Media Development

This briefing synthesises findings from research conducted in the three countries – Afghanistan, Nigeria and Somalia - with a focus on Afghanistan. Research findings suggested that BBC Media Action’s programming provided listeners with accurate, trusted and clear information against misinformation and harmful rumours, increased knowledge on the requirement of multiple doses of vaccines and vaccination schedules, prompted discussion and dialogue in communities, garnered trust and confidence among caregivers through the use of doctors and religious leaders and encouraged parents to vaccinate their children by dispelling misconceptions about vaccinations. Click here for full briefing ...
Read More

This report presents some of the findings from a four-year global research project into the state of humanitarian journalism around the world. The authors asked: Which news organisations regularly report on humanitarian affairs? How are they funded, and what ethical problems or professional dilemmas does this create for journalists covering humanitarian affairs? When natural disasters and violent conflicts are reported, what kinds of journalistic coverage do they receive? Do news outlets differ from one another, and if so, how? How interested are news audiences in journalism about humanitarian affairs? How well does existing coverage serve their needs, and the needs of those involved in international aid? Which significant ‘gaps’ are there in news provision? What effects does news coverage have on public attitudes towards international aid? Their analysis of news coverage reveals that only a small handful of international news outlets regularly report on humanitarian affairs, and identified a number of important gaps in humanitarian news coverage. Almost no articles looked at the specific problems faced by women and girls in relation to the conflicts in Yemen and South Sudan in 2017, for example. Click here for the full report ...
Read More

This publication presents the findings from an audience study carried out by International Media Support (IMS), its partner institution Fojo Media Institute and Enlightened Myanmar Research Foundation (EMRef) in May 2018. The report provides indications of the media habits of the population of Myanmar as well as people’s understanding of news and information flows. The study found that there is a widespread preference towards local media as people feel that these media outlets provide them with information relevant to their local communities and daily lives. Television is a preferred medium for consuming news but social media, and Facebook, in particular, is catching up. A culture of sharing news and information ensures that even people without access to Facebook know of the platform and get updates through friends and family. People’s trust in media differs but with many preferring state-owned media to deliver trustworthy and reliable news and information. Some news consumers showcase a natural scepticism towards news and information, but limited access to reliable information makes it difficult for them to verify what they read, see or hear. Based on the findings, the report ends with 12 recommendations. Six are directed towards the Myanmar media industry, journalists and other content producers while the remaining six are targeted at media development organizations and learning institutions. IMS-Fojo hopes that these recommendations can serve as inspiration for ...
Read More

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. It gives an overview of how the campaigns were designed and implemented, and outlines the lessons learned. The idea for the publication came from DW Akademie’s ongoing cooperation with national chapters of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), which advocates for freedom of expression and access to information in the SADC region. To strengthen its support of MISA’s advocacy work, DW Akademie turned to others campaigning on similar topics in Africa to learn from their experiences. DWA looked for campaigns with strong links to Africa – that is, either run by organizations or individuals in Africa, or targeting African countries. They 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. Click here for full publication ...
Read More

With attacks on the media growing this report this report considers: How much money do the world’s official aid donors—the bilateral and multilateral funders like USAID and the World Bank—give to help independent and public-service-oriented media build free and open societies globally? Is financial support to media development increasing, falling, or holding steady? What kinds of approaches and issues are being favored by the governments, multilateral agencies, and private donors that provide assistance to media development? Which countries and regions receive the most support? The analysis presented in the report is meant to inform current debates on how international assistance can support an effective response to the new and evolving threats to freedom of the press. Click here for full report ...
Read More

This event is about the journalists who report on humanitarian crises today. It launches a major new report from Martin Scott, Kate Wright and Mel Bunce, The State of Humanitarian Journalism, based on four years of research. This report shows which news outlets report on humanitarian issues, how they frame their stories, and what audiences think about this news. A panel of leading journalists and media commentators will discuss the findings and their own experiences reporting on humanitarian crises, including: Josephine Schmidt, Executive Editor at IRIN, the world’s oldest humanitarian newswire James Copnall, Newsday presenter, BBC World Service Tom Law, Director of Campaigns and Communications, The Ethical Journalism Network Stefanie Glinski, Freelance journalist and photographer, currently based in Afghanistan. This is followed by a screening of the celebrated documentary, ‘Another News Story’ about the journalists who reported on the 2015 ‘refugee crisis’ in Europe. Sign up for this event: https://www.city.ac.uk/events/2018/october/humanitarian-journalism-today ...
Read More

Rashawn Thompson, broadcaster and journalist, discusses the lessons learnt by Jamaican broadcasters through recent Chikungunya virus outbreaks, and how this prepared them for Zika, as part of a wider discussion around media development. This event was held in July 2016 as part of C4D Network's 'Focus Sessions' series. Click here for full video (via YouTube) ...
Read More

The yearly Global Media and Information Literarcy (MIL) Week, initiated in 2012, is led by UNESCO in cooperation with GAPMIL, UNAOC and the MUIL and Intercultural Dialogue (MILID) University Network. It unites diverse actors committed to promoting MIL as a way to foster social inclusion and intercultural dialogue. The seventh annual global celebration of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week is being prepared. The Week will be celebrated from 24 to 31 October 2018, under the theme "Media and Information Literate Cities: Voices, Powers, and Change Makers". Global MIL Week 2018 highlights will include the Eighth MILID Conference and the Youth Agenda Forum, planned to be held in Lithuania and Latvia, from 24 to 25 October 2018 and on 26 October 2018, respectively. Official website: https://en.unesco.org/globalmilweek2018 ...
Read More

This article outlines the findings from the first stage of a grassroots action research project conducted with a support group for women of lived prison experience, based in Adelaide, South Australia, to investigate radio production as a means for supporting women in their transition to life outside of prison. The research found that empowerment manifested itself in a number of distinct ways, through both processes and the products of the project. Through the production of radio, women of prison experience recognised their own expertise and took ownership of their stories, while the radio products educated the wider public and validated the participants’ experiences. Click here for full article ...
Read More

Following decades of civil war, South Sudan still lacks a functioning healthcare system and has some of the worst maternal and child health indicators in the world. To help address this, between 2012 and 2017 BBC Media Action produced and broadcast a range of national radio programmes seeking to influence knowledge, attitudes, discussion and the social norms most likely to drive improvements in the RMNCH-related behaviours of women and their families. It also worked to strengthen the capacity of local radio stations to produce similar high-quality, audience-driven health programming. This report presents a synthesis of all research and analysis completed under this project. In brief, it finds that the challenging country context (e.g. the limited availability of quality healthcare nationally and the ongoing humanitarian crisis) limited the extent to which the project was able to contribute to improved health outcomes. Despite this, audiences were generally optimistic about the shows’ influence and value, and reported gaining knowledge and making some behavioural changes as a result of tuning in. Click here for full evaluation ...
Read More

This workshop briefing, the second in a series of three, is part of a project focused on the representation of refugee and migrant children in European screen content for children. Hosted by the Danish Film Institute (DFI) on 19 and 20 March 2018 as part of the annual Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, CPH:DOX, two half-day workshops offered an opportunity to explore how the topic is handled in children’s content made in Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK and Germany. In all these countries, screen content that focuses on children newly arrived in Europe is rare. The few examples to touch upon these issues are commissioned and broadcast predominantly by public service broadcasters (PSBs), including Danmarks Radio (DR, Denmark), Nederlands Publieke Omroep (NPO, Netherlands), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC, UK) and Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF, Germany). The Copenhagen workshops discussed formats that inform children through factual representations rather than fiction. Click here for full briefing ...
Read More

As farmers, foresters and providers, women have a unique understanding of the ecosystems they live alongside. A radio programme in Malawi is tapping into this immense body of knowledge by creating a platform for women to engage in landscape restoration. This brief illustrates the work carried out by Farm Radio Trust on gender-sensitive radio programming on forest landscape restoration in Malawi, using the Her Voice on Air approach to engage women in crucial discussions both on-air and off air. Click here for full brief ...
Read More