Development, Governance and the Media: The Role of the Media in Building African Society

This 68-page paper is the final report to emerge from 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.

The opening sections of the report explore the context for, and motivation behind, the conference. Myles Wickstead, Conference Chair and former Head of Secretariat, Commission for Africa, outlines the 4 specific objectives that shaped the conference. They include:

1. Developing greater cohesion between the media and development communities in order to foster the crafting of a common agenda and language.
2. Following through on the Commission for Africa objective of presenting a more balanced picture of Africa: "Everyone knows about Darfur and Zimbabwe. But they should also know about Africa's improved governance, peace and security; its stronger economic growth; and the development of viable institutions and systems."
3. Examining the role of the media in promoting good governance in countries at all stages of development.
4. Exploring the potential of new technologies to improve access to information and news - to the end of influencing and impacting on democratic processes.

Wickstead stresses here that the conference was meant to be the beginning, rather than the end, of a process, and Charlie Beckett of POLIS explores this idea in his Introduction to the report. Beckett also notes that the report itself is timed to coincide with a range of other media for development initiatives, including the publication of a report by the Department for International Development (DFID) titled "Making Governance Work for the Poor". In addition, the report seeks to continue spurring dialogue about the African Media Development Initiative (AMDI). Although neither the report nor the conference was designed to advance specific policy recommendations or settled opinions, in the interest of sparking ideas and inspiring action, POLIS here includes 8 papers that offer strategies for capitalising on the potential of the media to improve development and good governance on the African continent.

An excerpt from the Executive Summary follows:

• "Globally, we are witnessing a transition from conventional modern journalism to networked journalism. Networked journalism is inherently 'consumer led', creating patterns of interaction that oblige the media to build in constant and pre-emptive communication with its audiences.
• Responsible media interaction and increased trust must be fostered at all levels of society. A key focus of media development efforts must be education in media literacy, targeted not only at journalists but at governments, donors, development partners and the general public; to foster an improved and empowered communications environment.
• Any approach to media development must include systems-wide measures including
  development of an enabling regulatory framework and increased access to information.
• Future media development processes must be African-owned and African-led, ultimately
  empowering Africans at all levels of society. Within this, media development strategies
  must fit the specific contexts of diverse African realities.
• While new technologies offer new and exciting opportunities, we must focus not
  on a transition from 'old' media to 'new' media, but on maximizing the potential for expanding networked journalism across the media in all its forms.
• The media is necessarily political, seeking to foster debate around inherently contentious social, economic, cultural and political issues. Donors and NGOs [non-governmental organisations] must recognize the clear-cut distinction between using the media to promote specific development policies and building the media as a component of genuine democratic debate.
• Good governance and accountability are ultimately about effective and dynamic communications between policymakers, politicians and their constituent populations. Greater effort is required to convince African governments, donors and financial institutions of the value of free and fair media, and of expanded networked journalism.
• Fragile states pose specific challenges, but effective media development interventions
  remain imperative. In fragile states, donors and NGOs must set realistic standards but not be risk-averse in pursuing long-term media development goals.
• There is an absence of adequate research capacity for further exploring the kind of questions that this POLIS conference sought to address."

The final piece in this report, titled "The Future of African Journalism" and authored by the editors (Beckett and Kyrke-Smith) culls out some key themes to emerge from the papers featured here. A general point to emerge is that, in their assessment, the POLIS-sponsored conference "has highlighted how news journalism is changing in a way that allows the possibility for it to be better connected with the diverse flows of informational discourse that contribute to governance and development." The editors conclude this reflection piece by outlining some of the ways that POLIS plans to contribute to realising the potential
of networked journalism as a strategy for bolstering Africa's development, such as through research, a fellowship programme, and additional events like this one.

Please email Polis@lse.ac.uk to request a print copy of the full report.