Session 2: Media and the MDGs - Advocacy or Debate: What Role for the Media in Achieving the MDGs?

This 3-page paper provides background for the second session of a conference that was held on March 22 2007 at the London School of Economics (LSE) in the United Kingdom (UK) to explore current international development strategies and thinking related to the role the media play in development and in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The conference - hosted by POLIS, a joint initiative of LSE and the London College of Communication - was designed to spark a more structured dialogue between those in the media for development community and a broader set of actors in the non-governmental, bilateral, academic and other development-related communities.

As detailed in the paper, the session set out to explore 2 themes that characterise discussion related to the role of the media (both within communities and transnationally) in supporting achievement of the MDGs. These themes include:

1. The media's role in advocating for, and actively working toward the achievement of, the MDGs
2. The media's role in both providing information to people most affected by development-related issues that shape their lives and sparking opportunities for them to voice their perspectives through public debate.

Key questions to be asked in the session were:

• How does civil society perceive the media's role?
• How does the media perceive its responsibility and role in relation to the MDGs?
• Are current donor strategies sufficient and appropriate to support the role of the media?
• How can the media be built most effectively in a way that is supportive of the MDGs?

The background section provides context for these questions. Here, the author of the document delineates 7 issues which underpin the "unprecedented global consensus in development policy" that the MDGs represent. One of the issues which would seem to have communication-related implications is "the necessity for good governance, particularly the capacity of citizens, rather than donors, to hold governments to account for delivery of services". Since the focus on these issues, according to session leader James Deane, is on "development as a technical process" (emphasing financing, developing, and delivering existing or new technologies, for instance), many development organisations conceive of the media's role to be centred around drawing attention to these initiatives (as per #1, above).

Less emphasis, according to this paper, has been placed on development as a political process - one that involves such strategies as "the galvanising of articulate, organised and assertive social movements of people with and affected by" HIV/AIDS. In this context, the media could perhaps provide a space where diverse and opposing perspectives can be aired in ways that can influence and improve public policy (as per #2, above).

Without taking a stance on the role of the media with regard to these themes, the session was designed to "explore the extent to which an informed, inclusive public debate on these issues is possible without an informed, engaged and plural media capable of representing a variety of perspectives in society." Participants were also asked to reflect on whether the media in developing countries have the capacity and/or interest in covering issues that enable people to form opinions on the policies that affect them, and to articulate their perspectives on those policies.

The concluding portion of this report includes additional background, citing initiatives such as:

1. The African Media Development Initiative (AMDI)'s 2006 analysis of the media sector in 17 countries, which found - among other things - that radio and mobile technology were particularly important within a fragmented media sector comprised of local, non-profit community media, state media, and a growing private media sector. However, AMDI learned that most donor/media relations in African countries were conducted on an "ad hoc" basis, potentially limiting the African media's capacity to generate awareness about, and enhance voice related to, MDG issues.
2. The World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD)'s "Rome Consensus", which "recommended placing communications at the very foundation of programmes for development...but stopped short of actual, practicable policies..."

Each of these reports, Deane indicates, concentrates on "internal media networks and systems, pinpointing local media customs and seeking to entrench domestic media rights within developing countries. They rightly recognised the unique circumstances of media within developing countries and seek to harness these for the purpose of development." That said, he points to a trend in international media spheres to focus on what is going wrong in developing countries (especially those in Africa) as opposed to the positive strides that are being made to meet the MDGs. That is to say, perhaps a focus on broader media strategies (in terms of how development issues are reported - with a more balanced lens on problems as well as promise) could facilitate the media's contribution to achievement of the MDGs.