Renewing the principles for effective media support

Meeting report from the GFMD panel on renewing the principles for effective media support at the Global Conference for Media Freedom held in Tallinn, Estonia, on February 9, 2022.

The panel at the Global Conference for Media Freedom in Tallinn, Estonia, invited a wide range of speakers, from practitioners and donors, to representatives of different media development and intergovernmental organisations. The panel spoke on the establishment of Principles for Effective Media Development, which the GFMD and CIMA have been working on since 2021 in coordination with the Media Sector Working Group. The Principles respond to the growing need for guidelines that stakeholders and actors within the media development sector can use to advise their work. Many of the participants spoke on the pertinence and relevance of renewed principles after the COVID-19 pandemic and given the current state of the world. Additionally, case studies were used to explain different approaches for general coordination improvement and how a renewed list of principles can help guide future coordination efforts.

The importance of renewing the principles in the current momentum

Many participants reinforced the timelines and the importance of the process of renewing principles for effective media support.

“These guiding principles are aimed to strengthen and reinforce effective international support for the media sector. In particular, by aligning financial support, so international financial support with a renewed strong commitment to human rights and freedom of expression, both online and offline.” -Donor Representative

Organisers:

• Centre for International Media Assistance (CIMA)

• Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD)

Co-conveners:

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (BZ)

• Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)

• United Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (UK FCDO)

• United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Attendance of GFMD IMPACT sessions in Tallinn

• 78 attendees* took part in both GFMD IMPACT sessions (43 attended in person and 35 online).

• 45 representatives of international, regional and national media assistance organisations

• 14 representatives of donor organisations

• 9 representatives of the two co-convening organisations

• 7 academia and research representatives

• 1 expert, 1 civil society organisation representative and 1 think thank representative

*68 excluding the organisers