Media Infrastructure

Equipment Grants

In many of the developing countries where Internews works, reporters lack some of the most basic equipment to do their work effectively. In Nigeria and Kenya, for instance, many radio reporters lack even a computer or telephone at their desk. Sometimes disasters destroy what little gear did exist: in Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia, the May 2006 earthquake destroyed precious production equipment at several radio stations in the area.

Many families, such as this young woman's, listen to the news and information together on a portable radio donated by Internews. Photo: © David Swanson/IRIN

To leverage our media training and other technical assistance, Internews sometimes makes targeted grants of equipment to journalists or media outlets. In the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union, equipment is has been a large part of Internews’ production grants that allow regional non-state broadcasters to produce programs on issues critical to their communities. In many cases, Internews has trained these broadcasters to use the equipment, especially during innovative projects. Such were the live political debates and talk shows produced during the presidential elections in Kazakhstan in late 2005. With Internews’ help, several partner stations built talk-show studios and used interactive technology to poll the audience during the programs – something that has never been done by these stations before.
 
Internews also uses equipment grants as an incentive to spur the production of quality programming. For example, in Ukraine, Internews has offered high-quality digital production equipment as prizes for best news programs in a television news festival. As part of Internews' Local Voices program in Kenya, Nigeria and Ethiopia, radio reporters who have gone through Internews' training in HIV/AIDS coverage receive a mini-disc recorder and microphone once they have produced a certain number of stories on the topic. The compact recorder allows them to record high quality sound for broadcast outside of the constraints of their work environments.
 
In addition, Internews sometimes is able to provide equipment for media outlets ravaged by disaster. For instance, in Yogyakarta Province, Central Java, Indonesia, Internews is donating mixers, transmitters, computers with audio editing software, transmission antennae, and microphones to help rebuild the network of community radio stations that serves local audiences throughout the earthquake disaster zone. On the audience side, in Pakistan, where many survivors of the 2005 earthquake are still living in tents in refugee camps, Internews gave away 10,000 radios to families affected by the quake. Distributed with the logistical assistance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the radio sets are helping people to stay better informed as they rebuild their shattered lives.