Author: Mary Myers / Publishing Institution: National Endowment for Democracy

Author:: Mary Myers
Publication Date:: 10-2014
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:: This year, 2014, marks 25 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the symbolic end of the Cold War in 1989. It also marks the anniversary of the beginning of an extraordinary proliferation of media outlets in sub-Saharan Africa, which swept across the continent, freeing Africa’s press and liberating the airwaves from monopoly by the state. Economics, technology, and socio-political forces all played major roles in this boom of Africa’s media. But one of the untold stories of these changes is the role of donor aid in this process. This is the subject of the Center for International Media Assistance’s latest report, Africa’s Media Boom: The Role of International Aid, by veteran international media consultant Mary Myers. It explores these questions: · How much of a catalyst were foreign donors in this mushrooming of Africa’s news media? · What were the motives and mechanisms of this aid? · What difference did it make at the time, and subsequently? · Was media proliferation necessarily a good thing–did it lead to pluralism and genuine freedom?
Topic:: International Cooperation, International Affairs, and Media
Political Geography:: Africa and Global Focus

Author:: Mary Myers
Publication Date:: 06-2012
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:: Is there a link between a free media and good governance? Does the existence of a responsible, balanced press reduce corruption? Is the state more accountable in countries with a pluralistic media? Is the media democracy's magic bullet?
Topic:: Corruption, Democratization, Development, Mass Media, and Governance

Author:: Mary Myers
Publication Date:: 12-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:: The main guiding questions for this research are: How much are European and other governments and donors spending on international media development? Where is the money going, for what sort of development (training, capacity building, infrastructure, legal or physical safety, etc.) and what are the trends in terms of donor priorities and approaches? The present study is an update of one produced for the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) by the author, with Emma Grant, in 2007 (see Grant and Myers in References). That study was, in one way, more limited in that it dealt only with media support when used by donors to enhance access to information and promote governmental accountability in developing countries. In another way it was broader in that it made recommendations about “what works” and “what are the gaps” in media support in order to guide DFID policy. The present study is less of a discussion document and more of a straight survey.
Topic:: Development, Mass Media, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: United States, United Kingdom, and Europe

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