A Strong Media Indispensable To Good Economics

Michael Hedges December 8, 2011 Follow on Twitter

Mass communications is commonly viewed as indispensable, a critical institution. Media facilitates that critical communications by providing language, narrative and passion. But media development is uneven, more so in times of dismal economics and accompanying social instability.

Regional NGOs in transitional regions are promoting dialogue on media development even when clear goals are hard to find. “The rapid political changes, witnessed in the region and in the Arab world is clearly reflecting both official and private media sectors, and media as a whole and the Arab world,” said Arab Media Forum secretary general Madhi Abdullah Al-Khamees opening the 3rd Arabian Council of Media Development meeting in Kuwait (December 2). “Media is the common factor and key element in such effective pursuit, media mechanisms, advancement and progress to people will shape and increase public awareness of citizens.”

Governments and related NGOs, largely in the developed world, place considerable importance on media development, affirming the belief in the positive relationship between strong democratic institutions and a healthy media sector. There can’t be one, says conventional wisdom, without the other.

Seeking to “improve the professional outreach and competence of media organizations and personnel” the Ghanaian government established (November 16) a media development fund. Established media operators in Ghana voiced skepticism, questioning the timing with elections coming next year. 

In step with policy goals the biggest development aid providers tend to package media development initiatives with broader programs. The Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) is providing money and support in Pakistan, announced by Denmark’s ambassador Uffe Wolffhechel (December 2), for a range of gender equality projects including encouraging and promoting women in Pakistani newsrooms. 

Putting numbers to theory and on to policy has been tricky. Media development NGO Internews and the World Bank Institute has collected data related to media, economics and stability, called the Media Map Project, available to all on the Web (http://www.mediamapresource.org). The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation generously funded the two-year initiative, which is designed to aid further research into the impact of media development. The Media Map Project datasets include hard numbers from the World Bank and ITU as well as “softer” indexes produced by IREX, Reporters sans Frontiers, Freedom House and Transparency International.

Datasets can be related graphically on line, for the delight of the quantitatively-inclined. There is a positive correlation, for example, between GDP and a freedom of speech when World Bank figures and the Cingranelli-Richards (CIRI) Human Rights dataset intersect. Background on media development and analytic reports based on the datasets, all quite academic, are available through the website with more coming next year. The stated aim is to “engage the development sector in greater understanding and exploration of the role of media and information in development.”

Most institutional media development takes place post-.conflict. That, too, is changing. Citing “information darkness” in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Intermedia’s Pakistan office has been conducting stakeholder discussions in an attempt to see local, indigenous media develop. “Recent steps have been taken to introduce political reforms to bring the region into mainstream Pakistan and extend the same rights to the region’s citizens as granted to and exercised by the rest of the Pakistanis,” said the Intermedia Pakistan statement (November 22). “However, media reforms are not part of these important political reforms, which is a significant mistake in terms of the rights of FATA residents.” Intermedia, not to be confused with Internews, is a research organization specializing in international media. The desperately poor FATA region borders Afghanistan.

Data, facts and figures on the impact of media development is not solely of interest to academics. Funding agencies, largely but not exclusively governments, generally want reality-based information. The example of fortunes spent and little accomplished in Bosnia Herzegovina is well in mind. Data on media development expenditures remains a significant gap in the Media Map Project dataset, acknowledged by World Bank researcher Sanjukta Roy in a description of the project, its limitations and aspirations. “Unfortunately, media development assistance is not yet a specific category for spending for the donor community, leaving a huge gap in the understanding of the donor efforts to strengthen the sector,” she concludes.

There’s nothing neutral about media and the communications technologies powering it. By its very nature media is a change agent, for good or ill, wherever and however it appears. And with ear-splitting quick technology delivering it all the result can be quite messy.

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