MIAMI — In “The Media Missionaries: American Support for International Journalism Excellence and Press Freedom Around the Globe,” media analyst Ellen Hume provides a detailed look at the multimillion-dollar effort to promote press freedom and raise journalism standards worldwide.
The new publication, funded and published by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, urges more support for international journalists and independent media.
“The survival of independent journalism in countries where politicians or oligarchs have taken over much of the media depends on the journalists developing alternative sources of power, such as economic independence, international funding and pressure or local support,” according to Hume.
The U.S. government and private agencies, including foundations, spent more than $600 million on media development and international journalism training programs in the decade after the 1989 collapse of communism. The funding has supported and spurred the launch of newspapers and television and radio networks, many in countries where the idea of a free and independent media seemed impossible. But repression and censorship continue to threaten journalists and unravel the progress made so far.
“Long-term commitment is required to harvest the seeds sown in [that decade],” according to Hume. “The endeavor is valuable and worthwhile, though, for Americans as well as the international community.”
The report cites the government takeover of independent media in the former Soviet Union as well as continued suppression throughout the Arab and Muslim worlds; in African countries like Zimbabwe, where journalists are routinely imprisoned; and in Latin American countries like Colombia, where they are murdered with impunity.
“Despite hundreds of millions of public and private dollars spent on media development, the global need remains great. Whole populations in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America remain cut off from basic local and international news,” the report says.
Hume, a journalist and educator who has participated in international media training since 1993, notes the importance of increased funding for media training, equipment and fellowships, as well as legal support for free press legislation and for campaigns that push for journalists’ safety.
Contributors to “The Media Missionaries” include David Hoffman, president of Internews Network, and James F. Hoge Jr., chairman of the International Center for Journalists. It contains 33 pages of updated contacts on media developers worldwide.
“The report is a rich resource of information and sound advice,” said Eric Newton, Knight’s director of Journalism Initiatives. “We hope all journalists training and working abroad will read and use it.”
To receive a copy of “The Media Missionaries,” contact [email protected].
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities.