Media Matters

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these media development efforts, there is unlikely to be anyone on the ground to report the next massacre.

MEDIA MATTERS SECTION 3: Challenges in Media Matters: Practitioner Experiences

Apart from maintaining at least some check on the exercise of power, freedom of information and skilled media professionals can also help cushion the blow when a despotic system finally unravels. A dramatic political upheaval without quick - responding, experienced, balanced reporting on the ground is a recipe both for heightened chaos and violence domestically, and for ill-informed decision - making among the international community as they attempt to respond to rapidly changing events. Rather than lament a lack of opportunities, policy makers ought to actively and generously pursue the lifeboat strategies that will help societies ride out the rough waters toward which they seem inevitably headed.

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