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Independent Media Second Edition: 2012 U.S U.S. Efforts to Foster a Free Press and EMPOWERING an Open Internet Around the World INDEPENDENT MEDIA SECOND EDITION: 2012 U.S. Efforts to Foster a Free Press and EMPOWERING an Open Internet Around the World INDEPENDENT MEDIA SECOND EDITION: 2012 EMPOWERING INDEPENDENT MEDIA U.S. Efforts to Foster a Free Press and an Open Internet Around the World SECOND EDITION: 2012 Copyright © 2012 by National Endowment for Democracy Center for International Media Assistance National Endowment for Democracy 1025 F Street, N.W., Suite 800 Washington, D.C. 20004 Phone: (202) 378-9700 Fax: (202) 378-9407 E-mail: [email protected] www.cima.ned.org Executive editor: Marguerite H. Sullivan Editor and principal writer: David E. Kaplan Managing editor: Don Podesta Photo editor: Anthony Abate Principal research and reporting team: Anthony Abate, Peter Cary, Cathie Glover, Laura Jenkins, Shannon Maguire, and Robert Thomason Design and layout: Free Range Studios Printer: Harris Lithographics, Inc. Notice of Rights: Permission is granted to display, copy, and distribute this report in whole or in part, provided that (1) the materials are used with the acknowledgement “The report Empowering Independent Media: U.S. Efforts to Foster a Free Press and an Open Internet Around the World is a product of the Center for International Media Assistance at the National Endowment for Democracy;” (2) the report is used solely for personal, noncommercial, or informational use; and (3) no modifications of the report are made. ISBN 978-0-9818254-2-7 Cover Photo: A woman experiments with mobile news delivery service CGNet Swara during a training by Knight International Journalism Fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary in Kunkuri, India. Photo: International Center for Journalists About the Center for International Media Assistance The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) posted country profiles detailing the status of indepen- at the National Endowment for Democracy works dent media in countries around the world and comparing to strengthen the support, raise the visibility, and media freedom indexes. These and other resources can improve the effectiveness of independent media devel- be accessed on CIMA’s website at http://cima.ned.org/. opment throughout the world. The Center provides CIMA also gathers articles from numerous news sources information, builds networks, conducts research, and on developments in media and distributes them via a highlights the indispensable role independent media Daily Media News mailing and a weekly Digital Media play in the creation and development of sustainable Mash Up. You can sign up for these and other CIMA democracies. mailings and follow CIMA on Facebook and Twitter at http://cima.ned.org/about-cima/follow-cima. CIMA serves as a catalyst to address needs in the media assistance field, bringing together policymakers, These core activities of CIMA complement NED’s role as a practitioners, funders, and academics to reach shared supporter of grassroots democracy initiatives and address goals. The Center carries out this role by convening many of the challenges that have been identified in the working groups, commissioning research reports, and field of U.S.-sponsored development of independent and holding events. CIMA maintains a comprehensive sustainable media. To learn more about CIMA, please visit bibliographic database of media assistance resources http://cima.ned.org/. with more than 1,100 items. On its website, CIMA has Table of Contents Message from the President 1 Message from the President Message from the Senior Director 3 Message from the Senior Director Abbreviations 5 Abbreviations Executive Summary 6 Executive Summary Recommendations 9 Recommendations What is Media Development? 10 What is Media Development? Funding: Investing in Independent Media 12 Funding: Investing in Independent Media Digital Media: Changing the Game 30 Digital Media: Changing the Game Citizen Journalism: More Voices, More News 44 Citizen Journalism: More Voices, More News Sustainability: The Business of Independent News 52 Sustainability: The Business of Independent News Media and the Law: Issues and Challenges 60 Media and the Law: Issues and Challenges Safety: Journalists Under Attack 72 Safety: Journalists Under Attack Investigative Journalism: Fostering Accountability 82 Investigative Journalism: Fostering Accountability Education: Training a New Generation 96 Education: Training a New Generation Media Literacy: Toward an Informed Citizenry 108 Media Literacy: Toward an Informed Citizenry Community Radio: Voices from the Village 116 Community Radio: Voices from the Village Metrics: Evaluating the Media Environment 124 Metrics: Evaluating the Media Environment Looking Ahead 136 Looking Ahead Endnotes 138 Endnotes Message from the President National Endowment for Democracy NED established the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) in 2006 with encouragement from the U.S. Congress, which hoped that such an initiative would create a solid base of knowledge about the grow- ing but not well understood field of media assistance. Two years later, CIMA published a volume entitled Empowering Independent Media, which provided a compre- hensive look at both the key issues in the field as well as its latest findings and developments. Not surprisingly, the volume’s recommendations became essential reading Carl Gershman for policy makers, donors, and implementers on how to President strengthen all aspects of media assistance. Assistance to independent media is now a key com- ponent of U.S. and international efforts to promote harnessed and channeled effectively to help bring about democracy, not simply in terms of the amount of funding democratic outcomes remains a key question for media devoted to this work, but also in the growing recogni- developers. tion that free and independent media play a vital role in In this second edition of Empowering Independent Media, shaping an informed citizenry. Without information that CIMA tackles such important topics as the impact of citi- media provide, citizens can neither make the informed zen journalism, the funding of digital media programs, choices about who governs them nor hold decision mak- and the need for media assistance to include such critical ers accountable for their actions once in power. areas as media literacy and business management. We Much has been made, and rightly so, about the impact believe that this updated report will become a valuable of digital technology in various parts of the world that resource not only for media assistance practitioners but is transforming the media landscape and fomenting for all who cherish a free press, which Winston Churchill social and political change. How such technology can be called “the most dangerous foe of tyranny.” CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ASSISTANCE 1 Message from the Senior Director Center for International Media Assistance Welcome to volume two of CIMA’s overview report, Empowering Independent Media. Dramatic changes have occurred since the original edition was published in 2008. The Arab Spring has demonstrated to the world that the new, digital era of media is transforming how people communicate and use information and that leaders ignore this at their peril. Suddenly, there is a sharply expanded toolkit available to the media development community. Not only are there tweets, Facebook posts, and YouTube videos, but Marguerite H. Sullivan citizen journalists armed with smart phones, mapping Senior Director software, anti-censoring technology, and more. As Eric Newton of the Knight Foundation put it: “It’s like the century after Gutenberg—there’s a change in the model of researched and written by leading media scholars, knowledge. We don’t understand it because we’re in the prominent journalists, veteran trainers, and development middle of it.” But, Newton added, “in this situation you experts. Readers will find chapters on the core areas of have to run towards the confusion, not away from it.” media development, including the legal environment, Yet the very technologies that have opened commu- business practices, higher education, media literacy, nications and propelled citizens to press for democracy monitoring and evaluation, and the safety of journalists, have also led to new risks for professional and citizen as well as detailed looks at the global spread of commu- journalists alike. Online surveillance of citizens, filtering nity radio and investigative journalism. of the Internet, and the jailing of bloggers now join more This report has been a collaborative effort, with work traditional forms of government control of the media, drawn from more than three dozen contributors. We such as censorship, criminal libel lawsuits, and physical were fortunate to have veteran investigative journalist attacks on journalists. David E. Kaplan, who edited our first edition, again And in many regions of the world there have been serve as editor and principal writer. Dave took our ideas, rollbacks in press freedom, even in democratic societies. interviews, and nearly 30 CIMA research reports and But the good news is that more attention is being paid to shaped the material into a coherent document. He also media development, and recognition of its importance contributed original work on the funding, digital, and in fostering good governance is on the rise. The proof is investigative journalism chapters. His knowledge and in the money devoted to supporting independent media: insights into the field—as well as his superb analytical U.S. media development
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