Accountability, nation and society: the role of media in remaking Nepal (BBC Media Action Policy Briefing 2016)
The media has always played a role in shaping the nation of Nepal. Now, in 2016, as a new political settlement continues to be negotiated, that role may prove to be as important as at any time in the country’s history. Based on more than 25 interviews with leading members of Nepal’s media, government, civil society and international development communities as well as audience research carried out by BBC Media Action, this briefing explores some of the key challenges facing the Nepali media. It outlines growing concerns over politicisation and co-option, particularly of the mainstream Kathmandu-based media, as well as other economic and technological challenges facing the media. The briefing further outlines how Nepal’s historically diverse and decentralised media market is increasingly showing signs of fragmentation and discord. It also examines the role that the international development community has played in supporting the Nepali media ...
‘The Pulse: A Guide to Health Communication’ – BBC Media Action online training
The Pulse is a free, online course for people interested in using media to inspire people to lead healthier lives. The course is aimed particularly at people who are new to health communication. Through a series of activities and films, you will learn practical tools about making health communication interventions that work. This will give you the skills to design and produce content that captures large audiences’ attention and encourages them to act. The course includes examples of successful health communication campaigns to inspire you, as well as fact sheets on key health topics such as HIV and AIDS, family planning, nutrition, child health and sanitation. The course features an exclusive film with academic experts - Dr Val Curtis from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Dr Robert Hornik from the Annenberg School for Communication - talking about the elements and processes that go into making successful health communication interventions. The Pulse course is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development ...
Supporting Journalism in Conflict Societies (MeCoDEM Policy Brief 2016)
This policy brief puts forward suggestions for improved journalism support in the context of democratisation conflicts. It draws conclusions from interviews with journalists and media development actors. The policy brief concludes with concrete recommendations as to how media development efforts can be better geared to the realities of conflict reporting, thus enhancing the effectiveness of support measures. The recommendations in brief: • To consider the safety of journalists • To take local conditions as a starting point • To intensify research and evaluation activities • To involve multiple stakeholders and facilitate exchange • To prioritise long-term formats • To make allowance for flexible budgets in media development projects • To establish learning and exchange mechanisms between the various organisations that are active on the ground • To apply a qualitative approach for evaluating media development projects ...
‘Thinking about humanising a crisis’: Camp Convivialities & Refugee Communications 2016 workshop overview
By Katie Bartholomew, C4D Network Coordinator “Thinking about humanising a crisis”: this was the aim of a one-day workshop on ‘Camp Convivialities and Refugee Communications’ at University of Leicester on 13th July 2016. Participants were called to examine refugee camp life beyond the bad light commonly given them by the press, and to consider the experience of being in a camp. Participants were prompted to think about communications within and beyond the camp, and how media technologies might transform these. ‘Conviviality’ was a key term throughout the day, with speakers discussing how it represents real-time modes of interaction, which create new possibilities for communication. Dr Lawrence Ampofo from Semantica Research kicked off the day with by presenting his team’s multi-disciplinary research on mapping refugee journeys. Showing how digital infrastructure (including social media, apps and websites) is as crucial as traditionally important infrastructure (railroads or sea crossings), he explored communication practices around selfies, and the role of smartphones as both empowering and creating vulnerability. Workshop participants were particularly interested to discuss ‘The Map’ (see photo, left) that was shown. Trust was introduced as a core issue for refugee information-sharing, and was further explored by Nicki Bailey who presented BBC Media Action’s ...
Media as a Form of Aid in Humanitarian Crises (CIMA report 2016)
CIMA’s report, Media as a Form of Aid in Humanitarian Crises, examines how humanitarian crises around the world have led to a major change in the priorities and approaches in media development efforts. The report, by Jeffrey Ghannam, an expert on news media in the Middle East, argues that traditional efforts aimed at building sustainable media systems and institutions have had to give way to the more pressing needs of these crises ...
Using media and communication to respond to public health emergencies – lessons learned from Ebola (BBC Media Action Practice Briefing 2016)
This practice briefing sets out what BBC Media Action learned in delivering and supporting health communication in response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa in 2014–15. It has a particular focus on Sierra Leone as this was the hub of the organisation’s response. The paper aims to contribute to a body of knowledge about how to best harness and deploy media and communication in public health emergencies. It also underscores the need for the global community to plan and invest in communication long before any crises take hold, to ensure that communication plays a central role in reducing the impact of future crisis events. The paper sets out the specific communication challenge posed by Ebola and why it was so difficult to get to grips with this in the early months of the outbreak. It then documents when the health communication response became more useful and explores what that tells us about effective media and communication. Finally, it offers recommendations to ensure that media and communication are used to their full potential during other disease outbreaks or humanitarian crises ...
Mexican Journalism, Still in the Line of Fire (CIMA report, updated 2016)
Mexico is the deadliest country in Latin America for journalists, with press watchdog groups registering at least one attack against the press every day. In April 2012, CIMA published Dangerous Work: Violence Against Mexico’s Journalists and Lessons from Colombia, a report detailing the violence against the media and recommending steps that the Mexican government could take in order to remedy the situation. The government of Mexico did enact some measures to protect journalists starting in 2012. Mexican Journalism, Still in the Line of Fire, is an update to the earlier CIMA report. It examines the results of government efforts to halt the violence and points out that despite those measures the situation for journalists and media in Mexico has only become worse ...
Data visualisation: Contributions to evidence-based decision-making (SciDev.Net Learning Report 2016)
Data visualisation – the visual representation of data in charts and graphs – has grown in popularity in recent years. Media outlets and research communication organisations alike have invested in the production of data visualisation, committing to the belief that visualisation is an effective form of communication. While a number of claims have been made around the potential of data visualisation as a communication tool, there has been a relative lack of informed discussion around the role that data visualisation can play in the research communication sector. This report builds on SciDev.Net's experiences of producing data visualisations and in data journalism more broadly, and brings together lessons learned with insights from the broader sector of research communication. What follows will help researchers, research communication managers and journalists to make more informed decisions about when to invest in data visualisations in order to meet research communication goals. Click here for full report ...
Voices of Refugees: Information and Communication Needs of Refugees in Greece and Germany (BBC Media Action Research Report 2016)
Since 2015, more than a million women, men and children have undertaken perilous journeys to reach northern European countries, using unofficial migration routes across the Mediterranean Sea and south-east Europe. This study provides a snapshot of refugees’ experiences regarding communication and information at different points on their journey, based on interviews with 79 refugees and 45 humanitarian actors. Intended to inform humanitarian agencies responding to the refugee crisis in Europe, it examines the communication behaviours and priority information needs of refugees in three areas: on their journey, in “transit” camps in Greece, and in Germany. The findings highlight refugees’ need for critical information about how to survive in their current situation, and what their future will hold. Broader communication needs are also presented: refugees expressed their need to be listened to and tell their stories, and participate in dialogue that provides them with physical, social and psychosocial support. In April 2016, humanitarian agency staff in Greece reviewed the research findings and discussed how they could better meet refugees’ current information and communication needs in this constantly shifting context. The report shares recommendations from agencies and refugees, and concludes with reflections of how media and communication can support in this crisis ...
Supporting Safety of Journalists in Kenya: An assessment based on UNESCO’s Journalist Safety Indicators (UNESCO 2016)
UNESCO's report documents the national state of journalist’s safety and the issue of impunity by providing an overview of the safety situation of journalists in Kenya. It also points out the context of safety and the responsibility of all stakeholders in addressing the issue of journalists’ safety in Kenya. The study was conducted by African Media Initiative (AMI), in consultation with UNESCO. This activity was funded by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Programme on Development of Communication (IPDC) which is a multilateral forum in the UN system that not only provides support for media projects but also seeks an accord to secure a healthy environment for the growth of free and pluralistic media in developing countries. It was carried out within the efforts of UNESCO to “promote an enabling environment for freedom of expression, press freedom and journalistic safety in Kenya.” The report was developed through a multi-stakeholder engagement and consultation process that included a media stakeholders meeting held on 22 May 2015, which provided a platform for participants to plan the study’s methodology and the responsibility of diverse actors relevant to the media sector in Kenya. A second consultation meeting was also held on 23 February 2016 to review the draft study ...
Migration Media Usage Survey: How do refugees from Syria and Iraq find the right information, before, during and after their journeys to Germany? (MiCT Briefing 2016)
From November 2015 to February 2016, MiCT's research unit conducted in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions with 88 refugees from Iraq and Syria in Berlin. The study centered on the question which information sources they used during the stages of pre-departure, the actual travel, and the period after their arrival in Germany. The results demonstrate that most of the interviewees did feel well-informed before and during their flight. The most-trusted information about routes and risks was inter-personal communication with individuals who had freshly arrived in the EU. Traditional media, in contrast, hardly played any role for them. A great lack of access to reliable information was perceived after the arrival in Germany, especially because of language barriers ...
Curbing corruption and fostering accountability in fragile settings – why an imperilled media needs better support (BBC Media Action Working Paper 2016)
This policy working paper draws on BBC Media Action’s own research as well as the wider sector to examine the media’s ability to hold power to account, particularly in fragile settings. The paper provides a summary of the evidence base supporting the media’s role in tackling corruption and argues that effective media support strategies require more than financial contributions. They require the development of coherent, context-specific, evidence-based strategies rooted in learning from what works and what does not. It concludes that while there have been notable investments in media from a small number of donors the development system as a whole has a poor record in in supporting this area. The paper should be of interest to decision makers in donors and other development support organisations concerned about the development costs of corruption ...