Media Development

Freedom of the press is a human right. When the United Nations published their "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" in 1948, article 19 clearly expressed the basic right to freedom of opinion and expression. Wherever freedom of speech is impossible, where the press is limited in its ability to report freely and independently, human rights are endangered. In its "Declaration from Windhoek" on May 3, 1991, UNESCO defined the "promotion of an independent and pluralist free press" as a "cornerstone of democracy and economic development". The level of freedom the media enjoys in a country is therefore always a good measure of the extent to which human rights are respected – and of the current state of good governance, transparency, and level of participation by civil society.

Independent media play a key role for the democratic and economic development of a society and act as a catalyst for processes of peace and reform. Securing the free flow of information is the first step along the path to sustainable change in developing and transition countries. Freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of the press create transparency, allow the public to actively participate in important decisions, and strengthen justice and peace. A free press is an elementary instrument for promoting politically responsible action and economic and social development.

The main responsibilities of a free and independent press in a democratic society are to provide information, contribute to the free formation of opinions, and place critically examine societal processes. Whether or not the media can assume this function depends as much on political and economic basic conditions as it does on the education and level of professionalism of journalists. In many of Germany’s development cooperation partner countries free and independent structures are emerging on the media landscape bit by bit. This is in turn increasing demand for information, journalist know-how and international media skills. Added to this is the fact that the worldwide media market is increasingly subject to competitive pressure, and demands made of employees are therefore also on the rise. Whether in Africa, Asia or Latin America – ever increasing numbers of qualified journalists are needed.

Inwent’s International Institute for Journalism (IIJ) has been training journalists from developing and transition countries for many years now. We offer programmes both at home and abroad that strengthen the expert and ethical skills of editors from print and online media and sharpen their awareness of topics relevant to development policy.

The demand for capacity building for journalists has risen considerably since the beginning of the 1990s. At the same time the conditions of media reporting have changed in many places. Those states who have taken it upon themselves to shape their own futures have introduced media reforms. The IIJ supports these processes with training seminars and workshops, e-learning courses and dialogues. IIJ’s capacity building programmes have grown increasingly political over this period. Journalists learn how to approach such topics as good governance, climate change, eliminating poverty and conflict resolution and practice their journalistic skills with practical exercises.

The IIJ offers a wide range of training programmes tailored to meet a variety of needs. The focal points are political, economic and environmental reporting, multi-media and online journalism along with media ethics and policy. Expert area knowledge is combined with hands-on training. In economic reporting courses participants learn they skills they need to accurately report on the national and international financial and trade markets, about trade relations, corruption, or the relationship between economics and ecology.

The fact that the media play an important role in conflict prevention and resolution is undisputed. The media can improve communication between parties in a conflict and secure peace, but they can also foment conflict and invoke violence. One poignant example of the latter is the role of Radio-Télévision Libre des Mille Collines during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.

Inwent’s IIJ offers training programmes in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to assist journalists who report about or from crisis regions and conflicts in becoming aware of the difficult role they play. The participants in the “Conflict-sensitive reporting” programme discuss how the media report on crises and conflicts. They seek means and ways of contributing to ending violent conflicts or stopping violence from erupting in the first place via fair, independent and responsible reporting.