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Developing Independent Media as an Institution of Accountable Governance
sustainable media sector. An independent media sector buttresses key governance goals such as voice, accountability, and transparency—not through dissemination of messages about these issues but by its very existence. Donor organizations that engage in supporting good governance increasingly recognize the importance of also supporting independent media. The World Bank’s Guidance Note on Bank Multi-Stakeholder Engagement explicitly describes good practice with respect to media development, noting that the Governance and Anticorruption (GAC) strategy stresses the importance of developing independent and competitive media that can investigate, monitor, and provide feedback on government performance, including corruption. Media development is often confused with communication for development, which is a separate but related field. Communication for development typically sees the media as a means to achieve broad development goals, while media development sees strengthening the media as an end in itself. (This conceptual distinction is sometimes blurred in practice, as noted in some of the sample activities in “From Assessment to Program Concept.”)
How Media Development Programs Support the Governance Agenda Some people believe that worrying about the media is the privilege of economically developed, politically stable countries. In developing countries, the argument goes, issues such as poverty reduction, security, and education should trump luxuries such as an independent media sector. This short-sighted argument fails to take into account the media’s essential role in helping to achieve development and governance outcomes. Just as voice and accountability are now considered crucial to development outcomes, an independent media sector is crucial to achieving voice and accountability objectives. As noted in Public Sentinel, the media system in each country should be regarded as one of the core institutions affecting governance. Genuine transparency and accountability also require other factors to be in place: civil society capacity, citizen-state bridging mechanisms, and attitudes/capacities of state actors. A strong, independent media sector helps create an enabling environment to support and enrich these other elements. • A strong media sector directly supports good governance. A pluralistic, sustainable, editorially independent media sector is a cornerstone of good governance and long-term development. The media can act as a sounding board for government policies, an avenue for citizen participation, a national and local town hall, a force for accountability, and a bulwark against abuse of power. Without the media, it is difficult for citizens to raise and discuss issues of development that affect their lives. Whatever the form, media have the potential to contribute to an informed, empowered citizenry and to foster responsive, legitimate, and effective government.