"The purpose of the study is to provide baseline data and research-driven recommendations to help inform and later evaluate the impact of ‘Action for Transparency’. Action for Transparency is a three-year, media-for-development programme, managed by Fojo and its partners and funded by the Swedis ... h International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The programme is designed to help tackle corruption and mismanagement of government funds in Zambia and Uganda by putting the power to change in the hands of citizens. Action for Transparency comprises three phases of targeted interventions designed to catalyse a culture of accountability and transparency through a ripple out effect. The three phases include: 1. Training for up to 4,000 journalists, civil society representatives and public sector employees in Zambia and Uganda on how to access, analyse and communicate information on government spending. 2. Development of ICT tools, including an online application (app) which enables users to compare the amount of government money pledged to specific schools and health clinics against their own observations of what appears to have been spent. 3. Public awareness campaign, through which those who took part in the initial training will launch and champion the new ICT tools, nationally, and raise awareness through a range of promotional activities. This study presents baseline data and findings that will inform and later help evaluate the overall3 impact of the three phases on participating journalists and civil society representatives, and their capacity to (a) access (b) analyse and (c) communicate information about government spending." (Introduction, page 4) more

"This report has presented a range of findings and insights generated from a consultation with 14 independent exile media organisations in Iran, Myanmar, Sudan, Ethiopia, Belarus, Zimbabwe, Tibet, Uzbekistan, Syria and Zambia. They can be summarised in three key points: (1) First, this report highli ... ghts the need for the funders and training providers focusing on strengthening organisational journalistic capacity to address both the explicitly expressed individual technical and other training needs, as well as organisational challenges of these exile media. These organisational challenges have significant implications for the ability of these organisations to fulfil their mission, but may not always be linked by these exile media to the training needs and may thus remain unaddressed. (2) Second, the report highlights that there may be an opportunity for funders and training providers to play a greater role in helping exile media organisations understand the composition and information needs of their audiences. The consultation revealed that the majority of participating independent exile media organisations have a limited understanding of their audiences as well as a limited ability to tailor content for different audience segments. (3) Third, the reports suggests that funders and training providers may need to do more to understand and help bridge a perceived “disconnect” between donors and those reliant on donor funding. The consultation revealed mixed feelings among participating organisations about the level of perceived donor knowledge of their challenges and training needs. Further exploring and bridging this perceived “disconnect” will help maximise the impact and effectiveness of the training activities across the sector." (Final reflections, page 27) more