Arab Media Network for Human Development

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Arab Media Network for Human Development

• To foster the ability of Arab media to influence
  progress in development issues
• Office of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah

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History

• The Arab Women and Media Campaign
• Launched in March 2004 during Her Majestys
  two-year presidency of the Arab Womens Summit
  to
• Attract public attention to the potential of Arab
  women
• Raise the level of discussion of womens issues
  to include opinion leaders, politicians etc..
• Encourage governments to take action

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History

• Elements of the Campaign
• Advisory Council formed an Advisory Council of
  key figures and top CEO's of media outlets
• Media Initiative produced Public Service
  Announcements (PSA's)
• Regional Network of Opinion Leaders held
  meetings with influential writers, columnists, TV
  presenters and journalists
• Reference Booklet published a reference booklet
  with information, statistics and a database of
  women experts and professionals in the Arab world

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History

• Broadcasters were given a 9-month plan to air the
  TV spots
• The PSAs were aired on major Arab T.V channels
  over a period of a year from 3-6 times a day
  Al-Jazeerah, LBC, Future TV, MBC, Arabia, Abu
  Dhabi TV, ART
• The PSAs were also broadcast through the Arab
  Broadcasting Union to more than 21 state-run Arab
  television stations
• They covered four topics women and social
  participation, economic empowerment, illiteracy,
  violence against women
• The total cost of production 300,000
• Air-time for free with an estimated cost of
  3000 per TV spot, the estimated cost of the
  campaign is more than
• 10,000,000 US dollars

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History

• The WEF meeting in 2005
• To expand on the work carried out for the Arab
  Womens media campaign
• To expand on the mission and include other human
  development issues
• To institutionalize the Arab Media Network as a
  regional NGO based in Jordan

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Progress

• The Concept
• Research and rational
• Objectives
• Mandate
• Process
• Products
• Results
• Organizational Structure
• Sustainability

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Research Importance of the media

• Because of its accessibility, media should be
  informed, and capable of reflecting the
  perspectives of those most affected by
  development decisions
• Development agencies are revisiting the role of
  communication and media in meeting the MDGs
• Women's rights cannot be advanced if the media
  continue to disseminate negative stereotyping of
  Arab women
• Radio is important for empowerment because of its
  accessibility to the poor and increasingly
  interactive character
• Source UNDP 2006, Centre for Media Freedom
  2000, The Arab Advisors Group 2005, ACNielson and
  British Council, 2005

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Research Media trends

• A decline in government support to broadcasting
• The rise of satellite TV's resulting in dramatic
  changes in both Arab society, and in the nature
  of political debate
• Content is increasingly being shaped by the
  demands of advertisers and sponsors rather than
  public interest factors
• Arab viewers, just like viewers in the U.S., turn
  to television looking for entertainment
• MBC1 and MBC2 are the most popular amongst the
  entertainment channels
• One research concluded that 100 of its sample
  population said they watched T.V on a regular
  basis

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Satellite Channels Growth
Source Arab Advisors Group, April 2006
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Sat TV Channels Programming Type
Source Arab Advisors Group, April 2006
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Research Media trends (contd.)

• On an average Al Jazeerah ranked the highest
  followed by MBC 2, Arabiyah, MBC 1, Rotana, LBC,
  Future
• Social programs ranked low as opposed to news,
  talk shows, entertainment. The highest viewed is
  news, followed by English movies, Arabic movies,
  talk shows, political shows and Arabic music
• The young are the most sought-after demographic
  as well as the source of new ideas in the
  industry
• Religious programming has a significant place in
  the mix There are at least 20 religious stations
• Commercial channels are challenging the
  traditional state-run stations from a commercial
  standpoint, despite the fact that few, if any,
  are making money

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Research Media trends (contd.)

• Stations run for reasons other than profit
  political or prestigious
• The advertising market revolves around the
  largest economy - Saudi Arabia - which is also
  the regions most conservative society
• The thin advertising market continues to be a
  problem when it comes to innovative programming

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Research Recommendations

• The need to invite the media to engage in
  dialogue and cooperation with development groups
• The need to build the capacity of the media to
  make programs covering development issues
  attractive and accessible
• The need to monitor and analyze the media
  coverage and report on findings to decision
  makers
• The need to increase journalists' awareness of
  development issues using the MDGs and HDRs to
  inform and update media organization
• The need to ensure that significant news items
  about women's issues gain the highest possible
  profile
• The need for donors to fund projects that further
  the professional ability of activists and NGOs
  to communicate with the media

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Research Similar Initiatives

• LBC teaming up with UNICEF to launch news
  programs staffed with youth journalists
• The International Center for Journalists to help
  Arab media professionals engage in joint
  programming on social issues
• IREX to support civil society and media
  development in the region
• Social Issues in the eyes of the media a
  British Council project supporting programming on
  youth and employment
• Internews and British Council to set up community
  radio stations in Jordan Universities

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Rationale

• The media has a role to play in influencing
  peoples opinion, perception, and attitude
• Media coverage is focused heavily on politics and
  entertainment and not enough on development
• The media has few incentives to focus on social
  issues or to reflect the perspectives of
  development organizations
• The need to create momentum and interest for the
  media.
• Inadequate interaction between NGO's or civil
  society organizations and the media

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Questions to be addressed

• How can media programming influence peoples
  opinion, educate and raise awareness on
  development?
• What form should programming take (PSAs, news,
  investigative reporting, talk shows, and
  discussion programs)?
• How do issues get selected?
• What does the media need to increase development
  programming and how can it benefit from this
  partnership?
• How do NGOs best engage with the media?
• How can the private sector be involved to promote
  corporate social responsibility in this context?
• Is the network going to be involved in
  production, or is it going to facilitate that
  process only?

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Board of Trustees

• ART
• Al Jazeerah
• LBC
• Abu Dhabi

• Dubai T.V
• Arabiyah
• MBC
• Future T.V
• Al Hariri Foundation
• LBC/Hayatt
• JTV
• Higher Media Council
• Jordan Press Association
• Al-Ahram

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Media support organizations

• UNDP
• AGFUND
• ACT-Egypt
• ATV
• Royal Film Commission-Jordan

• British Council
• IREX
• International Center for Journalist ICJ
• Freedom House
• InterNews
• School of Cinema-Television- USC

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Discussions with the media

• Media people are aware but lazy when it comes
  to development issues They need to receive the
  information, tools and mechanics
• PSA's are not enough exposure on social issues
• Tap into the celebrity world and use their
  presence to advance issues
• The use of entertainment is a must Soap Operas
  and drama as a way to mainstream social messages
• Focus and dont go broad
• The continuity and the consistency of the
  messages
• Use creative and powerful tools

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Discussions with the media

• The need to investigate the role of production
  companies
• Major private sector companies should be
  approached as they are responsible for 70 of the
  media budget (e.g. PG, Pepsi, etc..)
• The donor community to fund big and creative
  productions that can be distributed to all the
  T.V networks
• Facilitate production funds for the media
• Air time should be prime time, otherwise it has
  no value
• There needs to be a process to shows an
  objective, activity, timeline and concrete
  results a path and not done on an ad hoc basis

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Discussions with the media

• Media monitoring is important to diagnose what
  goes in the media to help direct attention,
  replicate successes and produce good ideas
• Objective should not be to change peoples
  mindsets-difficult to achieve. Concentrate on
  increasing production
• The direction package-deal the format and issues
  for each station, since non will go for joint
  programming unless it's a PSA

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The Concept Objectives

• Increase creative and powerful programming on
  development issues in the media
• Raise the level of discussion on development
  issues in the Arab world by initiating and
  implementing strong and creative media campaigns
• Strengthen networking and partnerships between
  the media and civil society organizations in the
  Arab world

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Mandate

• Advocate for the media to become more engaged in
  development programming
• Prioritize and select a specific development
  issue by providing the platform for media and
  NGO's to interact and engage in discussions and
  debates
• Produce a yearly campaign targeting and
  highlighting a specific development issue
• Monitor the media on development issues

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Media Campaigns
Planning
The Process
Media Plan
Content
What? Why? How?
Where? When? Who?
Production
Monitoring Evaluation (ongoing)
PSAs

• Feedback
• Recommendations

Airing Dissemination
In Media
To NGOs
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Mainstream messages in the media

• In addition to the implementation of the
  campaign, the network will promote its messages
  in drama, films, talk shows, news, advertisements
  through discussions and meetings with
• Filmmakers, directors and script writers
• News producers, presenters and reporters
• Talk show producers and presenters
• Program Managers in T.V stations
• Corporations (Pepsi, PG)
• Advertisers
• Production companies

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Products

• A yearly campaign that runs across Arab T.V
  stations
• A library of media products on development issues
• A website with expert profiles, statistics and
  research about the related development issue
• Analytical reports on Arab Media monitoring on
  the related development issue
• Annual reports including deliverables and
  outcomes of the discussions between the media and
  NGOs

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Expected Results

• Improvements in media reporting of development
  issues
• Better informed public regarding development
  issues
• Improvements in the level and quality of
  relations between media institutions and civil
  society
• Contribute in mobilizing efforts towards social
  change

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Organizational Structure
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Strengths

• Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah is a
  Chairperson
• Board of Trustees is high-caliber media leaders
  in the Arab World
• The prestige of the BoT can be a motivating
  factor for potential new partners and the
  International donors
• Regional media reach and influence

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Weaknesses

• Sustainability of resources for continuous
  operations
• High annual budget
• Relies heavily (100) on in-kind support from
  Media network for free airtime support might
  fade over time
• Products are expensive (PSAs, etc)
• Development programming is not popular with Arab
  Media and needs efforts for convincing
• Impact of media awareness alone does not
  guarantee change on the ground at least not in
  the short-term

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Opportunities

• International organizations and donors are paying
  attention and funding to media-related projects
• Communications for development is a growing
  sector
• The Network is the first of its kind and can be
  the leader in the Arab world
• Private sector advertisers can be tempted to
  align their image with development issues and
  fund products of the Network
• Media networks would like to be seen to be
  socially-responsible
• Members of the BOT are motivated and dedicated

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Threats

• BoT are competitors and their agendas might
  differ in the long-term and impact the Network
• Financial sustainability
• Competition for airtime from similar initiatives
  might reduce the allocation in the media
• Competition for grants and funding is increasing
  in the Arab World

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Impact and Sustainability

• Strong operation and networking
• Financial sustainability
• Professional and consistent products
• Staff leadership and motivation
• Build trust
• Relevance and benefit to the media
• Relevance and benefit to the NGO world