edition-dw-akademie-in-the-service-of-the-public-functions-and-transformation-of-media-in-developing-countries-pdf

Conclusions and Recommendationsstrengthen community radio and selected private stations totake over more public service functions. And secondly, in caseswhere the transformation of state media is ongoing and supported,it can be helpful to work with community and privatemedia at the same time. By strengthening different selectedmedia a dynamic landscape and healthy competition can becreated that help build a public service ethos.If the goal for media development is to strengthen theunique public service ideas – universal, diverse and distinctivemedia services of good quality for citizens – its perspectiveshould be extended beyond state broadcaster transformation.With APSM, too, a lot can be achieved on behalf of the public.To sum up: Ideally a media landscape has both types, PSMand APSM – in fruitful competition with the PSM offering abroader set of services, and the APSM being more innovativeand adapting better to the needs of specific communities andaudiences. Meanwhile, in countries where the reform towardsPSM is not realistic, APSM can step in and take over importantfunctions, even if some considerable limitations will remain.So if, in a given country, there is no political will for the transformationof a state broadcaster, media development shouldlimit its engagement and focus on strengthening APSM. Onthe other hand, if both media types show potential for progress,a strategic decision is needed based on the particular situationin the particular media landscape in question.RQ 4: Which changes in private and community media wereachieved through media development in the past and whatwere the challenges and limitations of this work?We can answer this question based on the information assessedin a small number of case studies only. As with the PSMabove, we describe the changes in the media which can be relatedto the involvement of media development actors. We dothis again in correspondence with the areas of strategic actionof the DW Akademie model (See chapter 2.4).Political and legal frameworksOur case studies show that media development actors seemto prefer to focus on training and newsroom-related consultanciesonly. But there can be no doubt that more long-termengagement for the improvement of political and legal frameworksis necessary to advance private and community mediaand to establish coherence between the two sectors.Community and private media often struggle with nontransparentand bureaucratic licensing processes, difficult orabsent frameworks, and political restrictions. In spite of this,most media development actors invested their resources inother areas.But there are exceptions. The AMARC network for communityradio has helped to structure this third media sectorthrough lobbying, dialogue, and supply of knowledge, especiallyin Latin America. The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung has alsoprovided and assembled legal expertise in different forms inthis region. In Nepal, the Dutch organization Free Press Un-limited supported the growth of community radio througha broad approach which included a support center as well asadvocacy and lobbying.In Colombia, DW Akademie has worked with a well-chosenselection of community media and supported the licensingprocesses, as in the case of Radio Vocaribe. Here the licencingprocesses were used to consolidate and strengthen the teamsinvolved. In their course, goals for the community radio projectwere defined and ethics and newsroom guidelines developed.The exceptional case of B92 in Serbia in the 1990s shows,however, that even without any leverage in regulatory questions,successes in other strategy fields can raise the pressureon the authorities to amend the political and legal framework.Here the international media actually worked against the politicaland legal framework in Serbia to support the news outlet.When the broadcaster was banned by the government theinternational media rebroadcast its program. This helped toincrease its popularity, and in the end the government preferredto bring the station back on air again in the country.QualificationsA large part of international support for private and communitymedia is training of journalists, technical staff, and trainers.In our cases this was an important element of support,especially for the younger and smaller news outlets whichcould not afford to invest in staff capacity building. And yetthis type of intervention remains limited and unsustainable,unless structures for continuous qualification are built.Radio Sagamartha (Nepal) and Radio Pio XII (Bolovia) arecases where basic structures for the training of staff withinthe organization were successfully developed with supportfrom DW Akademie. Furthermore, a system of vocationaljournalism training was established at the Erbol network, ofwhich Radio Pio XII is a member. Especially in the latter casea comparatively broad and sustainable structure of qualificationwas initiated.Professionalism and economic sustainability ofthe media sectorMedia development actors have, in some cases, helped small,nascent news outlets on a very basic level. Radio Sagamartha,for example, received initial start-up support from UNESCO:hardware, but also elementary training and consultancy.In the stages that followed, the media outlets used newsroomconsultancies in various forms to reorganize productionprocesses and improve the programming. A general professionalizationcould be achieved by developing new formatsand presenting improved content. Through the production ofsoap operas, for example, which dealt with the problems ofpeople in the villages and cities of Nepal, the team involvedat Radio Sagamartha and with them the entire organizationlearned to operate in new ways.In most of our cases the use of new digital technology playedan important role for the operation of the news outlets. TheEdition DW Akademie In the Service of the Public 285