GFMD IMPACT Consultations

This briefing presents the consultation process for GFMD’s International Media Policy and Advisory Centre (IMPACT).

Recipient Perceptions of Media Development Assistance

In November 2018, GFMD embarked on a study of how members of its community perceive donor policies and procedures, with the goal of helping to shape discussions on how the planning and management of funding could be improved. The two-month study was informed by a literature review of related research, an analysis of survey responses from GFMD members, one-on-one interviews with selected members, and additional conversations with stakeholders in the field.

This resulting report – Recipient Perceptions of Media Development Assistance – was circulated among donors and practitioners in January 2019 and used as a basis for further advocacy on aid effectiveness and responsiveness.

The study attempted to capture a diversity of perspectives among GFMD members and to encourage honest reflection both within the community as well as with donor counterparts.

Challenges

The greatest challenges respondents reported where:

• Lack of donor strategies (58%)
• Low donor understanding of journalism support and media development (53%)
• Poor alignment between the sector’s needs and donor priorities (50%).

“The survey responses reflect interviewee input in expressing long-held concerns that many donors still struggle to understand what media development is and why it is important. While some interviewees believe understanding has improved in recent years – including a shift away from the instrumentalisation of media to achieve other development goals – many note that frequent staff turnover, the rarity of specialised staff, and a lack of dedicated strategies can complicate the prioritisation of journalism support and media assistance, particularly in the face of rapid changes in market dynamics, technological advances, and political uncertainties.”

Possible improvements

Among the areas for possible improvements in the planning of media assistance, participants recommended an additional focus on research and learning, including

“the importance of building an evidence base – to help promote understanding of the sector and demonstrate the impact of support – as well as further insight into what works, what doesn’t, and what shows promise. These interviewees would like to see not only stronger articulation of success stories and lessons learned, but other opportunities to honestly examine failure and to creatively explore new approaches, strategies, and solutions.”

These issues were primarily raised by international organisations, rather than by regional or national-level organisations participating in the study.

Thirty-seven per cent of survey respondents (and a number of interviewees) recommended an additional focus on research and learning, including building an evidence base – to help promote understanding of the sector and demonstrate the impact of support – as well as further insight into what works, what doesn’t, and what shows promise.

Recommendations

Other recommendations from interviewees included:

• Suggestions for a common M&E framework across donors and/or programs;
• Adapting the scale of reporting to the size of the grant, to mitigate the burden on organizations with multiple grants;
• Increasing the time that donors spend in the field to provide more meaningful feedback on activities and their success.
• Transforming the focus on logframes, theories of change, outputs and outcomes, and M&E data to more effectively tell the story of results and impact over time, including the suggestion to offer post-grant funding to measure impact after the initial funding ends.

Read the full recommendations here.

GFMD IMPACT

Below is a summary of the report’s recommendations that are related to the creation and design of GFMD IMPACT.

Strengthen the exchange of knowledge, communication, coordination, cooperation, and collaboration at all levels (international, regional, and national/local):

• Between donors and the media development and journalism support community.
• Among donors, including donors and their own colleagues in other departments, agencies, ministries, or branches of government.
• Within the media development and journalism support community.

Suggested approaches include:

• Holding meetings for donors and implementers at the international, regional, and sub-regional levels.
• Creating dedicated pathways for local organisations to access decision-makers.
• Building networks with allies in civil society, academia, and the private sector.

Promote an informed and responsive vision for the sector by:

• Institutionalising knowledge within donor agencies.
• Developing explicit strategies for media development and journalism support.
• Supporting research and learning, including space for experimentation and constructive failure.
• Anticipating future challenges in law and policy, technology, market trends, and political dynamics.
• Bridging gaps between higher-level conceptual conversations and realities as they are experienced on the ground.
• Ensuring that audiences – communities and citizens – remain key to the focus of assistance efforts.

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