Media Development: an Evaluation of Five Capacity- Strengthen- Ing Projects

RESEARCH AND LEARNING MEDIA DEVELOPMENT: AN EVALUATION OF FIVE CAPACITY- STRENGTHEN- ING PROJECTS ROSIE PARKYN SONIA WHITEHEAD RESEARCH REPORT // OCTOBER 2015 Acknowledgements BBC Media Action would like to thank all the research respondents for the generous donation of their time. Special thanks, too, to the many BBC Media Action staff members who contributed to the creation of this report, particularly: Liberty Bunce, Grace Davies, John Sutcliffe and Anca Toader. BBC Media Action, the BBC’s international development charity, uses the power of media and communication to support people to shape their own lives. Working with broadcasters, governments, other organisations and donors, we provide information and stimulate positive change in the areas of governance, health, resilience and humanitarian response. The content of this report is the responsibility of BBC Media Action. Any views expressed in this report should not be taken to represent those of the BBC itself, or of any donors supporting the work of the charity. Editor: Delia Lloyd Research analysis contributors: Anna Colom, Fatima Dahani Special thanks to our in-country teams in Nepal, Palestinian territories, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria External reviewers: Jan Lublinski, Head of Research and Evaluation, Department of Strategy and Consulting Services, DW Akademie Copy editor: Sarah Chatwin Production team: Maresa Manara, Robin Field, Sam Waterton, Rachel Simpson ii RESEARCH REPORT // OCTOBER 2015 Contents Executive summary 5 Introduction: Media, capacity strengthening and development 7 Part 1: Background 9 Part 2: BBC Media Action’s approach to capacity strengthening 13 Part 3: Research approach 20 Part 4: Research design 27 Part 5: Case studies and findings 30 Part 6: A synthesis of findings 40 Part 7: Towards a sustainable model for capacity strengthening 52 Part 8: Conclusions and recommendations 56 Endnotes 58 List of figures and tables Figure 1: Map of BBC Media Action’s capacity- strengthening partners 2011–2014 Figure 2: An integrated approach to capacity strengthening Table 1: Sample questions for capacity- strengthening interventions Table 2: Partnerships randomly selected for evaluation 2014–2015 Abbreviations DFID UK Department for International Development FM frequency modulation IDIs in-depth interviews MNCH maternal, neonatal and child health NGO non-governmental organisation ORTO Oromia Radio and Television Organisation, Ethiopia PBC Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation PT Palestinian Territories SMS Short Message Service (text) Unesco United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Caption. © Credit Executive summary A strong, independent and plural media underpins The paper takes the following shape. Part one all development, enabling people to participate in provides a brief history of BBC Media Action’s the debates and decisions that shape their lives. Yet capacity-strengthening work, explaining its media’s potential to play this fundamental role has evolution over the last 16 years and furnishing the not been fully realised. In fact, 2014 saw a decline in reader with a typology of interventions ranging media freedom globally, with many media sectors from low to high intensity. Part two identifies the across the world remaining weak, poorly resourced three key principles underlying our approach: and subject to the influence of powerful interests. first, that audiences are at the core; second, that embedded mentors are the most effective means The fact that independence is so hard won is through which to deliver capacity strengthening; all the more reason to try and achieve it: media and third, that all interventions should seek matters, as much to the powerful as to the to achieve impact at four levels: audience, average individual on the street. Those involved practitioner, organisation and system. in media development owe it to the populations they seek to benefit to scrutinise and evaluate Part three begins by explaining how BBC Media their own efforts carefully, ensuring that they Action’s evaluation of capacity-strengthening continually challenge themselves to improve the interventions evolved, as the interventions work they do. became increasingly integrated and complex. In brief, it became necessary to develop a BBC Media Action has been involved in media methodology that could better capture and development since it was founded in 1999. triangulate impact at these four levels through Over the years, we have designed and deployed the perspectives of multiple stakeholders. This a broad range of evaluation approaches and requires a mixed-methods approach, with a set methodologies to assess the impact of and learn of indicators and evaluation activities arranged from our work. This has generated much internal under each level. discussion: Are we measuring the right things? Where can we realistically expect to see change? Part four explains the decision to adopt a How much should we spend on evaluation? How qualitative case study approach for the research can we tell whether that change is sustainable? design, and describes how five cases were randomly selected for evaluation from Nigeria, This paper is our attempt to bring that discussion Ethiopia, Tanzania, Nepal and the Palestinian to the wider media development community. In it, Territories. Part Five details these cases, setting we set out our working evaluation framework and out the characteristics of each media partner, methodology alongside the findings generated by the aims of each intervention, the evaluation applying this framework to five different capacity- methodology applied, the main findings and the strengthening interventions. We do so with the barriers to change. hope and expectation of hearing comments and reflections that may help us to improve our Part six offers illustrative examples of impact evaluation framework and methodology. achieved under each of the levels, while part EXecutiVE summarY 5 seven discusses the emerging implications of Part eight closes with a series of conclusions and these findings, linking them to the broader recommendations for the media development challenges around securing the sustainability of sector as a whole. These include that the capacity strengthening going forward. We find mentoring model works and thus has great broad support for the more holistic, embedded merit for scaling up, that there is great potential mentoring model our organisation has embraced for audiences to contribute to sustainability by in recent years – one that acknowledges the protecting the media that matters to them, that interdependence between the “four levels” of systems-level factors must be understood and the audience, the practitioner, the organisation should be addressed where it is possible to do and the wider media system. But our findings also so, and that more time and energy should be suggest that a number of long-term challenges invested in co-developing sustainability strategies remain, which will need to be addressed in order with capacity-strengthening partners. to secure sustainable change. These include securing the political will to support independent media, creating a favourable business environment in which media outlets can achieve financial sustainability, and making sure that media development actors can work consistently with the same partners over a multi-year timeframe. 6 RESEARCH REPORT // OCTOBER 2015 Introduction Media, capacity strengthening and development Media’s potential to play a vital role in limitations are compounded by the generally international development has long been low status of the journalism profession in many acknowledged. Media is perhaps best known for developing countries. its “watchdog” function, helping to hold those in power to account. But media can also provide Recognising the gap between media’s potential a powerful platform for debate, discussion and and its reality, a “media development” community collective problem-solving.1 Media can build comprising a multiplicity of actors has gradually cohesion and stability by giving voice to varied emerged over the past 20 years.6 This amalgam perspectives across all sectors of society. Media of international donors, international and local can serve as a source of vital information, aiding non-governmental organisations (NGOs) individuals in making decisions that shape their and representatives of national media sectors lives.2 Media has the ability to influence large-scale typically funds “activities aimed at strengthening political, economic and social outcomes, helping the media to be independent, pluralistic, and to reduce the spread of deadly disease – such professional”.7 These activities take a variety of as Ebola – and providing the tools for people forms, including legal reform to tackle large-scale to assume control over their own economic regulatory issues, management consultancy to empowerment.3 It can be argued that, by address organisational problems, and journalism supporting the public ownership and government and production training designed to improve accountability necessary for development editorial and production values at the practitioner strategies to be successful, an independent media level.8 Media development also often results in underpins all other development objectives.4 the co-production of programming in traditional, broadcast media such as television and radio and, Like all aspects of development, however, there increasingly, support for social media platforms is often a large gap between these ideals and and

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