A Report for the Jo H N S . a Nd Ja Mes L. K N Ig Ht F O U Nda T Io N the MEDIA MISSIONARIES
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A Report for the Jo h n S . a nd Ja mes L. K n ig ht F o u nda t io n THE MEDIA MISSIONARIES ABOUT THE AUTHOR t he Open Society Ins t i t u t e, the Comm ittee to Pro t e c t Journalists’ report Attacks on the Press, 2001,” David Hoffman and the regional directors and international managers of Ellen Hume teaches media I nt e r ne w s, and Kn ig ht Founda t ion director of Jo u r na l i s m studies and is founding Initiatives Eric Newton. director of the Center on Journalist Tim Porter edited the manuscript. Carole Lee and Media and Society at the Margaret Fleming Glennon provided invaluable production University of Massachusetts Boston. She has assistance. conducted journalism and democracy work- shops throughout the United States, and in For the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Ethiopia, Russia, Bosnia, Poland and the W. Gerald Austen, M.D., chairman, board of trustees Czech Republic. Hodding Carter III, president and CEO During more than 30 years as a reporter Penelope McPhee, vice president and chief program officer and analyst for newspapers, magazines and Eric Newton, director of journalism initiatives Denise Tom, journalism program officer television she has been a White House and Larry Meyer, vice president of communications political correspondent for The Wall Street Robertson Adams, communications associate/webmaster Journal, national reporter with the Los Caroline Wingate, editorial consultant Angeles Times and executive director of PBS’s Design: Jacques Auger Design Associates, Miami Beach, Fla. Democracy Project, among other positions. Printing: Rex Three, Sunrise, Fla. From 1988 to 1993, Hume served as exe c- Additional copies of this volume and others in our journalism utive director and senior fellow at Harvard series are available at [email protected]. University’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, teaching at the Media Missionaries: American Support for Journalism Excellence And Press Freedom Around the Globe is a project of the John S. Kennedy School and later, at the Medill and James L. Knight Foundation. Journalism School’s Washington semester. She serves on the board of Internews and is More information about Knight Foundation is available at a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. www.knightfdn.org. Hume lives in Boston with her husband Knight Foundation’s Journalism Advisory Committee members and four children. Visit www. e l l e n h u m e. c o m . are: Sandra Mims Rowe (chair), editor, The Oregonian; Merrill Brown, principal, MMB Media LLC; Farai Chideya, special editor, TheBeehive.org; Barbara Cochran, president, Radio-TV News Directors Association; John L. Dotson Jr., re t i red publishe r, The This report maps the myriad American efforts to develop and Akron Beacon Journal; Rich Oppel, editor, Austin American support journalism aro u nd the globe with fellowships, Statesman; Geneva Overholser, Curtis B. Hurley Chair in Public exchanges, training, grants, loans, equipment, infrastructure, A f fa i r s, University of Missouri School of Jo u r nal ism Wa s h i ng t o n staff, conferences and other means. This study, commissioned Bureau; and James V. Risser, retired director, John S. Knight in the fall of 2001 by the John S. and Ja mes L. Knig ht Fellowships for Professional Journalists, Stanford University. Foundation, tries to identify where money was spent and what lessons were learned after a decade of such work. This report C o p y r ig ht© 2004 by the John S. and Ja mes L. Knig ht Founda t io n also includes regional analyses and contact information for media development organizations and individuals. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Crucial research support was provided by Charlie Costanzo of Knight Foundation, Miami, Fla. Tra ns a c t io nal Records Access Clearing ho u s e, Whayne Dillehay of the International Center for Journalists, Monroe Price of To request copies of this book, contact Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law and the Programme [email protected] or download the Acrobat PDF file in Comparative Media Law & Policy at Oxford University, at www.knightfdn.org/publications. Mark Hallett of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, Joan Mower of the International Broadcasting Board of Governors, Ed B a u me i s t e r, Rich and Suzi McClear of the Int e r na t io nal Researc h & Exchanges Board, Gordana Jankovic and Bill Siemering of ISBN 0-9749702-2-0 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword by James F. Hoge Jr. 4 Introduction 8 The 15 Commandments of Media Development 14 Global Overview: At Least $600 Million for the Decade 18 Regional Chapters Russia, Central and Eastern Europe 30 Close-up: Lidove Noviny vs. Gazeta 32 Close-up: Media Assistance in Bosnia 37 Lessons Learned and Unmet Needs 39 Country Reports 42 Latin America 50 Close-up: The CELAP Story 52 Other Needs and Lessons Learned 54 Country Reports 56 Africa 60 Lessons Learned and Unmet Needs 63 Country Reports 64 Middle East 72 Close-up: Al-Jazeera, ‘the Tiny Station with the Big Mouth’ 76 Country Reports 76 Asia 84 Close-up: Afghanistan and Pakistan: War Puts Them on the Media Map 86 Close-up: China’s Internet Opening 89 Country Reports 90 Beyond Public Diplomacy by David Hoffman 102 Media Development Contact List 112 3 THE MEDIA MISSIONARIES 4 FOREWORD ‘The loss of liberty in general would soon follow the suppression of the liberty of the press; for it is an essential branch of liberty, so perhaps it is the best preservative of the whole. Even a restraint of the press would have a fatal influence. No nation ancient or modern has ever lost the liberty of freely speaking, writing or publishing their sentiments, but forthwith lost their liberty in general and became slaves.’ – New York Weekly Journal, c 1734 By James F. Hoge Jr. requires incessant vigilance. No society February 2004 based on the rule of law, let alone a dictatorship, an autocracy or a theocracy, n 1735, a German immig ra n t who ma de offers the guarantee of open media. a new life for himself in the colony of Threats continually abound. INew York, mainly by printing religious tracts, was placed on trial by a governor T he commitme nt to press fre e dom is, the r e - a t t e m p t i n g to squelch criticism of his adm i n - fore, always ongoing. It is also necessary, istration through the printed word. John fundamental to a proper relationship Peter Zenger, publisher of the New York between government and governed. For Weekly Journal, suffered eight months of transitional societies – those that have imprisonment before getting his day in embarked on the long and arduous journey court. When that day came, Zenger faced from communism or dictatorship to democ- considerable challenges. His case would be racy – this commitme nt re q u i res an especia l l y tried by two judges, both of whom were large amount of time and patience. Those handpicked by the governor. Attempts also unfamiliar with the duties and responsibil- w e re ma d e to tamper with the jury, but the y ities, and pitfalls and shortcomings, of the failed. The 12 jurors acquitted Zenger of democratic system may not quickly accept libel. A tra d i t ion of a free press had begun. t he burde ns that accompany its cons t r uc t ion. Nearly three cent u r ies later, fre e l a nce writer Journalists are charged with extraordinary Vanessa Leggett found herself imprisoned responsibilities when plying their trade for 168 days in a Texas jail. Leggett had in a democracy. Their ability to work freely refused a grand-jury order to turn over all requires dedication to a high quality of recorded interviews conducted during her objective writing that is ens u red only whe n research of a murder case, citing a journal- the media have access to the financial ist’s right to protect confidential sources. re s o u rces that can gua ra ntee editorial inde- The court dissented, saying it did not p e nde n c e. Public a t io ns and bro a dcasts that recognize such a “privilege.” Leggett was blur the division between reporting and released only upon the completion of the advertising, or between fact and opinion, grand jury’s term. Three months later, her lack credibility; they perform a disservice appeal to the Supreme Court was rejected. to themselves and the public that relies on them. Efforts to reinforce press freedom These two assaults on the independence will consequently prove unsuccessful with- of American media provide ample evidence out corre s p o nd i ng attempts to raise editoria l that freedom of the press, even in the standards, separate editorial and business world’s ric hest and most powerful de mo c ra c y, de p a r t me nt s, a nd foster ma na ge me nt 5 THE MEDIA MISSIONARIES techniques that uphold fina nc ia l b a s ic rig ht s. He describes dictatorships that i nde p e nde nc e. feel the need to conduct sham elections to curry international approval and legiti- As this report, The Media Missionaries, ma ke s macy while fundamental freedoms are clear, the resources that have poured into routinely suspended. No independent transitional societies since 1989 to bolster media can long thrive in such a climate.