Governance

Meaning? This is a new field, where innovative approaches are being analysed and, if appropriate, replicated. Media’s watchdog role in monitoring government has long been understood, but deregulation and new technologies bring additional possibilities to involving civil society in decision making to a greater extent.

How? Media Support  has been involved in all aspects of this work, from media assessments and managing projects, training media personnel,and supporting the development of local media production centres, to evaluations,distilling lessons learned and disseminating good practice.

Sectors have included: democracy building through voter education, especially with young people in Afghanistan, media and civil society empowerment through protecting media freedom in Somalia, media-skills and management capacity building in a number of countries, peace-building through conflict sensitive and solutions oriented broadcasting in Afghanistan, and conducting media assessments and evaluations in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, Madagascar, Somalia, Ethiopia, Nepal, Guyana, Cambodia and China.

Case Study: Straight Talk in Afghanistan

Since 2005 Media Support Partnership Afghanistan (MSPA) has managed the production and broadcasting of a wide-ranging radio magazine programme for young people in a post-conflict situation, and training the young Afghan production team. Straight Talk, a creation of MSPA, aims to fill an important gap of in informing young Afghans about a wide range of developments including elections, government services including education, corruption, changes in the law regarding women and ethnic minorities, demobilization, drug dependency, post-conflict trauma, forced and under-age marriage, relationship problems with parents and other rarely discussed topics. The programme aims to be inclusive and give voice to the estimated 25% - 33% of the population aged between 13 and 25 years old.

Case Study: advice on compiling PRSP communications strategy in Pakistan

The problem was how to counter widespread scepticism and lack of public ownership of the PRSP process in Pakistan,along with the widespread notion that information was to be hoardedrather than shared by government. Media Support Solutions input between 2004 and 2006 included supportinga local consultancy scoping the research required and designing TORs, aplan to disaggregate issues of public interest in the PRSP and how to presenting them in an understandable way to opinion formers ingovernment, the media and civil society. MSS monitored the subsequentefforts to overcome the Pakistan Finance Ministry’s reluctance to run a national communications campaign, and its unwillingness to let otherministries do so. A raft of other problems was identified and an overall analysis prepared for DFID to factor in the preparation offuture PRSP communications strategies.

Case Study: evaluation of media and governance project in Nigeria

Mid-term Output to Purpose Review (OPR), and end of Phase Annual Review (AR) of the BBC World Service Trust VOICES project, a radio production and media capacity building initiative aimed at increasing the participation of ordinary Nigerians in securing improved governance, services and livelihoods, and creating public debate on issues relating to the Millennium Development Goals. MSS input resulted in revision of project objectives and strengthening of monitoring and evaluation framework.