Vibrant Information Barometer (VIBE)

"In a vibrant information system, quality information should be widely available, editorially independent, based on facts, and not intended to harm. Content production should be sufficiently resourced, inclusive, and diverse....People should use quality information to inform their actions, improve their communities, and contribute to public policy decisions."

Launched in 2021, the Vibrant Information Barometer (VIBE) is an index developed by IREX to capture and diagnose the challenges and opportunities of today's complex information systems. It is designed as a tool to track national and regional information trends over time and to inform global understanding of the way information is produced, shared, consumed, and utilised in the digital age.

VIBE is intended to help implementers, donors, policymakers, and partner governments improve the resilience and integrity of information systems in developing countries. The ultimate goal is to ensure that citizens, civil society, and governments have the information they need to increase governments' capacity and commitment to meeting the economic, social, and democratic needs of their people.

VIBE builds on what IREX learned from 2001-2019 about implementing the Media Sustainability Index (MSI), which was used to measure five key pillars and objectives related to media sustainability: free speech, professional journalism, plurality of news sources, business management, and supporting institutions.

The past two decades have, however, seen dramatic changes to the way information is produced, spread, and utilised, as people have simultaneously become producers, transmitters, consumers, and users of information. The growth of digital and social media has dramatically changed how information flows, including:

• Expansion of the volume of information and speed of global transmission (including misinformation and information intended to harm);
• Blurred lines between media producers and media consumers;
• Rise of non-professional content producers (such as social media users, bloggers, and influencers);
• New challenges and opportunities in resourcing media production;
• Diminishing trust in many forms of content and content producers;
• New threats to individual privacy and security;
• Increased need for media and digital literacy across all segments of society;
• New forms of censorship and new and evolving ways to circumvent censorship; and
• New methods for individuals, civil society, the private sector and corporations, and governments to utilise information for both productive and destructive means.

In recognition of these changes - as well as the way anti-democratic forces are utilising those changes to intentionally spread disinformation - IREX undertook a multiple-year review of its approach to working with the information and media sectors, culminating in the Vibrant Information Approach (see Related Summaries, below).

The VIBE tool is based on the Vibrant Information Approach and is designed to measure four principles of information vibrancy:

1. Information Quality: How information is produced by both professional and non-professional producers. This includes content quality, content diversity, and economic resources.
2. Multiple Channels - How Information Flows: How information is transmitted or spread by both formal and informal information channels. This includes the legal framework for free speech, protection of journalists, and access to diverse channels and types of information.
3. Information Consumption and Engagement: How information is consumed by users. This includes looking at freedom of expression, media and information literacy, digital privacy and security, the relevance of information to consumers, and public trust in media and information.
4. Transformative Action - How Information Drives Behaviour: How information is used and put into action. This includes: how governments, corporations, and civil society use information to inform decisions and actions; whether information is spread across ideological lines; and whether individuals or groups feel empowered to use information to enact change.

Similar to the MSI, VIBE leverages the expert panel approach to measure media environments, incorporating perspectives from local sector professionals that IREX assembles in each country to serve as panellists. A country's media environment is scored according to the four principles of vibrancy outlined above as either highly vibrant, somewhat vibrant, slightly vibrant, not at all vibrant. Each principle has a number of indicators (in total, 20), which are scored on a questionnaire. Evidence to justify the scores must also be provided. In addition, the experts contribute to a panel discussion led by a moderator.

With VIBE, IREX modified the scoring scale to allow more granularity in panellist scores and introduced a Strength of Evidence (SoE) rating. The SoE rating is meant to: identify areas where further research is needed, increase transparency about the potential subjectivity of some indicators, help VIBE audiences contextualise scores and narratives, and assist IREX with tracking progress in VIBE's methodology and evidence base over time. For each expert-opinion indicator, moderators assign a SoE rating - Weak, Somewhat Weak, Somewhat Strong, or Strong - based on the quality of evidence informing each indicator, the confidence of panellists in their scores, and the level of consensus across the panel.

VIBE was launched in 2021 with a set of country reports on Europe and Eurasia [PDF]. In this edition, panellists from across the region chronicled the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on their operating environments, including financial sustainability, access to information, and misinformation. They also highlighted several additional issues, some of which had emerged with the MSI, including: hate speech on social media, lack of government accountability, and inadequate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in media coverage.

Below is a video of an online discussion with VIBE researchers and media and disinformation experts, which was hosted by the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) in July 2021 for the launch of the first VIBE report.