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

ects, DW Akademie and BBC Media Action were motivated toconduct training sessions and establish a new format for apolitical talk show in the run-up to the presidential electionsin March 2014 (“Open Jirga”). “Open Jirga is, at least at the moment,a single project and is the only one with RTA - but I amhoping it would work as a catalyst to demonstrate RTA’s potentialto Afghan politicians.” 46 Media Action project manager Siddiqistates that nothing significant has happened to supportthe transformation of RTA: “A couple of things that have happened,have not had any significant impact (even if they hadthe potential to do so).” Nevertheless, he has not fully abandonedthe idea of transforming RTA into a PSB, even though itwould be a lot more difficult now than it was five years ago.The DW Akademie’s focus in Afghanistan was and is on programsfor children and young people. According to assessmentsof the regional coordinator Afghanistan at DW Akademie,the projects in 2013 with RTA were quite successful onthe editorial level, despite all the difficulties on the structurallevel. 47 Besides the journalistic trainings the measures includedconsultations for RTA’s middle-management, in orderto drum up support and emphasize the relevance of new andattractive programs for a younger audience. Changes on themanagement level are seen as the greatest challenge. Yet DWAkademie’s measures on the editorial level are backed up byconsulting measures for RTA’s management, in order to helpimprove internal processes. Some stakeholders prefer the ideaof establishing a completely new public service broadcaster,others still hold on to the idea that RTA can be transformedinto a public service broadcaster if certain measures are taken:– Improvements of the legal framework: Amending themedia law in order to give RTA more editorial and financialindependence.– Advocating for the possibilities of raising money for RTAand finding financial sources.– Implementing structures that provide for long-termplanning within the corporation.– Help in organizational development for RTA’s basis inKabul and the outlets in the provinces.– Establishing a training department.– Assessment of the programs in order to develop andintroduce new formats meeting the public serviceidea with respect to the major languages and theminority languages.In the Altai study RTA is seen as one of the main ways to pursuethe goal of supporting integration: “To this end, it wouldbe necessary to build on RTA’s relative success and significantlyenhance its audience share through a line-up of moreattractive programs, designed with the goal of promoting asense of national unity.” 48 The Altai authors suggest programsfocussing on positive achievements, showing the results of thenation-building effort, testimonials of conflict resolution andwell-administered justice, examples of successful (and not corrupt)business ventures and clever promotion of Afghan history,culture, and identity can contribute to fostering a senseof national unity. Civil society actors like Seddiqullah Tauhidi,the advocacy manager of the media watch branch of the journalists’union NAI, underline the necessity of a strong and reliablepublic broadcaster that fosters a national consciousnessand thus supports integration.For Afghanistan it can be concluded that the transformationprocess of the state broadcaster did not succeed for differentreasons: Most importantly short-sightedness on themedia development side and a reform fear and confusion onthe Afghan side led to reform stagnation. A new attempt toreform the broadcaster would need new approaches on manylevels as well as a well-coordinated long-term engagementfrom many actors.– Reducing the RTA staff (to retire the old cadre). A seriousrestructuring process of the organization would entail thefiring of 90% of the staff who are currently on the payrollbut were never were productive for the broad caster. Changingthe personnel structure of RTA was and still is the mostdifficult aspect in the transformation efforts.– Improving professional skills of old and new RTA staffin production, administration, and technical departments.– Improving professional skills of the corporation’s middlemanagement team, in particular, in leadership and organizationalskills. Most of the people in those positions are notqualified for the jobs and have no interest in changing thestatus quo. They should be motivated to follow the idea.46Shirazuddin Siddiqi, Project Manager, BBC Media Action for Afghanistan,written answers, May 29, 2014.47Priya Esselborn, Regional Coordinator South Asia, DW Akademie.48Altai Consulting 2010, 175.44