September 14, 2022

As one final output, the MEDAS 21 team has produced a position paper on “lessons learnt from a media development research program” as a result of its closing event. The position paper puts forward suggestions for further practical and theoretical engagement with media development cooperation. It draws from the experience of our four-year graduate school MEDAS 21 engaging with diverse perspectives in this broad field. The graduate school MEDAS 21 has tackled these topics through seven independent PhD research projects and one postdoc project in collaboration with eight practice partners in different contexts in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Beyond research and publications, the collaboration resulted in debates, field access, workshops and conferences, collaborative studies and practical efforts to enrich exchange and knowledge about media development cooperation. This made MEDAS 21 a post graduate program that actively sought to contribute to addressing issues of practical relevance. The paper summarizes important conclusions and learnings drawn from the work in the graduate school and suggests recommendations for future work at the intersection of media development cooperation’s theory and practice.

You can find and download the position paper at: https://www.medas21.net/resources/#papers

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August 1, 2022

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June 30, 2022

The Future of International Media Development

On the second day of the event, the Erich Brost Institute opened its doors to gather more than 40 attendees in a public event. They represented media development practitioners, media development researchers, students, political stakeholders, the MEDAS 21 Fellows and Professors of the program. As welcome notes, TU Dortmund’s Prorector Prof Dr Nele McElvany offered an opening speech, followed by the Volkswagen Stiftung Program Manager Dr Pierre Schwidlinski and the Professors of the MEDAS 21 Postgraduate Program Dr Susanne Fengler, Prof Dr Barbara Thomaß, Prof Dr Jens Loenhoff, as well as Program Director Dr Ines Drefs.

In the opening keynotes, Prof Dr Levi Obonyo from Daystar University in Nairobi addressed the challenges of African scholarship in the field. “That communication as a discipline is a new field in Africa is not in doubt. Most of our universities that offer the subject only came to it in the last three decades or so”, he explained, and further: “We need to understand the shape of the African media and the dynamics informing its evolution including the range of institutions that inform its newsroom. A profile of the African journalist is important. An understanding of the African media audiences is part of the matters that we must bring to the table of media scholarship”. Eventually, Prof Dr Levi Obonyo stressed: “Understanding this continent and its media is important. MEDAS 21 has made a critical contribution. My prayer is that as this project comes to an end, it may be treated only as a break in the game. There is still so much in the game to be played for.”

Dr Lassané Yaméogo from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique-CNRST in Ouagadougou addressed the challenges of international mobility for young researchers in his keynote speech and discussed lessons learned from the collaboration with the doctoral school MEDAS 21. “Western conceptions of journalism and professionalism are used in the African context without any perspective of contextualisation and redefinition of the historical, political, economic, socio-cultural and legislative issues that vary from one system of colonial domination to another, and from one country to another”, criticised Dr Lassané Yaméogo. He, too, highlighted the importance of academic dialogue between PhD students of MEDAS 21 with African francophone and anglophone doctoral students during a series of workshop ‘Knowledge for Tomorrow’ that had taken place in Nairobi (April 2022) and Abidjan (May 2022).

From Renewing Methods & Theory to Building to Trust and Learning from Failures

Throughout the rest of the day, the participants engaged in discussions ensuing as part of thematic sessions. The session on “Renewing Methodological Approaches to Media Development Research” dealt with innovative methods being used in research as the co-moderator and MEDAS 21 Fellows Viviane Schönbächler posed the question: “Do new media need new methodologies for research?”. The session’s purpose was to showcase innovative and creative methods being used in research on media development by Prof Dr Guido Keel, Director of the Institute of Applied Media Studies in Winterthur, Associate Prof Bruce Mutsvairo from Utrecht University (The Netherlands) and MEDAS Fellow Mira Keßler.

An expert exchange was then fostered to learn from on-site practitioners from Lebanon, Burkina Faso, Nepal, Uganda, and Afghanistan. It tackled questions of trust, participation, and local ownership when it comes to international cooperation in media development and journalism support. “What are the aspects of a good relationship between international partners in media development?”, asked Dr Ines Drefs who co-moderated the panel with Mira Keßler.

The idea of renewing theoretical perspectives in media development research was the guiding theme in a panel that gathered Dr Suzanne Temwa Gondwe Harris (London School of Economics and Political Sciences), Prof Dr Viola Milton (University of South Africa), Prof Dr Barbara Thomaß (Ruhr University Bochum), and Dr Anja Wollenberg from MiCT. “Afrikology” (philosophy of knowledge based on African cosmogonies), “developmentality” (the exploitation of the ideology of development) and decolonial thinking were some of the concepts raised and discussed by the panelists. This session was co-moderated by the MEDAS 21 Fellows Johanna Mack and Roja Zaitoonie.

The final panel was composed by practitioners from Afghanistan, Uganda, and Myanmar to debate on learning from failure experiences. “Considering one's failures is a good principle of a learning method”, stressed MEDAS 21 fellow Michel Leroy who co-presented the panel with his colleague Stefan Wollnik. “We intend to move away from this reluctance to consider our failures and face up to our shared responsibilities”, emphasised Wollnik.

As one final output, the MEDAS 21 team is now working on finalizing a position paper on “The Future of International Media Development” as a result of the closing event. It will target media development experts, funders and decision-makers.

Please see below for impressions of the second day of the event (pictures by Marcus Kreutler):

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May 4, 2022

A recording of the inaugural lecture (French) by Prof. Barbara Thomaß (MEDAS21, Ruhr-University Bochum), Dr Eugénie Aw-Ndiaye (YALI/CESTI, Sénégal), Dr Emma Heywood (Sheffield University) can be found here.

Below, you'll find the re-recording of the keynote on Terrorism and Insecurity in the Sahel and Burkina Faso (French) by Mahamadou Savadogo, researcher at CERADD Gaston Berger University (Sénégal) and University Joseph-Ki-Zerbo (Burkina Faso).

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April 23, 2022

„Knowledge for Tomorrow“ organise le deuxième atelier doctoral sur les médias et conflits à Abidjan du 27 au 29 avril 2022

Une conférence internationale réunissant la jeune recherche africaine en sciences de l'information et de la communication se penche du 27 au 29 avril sur les défis actuels du développement des médias dans les zones de conflits en Afrique.

L'actualité est venue rappeler le rôle ambivalent des médias en période de conflits, à la fois facteurs d'escalade des antagonismes (Gilboa, 2009) ou d'apaisement des tensions (Galtung, 2003; Hoffmann et Hawkins, 2015...). La recherche se focalise donc sur les les conditions qui peuvent renforcer leur rôle constructif (Maweu et Mare, 2021) et leurs défis spécifiques (Orgeret et Tayeebwa, 2016).

Après une première escale à Nairobi du 23 au 25 mars dernier, la conférence d'Abidjan s'intéresse à l'Afrique francophone du 27 au 29 avril. Une trentaine de panélistes, doctorant·e·s et chercheur·e·s en début de carrière, principalement africain·e·s, viendront apporter des éclairages sur leur recherche au Bénin, au Burkina Faso, au Cameroun, en Centrafrique, en Côte d'Ivoire, au Mali, au Sénégal... ou depuis leurs centres de recherche en Belgique, en France, au Québec ou au Pays-Bas...

Un projet conjoint du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CNRST) au Burkina Faso et de l’école doctorale #Medas21 basé à l'université de Dortmund en Allemagne.

Le programme provisoire est disponible ici.

La participation est gratuite mais une inscription préalable est indispensable à l'adresse https://forms.gle/SX8SYzqVmLnGwkWUA

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The second „Knowledge for Tomorrow“-Workshop on media and conflict will take place in Abidjan from 27-29 April 2022

An international conference bringing together young African scholars in information and communication sciences will focus on the current challenges of media development in conflict zones in Africa from 27 to 29 April.

Current events have reminded us of the ambivalent role of the media in times of conflict, both as a factor in escalating antagonisms (Gilboa, 2009) and in easing tensions (Galtung, 2003; Hoffmann and Hawkins, 2015...). The research therefore focuses on the conditions that can enhance their constructive role (Maweu and Mare, 2021) and their specific challenges (Orgeret and Tayeebwa, 2016).

After a first stop in Nairobi from 23 to 25 March, the Abidjan conference will focus on Francophone Africa from 27 to 29 April. Some thirty panellists, doctoral students and researchers in the early stages of their careers, mainly from Africa, will come to shed light on their research in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Senegal, etc., or from their research centres in Belgium, France, Quebec or the Netherlands...

A joint project of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CNRST) in Burkina Faso and the #Medas21 graduate school based at the University of Dortmund in Germany.

The provisional programme is available here.

Participation is free of charge but prior registration is required at https://forms.gle/SX8SYzqVmLnGwkWUA

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April 7, 2022

Opening session including welcome words by Prof Levi Obonyo and Prof Susanne Fengler

Opening session continued including panel discussion with Monica Ndungu (Nation Media Group) and Dr Njoki Chege (Media Inovation Ceter at Aga Khan University Nairobi)

Panel on “Critical Reflections on Media Development in Theory and Praxis” with Roja Zaitoonie (chair), Dr Emilly Maractho, Dr Ines Drefs and Josephine Ndunge

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March 22, 2022

Quelle est l'importance des perspectives critiques du développement pour la recherche sur le développement des médias ? En tant que chercheur.e.s, comment pouvons-nous contribuer à surmonter les barrières linguistiques à travers la mobilité scientifique au sein du continent africain et entre l'Afrique et l'Europe ? Et comment pouvons-nous développer une meilleure compréhension de la manière dont les médias et les journalistes sont affectés par les conflits armés ? Ces questions et d'autres seront abordées dans la série d'ateliers "Current Challenges of Media Development in Sub-Saharan Africa - A Dialogue between Academics from the `Global South' and the `Global North'"

Des jeunes chercheur.e.s se donnent rendez-vous à Abidjan du 27 au 29 avril 2022 pour discuter des questions d'actualité en lien avec le développement des médias en temps de crises. Pour y participer, en présentiel ou en ligne, veuillez postuler jusqu'au 23 mars 2022. Des places limités de bourses de voyages sont disponibles. 

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How important are critical theories of development for research on media development cooperation? How can researchers themselves contribute to the overcoming of language and participation barriers within the African continent and between Africa and Europe? And how can we develop a better understanding of how journalism and the media are affected by social conflicts? These and other questions will be addressed in the workshop series "Current Challenges of Media Development in Sub-Saharan Africa - A Dialogue between Academics from the 'Global South' and the 'Global North'". 

Junior researchers are meeting in Abidjan from the 27^th to 29^th april 2022 to discuss questions related to media development in times of crises. In order to participate, online or in presence, please apply until the 23^rd march 2022. There are a limited number of travel bursaries available.  

February 21, 2022

In January 2022, MEDAS 21 fellow Stefan Wollnik had the opportunity to participate in the “KAS Health Journalism Conference 2022 – Reporting in Covid times and beyond” in Senegal, which he helped to plan, organize and implement as part of his virtual practice stay at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation's media program (KAS Media Africa) based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The conference took place in the Senegalese capital Dakar from January 21 to 23 and had a specific focus on francophone Africa. Health journalism experts from 13 mainly African countries were present, including in particular journalists, scientists/medical professionals, and members of civil society (in the media). This event provided an opportunity for key stakeholders in the field of health journalism in Africa to exchange ideas and to network. The conference addressed different aspects of health journalism in Africa, including societal benefits of health journalism, related journalistic challenges, and opportunities to further promote and improve health journalism in Africa. It was rounded off with a short visit to the former slave island of Gorée which lies just off Dakar. There, the participants had the opportunity to learn more about the medical situation during the past years of the pandemic from employees of a public health care facility located on Gorée.

 The following is a brief summary of a few key findings that can be read at length in the official conference report:

Social benefits of health journalism during the pandemic

Compared to the crisis and health communication of governments, media reporting is not only informative, but above all explanatory. Health reporting has gained significantly in public standing as a result of the pandemic. Moreover, in relation to government institutions, the media have a monitoring function - especially during the pandemic (e.g., adequacy of Covid-19 measures, corruption). It is the task of the media to expose misinformation – but they can also be a source of misinformation themselves if they do not report health information accurately. 

Special challenges for health journalism: Communication problems and "forgotten health topics"

The participants agreed that health journalism needs to become more journalistic and accessible, especially by interpreting medical facts in an understandable way and by being critical towards the source of information they rely on. Besides, some conference participants talked about communication problems between journalists and scientists: On the one hand, journalists often accuse medical scientists or medical professionals for not communicating their research to the media in an understandable way. On the other hand, scientists and medical professionals regularly complain about the lack of accuracy in journalistic reporting. To overcome these issues, both sides should try to develop an understanding of each other's situation and of their specific working routines and constraints. For this reason, there could be more training in the form of media trainings for scientists or medical professionals as well as seminars for journalists, for instance, to teach basic medical terminology.

Another challenge for health journalism is reporting on issues other than infectious diseases. Many health topics are often not covered by the media due to lack of resources and societal reservations. These forgotten health topics in African media during and after the pandemic include, for example, noncommunicable diseases like mental health disorders. According to some participants, mental illnesses such as anxiety or depression are typically associated with religious superstition or witchcraft and are rarely discussed in public in some African societies (e.g., Burundi and the Central African Republic). Media coverage of mental illness could go a long way toward breaking down prejudices and religious beliefs about mental illness that are deeply rooted in some African societies.

How to support health journalism in Africa?

In terms of journalism training, the participants highlighted the importance of academic or theoretical training for journalists to acquire basic knowledge. However, opportunities for aspiring journalists to gain practical experience were cited as even more important. Therefore, mentoring programs were mentioned to familiarize journalists with the professional field. Inviting lecturers to universities or other education and training institutions for journalists was also seen as a suitable way to combine education and practice in health reporting.

Another important finding in this context is that due to the difficult financial situation of African media houses, there are very limited opportunities for specialized journalists in African labor markets, especially in the case of health journalism. The often very poor financial situation of African media houses before and during the Covid-19 pandemic can easily lead to dependencies on philanthropic organizations. Such dependency relationships can affect the media coverage of media houses: Some donations are explicitly tied to very specific health topics. Moreover, the media are reluctant to report on issues that affect their funders. According to some conferees, however, media houses with a strong sense of self-confidence and a strong negotiating position through other sources of revenue have a better chance of asserting their independence. Therefore, media houses should focus on diversifying their funds by tapping multiple funding sources. Subscriptions and paywalls, advertising, support from government programs, and innovative funding models such as special membership models were discussed as possible funding alternatives. In addition, editors should also start thinking in an entrepreneurial manner and find ways to contribute to the financing of their reporting.

The future of health journalism in Africa

With regard to the future of health journalism in Africa, the observations of the conference participants indicate that health journalism has already received more attention or prestige in African societies as a result of the pandemic. The activities of many NGOs in promoting journalistic coverage in the context of Covid-19 also suggest that health journalism, particularly in Africa, could still benefit from the crisis in the future. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether this is also true for other health journalism topics, such as mental health disorders. Overall, as the conference report concluded, the future of health journalism in Africa – as well as all other journalistic fields – is closely linked to the situation of media systems and labor markets for media professionals in general. 

A successful practice stay with KAS Media Africa 

The cooperation with KAS Media Africa and the participation in the conference was a very valuable experience for Stefan Wollnik. Not only did it give him the opportunity to learn more about planning and organizing conferences, but also the chance to exchange ideas with experts in health journalism on site. He was also able to present and discuss parts of his PhD research on the social importance of health journalism in Africa.

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February 15, 2022

Please find below the call for participation for the 3-day workshop “Current Challenges in Media Development”, which will take place on-site at Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya, 23 – 25 March 2022.

The workshop is jointly organized by the School of Communication at Daystar University in Nairobi (Kenya) and the Post Graduate Programme “MEDAS 21” at the Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism in Dortmund (Germany). It addresses (junior) researchers and PhD students in the fields of media, communication and development from African and European universities who are dedicated to media development.
Early application is encouraged. The final application deadline is 27 February 2022. The selection process will take place on a rolling basis and will be completed by 2 March 2022. A limited number of scholarships, which cover travel and accommodation, may be provided for successful international applicants.

For any questions, please contact: Roja Zaitoonie (roja.zaitoonie@ruhr-uni-bochum.de) and Evonne Kiptinness (emwangale@daystar.ac.ke).

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December 21, 2021

An eagerly awaited field trip to study the lived experiences of Central African journalists: This September, MEDAS 21 Fellow Fabíola Ortiz was finally able to conduct her field research with radio stations in Bangui. Upon her return, we asked her to share some of her experiences: 

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December 17, 2021

Together with project partners from Kenya and Burkina Faso, MEDAS 21 raises around 50,000€ from the Volkswagen Foundation’s “Knowledge for Tomorrow” funding initiative.

What relevance do critical perspectives on development theories have for media development research? How can researchers themselves contribute to overcoming language and participation barriers within the African continent and between Africa and Europe? And how can we develop a better understanding of how journalism and the media are affected by social conflicts? These and other questions will be addressed in the workshop series “Current Challenges of Media Development in Sub-Saharan Africa – A Dialogue between Academics from the ‘Global South’ and the ‘Global North’”. 

MEDAS 21 members Roja Zaitoonie, Viviane Schönbächler and Dr. Ines Drefs in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Levi Obonyo from Daystar University in Nairobi (Kenya) and Dr. Lassané Yaméogo from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) have successfully applied for funding from the Volkswagen Foundation. Thanks to a generous grant from their funding line “Knowledge for Tomorrow – Cooperative Research Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa”, they are planning a total of three workshops in spring 2022: Two on-site workshops, one in Nairobi and one in Ouagadougou, followed by an online workshop in which all participants come together digitally. Up to 40 (early career) researchers and students from different universities in Kenya, Burkina Faso, Germany and other African and European countries will be able to attend each on-site workshop. Researchers from the “Global South” and the “Global North” will thus have the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience, learn from each other and build joint networks. The aim is to improve research on media development cooperation towards a more equitable and sustainable practice.

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How important is trust to local partners in media development partnerships? And what difference does trust make when it comes to dealing with problems in media development partnerships? MEDAS 21 Postdoc Ines Drefs is tackling these questions in her recent study and presented preliminary results at the FoME Symposium 2021. This year, the annual event of „Forum Medien und Entwicklung“ (FoME) took place in Berlin from Nov 18-19 and was themed “Believe it or Not! Enquiries about TRUST in media (assistance)”. As part of a panel asking for “The role for trust in international media support collaboration”, Drefs shared first insights from an online survey and interviews with local partners of international media development organizations. 

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November 24, 2021

Due to the ongoing pandemic, ethnographic researchers are facing a special challenge: closed borders and travel bans are disruptions we have to deal with. But there are also other disruptions when doing research in living contexts that are different from one’s own. They raise questions such as: How to build trust, how to tell other people’s stories, how to unpack concepts and biases we have in our minds and how to report from within? 

From October 20-21, academics, journalists and activists – who have comparable ways and challenges of working in a field – came together to tackle these questions as part of the Autumn School on “Disrupted Ethnography” at the Ruhr-University Bochum. The hybrid event was organized by MEDAS 21 fellow Mira Keßler and her colleagues Sarah Rüller and Konstantin Aal from University of Siegen. Mira had been awarded with financial support of nearly 10,000 Euro by Ruhr University Bochum Research School’s funding scheme “PR.INT Event” [DFG GSC 98/3] to conduct the Autumn School. 

Here’s Mira Keßler’s report of the event: 

“The fact that we offered the Autumn School hybrid was already a step that allowed us to grow beyond ourselves. “Disrupted Ethnography” had thus already been a question in organizing the autumn school, namely how we could overcome the hurdle of travel restrictions and country borders (be it because of Covid or lack of sufficient funds). The excitement of organizing a hybrid event paid off. We were able to exchange ideas on our laptops with colleagues from all corners of the world - such as Turkey, India, Palestine, Morocco and the USA.

During the actual event, we spent two days discussing the possibilities and limits of our ethnographic approaches based on our research projects and practical experiences. We learned from the experiences of the invited journalists and activists who, like us, have to explore certain fields and groups of people. The approach of comparing journalists and ethnographic researchers is not new and has already been discussed by the social anthropologist Ulf Hannerz. According to him, they are "neighboring groups engaged in a somehow parallel pursuit." In exchanges with Jignesh Patel (India), Ramyata Limbu (Nepal), Mariam Barghouti (Palestine) and Mosa'ab Elshamy (Morocco), we as early-career scholars were able to look beyond our academic book covers.

Jignesh Patel, a fact-checker and media & information literacy trainer from India, exchanged with the Phd students and postdocs on how they can access the field and build trust with distant sources remotely. This is challenging when they must contact researched persons, potential research assistants or gatekeepers via text message, video chat or telephone. Researching in and with the help of digital space is also a topic of virtual ethnography - also called digital ethnography, netnography, webnography or cyberethnography. For this type of remote field access, the group discussed the need to build networks, work collaboratively, but also verify information. Trust plays a big role here as the energy of in-person interaction needs to be conveyed through remote work. Furthermore, it is important to understand the nuances of different languages or cultures. 

Ramyata Limbu from Nepal, Head of Operations of Panos South Asia (PSA), Director of the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (kimff) and a journalist, exchanged views with the participants on different "perceptions of the world". The question of how to reflect on own perspectives and concepts was essential. Especially for countries and people from the so-called "global south" the outside view and attribution in films but also in research are difficult. This was also the case for the Nepalese anthropologist Dor Bahadur Bista, who, in his confrontation with Eurocentric research and perspectives on Nepal, called for a "Nepalese anthropology". The problems of unequal power of definition are also reflected in international "cooperation." As a media development worker in South Asia, Ramyata provided insights into the difficulties foreign (aid) workers have had in gaining access to Nepali communities due to a lack of knowledge of local values, traditions, and rules of conduct. As researchers from the "global south", some of the participants were also able to connect with their experiences of othering, discrimination, and disadvantage – a topic that has received far too little attention.

Mariam Barghouti, a Palestinian writer and researcher based in Ramallah, addressed ethical and normative issues of fieldwork and reporting in her workshop "Reporting from within - challenging objectivity under oppression". The participants sought to revise the concept of objectivity and the role of documentation in shaping, transforming, or reinforcing social communities. They tried to unpack the realities of populations under struggle where the lines of being objective become blurred. Due to the need to protect vulnerable groups while researching them, the role conception of fieldworkers can shift from "objective" reporting to an activist or mobilizing one. Furthermore, this also raises the question of the significance of emotions, which both reporters from crisis areas and researchers on, for example, injustice, racism, or power inequalities find difficult to put aside.

Mosa´ab Elshamy, a staff photographer for the Associated Press based in Morocco, is involved in daily news stories as well as in in-depth photography projects and social documentary work across the Middle East and North Africa. His workshop aimed at covering practices of photojournalism and the challenges it faces today. The question of the representation of the "researched", whether through images or language, also plays a role in ethnographic work. The participants discussed the ethical aspect of a continuously developing and divisive field. They talked about the process one has to go through as a photojournalist or ethnographer when working on stories – from researching a topic to establishing contact and executing a (photo) trip, while maintaining a coherent (visual) narrative. 

Dominic Boyer, Professor in anthropology at Rice University in the USA, unites two roles of being an academic but also practitioner as he is also a writer, filmmaker and podcaster. In his keynote speech, he spoke about his understanding and his experiences with ethnography in disrupted times. He gave suggestions how to answer the question what the intellectual challenges and creative opportunities of working in disrupted fields are. He reflected on his experience with ethnographic disruptions from his first anthropological work with former journalists from the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the post-socialist “Wendezeit” (turning point after the fall of the wall) as well as from his contemporary research on climate change and “Energiewende” (energy revolution). In particular, he focused attention on the possibilities of intellectual and artistic collaboration between ethnographers and their partners in fieldwork and on the importance of diversifying ethnographic engagements across different media as a way of communicating anthropological insights within an extremely diverse and fast-paced mediascape.

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November 12, 2021

How has the Covid-19 pandemic affected media worldwide? And what can international media development do to support them in confronting this crisis as well as making them more resilient for future challenges? These questions are examined by the study “Coronavirus pandemic: Impacts on global media freedom” (Original title in German: “Coronavirus-Pandemie: Auswirkungen auf die Medienfreiheit in globaler Perspektive”), recently published by Deutsche Welle Akademie. It is the result of joint efforts from DW Akademie’s Alexander Matschke and Dennis Reineck as all as MEDAS21 Fellows Johanna Mack and Roja Zaitoonie. The co-authors analysed studies and reports on Covid-19’s effect on media landscapes and interviewed media experts from 12 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe.

The study is available at: https://www.dw.com/de/studie-pandemie-beeintr%C3%A4chtigt-medienfreiheit/a-58838402

It sheds light on various aspects that have been affected by the global crisis, especially:

• Access to media and information
  The gap between people with and without access to trustworthy news has increased. While people have been hungrier for information than ever before, trends concerning trust in media were ambivalent.
• Disinformation
  The World Health Organization (WHO) speaks of an “infodemic” of false information that accelerates the public health crisis. Fake news and disinformation circulate especially via online and social media and meet a lack of digital media literacy.
• Media viability and journalists’ working conditions
  In many countries, ad markets have been severely affected. Media outlets hat to lay-off staff or cut salaries.
• Media freedom and repressions against journalists
  Censorship, attacks against journalists and online surveillance increased during the pandemic. In some countries, existing or new laws have been used to curtail media freedom.

The study concludes with recommendations for donors and practitioners of media development on how to tackle these challenges, underlining the importance of free and sustainable media during global crises. They suggest a holistic approach that addresses the legal, economic, professional, digital and ethical resilience of media, as well as their relation to their audiences. 

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November 3, 2021

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October 21, 2021

MEDAS21 fellow Fabíola Ortiz dos Santos has been interviewed by Inga Dreyer from the science communication platform “Wissenschaftskommunikation.de” about her research findings. In the interview, Ortiz dos Santos gives an insight into the work of two fact-checking platforms she studied, Congo Check and Talato, based in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. What problems can be identified in terms of gathering information about Corona? How does the media system influence the news coverage? The whole interview can be found here.

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September 06, 2021

Three members of MEDAS 21 will speak live at the 8th ECREA European Communication Conference which takes place online from Sep 6-9. Thematically, the ECREA Conference revolves around questions such as: What is the role of media and communication in the future? What kind of social, political and cultural futures are brought about and modelled by media and communication? What are the relationships between them and what are their main normative cornerstones? Numerous academics are invited to question and discuss together the relevance of communication studies in the face of the societal challenges of today and for generations to come. Michel Leroy, Mira Keßler and Ines Drefs will also participate and present their perspectives and research findings on international media development in the 21st century to registered participants:

Tuesday, September 7th, 09:00-10:30, Room 14

Michel Leroy: "In Future We Trust: Sustainability of community radio in developing countries and its interaction with professionalization"

Thursday, September 9th, 11:00-12:30, Room 8 

Mira Keßler: "Power and diversity in the “classroom”. A look at differences in journalism trainings as part of Media Development."

Thursday, September 9th, 15:00-16:30, Room 15

Ines Drefs: "International media development: Modelling the practices of funders, intermediary organisations and local partners based on organizational institutionalism"

Further information on the conference and the programme: https://www.ecrea2021.eu/

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July 27, 2021

Last December, MEDAS 21 fellow Mira Keßler has been granted financial support of nearly 10,000€ for her autumn school on “Disrupted Ethnography”. She had successfully applied to Ruhr University Bochum Research School’s funding scheme “PR.INT Event” which is supported by Germany’s Excellence Initiative [DFG GSC 98/3].

Together with co-organizers Sarah Rüller and Konstantin Aal (both University of Siegen), Mira Keßler is pleased to announce and invite to their practical Autumn School titled „Disrupted Ethnography - Building Trust, Telling Stories, Unpacking Concepts and Reporting from Within". It will take place as a hybrid event on October 20/21, 2021, at the Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany, and online.

Interested to take part? 

The organizers invite advanced Master students, doctoral and postdoctoral researchers as well as media practitioners, journalists, and activists who are interested to take part in the Autumn School to submit their application by August 15, 2021. Participation is free of charge. Detailed information about the application process can be found at: https://disrupted-ethnography.org/

The guiding questions for the event are: What can (academic) researchers and practitioners learn from one another when it comes to methodological challenges and obstacles in fieldwork? How do we move beyond practices that are established but do not serve us – as researchers, filmmakers, storytellers, activists, or journalists? 

Thinking out of the box

Together with selected participants Keßler, Rüller and Aal want to “think out of the box” by starting a dialogue between (future) researchers and media practitioners who have comparable ways of working ethnographically in a field, and who are confronted with similar challenges and levels of disruption, such as travel restrictions, gaining and maintaining field access, finding contacts and forging cooperation, as well as ethical questions of representation of social life and scenes of conflict and injustice.

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July 16, 2021

This year’s conference of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) was a hybrid event with plenary sessions in Nairobi and a variety of online sessions. One of the latter was a panel presentation successfully submitted by the MEDAS 21 Fellows to the working group on “Media Sector Development”. Here's the key information:

IAMCR PANEL PRESENTATION “Reconceptualizing the Field of Media Development”
Tuesday, July 13, 2021, 3.30 pm – 5 pm CEST

Preview of the papers (for IAMCR members and registrants): https://iamcr.org/node/15190

10-minute videos of each presentation are available here: https://www.medas21.net/resources/#videos

On the day of the live panel presentation, the MEDAS 21 Fellows highlighted connecting points as well as tensions between the research papers. Afterwards, they invited the audience to join the discussion, share ideas and connect. Discussant of the session was Dr Michael Yao Wodui Serwornoo from Cape Coast University, an expert on international journalism right at the pulse of the current debates.

About the panel

The MEDAS 21 Fellows combine their theoretical knowledge with their insights from the field – from West Africa to South Asia. In close cooperation with our practice partners, they have been observing current developments in the sector. The preliminary results point at important issues that are already and will in future concern media development practitioners. The contributions span timely concerns such as the challenges of Covid-19-reporting and the quest for sustainability, as well as critical perspectives on public communication in conflict settings, women’s participation in radio and the interactions between trainers and trainees in journalism trainings:

• Michel Leroy (TU Dortmund): Sustainability through 20 years of media development evaluation
• Viviane Schönbächler (RUB University) and Fabíola Ortiz dos Santos (University of Duisburg-Essen): A discussion of influencing factors in conflict journalism and implications for MediaDev
• Roja Zaitoonie (RUB University ): PR or Media Development? The UN efforts on Media and Public Information in Peace Operations
• Stefan Wollnik (University of Duisburg-Essen): The importance and challenges of COVID-19 pandemic health reporting in Uganda and South Africa
• Mira Keßler (RUB University): Rethinking borders and boundaries: Differences in journalism trainings in media development
• Chair: Johanna Mack, University of Duisburg-Essen

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June 17, 2021

We are pleased to announce a seminar series called „Teaching Media Development“ which focuses on innovative curricula, creative teaching techniques and networking opportunities for emerging scholars in the field of media development. University teaching is a crucial aspect when it comes to establishing media development as an academic field. Students from BA to PhD level constitute the upcoming generation of journalists, communication researchers or media policy advisers who will shape debates on how to develop media sectors all over the world – be it in media outlets, NGOs, ministries, law offices, research centers, or think tanks. Therefore, it is hugely important to spark students’ interest in questions of media and development and to qualify them to be able to conduct sound analyses thereof. The seminar series 
attempts to start a conversation about best practices of teaching media development at university level this July. In the long run, it is supposed to contribute to improved academic training of media development experts as professionals who are skilled at thoroughly considering and analyzing local circumstances and developing localized solutions.

Convenors: Ines Drefs, Mira Keßler, Michel Leroy 

Location: Zoom. Free and open to all.

This series is organized by MEDAS 21 and the IAMCR Media Sector Development Working Group
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SEMINAR 1 "Media development curricula from around the world“

Friday, July 2, 20201, 1.00-2.30 pm CEST (7.00-8.30 am New York; 7.00-8.30 pm Manila)

Registration: https://tu-dortmund.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4vmnqzlDTDSKfDWEvTjW6Q

Outline: Efforts aimed at developing the media sector are being discussed in university classrooms all around the world. The related courses are sometimes offered by departments of journalism studies, sometimes by departments of communication and sometimes as part of development studies, oftentimes they are interdisciplinary. What are the implications of where media sector development sits within university structures? What skills do teachers of these courses need to impart to the students and how to make sure these can be localized? Is there a canon of essential literature for students learning about media sector development? If so, what is and what should be in there? These are the guiding questions of this session in which course leaders, university teachers and curators of literature collections present and discuss their approaches.

Confirmed speakers:

viola milton

is Professor at the Department of Communication Science at the University of South Africa where she teaches "Media Studies".  She has helped develop the "Media Studies" degree at University of Pretoria and is Executive Editor for the oldest South African journal in Communication Studies, entitled “Communicatio: South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research”. 

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SEMINAR 2 "Creating opportunities for the next generation: speed date with media development PhD students!“

Friday, July 9, 20201, 1.00-2.30 pm CEST (7.00-8.30 am New York; 7.00-8.30 pm Manila)

Registration: https://tu-dortmund.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUuf-qrqzosGdMF9_k17P-u4roZuVDCvlS3%20

Chair: Michel Leroy (MEDAS 21/Erich Brost Institute)

Outline: Twelve early-career researchers and PhD fellows from four different continents (Brazil, Burkina Faso, Colombia, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Nigeria, Philippines, DRC, USA) working on media development issues will participate in this first online speed-dating session. In a maximum of three minutes, they will present their research, their difficulties and the pressures they face. The aim of this session is to provide a framework for peer networking. It is an opportunity for young researchers from the "North" and the "South" to network and meet with practitioners and established researchers to express their concerns and difficulties such as (but not limited to) choosing a relevant topic, grant and funding issues, access to data and literature... An informal atmosphere will ensure equality, caring and respect. If you would like to attend the conference and participate in the conversation, register now!

More information on the session below at: https://www.medas21.net/news/#PhDspeeddate

Confirmed speakers:

Claudine Bonsoy Lunga (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Located at UCL in Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), she is working on “Information and education in the age of social network: foundations of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in the DRC”.

Wisnique Panier (Haiti)

He was awarded the doctoral degree a few weeks ago at Laval University (Québec, Canada). His research focuses on “The transformations of the Haitian radio system from 1960 to 2020: Change and continuity”.

Olusegun Joel Titus (Nigeria)

He has spent his first year as a PhD fellow at the University of Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. He is interested in “an eco-evolutionary exploration of audio platforms: The use of podcasts and new audio experiences in the activation of youth’s participation”.

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SEMINAR 3 "Creative techniques in classroom and applied training“

Friday, July 23, 20201, 1.00-2.30 pm CEST (7.00-8.30 am New York; 7.00-8.30 pm Manila)

Registration: https://tu-dortmund.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bWxky1Q7QZqYSUWx1CqfLw

Outline: The training of media development experts must be ahead of its time to meet future challenges. This is not only about technical innovation, big data, and new ways of storytelling. It is also about a creative approach to educational content and teaching methods. Here it is important to note that media development is on the one hand based at a university level; on the other hand, it is based on practical trainings. For this reason, it is our aim to connect scholars with practitioners, if both hearts are not already in one chest. For both realms, creativity means innovation by using imagination and critical thinking. Breaking free from repetition and simple reproduction clears the way for new development and implementation approaches. It is important to us to bring different experts together, different in the sense of different living and working environments, different institutions, and different experiences with their own best practices. Our guiding questions for this multi-disciplinary panel on “creative teaching techniques” are: When and why do we need to be creative for teaching media development? How could this creativity look like?

Confirmed speakers:

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June 6, 2021

This year, as part of the IAMCR pre-conference events, the media sector development working group and MEDAS21 invite 12 PhD students from 4 different continents (Brazil, Burkina Faso, Colombia, DRC, France, Germany, Haiti, India, Nigeria, Philippines, USA) and working on media development issues to an online “speed-dating session.” By offering emerging scholars the opportunity to present their research in a 3-minute-thesis format and get feedback from their peers and industry professionals, we hope to contribute to intensified exchange and networking and to develop practical coping mechanisms for any difficulties and pressures they face in their research. 
 The selection process is now over but it's time to register to attend the session!

Here‘s the key information:

• Title: IAMCR pre-conference event: online speed-dating session (live) for postgraduates and PhD students working on media development
• Date: Friday, July 9th, 2021, 7am ET (1pm CEST)
• Registration: https://tu-dortmund.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUuf-qrqzosGdMF9_k17P-u4roZuVDCvlS3%20
• Costs: This is a FREE event, open to anyone, no membership required

Background

Within the relatively new working group focusing on efforts of shaping and developing media systems, early-career scholars sometimes feel isolated or feel that professional connections in the sector are difficult to establish. The aim of this session is to provide an opportunity for early-career scholars to build their networks. It is an opportunity for junior scholars from the “Global North“ and “South“ to meet with practitioners and senior researchers to voice their concerns and challenges such as (but not limited to) choosing a relevant topic, grants and funding issues, access to data and literature... An informal atmosphere will ensure equality, caring and respect.

Aims

What topics are under-researched in the field of media sector development today? What are the most pressing challenges for getting early-career researchers and professionals in the sector to work together? In a casual format similar to “speed dating”, postgraduate and doctoral students will be able to propose their answers to these questions and convey them to their peers by presenting their research (project) to the audience in 3 minutes maximum. These contributions will finally be taken up and discussed in a debate with representatives of academic institutions and media development organisations. Those who cannot attend the discussion can contribute to the debate by sending a poster (in PDF format) presenting their project and its issues, to be published on a dedicated webpage.

Important dates

• May 20, 2021: Launch of the call for proposal
• June 21, 2021: Deadline for submitting a proposal (3-minute live talk or a poster)
• June 30, 2021: Notification of acceptance
• July 9, 2021: Live event on Zoom

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May 18, 2021

Source: private

From September 2020 until March 2021, MEDAS 21 Fellow Johanna Mack spent six months working with her practice partner. In this interview, she talks about what she learned during this time and how it can help her for her doctoral project.

Johanna, during your practice stay at Deutsche Welle Akademie you worked from home due to the pandemic. What was the situation like for you?

Working from home has fundamentally changed a lot of things for me. I would have loved to be on site in Bonn or Berlin. But working remotely also had its advantages: I was able to get insights into many areas that I would not have had as much access to in an analogue way. The work processes have been redesigned and adapted to the new conditions. I took part in a "check-in meeting" every morning. I mostly worked with the team "Research and Evaluation", but I was also able to visit other teams within the department Policy and Learning and to get a taste of the work of the country teams, for example in the regions Asia, Africa and the Middle East/ North Africa. I also presented my doctoral project and got feedback from my team. All in all, the time at Deutsche Welle Akademie was great!

What new insights did you gain during this time about media systems in unstable contexts?

I do not have all the data together yet. But so far, I can say that it would be helpful to reflect on the fact that our understanding of what media systems are and how they should be, is contextualized. For example, theories about media systems tend to come from Western contexts. And this understanding of concepts shapes development efforts and vice versa. In a country like Guinea-Bissau, where many people cannot read and access to important digital infrastructure is lacking, communication channels outside the mass media are highly interesting. It is important to look at how people communicate. Griots, for example, are traditional storytellers who are the “memory” of an ethnic group. Considering such communication structures might offer new ideas of how various media systems might function and how they are influenced by different local and international variables.

What are your next plans with regard to your research?

To find out how media development actors describe media systems, I will contact quite a few media development organizations and ask them about how and for which purposes they analyse media landscapes. Because of the pandemic, it is difficult to plan my next fieldtrip. Luckily, I have had the chance to travel to my case study-country twice already, make some contacts and gain first insights. But I would like to check whether the ideas I developed at my desk at home are relevant on the spot. I also want to meet experts and players from the media landscape in Guinea-Bissau to learn more about the structure and history of the media system than books can tell me and to ask them how they define different aspects of their media system and concepts of journalism. What do they understand by professionalism, for example?

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May 12, 2021

On May 12, 2021, Sigrun Rottmann was the special guest in our MEDAS21 lab meeting to discuss teaching conflict-sensitive journalism to young professionals. She offers a special seminar with journalism students at TU Dortmund and shared her experiences and challenges when approaching conflict reporting.

Journalists report on conflicts

“We need to talk about how journalists deal with conflict if we want to contribute to democracy,” she stressed during a 40-min lecture. It is often through quality conflict coverage that democracies are enhanced, she underlined when explaining what conflict-sensitive journalism is about.

“My aim is to provide journalists with skills to produce good quality journalism,” said Rottmann. Before becoming a lecturer at TU Dortmund in 2012, she had worked as a correspondent in Central America, as a journalism trainer and as a London-based BBC producer. According to her, the media construct reality and influence how the audience perceive and understand conflicts. Conflict coverage is the presentation, interpretation and evaluation of social and political conflicts – both those that involve or not physical violence. “It is not our responsibility to fuel or scandalize conflicts,” she added. But rather that it is the journalist’s responsibility to provide extensive information about conflicts so that the public can deal with them constructively.

The Power of words and frames

In her seminar, Rottmann also addresses preconceived ideas and social-psychological aspects (such as prejudices, stereotypes, hidden biases) that may affect the journalists’ coverage and how media professionals perceive conflicting issues.

“We look at different definitions of what is a conflict, escalation, and social change,” she detailed. In order to equip the journalists to have a better and more complex understanding of conflicts, she strives to convey tools used in conflict analysis – such as actor mapping. A close attention is paid to language and images, and to critically assess what kinds of frames are being used. “We look into the power of words and metaphors in war reporting. It is important for journalists to know what frames are, how they work, and that they can be used in a manipulating way,” she explained.

According to the guest speaker, many challenges remain, and more research is needed to inform best practices and foster multidisciplinary approaches to conflict-sensitive journalism. “We need to get more professional journalists and newsrooms interested.” The way forward would be to engage in cooperation on eye level with professionals from around the globe, concluded Rottman.

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May 10, 2021

On 20th April 2021, Roja Zaitoonie and Fabíola Ortiz dos Santos held a panel presentation titled „Assistance or Hinderance? Policies, Practices, Coordination and Impacts of Foreign Media Intervention in Conflict-Affected Societies,". Along with their partner Sacha Meuter of Fondation Hirondelle, as well as Jean-Claude Kayumba of the University of Sheffield and Kwame Poku of the United Nations Office for Rule of Law & Security Institutions they discussed this topic with senior scholars, organized as part of a series of events on UN media by the Hub for the Study of Hybrid Communication in Peacebuilding, hosted and led by the Centre for Freedom of the Media at the University of Sheffield.

Roja Zaitoonie presented her previous work on UN efforts on media and communication and their impact on peace processes and media developments. "Some of the peace operations have been criticized for not being fully successful. Media and communication played an important role at this point", said Roja Zaitoonie. Zaitoonie also highlighted the challenges and opportunities facing these operations.

Fabíola Ortiz shared her research on the development of the media sector in the Central African Republic and the role of international actors in the media. She recalled the Rwandan genocide and the time when media were being instrumentalized. Up until this day, this historical event has an impact on the media's core competency: to provide reliable information and facts. Ortiz cites fact checking as an example: "There is a need in every actor that they have their own way of fact checking, against disinformation."

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March 1, 2021

MEDAS 21 Fellow Fabíola Ortiz dos Santos recently started to work with her practice partner - remotely. In this interview she tells us about her involvement in a training workshop on fact-checking techniques with journalists from Central Africa and her hopes of being able to meet them in person someday soon.   

Impressions from Bangui: The workshop on fact-checking techniques in progress

Fabíola, given the pandemic you have recently started to work remotely with your practice partner Internews. In what activities have you been involved so far?

I am very happy that Internews has become a partner of our MEDAS 21 doctoral program and that they have offered me the possibility to learn and get involved in some of their work in the Central African Republic. I have recently started engaging with their new association of fact-checkers (AFC- Association des Fact-checkers de Centrafrique) launched in January 2020. Amid its goals, the AFC wishes to contribute to fight against the dissemination of misinformation and rumours; train and educate media actors and young people on the fight against misinformation, mainly in the web environment but not limited to that. After a series of conversations and calls, the AFC coordinator Rocard Maleyo invited me to contribute to the training workshop on fact-checking techniques for a group of ten journalists based in Bangui and in the provinces – a mix of journalists from community radios, online press, newspapers and a journalism student of the University of Bangui. Within the five days of the theoretical part of the training mid-February, I contributed with two modules about phases of verification and on communicating with the audience by use of social media. I prepared the modules and the handouts based on verification guides published by UNESCO, BBC Afrique and Le Monde. I also drew insights from my recent book chapter about interviews with fact checkers in the DR Congo and Central African Republic and from a forthcoming paper on verification experiences on Covid-19 to be published soon in the journal Frontiers in Communication.

Holding a training session for journalists at a distance seems quite challenging. How did you manage?

It was challenging indeed! But very rewarding. I must acknowledge it has been quite an adventure both for me, for the AFC team and for the journalists in the training. I should, first of all, thank the team of Internews for the openness and for trusting in my work. I was a bit worried about how we would manage in terms of logistics due to the unstable internet connection. I was eager to have some interaction with the journalists! My suggestion was that I create slides on powerpoint and recorded on audio for each slide. My colleagues were able to download the presentation and, during the scheduled day and time, February 17 and 18, they showed it to the journalists, slide by slide playing the audio. A member of the AFC team was in charge of conducting the slide presentation and discussing or commenting the topics after my audio. During the sessions, Rocard Maleyo kept me informed in real time by sending photos and short videos to give me a sense of the environment and how the session was unfolding. So voilà, at the end, after some minutes for reflection and preparing the questions, we managed to have a real Skype call of around 20 minutes each day so that I could see all the faces of the journalists and they could see mine. They all had their opportunity to ask questions. Despite the challenging connection, we were able to fulfill our expectations to meet one another and exchange.

You are hopeful to be able to spend time in the field in Central African Republic at some point. What are you most excited about?

I am definitely confident that it will be possible to go to the capital Bangui. Although I acknowledge the challenges regarding the Covid-19 pandemic and the security concerns on the trail of the recent electoral process the country has gone through, I am positive it will be feasible to travel. I am very excited to meet the journalists in person! After many conversations and online remote exchanges for my research, I am eager to finally meet them and continue strengthening this relationship with the media practitioners and as well with the organisations working with media development projects. In the meantime, I am improving my French skills and learning some Sango, the other official language spoken in the country.

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