targeted and the institutional arrangements. It is argued that arrangements for public support must be understood and designed in context, are always politically driven, must be safeguarded against political interference, and should be long-term and redistributive in approach." (Abstract)
more
"A summary of the forthcoming policy paper Greening Africa's news deserts: The search for sustainable local media in sub-Saharan Africa, soon to be published. The policy paper has been written with support from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and Fojo Media Institute. It focuses on local and communit
...
y media, though several points would apply more broadly." (Footnote, page 1)
more
"Sustainability is a key issue for local and community media in the Global South as well as the Global North, albeit in different ways. After identifying significant gaps in the sustainability literature, the article presents and discusses a taxonomy of ‘models’ – the relationships that arise
...
around different dominant sources of revenue: commercial, patronage, state, donor and community. Although the models operate in all contexts, particular dynamics develop in situations of poverty and marginalization. Drawing mainly on literature from Africa and other parts of the Global South, it is argued that a broadly political economy approach surfaces issues of power and dependency in each model. The models serve as analytical tools that enable better understanding of the vulnerabilities of media for marginalized communities, where a lack of alternatives gives them disproportionately greater importance. Important new areas of research into issues of power in local and community media are suggested, including ways to reduce the vulnerabilities identified." (Abstract)
more
"The question at the core of this discussion paper is what are the implications for African journalism schools of the international crisis facing journalism and the specific needs of local audiences? More specifically, what are the implications in terms of curriculum, target groups and modalities? O
...
r more simply put: what, who and how should journalism schools teach in order to remain relevant? The paper will then take a step further and consider the argument for journalism schools taking on a wider view of their function. Are there additional roles they can or should play in safeguarding and building healthy public information systems, beyond the traditional function of producing the next generation of journalists? In countries where there are few active media institutions, those that do exist would seem to have a particular responsibility to look beyond their comfort zones. That becomes especially necessary where those comfort zones are in decline." (Introduction)
more
"Among principles that should underpin policy choices are: a focus on systemic impact; particular attention on the areas where information poverty is greatest; platform-neutrality, while preferring platforms used most commonly; ongoing monitoring of developments in and around media at local levels t
...
o deal with problems that may arise. Taking these principles into account, areas of possible support for local and community media include: 1. The development of an enabling environment, including legal and regulatory measures and the provision of back-end support in areas such as research, training and others. 2. Strengthening funding mechanisms, including a. indirect subsidy such as tax relief and the zero-rating of news websites; b. direct public funding, as exists for media in several countries; c. the fair use of government advertising, often a major factor in media economies in the Global South; d. commercial income and ways to support the access of local and community media to advertising markets; e. responding to the power of digital platforms, who need to make a fair contribution to local information ecosystems; f. improved co-ordination among international donor agencies in order to deliver greater impact, including support for the new International Fund for Public Interest Media; and g. the development of new business models that draw on diverse sources of income, with particular focus on direct audience support." (Summary)
more
"Sustainable journalism addresses two intertwined challenges of our time: * The sustainability crisis of society, e.g. environmental crises, democratic crises, poverty, financial crises, armed conflicts, etc. Obviously, journalism has a crucial role to play here since it contributes greatly to the p
...
ublic agenda, as well as people’s understanding – and hence the handling – of such challenges. * The sustainability crisis of journalism itself, which stems from lower advertising, decreasing subsidies for public service media, falling consumption, lack of trust in media among citizens, and fierce competition from online information brokers and advertising. The complex reality of today requires this kind of integrated journalistic approach in order to uphold the democratic function and not least the legitimacy of professional journalism. Consequently, journalism’s response to the sustainability challenges can be seen as a prerequisite for the future sustainability of journalism itself, ranging from high-quality, in-depth coverage to robust business models, but also extending into considerations of media systems and relations with governments and business interests. In this way, sustainable journalism attempts to counter the obvious risk that the efforts to maintain economic sustainability of the journalistic enterprise take place at the expense of professional journalism’s social/democratic mission – to hold power to account and to inform citizens, and to spur public engagement about current and future economic, social, and environmental challenges." (Executive summary)
more
"As the most widespread and popular form of communication in the country, radio occupies an essential space in the deliberation and the construction of public opinion in South Africa. From just a few state-controlled stations during the apartheid era, there are now more than 100 radio stations, reac
...
hing vast swathes of the population and providing an important space for citizens to air their views and take part in significant socio-economic and political issues of the country. The various contributors to this book demonstrate that whilst print and television media often serve elite interests and audiences, the low cost and flexibility of radio has helped it to create a ‘common’ space for national dialogue and deliberation. The book also investigates the ways in which digital technologies have enhanced the consumption of radio and produced a sense of imagined community for citizens, including those in marginalised communities and rural areas." (Publisher description)
more
"This report examines self-regulation in challenging times. Journalism is increasingly a single stream of information disseminated simultaneously across different platforms of media, but its regulation remains dominated by old-fashioned notions of how media work. Usually there are two ways of regula
...
ting journalism at national level: a voluntary system for the press and legal controls over broadcasting. These structures were created for yesterday’s media landscape and are increasingly out of date. Today’s digital journalists work on video, print and audio simultaneously. That’s why it makes sense to have only one national regulator, and one that covers all platforms of journalism. Another testing issue is the question of funding. Ideally, journalists and media should pay the bills for press councils, but in these cash-strapped days can media continue to afford it? Increasingly, the answer is no. So who will pay in future? Perhaps we should think about using public funds, after all, independent regulation of media is a public interest activity. But if we use taxpayers’ money how do we ensure it won’t compromise editorial independence? Finally, as this report shows, making self-regulation work at enterprise level is perhaps what counts most. Building trust with the audience should be an issue in every newsroom and the growth in the number of in-house ombudsmen or readers’ editors is a welcome sign that more media are taking the issue seriously. However, in the face of editorial cuts some managements still question money being channelled into cleaning up the mistakes of the newsroom. But as this report illustrates, keeping journalism honest is money well spent for media and, for the public at large, it’s a good investment in democracy." (Introduction, page v)
more
"This publication is a diagnostic tool for a "health check" or assessment of the sustainability of community radio stations. The check includes five areas: mission and governance of a community radio station; management and staffing; infrastructure and finances; programming; and community involvemen
...
t. Core aspects of these five areas are succinctly described in the first part of "The healthy community radio station". The second part provides checklists of ten factual questions (which require a simple yes/no answer) and two qualitative questions for each of the five sectors, and proposes combining the "checklist scores" and "judgement scores" to get an overall picture of the "health" of a given radio station. Also included are guidelines for focus group discussions. This publication is highly recommended, both because of its convincing concept of five "pillars" of community radio sustainability and its practical approach." (CAMECO Update November 2013)
more
"The South African community station movement, consisting now of around 100 such stations, situates itself explicitly in the international tradition of alternative, grassroots and (in some cases) radical media. The stations aspire - and are mandated to - cater for poor and marginalised communities,
...
often left out of the information mainstream. Created as part of the democratisation process of the mid-1990s, the establishment of the sector represents a conscious attempt to broaden the Habermasian public sphere in South Africa, to improve opportunities for marginalised communities to participate in public discussion, and to build local identities in a range of ways. This article describes the way these stations are meeting their mandate in one area, news broadcasting, where they set out to cover events of particular interest to their communities. It presents a detailed analysis of the extent to which their news bullteins cover local stories, are generated by the stations themselves and use audio material. It also looks at staffing and resourcing, organisational challenges and values. On the basis of empirical research conducted at some 13 radio stations in and around Johannesburg, using methods that include content analysis, interview and observation, the findings indicate that community stations are generally failing to meet their mandate in the critical area of providing original, local news." (Abstract)
more
"What emerges from the discussion of the Southern African media councils is a picture of relatively new institutions, struggling to find their place in a changing, difficult media and political terrain. They share many common challenges, as they contend with hostile governments, poor journalistic pr
...
actices and a lack of resources. And yet there are significant differences between them. The strongest councils are undoubtedly those of Tanzania and South Africa. The Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) is far and away the biggest, with a large number of staff involved in a wide range of projects. Besides adjudicating complaints against the media, it is actively involved in lobbying on media freedom issues, even having drafted alternative laws to put to government. It has a substantial publication programme, has developed regional Press Clubs and offered training. Its ethics committee seems to be well established and generally respected, as indicated by the fact that several very prominent people have used it. Respect among the media is high: although there have been some cases of rulings being ignored, these are exceptions. The media provide the council’s core funding, while an extensive additional programme of activities is funded by donors. In general, the MCT is an excellent example of how a body of this kind can work. The South African council is by far the busiest, even though it has a much smaller staff. It has chose to concentrate almost entirely on the adjudication function. Only recently has it added the defence of media freedoms to its aims, but it is still developing a sense of what this might mean in concrete terms. One of the factors restraining the council from leaping too quickly into this arena is the fact that South Africa has several other media groups, which are already active in the area. Sensibly, there is little appetite on the council for duplicating work that the SA National Editors Forum (Sanef), the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI), Misa and others are already doing." (Conclusion)
more