MEASURE Communication Final Report - Population Reference ...

18 MEASURE Communication Final Report
Recipients reported that they valued the briefing
packets because they were comprehensive and saved time:
“They are among the most valuable resources I use, both
for myself and for the in-country colleagues I work with.
There are many sources of information, but they are not
distilled. And few come as close to being as ‘one stop
shopping.’ You also have the sense that the essentials are
not escaping you. Somebody with the expertise and the
attention has captured the most important elements and
given the sources for other info should you need it.” The
questionnaire also asked “How would your work be
affected if you did not use them?” One USAID recipient
wrote, “I’d have to ask someone else to put the information
together, and I am not sure anyone would be available
to do so.” Another respondent said, “I would have to
spend considerably more time gathering information
myself, and frankly, I wouldn’t. I don’t have the skills in
information access or even the time. This is to say that
my work wouldn’t be as good.”
Media
Under MEASURE Communication, PRB supported hundreds
of journalists in less developed countries, helping
them to produce more and better news stories about
population, reproductive health, environment, and gender.
The media program had three basic approaches toward
improving media coverage of population, health, and environment
issues: developing networks of journalists, supporting
journalists to attend international conferences, and
providing increased access to written materials and news
stories. By forming and maintaining networks of journalists
and informing them through seminars and workshops,
the project formed alliances among these reporters, editors,
and producers (IR2); built their capacity to report
PHN/E issues (IR4); and fostered a commitment to raise
awareness of these issues among policymakers and the
public (IR1). Because of these media activities, many
PHN/E issues have more prominence on policy agendas in
countries around the world (IR3).
Over the life of the project, MEASURE
Communication staff facilitated a half dozen networks
and conducted workshops for more than 340 editors,
reporters, and producers from 35 countries. (Some participated
more than once.) As a direct result, the journalists
produced more than 1,200 print articles and
broadcast stories and programs on reproductive health,
gender, and environmental issues, most of which would
not have been done otherwise (see Attachment 3). Many
of the journalists continue to write about these issues,
and some now write columns and features that run regularly
in their publications. PRB estimated that MEASURE
Communication’s international media networks reached
as many as 25 million readers and listeners.
The Network Approach
MEASURE Communication’s work with the news media
had a distinctive approach to training: a cross-border,
sustained network design that brought together journalists
from different countries and regions to learn about
population-related issues and receive up-to-date regional
and country-specific information. Most of these journalists
remained in their networks for two years or more,
building bonds with the other journalists as they attended
informational seminars and workshops together and
maintained regular contact through e-mail and listservs
in between seminars.
Through these networks, the journalists motivated
and encouraged each other to expand and improve their
work. They learned during the seminars about population,
reproductive health, environmental, and gender
issues around the world as well as in their own countries.
They discussed the issues with health and medical
experts, women’s advocates, and international and
national officials. Site visits helped them to understand
the practical aspects of the issues by seeing successful
programs at work. They also shared personal and professional
experiences, developed coverage strategies and
story ideas, and discussed how their role as journalists
can affect policy decisions.
PRB’s longest running network is Women’s Edition
(WE). It was launched in 1993 with USAID funding and
included in MEASURE Communication in FY98. WE
consisted of 10 to 12 senior-level women editors and producers
from influential media networks in developing
countries who gather twice a year for seminars that focus
on women’s reproductive health issues. Seminars were
held on such topics as family planning, adolescent sexuality,
and maternal mortality. Following each seminar, the
journalists wrote, edited, and produced in-depth supplements,
series of articles, and radio and TV programs for
their news organizations on the theme of the seminar.
(See Attachment 4 for Women’s Edition participants from
1998–2003.)
Capitalizing on new democracies and the proliferation
of a free press, PRB provided technical support to networks
of newspaper and broadcast journalists in West
Africa with USAID funding since 1996. Pop’Mediafrique is
a network of 15 editors (“gatekeepers”) and local health
officials from five Francophone countries: Burkina Faso,
Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal. In 2000,
based on the success of the Pop’Médiafrique model, the
MEASURE Communication team, in collaboration with
the PANOS Institute, launched a second regional network
to support women journalists, calling it Fem’Mediafrique.
This initiative brought women journalists together with
public policymakers and influential leaders from their
respective countries for seminars on selected topics. In
2002, the two networks were combined and continued to