Media Matters draws together thinking and analysis that covers the breadth and depth of the media development landscape. The opening section, ‘Why Media Matters: Global Perspectives’ gathers the work of several thought leaders on major trends that cut across both the communications and development policy arenas; this is followed by an examination of the current debate that is engaging researchers, development professionals and media assistance experts alike, namely ‘How Media Matters: Measuring its Impact’. The third section, ‘Challenges in Media Matters: Practitioner Experiences’ presents a range of regional and sectoral case studies, and the final section forms a guide to current information sources and studies of the field of media support, in ‘Mapping the Sector - Literature, Surveys and Resources’.

Why Media Matters: Global Perspectives

The rise of an information and communications economy and culture, and the relevance of media and media assistance to international development, form the focus of this first section of Media Matters. How and why is media important in international development, and what contribution can it play in achieving the Millennium Development Goals?

The Global Information Economy and Culture

In Information Equality David Hoffman, President, Internews Network, describes how the new networked information economy is creating a new wave of egalitarianism that - underpinned by adequate investment and a pro-poor policy framework - holds enormous promise for social and political development.

Shashi Tharoor, Under-Secretary General for Communication and Public Information, United Nations, outlines how new communications technologies are a key driver of globalisation, but also how the Information Divide runs across technology, gender, governance and content. He is concerned that the globalised media is dangerously lacking in authentic voices from the developing world. He calls for a media that recognises and embraces the diversity of the real world, warning that ‘the alternative to this recognition may be terrorism, which has so dominated our headlines in recent times.’

Theories of the Public Sphere and Young Democracies

How media contributes to the development of democracy and to an inclusive public sphere is a vital question when considering the role of media in development. Thomas Jacobson, of Temple University explores this theme by looking at the challenges that young democracies face in developing the social norms and cultural processes that underpin deliberative politics, and the complex information flows that media systems need to facilitate if governments are to remain responsive to citizens. Jacobson characterises the latter as ‘a requirement that is related to, but separate from, the news media’s important role in facilitating governmental transparency and accountability. It is the additional requirement that media represent public opinion in a way that accurately expresses the voice of citizens across the full range of their interests.’

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