mediadev library

"Unabhängige Medien befinden sich weltweit seit über einem Jahrzehnt in einer tiefen ökonomischen Krise. In Russland kommt massiver politischer Druck hinzu. In den vergangenen zehn Jahren wurden zahlreiche kritische Journalisten und Redakteure entlassen, Fernseh- und Radiosender geschlossen, Zeit ... more

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Afghan Media in 2014: Understanding the Audience

Altai Consulting; Internews (2015), 169 pp.

"In 2014, competition in the Afghan media sector has increased in order to attract diminishing advertising revenue. This has led to increased professionalization and a certain degree of segmentation with the introduction of specialist, niche channels. The pace of development of new outlets has slowe ... more

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Draft Indicators for Media Viability

UNESCO (2015), 13 pp.

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Publishing for Peanuts: Innovation and the Journalism Start-Up

J. J. Robinson, Kristen Grennan, Anya Schiffrin

School of International and Political Affairs Columbia University; Open Society Foundation (2015), 200 pp.

"Our remit was to look for innovative media outlets that are producing high-quality news, that are technologically innovative and that might actually survive financially. Accordingly, we spent three months interviewing media innovators around the world and reading what others have written on the sub ... ject. This report is divided into seven sections: 1) this introduction, 2) our main findings, 3) two sets of recommendations, one for the media development community and another set for people starting a media outlet, 4) an “Innovation Index” listing practices that we found around the world, 5) a description of our methodology, 6) a review of practitioner reports we read, 7) write-ups describing 35 media outlets, based on interviews we conducted [...] We were inspired and encouraged by what we saw. All over the world, independent media outlets are innovating and overcoming obstacles. Globally, start-ups are demonstrating the drive to take risks for the sake of a good idea. The challenges facing these outlets—and the innovations employed to tackle them—broadly fall into four categories: editorial, business, distribution and security. Operating with agility, media start-ups are finding creative ways to gather and disseminate information. In India, Gram Vaani uses a mobile phone social network to connect the rural poor and circumvent legislative prohibitions on radio broadcasting. In Zimbabwe, The Source survives in the repressive media climate by focusing on business journalism. Oxpeckers in South Africa uses geomapping to report on rhino poaching. Crikey in Australia has built a successful business model based on soliciting tips and scandal from the same audience it reports on and Kenya’s African SkyCAM deploys drones to avoid negotiating with police for access to disaster zones [...] Instead of finding a clear model for what works, we found confirmation of many things we knew or suspected. Independent media outlets vary in size, ambition and model. Few have fully succeeded, while many do one thing well, which typically reflects the founder’s particular strength—usually in journalism or technology [...] Most media outlets we found are small, run by a few full-time staff supplemented by volunteers and freelancers, and supported by a combination of grants, donations and haphazard business endeavors. The leaders at most organizations we interviewed were motivated by a desire to produce high-quality journalism rather than meet particular financial or audience goals." (Executive summary, page 5-7) more

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Promouvoir des médias professionnels et responsables contribuant aux processus démocratiques dans les Grands Lacs: Projet de la Coopération suisse. Étude de faisabilité

Marie-Soleil Frère, Willy Nindorera, Anke Fiedler

Panos Grands Lacs; Association Burundaise des Radiodiffuseurs (ABR); Panos Europe (2014), 298 pp.

"Premier jalon de ce programme, cette étude, réalisée pour le compte de l’IPGL et de l’ABR par une équipe de 6 consultants locaux et internationaux, dresse un état des lieux du paysage médiatique des trois zones concernées. Il met en évidence des différences majeures entre les trois esp ... more

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The Development and Sustainability of Indigenous African Language Newspapers: A Case Study of 'Seipone', 'Nthavela' and 'Nghoho News'

Edgar Julius Malatji

Limpopo: Master Thesis University of Limpopo (2014), ix, 149 pp.

"There is a conspicuous importance of having newspapers that publish in the indigenous African languages for the indigenous population in a democratic dispensation. The indigenous African languages are key components of their respective cultures. The survival of the language is, in some way, depende ... more

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Meeting Report: Media Sustainability and Post-2015 Agenda. Montevideo, Uruguay, December 15 & 16, 2014

UNESCO; Deutsche Welle DW Akademie; Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) (2014), 28 pp.

"25 members of influential media in Latin America met in Montevideo, along with academics and representatives of civil society. The event aimed to discuss which could be sustainability models that guide journalistic projects in the region. New communication possibilities thanks to new technologies l ... more

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Nonprofit Journalism: A Growing But Fragile Part of the U.S. News System

Washington, DC: Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism (2013), 25, 23 pp.

"The growing nonprofit news sector is showing some signs of economic health, and most leaders of those outlets express optimism about the future, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center. But many of these organizations also face substantial challenges to their long-term financial well-be ... more

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Media Development in Transitional Democratic Cambodia

Casey McCarthy

Malmö: Master Thesis in Communication for Development Malmö University (2012), 65 pp.

"Through a series of qualitative interviews with a range of media stakeholders, the ultimate conclusion of this thesis is that the media landscape in Cambodia is diverse –with some (mostly foreign-owned and run) able to operate freely and independently, while others (most local Khmer media, partic ... more

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Financially Viable Media in Emerging and Developing Markets: Kenya

Paris; Nairobi: World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA); African Media Initiative (AMI) (2012), 41 pp.

"Kenya has been the scene of sweeping technological innovations, but these have often benefited solely affluent urban and foreign markets. Poorly developed infrastructure and program design have delayed benefits for the broader Kenyan public. In addition, Kenya’s innovations have proven difficult ... more

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Calling the Shots: How Ownership Structures Affect the Independence of News Media

Michelle J. Foster

Washington, DC: Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) (2012), 35 pp.

"At an international level, the media development community should advocate for standards governing media cross-ownership limitations, best practices in media licensing, and the licensing of the broadcast spectrum. States should adopt net neutrality and support increased uncensored access to social ... more

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Media in Kosovo: Long Walk to Modernity

Petra Sorge

Südosteuropa Mitteilungen, volume 52, issue 4 (2012), pp. 32-47

"In spite of the multi-million international investment to establish democratic media in post-war Kosovo, media in the young republic continue to underperform. On the 2011/12 Press Freedom Index, Kosovo ranked on the 86th position worldwide. The article sheds a light on the reasons for this dilemma ... more

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The Story So Far: What We Know About the Business of Digital Journalism

Bill Grueskin, Ava Seave, Lucas Graves

New York: Tow Center for Digital Journalism Columbia Journalism School (2011), 146 pp.

"While this report will examine some traditional, or “legacy,” business models for media, our focus is on the economic issues that news organizations—large and small, old and new—face with their digital ventures. This report focuses on news organizations that do original journalism, defined ... more

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Media in Africa: Twenty Years After the Windhoek Declaration on Press Freedom
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Guy Berger (ed.)

Windhoek: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) (2011), 190 pp.

"What has been the state-of-play for African media in the 20 years since the historic Windhoek Declaration of 1991 which gave rise to World Press Freedom Day every 3 May? And what can be expected over the next decade? More than 70 commentators illuminate the trajectory in a range of contributions in ... more

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Addressing the Capitalization Gap for Independent News Media: Mobilizing Funding for Independent News Media

Saskia Veendorp

Paris: World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA); Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) (2011), 51 pp.

"The capitalization gap for independent news media businesses in impact arguments to extend support to independent news media businesses. There are also convincing arguments that providing finance capital has a significant impact on independent media sustainability, as proven by recent successful pu ... more

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Commercial Rural Radio Program: The Emerging Effective Means to Improving Rural Livelihoods. The Case of INUKA

Ralph Engelmann, Terry Gilead, William Mato, Maja Rueegg, Braison Salisali

Dodoma (TZ): Rural Livelihood Development Company (RLDC); Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) (2011), 32 pp.

"INUKA’s primary objective was to address the interests and needs of the rural producers in the CC. Capacity building of radio staff proved to be an essential element to overcome the shortage of tailored expertise on agriculture and rural related radio programming and marketing. Listeners gave a p ... more

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Media and Money: Worldwide Economic Upheaval Changes the Shape of News

Vienna: International Press Institute (IPI) (2011), 81 pp.

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Matching the Market and the Model: The Business of Independent News Media

Michelle J. Foster

Washington, DC: Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) (2011), 34 pp.

"According to this paper, many media businesses lack management skills and experience in developing effective business models. "Compounding this is a lack of media development assistance targeted to media managers, the expansion of economic constraints on media businesses, and a lack of access to in ... more

Media in Africa: Twenty Years After the Windhoek Declaration on Press Freedom Top Insights

Media in Africa: Twenty Years After the Windhoek Declaration on Press Freedom
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