Data & indicators

Articles about data and indicators relevant for media development and international media assistance.

For data source and indicators for media development visit Indicators & data sources.

How Nature and TBIJ measure the impact of their journalism

Catherine Edwards, Journalism.co.uk

How Nature and TBIJ measure the impact of their journalismJournalism UK

This article highlights the latest research proposing new ways of measuring the social impact (including on policy change), of journalism:

The obvious motivation for tracking the impact of journalism is to check if our reporting is indeed creating change in society. It gives reporters a different way of tracking articles' 'performance' - one that may not be as easy to put into numbers as page views, but which closely reflects the goals of many mission-driven publications.

"Having a clear way to track and measure impact that goes beyond ad metrics can demonstrate the value of this important and nuanced work, potentially creating more resources for this type of reporting in the newsroom," says Green-Barber, founder of Impact Architects and an expert in media strategy.

Guide for Journalists on Documenting International Crimes (July, 2022)

Centre for Law and Democracy, News Media Europe

Guide for Journalists on Documenting International Crimes - Centre for Law and DemocracyCentre for Law and Democracy

"The role of news professionals is first and foremost to inform the public, and not to collect and analyse evidence on behalf of public authorities. At the same time, news organisations are expressing a growing interest in understanding the requirements for information to be admissible as evidence in court, so as to help to hold criminal actors to account."

The Guide is available in English, Burmese, and Russian. The Ukrainian translation is in process.

State Media Monitor- The World's State Media Database (June, 2022)

SEENPM

State Media Monitor – The World’s State Media DatabaseSEENPM

"State Media Monitor is the world’s state media database, the most complete state media database ever built. Available through the website Statemediamonitor.com, the database contains information on 546 state-administered media companies in 151 countries."

RSF's 2022 World Press Freedom Index: a new era of polarisation (May, 2022)

Reporters Without Borders

RSF’s 2022 World Press Freedom Index : a new era of polarisationrsf.org

"The 20th World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reveals a two-fold increase in polarisation amplified by information chaos – that is, media polarisation fuelling divisions within countries, as well as polarisation between countries at the international level."

The interactive Index is available here.

A startup that rates the reliability of news sources says it's making a profit (Jan. 2022)

CNN - BRIAN STELTER

"NewsGuard, a four-year-old startup that scans the web and rates the reliability of news sources, says its own business is reliable enough to turn a profit."

Almost there: A common-sense indicator for the UN’s access to information goal (2016)

CIMA - BILL ORME

Almost there: A common-sense indicator for the UN’s access to information goalCenter for International Media Assistance

The Statistical Commission Speaks: First Indications of Access to Information in the SDGs (2015)

CIMA - BILL ORME

The Statistical Commission Speaks: First Indications of Access to Information in the SDGsCenter for International Media Assistance

Will Statisticians Get the Last Word on the UN’s New Development Goals? (2015)

CIMA - BILL ORME

Will Statisticians Get the Last Word on the UN’s New Development Goals?Center for International Media Assistance

There are three things you need to know about the negotiations over the United Nations’ next set of global development goals, which will be adopted by world leaders at the General Assembly this September and remain in effect for the next 15 years:

• Almost everybody agrees that the proposed 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 associated targets under discussion are too numerous to be fully measured and tracked, much less fully achieved.

• Almost nobody wants to reopen negotiations to reduce the number of goals and targets, because almost everybody has something in the current proposal they want to retain — and many fear a further round of revisions would produce not just fewer but also far less ambitious SDGs.

• The real negotiations, therefore, are those now taking place in the parallel geopolitical universe of official statisticians, who through the UN Statistical Commission will oversee the selection of “indicators” for those 17 goals and 169 targets. It’s a process that won’t conclude until months after the September adoption of the SDGs but that will determine what those new goals actually mean, whether they can realistically be met by the 2030 deadline and if they will really matter much to the world if they are met.

Metrics, metrics everywhere: How do we measure the impact of journalism? (2012)

Nieman Labs - JONATHAN STRAY

Metrics, metrics everywhere: How do we measure the impact of journalism?Nieman Lab

The article argues that we need to get beyond counting pageviews and ad impressions and build better ways of judging how our work changes the world around us.

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