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Below are conclusions of the debate by Bettina Peters, Director of the Global Forum for Media Development.

Conclusions

by Bettina Peters, Director of the Global Forum for Media Development
  

Social media has emerged as a powerful development tool, adding to the potency of mobile telecommunications as drivers of economic and democratic change.

Increasingly, as seen recently in North Africa and the Middle East, the use of social media for information sharing and debate is stepping up public pressure for good governance and political reform, better quality of life and faster growth. Online communities can take action from social networks to the streets.

What are the challenges ahead for social media, traditional media and for media development?

There is an increasing development policy consensus that the role of media and communication in providing critical information to people living in poverty on issues that affect them, as a key mechanism of uncovering corruption and enabling people to hold government to account, and as increasingly influential shapers of development and democratic realities, is seriously neglected in development policy.

There is an overwhelming acknowledgement that the level of expertise and capacity within the development system is too weak on issues of media and communication as a shaper of development and democratic outcomes.

Is the important role media play in democracy and development reflected in the development strategies of policy makers?

On the role of social media in democracy building, the points made by Moeed Ahmad were echoed throughout the panel:

In many of the countries that have experienced the Arab spring we are now in the phase of consensus building, compromising, and creating a platform to agree on thing. Social media is less of a catalyst in this phase, but not listening to what is being said on social media would be a big mistake, if the debate about reform is just focused on centres of power, this would be a mistake.

We also have to remember that people on social media are a very small section of society, irrespective of how loud they are. They are not representative of the masses but represent important section of society.

Social media does not take responsibility away from established broadcasters etc to double-check information and to talk to different parts of society, not just centres of power or social media users.

Gabriel Accascina of the UNDP highlighted the key change in information distribution from one point to multipoint to multipoint to multipoint and how we got here. The key is investment in the infrastructure and enough literacy to make use of these technologies. This reality should inform media development policy decisions.

This was echoed by Klaus Rudischhauser: who said that policy makers should ensure that all sections of society have access to the internet but not to forget that we still need the traditional media for debate and political change. It is the established media, which make the real message that creates a critical mass for debate in society.

Amadou Mahtar Ba reminded the panel of the opportunities the changes in the information environment offer. The current information revolution is a re-boot of our societies, especially in Africa.

At the heart of the current changes, a message clearly expressed in social media is the search for human dignity, which has been eroded over a long time in different parts of Africa. The events in Tunisia show that a functioning infrastructure is not enough if there is no democracy and no human dignity.

Everyone who has access to a mobile phone or a computer – and that number is increasingly rapidly all over Africa – have a voice. This voice is amplified when traditional media picks up their messages.

Therefore investment into new technology initiatives by traditional media, for instance making sure radio stations know how to use mobile phones to increase their reach and people’s access, should be a priority of media development.

Mark Wilson reminded the meeting that the digital divide is a fact: 3 billion people on the planet do not have access to mobile phone, 75% of the world’s population do not have access to digital media.

Poor and marginalized communities are not part of this digitalized world but they are getting involved very quickly and they use the new tools for social needs.

We have to aim to take everyone to basic levels of communication and look at the information environment in a more holistic way. Make social media a useful tool for all people and not just an elite.

The panel also referred to the on-going debate in journalism and the media development community about standards and ethics in on-line and social media. An important distinction has to be made between journalism and free expression. Many blogs and postings are simple expressions of an individual’s opinion; journalism and public interest information has to hold itself to higher standards. The media development community has several international initiatives to address this: the coalition for ethical journalism, the African Media Initiative’s ethics in management and the GFMD’s initiative of journalism ethics in media development.

The panel defined types of media development and communication policies to get it right:

1. Open and transparent information systems and cultures.
2. Information, content is a public good – investment in infrastructure.
3. Holistic view of communication and integrate it into overall development policies.
4. Invest into the media, traditional media not just social media.

 
Finally, the panel agreed that it all comes back to empowering the individual. Having information and having a voice gives people power to engage in the democratic debate.

Therefore, investment in infrastructure, investment in media literacy and investment in free, independent and pluralistic media overall should be at the heart of media development policies.

These aims and the policy goal to free the media and to free access to communication technologies are also the goals of the EU as a development actor.