"International Media Support (IMS) carried out two initial assessment missions in Ethiopia in June and August 2018, and the community radio sector was identified as an area of possible cooperation and support. In order to follow up on this finding, an IMS team consisting of Mr. Tewodros Negash and M
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r. Per Oesterlund was assigned to carry out an assessment of the community radio sector in Ethiopia. This report synthesises findings from desk research and field-work conducted by IMS. The first phase of the assessment analysed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the community radio sector based on literature reviews, discussions and interviews held with relevant actors such as government regulatory authorities, radio station managers, journalists and listeners. Subsequently, visits to selected community radio stations in rural areas and urban centres outside Addis Ababa were undertaken." (Introduction)
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"The Union of Tanzania Press Cubs, UTCP, is an umbrella organisation, which supports a total of 28 local Press Clubs all over the country. The organisation describes its vision as: “A democratic Tanzania fully embracing a free, independent and robust media”, and the mission is formulated as: “
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To create an environment that enables strong, efficient and effective Press Clubs in Tanzania which eventually contribute towards a democratic and just society.” The evaluation concludes that the UTPC does have the potential to contribute to a democratic development in Tanzania as described in the vision and mission statements. It is the only member based media organisation with a national coverage." (Back cover)
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"Generally, data about media development support are not complete and reliable due to insufficient classification categories in the DAC system, so the EC and most other international institutions and organisations share the problem of not having solid knowledge about the scope and size of support in
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this field. This is also the case in the CRIS data base, which does not distinguish for example between public diplomacy and media support [...] As a consequence, the amounts and other figures in this report should not be taken as exact values. But the mapping does show some clear trends and tendencies despite the weakness ofthe basic data, and the main findings are: According to the information available in the CRIS data base and the definition of projects applied for this support, the total amount spent on media development and freedom of expression in the period 2000-2010 has been 148,4 Million Euro. More than half of the total amount has been spent in the neighbour countries East and South of the EU. More than 40 % has been spent in the Western Balkans, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Turkey, while 12,5 % has been spent in the Middle East and North Africa. 24,3 % of the total funds have been spent in Sub-Saharan Africa. The EC support for media development and freedomof expression has been limited compared with the bilateral support from EU. Member States and other bilateral donors. For comparison the Swedish budget for media support from SIDA in 2012 is 26 Million Euro and DfiD supports the BBC Media Action with more than 20 Million Euro per year. The funding comes from a variety of thematic and geographic Instruments with the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, EIDHR, as the single biggest source, which accounts for 41 % of the total support. Other significant Instruments are IPA, CARDS, ENPI and MED. The main focus has been on training of journalists and editors in journalistic skills and professional standards. Other initiatives have been support to reform of media related legislation and direct support to endangered journalists and writers. The projects supportedby the EC have not been different from projects funded by bilateral donors. Very few projects have benefitted from the potential comparative advantages of the EC/EU as a multinational entity. Very few projects have been designed and implemented in cooperation with member states or other donor agencies, and the projects do not reflect on-going internal medla developments in the EU. There seems to be more focus on EU visibility than on EU additionallity. The top ten contract holders have implemented 36 % of the total project value with BBC Media Action as the single biggest partner, which has implemented almost ten percent of the total project value in the period 2000-2010. lnternews (with lnternews Europe as the biggest entity) comes second with 4,6 % of the total project value followed by the International Federation of Journalists with 3,4 % of the project value. The EC is seen as a “difficult“ or “bureaucratic“ donor agency, which is difficult to approach for smaller organisations because the possible funding does not correspond with the paper work needed to apply for support." (Executive summary
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"The European Commission has begun to integrate a political economy approach throughout the project cycle. This guide tailors the political economy approach to the media development sector specifically. Using a political economy media matrix (PEMM) as its basis, it explains how to integrate the PE a
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pproach throughout the programme cycle." (Background, page 4)
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"Key recommendations: Explore ways of integrating EU diplomatic power alongside its development programmes in order to support freedom of expression and independent media and communicaitons; Enhance coordination between the different operational arms of the EU; Utilise EU’s convening power to brin
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g together member states to co-ordinate the application of media development programmes; Base the EU’s approach to media development on principles of freedom of expression as a foundation human right; Use political economy analysis - of both online and offl ine media - when considering what to fund. This will involve identifying those who are allies for and obstacles to change, as well as the incentives for change; Any media programme should take into consideration digital freedoms and the interrelationship between mobile phones and the internet and offl ine media; There should be more focus on increasing digital skills, capacities and awareness; Fostering an enabling environment is important if media and to thrive as businesses and be financially viable; There is potential to collaborate with European companies to create new CSR strategies, funding mechanisms, soft loans and guarantee instruments; Rethink criteria for measuring impact and outcomes so that they are specific to the media development and communications field." (Page 25)
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"An easy-to-read introduction for non-technical people. It contains concrete suggestions for the necessary equipment according to the planned range of the radio station. The cost of technical equipment for the "Micro Radio Station" (15 watts, up to 5 km range) is only US-$ 1,100 (as of 2004). For th
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e "Village Radio Station" (30 watts), the cost is US-$ 7,800. The "Community Radio Station" (1 kilowatt, range normally up to 30 kilometers) costs US-$ 18,000. The technical equipment of the "Regional Radio Station" (two kilowatts, range up to 100 kilometers with a favorable location and a high transmission tower), on the other hand, already costs US-$ 100,000." (commbox).
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