Journalism is the first rough draft of history.
– Philip Graham, Publisher, Washington Post

Publications

CIMA commisions research reports on key topics in media develoment and also publishes reports on some of its events and working groups.

Applying Standards: Media Owners and Journalism Ethics

CIMA announces the release of its most recent report,  Applying Standards: Media  Owners and  Journalism Ethics, by veteran journalist Eugene L. Meyer. The  report examines the inherent conflict of interest many media owners face in placing responsibility for content above their commercial interests and how this affects the practice of journalism in countries where independent news media already face challenges.

Cover of The New Gatekeepers

The New Gatekeepers: Controlling Information in the Internet Age

CIMA announces the release of its most recent report, The New  Gatekeepers: Controlling Information in the Internet Age, by veteranjournalist and  media development trainer Bill Ristow. The  report traces how the technological revolution of the past few decades has created a new corporate world of Internet-based companies that have become the new gatekeepers of information–and their data-parsing algorithms the twenty-first century equivalent of the stereotypical editor with the green eyeshade who filtered the news before passing it along to readers.

cover of media funding report

U.S. Government Funding for Media: Trends and Strategies

U.S. Government Funding for Media: Trends and Strategies is based on an in-depth examination of proposals for media development projects put forward by USAID and the U.S. Department of State and of annual regional and global funding totals for media freedom and freedom of information provided by the State Department. It tracks the amount of funding and analyzes the types of media development projects from 2008 through 2012.

Libya

You Say You Want a Revolution … Then What? The Challenges of Media Training in Post-Qaddafi Libya: A First-Person Essay

CIMA announces the release of a special report, You Say You Want a Revolution … Then What?, a first-person account by veteran journalist and media trainer Carolyn Robinson of her experiences training broadcast journalists in Libya after the  death of leader Moammar Qaddafi. Her essay outlines how to structure training in chaotic post-conflict environments.

Evaluating the Evaluators

Evaluating the Evaluators: Media Freedom Indexes and What They Measure

All over the world, studies that rank countries by media freedom figure prominently in civil liberties debates, aid programming, foreign policy decisions, and academic research. Evaluating the Evaluators: Media Freedom Indexes and What They Measure examines the strengths and shortcomings of existing media freedom indexes and offers recommendations to improve them.

Empowering Independent Media

Empowering Independent Media: U.S. Efforts to Foster Free and Independent News Around the World

CIMA’s 2008 Inaugural Report provides an in-depth assessment of U.S. international media development efforts, both public and private, and calls on future efforts to be more long-term, comprehensive, and need-driven. The U.S., through government and private sector initiatives, spends at least $142 million annually on media development efforts in countries around the world.

Empowering Independent Media - Second Edition

Empowering Independent Media: U.S. Efforts to Foster a Free Press and an Open Internet Around the World -- Second Edition: 2012

U.S. efforts to bolster independent media and an open Internet overseas are having significant impact but face a lack of funding, growth in online censorship and surveillance, and rising attacks on journalists. Drawing on original research as well as CIMA's past reports, Empowering Independent Media examines seven core areas of media development: funding, digital media, sustainability, media law, safety, education, and monitoring and evaluation.

Under Attack: Practicing Journalism in a Dangerous World

Under Attack: Practicing Journalism in a Dangerous World

The report by Bill Ristow, a journalist and international journalism trainer based in Seattle, provides a clear look at the problem of violence against journalists and offers some potential solutions.

Content Analysis: Can Shared Indicators Improve Monitoring and Evaluation

On March 9, 2012, CIMA organized a working group to discuss approaches to using content analysis within an overall framework for monitoring and evaluation (M&E).  The meeting succeeded in generating a lively discussion on that topic as well as on the viability of creating a shared set of indicators to apply across media development projects.

A Pilot Study for GFMD’s Media Development Toolkit

This toolkit is a joint project of IREX, CIMA, and the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD). It is intended to demonstrate a way to use IREX’s Media Sustainability Index methodology to organize a study outline and combine existing data and individual conversations to prepare a structured, in-depth study of a country’s media sector.

Community Radio: Its Impact and Challenges to Its Development

CIMA organized a working group on October 9, 2007 that discussed the issue of community radio development.

Challenges for Independent Media in a Post-Gaddafi Libya

This report is the result of a roundtable discussion hosted by CIMA on October 6, 2011.

The Legal Enabling Environment for Independent Media in Egypt and Tunisia

This report is the result of a roundtable discussion co-hosted by CIMA and Internews Network on September 1, 2011.

The Role of New Media in the 2009 Iranian Elections

This report is the result of a CIMA workshop held on July 7, 2009.