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Media holds key to development, say journalists

This was stressed by a group of journalists in a dialogue on the 'Role of Mass Media in Development' and the 'Right to Tell', organised by the World Bank Institute Publication on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.

The panel highlighted the role of media, particularly in the Middle East and the developing countries, emphasising the need for greater media penetration to encourage greater government responsiveness. "Governments are more responsive when they are held accountable to informed citizens," they said, pointing out the need for more responsible media which has to respond to another generation and their needs.

Although there is an urgent need in this region and many countries around the globe for the media to be independent, accountable, able to provide relevant information and reflect diverse social views, too often these qualities are absent, the participants pointed out.

The discussion also revolved around the concentration of media ownership, restricted competition, financial dependence and regulations on Press freedom distorting the provision of information and can reduce dependence. "Poor access to information and the low capacity of journalists also reduce the quality of information. Finally lack of competition, as well as poverty and low levels of literacy, human capital and technology can limit the reach of the media."

The ownership issue, argued the panelists, is a principal determinant of media independence and the only way to deal with such issue is transparency in the role of media. Besides, the state media ownership and low competition are often associated with poor outcomes, they said, adding that absence of effective media regulatory bodies, controlling of news on the internet and the ways of broadening the media's reach are other areas that need to be looked into to enhance media's role in development.

Frannie Leautier, Vice-President, World Bank Institute, who was moderating the discussion in her conclusion to achieve these outcomes, stressed that the media needs to be independent and should reach out to people and to be of high quality - the media must have the capacity to reflect diverse views but also the ability to report on various subjects and be accountable.

"Control of the media by any single or concentrated interest group can hinder their ability to improve governance, be a force for change and hold people to account."

She added that privatisation and relaxation of controls on the media (such as by allowing new private entrants) can, in many cases, enable the media to support markets better.

Other complementary avenues for reforms are eliminating restrictive media regulations and financing arrangements, ensuring open access to information and building journalistic capacity. Widespread access to media and complementary institutions such as an effective judiciary and regulatory agencies further strengthens the media's role in supporting market development and providing people with access to market opportunities, added Ms Leautier.

Indicating the World Bank Institute's effort in this direction, she said several scholarship programmes that supports training of media personnel has been launched. The World Bank is also helping to train media personnel to run the media as an enterprise.

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