Abstract
Media assistant organizations (MAO) are important actors in transitional and conflict societies. By providing training and resources, they aim to strengthen professionalism and political independence of journalists in transitional and fragile societies. MAOs have been criticized for their top-down approach to development that regards partners as mere receivers of knowledge and assistance rather than active participants. After a critical overview of the changing paradigms in media assistance over the last decades, the chapter presents findings from in-depth interviews with professionals in the field. The interview material shows that MAOs are re-defining their role by adopting a more participatory and holistic approach that also includes civil society groups and audiences. However, pressures by donors, political constraints and limited resources are obstacles that often prevent these ideas to be implemented.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Translated from German. Original: ‘Betriebswissen’.
- 2.
Interviews have been coded with the following country codes: EGY (Egypt), KEN (Kenya), SER (Serbia), RSA (South Africa). Interviews with media assistance organizations which are active in many countries are named MAO_Int1. Interviews with media assistance organizations active in the respective countries of the MeCoDEM research are named MAO_country acronym (e.g. MAO_KEN2). Direct quotations are identified by No. of unit of analysis (e.g. MAO_KEN2: 32).
References
Berger, G. (2010). Problematizing “Media Development” as a Bandwagon Gets Rolling. International Communication Gazette, 72(2), 547–565.
DW Akademie. (2012). Wandel begleiten. Jahresbericht 2011/2012. Retrieved December 2, 2016, from http://www.dw.com/downloads/36046707/dwakademiejb2011deutschfuerweb.pdf.
Easterly, W. (2016). The Tyranny of Experts: Foreign Aid versus Freedom of the World’s Poor. In The Economics of International Development. Foreign Aid versus Freedom of the World’s Poor (pp. 1–17). London: Institute of Economic Affairs.
Grävingholt, J., Leininger, J., & Schlumberger, O. (2009). Demokratieförderung: Quo vadis? Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, 8, 28–33.
Iazzolino, G., & Stremlau, N. (2017). Communications, Power and Governance in Democratisation Conflicts. Mecodem Working Papers. Retrieved from http://www.mecodem. eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Stremlau-Iazzolino-2017_ Communications-power-and-governance-in-democratisation-conflicts.pdf
Inagaki, N. (2007). Communicating the Impact of Communication for Development: Recent Trends in Empirical Research. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Kalathil, S. (2011). Developing Independent Media as an Institution of Accountable Governance: A How-to Guide. Washington, DC: World Bank, Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP).
Lennie, J., & Tacchi, J. (2013). Evaluating Communication for Development. A Framework for Social Change. London: Routledge.
Melkote, S. R. (2003). Theories of Development Communication. In B. Mody (Ed.), International and Development Communication. A 21st-Century Perspective (pp. 129–147). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Meuser, M., & Nagel, U. (2002). ExpertInneninterviews—vielfach erprobt, wenig bedacht. In A. Bogner (Ed.), Das Experteninterview (pp. 71–93). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Quebral, N. C. (1971). Development Communication in the Agricultural Context: In Search of BreakThroughs in Agricultural Development. Los Baños: University of the Philippines.
Schiller, H. I. (1976). Communication and Cultural Domination. New York: International Art and Sciences Press.
Schramm, W. (1964). Mass Media and National Development: The Role of Information in the Developing Countries. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Servaes, J. (2008). Communication for Development and Social Change. London: Sage.
Servaes, J. (2012). Comparing Development Communication. In F. Esser & T. Hanitzsch (Eds.), The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research. New York and London: Routledge.
Shoemaker, E., & Stremlau, N. (2014). Media and Conflict: An Assessment of the Evidence. Progress in Development Studies, 14(2), 181–195.
Voltmer, K. (2008). Comparing Media Systems in New Democracies: East Meets South Meets West. Central European Journal of Communication, 1(1), 23–40.
Waisbord, S. (2008). The Institutional Challenges of Participatory Communication in International Aid. Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture, 14(4), 505–522.
Documents
BBC Media Action. (2014). Annual Report 2013/14. Retrieved December 2, 2016, from http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/mediaaction/annualreports/2013–2014.pdf.
DW Akademie. (2012). Wandel begleiten. Jahresbericht 2011/2012. Retrieved December 2, 2016, from http://www.dw.com/downloads/36046707/dwakademiejb2011deutschfuerweb.pdf.
Free Press Unlimited (FPU). (2014). 2014 Annual Plan. Retrieved December 2, 2016, from https://www.freepressunlimited.org/sites/freepressunlimited.org/files/fpu_yearplan_2014_uk.pdf.
Hivos. (2014). Annual Report 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2016, from http://hivosannualreport.org/assets/2016/06/Hivos-Annual-Report-2014.pdf.
International Media Support (IMS). (2011). Conflict Sensitive Journalism: Moving Towards a Holistic Framework. Retrieved December 2, 2016, from https://www.mediasupport.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ims-csj-holistic-framework-2011.pdf.
International Media Support (IMS). (2014). Annual Report. Retrieved December 2, 2016, from https://www.mediasupport.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ims-annual-report-2014.pdf.
Internews Europe. (2013): Annual Review. Retrieved December 2, 2016, from http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Internews_Europe_Annual_Review_2013.pdf.
McBride, S. (1980). Many Voices, One World. Towards a New More Just and More Efficient World Information and Communication Order. Retrieved December 2, 2016, from http://www.un-documents.net/macbride-report.pdf.
Mediae. (2014). Drivers of Accountability Programme. Final Project Report. (unpublished).
OSCE. (n.d.). OSCE Mission to Serbia. Retrieved September 9, 2015, from http://www.osce.org/serbia/26531?download=true.
Panos SA. (2014). Annual Report. Retrieved December 2, 2016, from http://panos.org.zm/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/PSAf%20Annual%20Report%202014.pdf.
UN United Nations. (2015). The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2018, from http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/MDG%202015%20rev%20(July%201).pdf.
UN United Nations. (2018). The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2018, from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/files/report/2018/TheSustainableDevelopmentGoalsReport2018.pdf.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Drefs, I., Thomass, B. (2019). The Participation Approach in Media Development Cooperation. In: Voltmer, K., et al. Media, Communication and the Struggle for Democratic Change. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16748-6_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16748-6_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-16747-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-16748-6
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)