New Panos Book: Making poverty the story

from The Nation

As the mid-point for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 is reached with progress in serious doubt, this report argues that the time has come for all policy actors to recognise and support the potentially crucial contribution of the mass media to efforts to reduce poverty in lowincome countries. Policy change has often stemmed from shifts in public and political opinion, and the very reach of the mass media make them a vital force in raising public awareness and debate, even if they may not be direct policy actors or even consider themselves as having an obligation to influence policy and change society.

High-quality public service and public interest journalism in particular, the report argues, should be supported as public goods1 in their own right, and those wishing to encourage the media to strengthen its coverage of poverty reduction should recognise and support the ability of relevant parts of the media, in principle, to play such critically independent roles.

The report notes that poverty, as witnessed by the public action accompanying the MDGs, has climbed up the political agenda. Reducing poverty has been transformed from a 'worthy cause' to a challenge in the public eye that is much more newsworthy for journalists. This offers significant opportunities for those wishing to engage the media.

A key reference point for the report's case for stronger involvement of the media on poverty reduction in low-income countries is governments' introduction of World Bank-approved and -supported Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). The PRSP approach has been the most significant policy innovation to date on poverty reduction.

Not only are the vital issues at stake in PRSP policy-making of potential interest to the media and those wishing to engage journalists (such as the transparency of national budgets); the stated principles of PRSPs (such as 'stakeholder participation' and 'national ownership') are also relevant to debates about the media's role. As highlighted by the World Bank, communication strategies are indispensable to involving the public - and poor people - in PRSPs.

In the context of heated debates about the record of PRSPs and the role of communication within them, the first section of the report notes the changing policy approaches to poverty reduction and highlights the potential roles that the media could play. These include:

* communicating with and informing a wide range of audiences on poverty reduction issues

* providing an open forum to reflect different public views, including those of poor people

* providing an inclusive platform for public debate

* scrutinising and holding all actors to account for their actions, acting as a force for more transparent and accountable decision-making relevant to poverty reduction.

For all the mass media's potential, the second section of the report draws attention to the inter-related challenges and constraints that hinder the ability of journalists to perform these public service2 and public interest3 roles as effectively as they and others might wish. Indeed, in many of the poorest countries, particularly in Africa, the media is still an infant industry struggling to find its feet.

The report therefore urges all policy actors, including international nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and donors, not just to recognise the media's potential as a much-needed independent, indirect contributor to the development process, but also to understand and help address the sector's own multiple development support needs. With both policymakers and civil society organisations (CSOs) stressing the importance of 'good governance', the report argues it is crucial to support the potential power of the media's highly relevant scrutiny role.

One major constraint noted is the pressures of commercial survival and growth in the wake of recent media liberalisation. While increased media freedoms have been welcome in the wake of state controls on communication, heightened competition threatens diversity of coverage and quality of content as the increased number of media players standardise outputs in pursuit of conventional, better-off audiences. In this climate poverty reduction may not be seen as an 'attractive' subject, with mainstream public affairs reporting tending to focus on subjects such as personality-based coverage of elite politics. The need for advertising revenue has similarly often compounded the pressure on editorial space, also making the media more vulnerable to outside commercial and political pressures of various kinds.

The structural problems of media finance affect working journalists, who are often under-skilled, under-trained, poorly paid and precariously employed.

Time and resources may not be available to fund the research needed for stories on poverty reduction, especially ones informed by poor people's views. In turn, journalists may lack the knowledge and practical skills to gather and decipher the growing range of information and analysis on poverty reduction issues. They are hindered also by frequent official secrecy, bureaucratic red tape and an apparent ingrained tendency to rely on state and government sources of information, even when in short supply or difficult to access. The report notes, however, that as a result of PRSPs, some governments have made progress in official information-sharing and public communication. Official media relations capacity could be strengthened as part of continued progress.

But, the report notes, many journalists are unable or unprepared to track down and use alternative information sources, missing out on stories. This weakness is not only due to skill deficiencies, but reflects problematic professional practices associated with the alleged shortcomings of 'event-' and 'statement-based' reporting, which, though a crucial media activity, often lacks analytical depth.

A key opportunity identified is the unrealised potential of better understanding and working relations between civil society and the media.

Interaction has often been impaired by misunderstandings and misplaced assumptions and expectations of each other's role and practices.

Given media resource problems, this situation has often led to the media and journalists accepting or being offered payment by civil society organisations to cover their 'stories' or to carry pieces that they have written themselves. Whatever the possible short-term benefits for communicating with the public on poverty reduction issues, these practices can often be questioned on the grounds of the outputs' journalistic worth and longer-term sustainability.

The report argues that civil society must develop a stronger understanding not just of the constraints and pressures journalists deal with, but also a greater appreciation of their professional needs and how to meet them.

Conversely, the report argues that the media, in its coverage of poverty reduction, has much to gain through stronger interaction with civil society.

The benefits include sources, insights and contacts and greater familiarity with the issues at stake, as seen by those often working closely with or seeking to represent poor people. One of civil society's concerns is that the media can often lack a sensitive, rigorous grasp of policy issues and the practical and political challenges of work with poor people and policymakers.

Engaging and exploring the views of editors Highlighting the example of one recent initiative with editors in Kenya (which revealed that poverty stories can indeed provoke considerable interest among public audiences), the report stresses the crucial importance of engaging media owners, managers and editors in discussions of how to strengthen the level and quality of coverage of issues related to poverty reduction.

How editors view the opportunities and constraints for meeting this challenge, and what will resonate with public audiences, is a vital starting point. Further information on their views, and those of public audiences, would help all policy actors - and working journalists themselves - to pitch possible stories more effectively in an often difficult media context.

Pitching poverty reduction stories One significant impression is that promotion of poverty as a traditional social welfare issue is unlikely to boost the level, range and impact of national coverage. But while the prevalence of poverty may challenge its newsworthiness, the report stresses that feature stories can have a very important place when new angles are found and hard-hitting human stories told.

Similar questions are raised over the value of promoting public interest stories on poverty reduction as a specialist topic. Particular aspects of the policy process intimately linked to poverty reduction - such as national budgets, a key item on journalists' agendas - could be promoted with the media. But, rather than focusing on the institutional mechanics of PRSPs or national development plans, those keen to interest the media may find it more productive to focus on key aspects of wider policy-making relevant

to strategies on poverty reduction, drawing out the links, inconsistencies or gaps.

The media and public audiences thrive on controversy, so the pros and cons of contentious decisions such as state reform or privatisation may prove more interesting, particularly when local and national political angles and their real-life relevance to the public can be brought out. Whatever the story, those wishing to engage the media need to be aware that a key consideration for the media will always be its topicality, newsworthiness and audience impact.

One approach to engage the interest of media is to look for ways in which possible poverty reduction stories can be integrated into the core 'beats' of journalists such as politics, business and economics, governance, corruption, crime and so on. Some editors consulted stated that, notwithstanding their concern, poverty reduction is unlikely to become a distinct area of specialisation, given the nature and demands of the mass media.

This suggests that just as space would be welcome for journalists to develop knowledge of poverty reduction issues and how they relate to core topics, the actual journalistic skills required - such as critical analysis and research skills - may not be much different from those needed to cover any subject. Covering poverty reduction may be a reflection of the wider challenge of strengthening public interest reporting. These are issues to be considered by those outside and within the media industry concerned with supporting stronger journalist training.

The report stresses the need to recognise and support the vitally important role that alternative media such as community radio can play, and that other forms of inclusive communication (such as oral testimonies and community theatre) can be successfully combined with the involvement of the mass media to amplify poor people's voices and scale up their impact.

Time for strategic support

The report urges all actors to strengthen their support for the media, recognising both the value of the mainstream media's public service and public interest roles and the contribution of alternative media, as part of an integral approach to the whole sector. For all the benefits of specific initiatives to tackle problems and seize opportunities, it concludes that a structural approach is called for, including support for comprehensive public policies on the media.

(Published in October last year the report is scheduled to be launched in Dhaka on January 15)