Protecting Independent Media for Effective Development (PRIMED): Programme Approach and Glossary

"Finding effective, sustainable solutions to the intractable problem of securing the long-term viability of media in development contexts is a formidable challenge."

Protecting Independent Media for Effective Development (PRIMED) is a 3-year programme to support the provision of public interest media in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone. Launched in October 2020, it is being implemented by a consortium of media development organisations led by BBC Media Action. The programme's overall objective is to address the challenges to public interest media at both outlet and environment level. It will do this by building the resilience of media to political and economic pressures that are undermining viability and by supporting the development of information ecosystems that enable a better flow of trusted public interest media content. The three countries have been chosen because they have very different media environments, representing different market sizes and varying degrees of challenges around media restrictions, political will, and economic conditions. Lessons learned from these countries will be used to contribute to improved media viability and resilience across the programme, as well as in other countries with similar challenges. [See Related Summaries below for more information on PRIMED partners, objectives, and overall strategy (Communications Summary), the programme's Policy and Learning Strategy, and the Theory of Change]. The focus here is on their unique approach to media development - with its emphasis on public interest content and resilience - and a glossary the programme has developed to reflect this.

PRIMED's approach looks in particular at creating healthier information ecosystems in the three PRIMED countries in line with the public's right to information as stipulated in SDG 16.10: "ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements." This approach suggests that the public's right to information is, arguably, best served by the existence of media that is entirely independent of political influences; however, PRIMED recognises that one of the key challenges in many countries - especially in the three countries in which PRIMED is working - is the lack of media outlets that have the provision of public interest as part of their mission. In these cases, the public's right to information can also be served through the existence of pockets of public interest content of good professional and ethical standards, even if the organisations producing this content cannot be described as independent.

The programme will therefore aim to work with selected partners where there are opportunities to create pockets of public interest content within media outlets that are non-state owned but not necessarily politically unaffiliated. As a result, the programme focuses on "public interest content": news, current affairs, and any other programming formats that act as conduits through which the public's right to information may be served. This content can be an output of a variety of institutions, as PRIMED acknowledges that most media may have some political leanings or funding that is not entirely independent. The support is intended to help their content remain independent from funding sources and remain in the public interest.

With the preexisting economic and political environments in each country and the precarious economic conditions worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the programme will also focus on improving the resilience of potentially viable public interest media outlets so they can get through this crucial period of turbulence and threat while continuing to serve the public interest, with a view to these media becoming better equipped to survive future shocks and be more viable in the long term. The programme therefore seeks to broaden the notion of "media viability", moving toward an approach that encompasses two new definitions: the first describing the resilience of media institutions to withstand shocks and stresses, and the second describing the resilience of the media sector as a whole. In line with this, PRIMED's overall objective is to encourage healthier information ecosystems where there is a steady flow of public interest content regardless of any sustained or opportunistic attempts of coercion or the institutional circumstances of specific media outlets.

PRIMED programming is based on the idea that achieving media resilience towards a healthier information ecosystem in markets with diminishing or very limited available revenues can be achieved either through a small number of highly functioning and financially resilient outlets with strong reach, or through multiple, less robust and transient outlets with limited reach that collectively fill the public interest content space, so that the potential collapse of some would not have a material effect on the availability of public interest media in a given country over time. Meanwhile, outlets can become organisationally resilient by understanding, anticipating, and withstanding shocks, long-term stresses, and sudden changes to environment and by responding positively through adaptability, preparedness, and innovation to ensure the continuity of its critical function of generating content in the public interest.

In line with their approach, PRIMED has developed a glossary that may be useful for understanding their thinking around media development. For example, the terms "journalism" and "public debate" have been replaced by "public interest content", which can come in different formats and not just entail factual programming.

• Media viability⁸: the ability of media outlets and media landscapes to produce public interest content in a sustainable way. To achieve media viability so that citizens have steady access to information, the ecosystem has to be resilient.
• Media resilience: the ability of communities of media producers, comprised of organisations, networks of individuals, collectives, and other organisational forms, to collectively produce information and journalism that help people participate in civic and political life, regardless of any environmental shocks and stresses, such as sustained or opportunistic attempts of coercion or the success or failure of any one media outlet.
• Institutional viability⁹: a resilient, resourceful, and innovative media outlet that is strong enough to maintain its editorial independence and fulfil its critical role of providing society with relevant timely and reliable information. Viability implies an enduring nature, in that media must be able to pay for the production and distribution of public interest content in the long term. Viability may, but does not necessarily, imply profitability, and revenues may come from any source (for example, advertising, philanthropic grants, state subsidies, user subscriptions).
• Institutional resilience: the ability of a media institution to understand, anticipate, and withstand shocks, long-term stresses, and sudden changes to environment and respond positively through adaptability, preparedness, and innovation to ensure the continuity of its critical function of generating content in the public interest. Resilience is necessary in order to become viable.
• Public interest content: news, current affairs, and any other programming formats that act as conduits through which the public's right to information may be served. Anyone producing public interest content will invariably need to adhere to ethical professional standards. This term is used in PRIMED instead of "quality journalism". Public interest content can be provided by media outlets with varying operating and ownership models, including outlets that have some political/ethnic affiliation.
• Independent media: media not owned or directly operated by the state, a political party, a religious order, an ethnic entity, a lobby group, or anyone promoting a particular ideology or a particular narrative. It is increasingly difficult to draw clear definitions for independent media: It requires detailed content analysis over time, and the degree of independence can shift as circumstances change. As part of due diligence, PRIMED will conduct detailed content analysis to understand the extent of editorial independence of proposed partners. The term "independent media" will be used sparingly to describe outlets that have shown no editorial bias.
• Non-government/non-state media: replaces the imprecise use of "independent media", as well as other terms such as "private media", "commercial outlets", or "community media". The latter will still be used, however, especially in the case of Sierra Leone, where such a distinction is useful. The programme recognises the scarcity of independent media outlets in the three countries and plans to be working with a variety of outlets with different business models and varying degrees of non-affiliation.

Generally, the programme's approach of working with a different mix of partners will maximise the opportunities for learning within and beyond the programme. PRIMED's approach also seeks to be flexible and adaptive and to capitalise on opportunities as they arise. A culture of learning across the programme is meant to cultivate and generate new ideas and innovative solutions to address the challenges confronting the media sector.

For more information, contact Maha Taki (see above).

---

⁸ This is derived from Deutsche Welle Akademie's definition of media viability: "Media Viability is the ability of media outlets and media landscapes to produce high-quality journalism in a sustainable way. Media viability is crucial for citizens to have stable access to reliable information."
⁹ This is derived from Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF)'s definition of viability.