Mark Nelson 6 November 2014 Audience Research in Developing Countries A Role for International Media Assistance?

Press freedom is declining Freedom House data rescaled 100=best

Country level media systems have stagnated Average MSI Score Europe/Eurasia: Selected Years

A sliver of development assistance Global ODA $135 billion Donor spending on “media” $625 million (est.)

Rethinking Media Development: Media Map Project Surveyed existing data and media sector indicators Country case studies on effectiveness of donors A look at how public & private sectors work together (or not) in media development

Findings on Donor Support Lack of sector diagnostics or use of data—neither partners nor donors Failure to integrate media into broader devt agenda Over-reliance on training as an instrument Inadequate scale Instead, often useful but not addressing systemic issues

MSI Objective 4: “Media firms well managed, allowing editorial independence”

Business management: Europe-Eurasia No countries in “sustainable” category

The changing environment for media in developing countries

Report topics

The value of audience research

Substantial Shifts in Global Ad Spending

Mobile internet from 2.7% to 7.6%

Institutionalizing audience research

Four key recommendations

More questions than answers How do countries get sustainable audience research systems; more open data, transparency? What role should outside partners play? What is best sequencing? What governance models for various country types? How can we better capture the learning from each other? Working group