Promoting dialogue, debate and change

1
Promoting dialogue, debate and change
2
RELAY Communicating research through the media

• Wayne Myslik
• Director of Programmes
• Panos London

3

• For twenty years Panos has been working with the
  media and other communicators to foster debate on
  under-reported, misrepresented or misunderstood
  development issues.
• We believe that only by including the voices and
  views of those most affected by these issues -
  usually the poorest and most marginalised people
  in society - will lasting solutions be found.

4
Principles

• Knowledge is increasingly vital for development
• Knowledge must be available to the people
  affected by development and to policy-makers
  alike
• Researchers can have a vital role to play in
  producing knowledge and knowledge capacity to
  inform and influence development
• The Media can have a vital role to play in
  strengthening the knowledge chain, serving as a
  link between the supply-side and demand-side of
  research

5
Knowledge challenges

• Knowledge capacity centred in the North
• Difficulty of developing countries to access
  knowledge generated in the North
• Commissioning structures limit embedding of
  research in local society
• Process of marginalisation and exclusion of
  knowledge capacity at South-South level as well
  as North-South level

6
Communication opportunities

• Reduction in government monopolies of media in
  many developing countries
• Greater variety of media houses and outlets
• Advances in communication technology
• Increasing awareness of media as strategic
  partners

7
Communication challenges

• Media
• Commercialisation of media
• Absence of local information
• Lack of relationships between media and
  researchers
• Lack of resources, time, knowledge
• Researchers
• Commissioning structure and ownership of research
• Lack of relationships between media and
  researchers
• Lack of resources, communications skills

8
Relationship challenges

• Elitism in research and media communities
• Mutual distrust
• Lack of appreciation of each others critical
  roles

9
RELAY aims to

• strengthen the role of media in effective
  communication of development research
• disseminate findings and recommendations more
  broadly
• stimulate debate and action
• encourage accountability to those affected by
  research
• build the capacity of southern journalists to
  identify and cover research related stories in a
  stimulating and accessible manner

10
Activities

• Background publications for journalists on key
  development issues (eg Media Briefs)
• Background publications for researchers (eg
  Getting into the Kitchen Media Strategies for
  Research)
• Workshops for media and researchers
• Build and support networks of journalists and
  researchers
• Support researchers to develop and implement
  media and communication strategies
• Supported commissions fellowships
• Produce high quality print radio features
  (local global)

11
Case Studies

• South Asia
• Relay worked with local research institutes to
  take journalists to visit Internally Displaced
  Person (IDP) camps in Assam, enabling them to
  experience first hand the issues faced by IDPs in
  the region.
• East Africa
• Dorah Nesoba was commissioned to produce articles
  drawing upon research into land conflicts in
  Kenya. Her articles published in The Link
  magazine prompted two members of Kenyan
  Parliament to ask for more information and for
  leaders of the pastoralist community to call for
  more research.

12
Case Studies

• Southern Africa
• After a Relay five day training workshop in
  Malawi, broadcaster Golden Mukelebai of the
  Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC)
  briefed his editor about the value of research as
  an important source of information and made
  suggestions on how ZNBC could rejuvenate its
  efforts to inform the people.
• He was given go-ahead to launch a new series
  called Research Findings in a documentary
  format, drawing on interviews from a range of
  people from researchers to ordinary people
  affected by the research.

13
(No Transcript)