Defining and Understanding Media Development Strategies
in Post-War and Crisis States[*]
Crisis States Research Centre, London School of Economics
in association with:
Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
Stanhope Centre for Communications Policy Research
Workshop Website:
Monday March 21st and Tuesday March 22nd
London School of Economics
The flow of information is a crucial aspect of development strategies in post war and crisis states. It raises fundamental issues about the allocation of resources and the establishment of institutions, sometimes in extreme circumstances. This workshop will build upon our previous Alistair Berkeley Seminar on ‘The Media, Law and Peace building from Bosnia and Kosovo to Iraq’[1] and is part of an extensive multi-step process to assist in the understanding of what makes states fail, and what leads from failing states to stability and the development of more democratic institutions. It focuses on themes concerning the relevance of media development to political and economic development, looking particularly at areas that have not been given the attention they require.
The workshop is based on the proposition that attention to the role of media needs to be at the heart of efforts to consolidate security, effective government and development in the wake of crises and war. We have structured the workshop around questions that to date have received far too little attention in the donor community and, indeed, in the scholarly communities looking at development, post-war reconstruction and the role of media and communications in state building.
OBJECTIVES
The majority of academic literature addressing issues of media in crisis states has focused on either the role of the international media on reporting conflicts or on ways in which the international community ought to ‘develop’ or intervene in a media environment. The dominant discourse has predominantly highlighted the central and positive role the media may have in post-war development. While this research has been valuable, we wish to take a more critical and evaluative look at media and state relations in post-war situations. The goal of a free press may be the right one, but from the perspective of research and technical assistance it is important to look at the variety of approaches that are emerging and in particular from the perspective of local actors. State reconstruction is not a linear process and it is often suggested that political liberalization (and media liberalization) are an imperative part of this process from the immediate outset - the local government is often regarded as the central obstacle inhibiting a free media environment. But for states that are attempting reconstruction and dealing with national and international pressures to simultaneously pursue political liberalization, media development may not be so straightforward. Thus, central objectives to be addressed during the workshop include:
To take a critical look at the dominant approach towards media development and to ways in which the current media discourse constrains alternative approaches to media development in post-war situations.
To achieve a greater understanding of the instances in which the ‘enabling environment’ is not entirely conducive to a free and independent media or when the elements that can improve that environment are not easily at hand.
To achieve a better understanding of the transforming functions of the state in media development. Rather than focusing on the state as an antagonist of the ‘free’ media, we will explore the potential of state involvement as an essential, or at least in the interim, a possibly constructive actor.
While there has been substantial research on the role of hate speech in igniting violence, a more nuanced approach to the media of destabilization is required particularly with respect to the role of new technology.
To examine unexplored influences in the space of media reconstruction and state stability including informal media. We expect to address new trends in the role of the state in information management.
FORMAT
The workshop will be run informally as a roundtable with designated participants giving ten-minute briefings. Each session will be opened by the designated chair and followed by a summary of the prepared background papers that are being distributed with this programme. Interventions throughout the sessions are welcome. The format is intended to allow for discussion and debate rather than a lecture or presentation. The participants have been invited with an eye for geographical diversity as well as variety of professional backgrounds to provide a variety of perspectives on challenging current thinking and setting a new research agenda for exploring media and post-war issues.
AGENDA
I. State Shaping the Media
We open the workshop proceedings with a discussion on the role of the state in shaping media environments. We begin here largely because discussions of the state contributing positively to media and stability are marginalized by the dominant paradigm- yet the state remains the most important actor. In this session, we are particularly interested in the role of Ministries of Information and how, if at all, they have been transforming and adapting to growing international pressures for democracy and free media as well as the political demands of their government.
In countries undergoing transition from authoritarian modes of government, as well as those attempting to rebuild public authority in the wake of war and state collapse, there have been renewed efforts at “attaining stability”, gaining internal consensus, winning “hearts and minds” and other activities typical in the past of ministries of information. These public sector entities are sometimes very different from their predecessors and appear to be assigned a wide variety of functions and objectives: promotion of free and independent media organizations, maintaining political control, controlling the pace of change in information circulation, promoting education and literacy. We aim to undertake something of an historiography of these entities, including an anatomy of their functions, how they are being redesigned, the ways in which they are organized and a debate about their role in promoting democratic practices, state building efforts and in coordinating with non-state entities and international agencies.
In addition we will also explore instances when the state regards the standard formula for media development to be problematic in a particular post-war environment or when they lack the requisite capacity or resources to ensure the requisite ‘enabling environment’. Many regimes established in the wake of state collapse and war have strayed significantly from promoting a model of free and open media. For example, to differing degrees in Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia there have been curbs on the freedom of media, varying and shifting with time, with the oft-stated objectives of building national unity. We will consider whether media freedoms should be an essential aspect of peace-building and post-war reconstruction, or whether these necessitate the restriction of dissent or censorship. Are these new attempts to restrict media freedoms simply a slippage into authoritarianism or are they legitimate alternatives to the Western liberal democratic model? The experiences of more long-standing efforts of new state authorities to shape media and information circulation will be considered in relation to challenges posed in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.
Background paper:
Professor Monroe Price “The State and the Shaping of the Media: Identity, Loyalty, Dissent and the Reinvention of Ministries of Information”
II. Media Challenging the State: Anti-politics and Agents of Destabilisation
The second session will address anti-politics and the changing nature of political organisations. Changes in the technology of media and its ownership structure (globalisation) have had profound affects on the manner in which politics is organised and on the very possibilities of public authorities to regulate information flows in both crisis and stable states. These changes need to be taken into account in thinking about and planning the role of media in post-war states.
A decided trend has emerged in many parts of the world where political “outsiders” and “insiders” behaving as outsiders, are competing for positions of authority within the state. Technological changes in the media have allowed individuals to appeal to society over the heads of traditional intermediaries, often undermining long established political parties or pre-empting the formation of political parties where none exist. Media organisations themselves have become actors in the political arena. These developments are hardly taken into account by domestic and international actors in efforts to consolidate representative and democratic political systems in post-war states. Do these represent new means for the exercise of power by civil society or ways to promote semi-democratic, semi-authoritarian executive powers? By drawing on experiences in states that have not collapsed, we will consider the ways in which these developments constrain and enable the establishment of stable and effective government in post-war states.
In addition, we will also explore ways in which media organisations have emerged that transcend state boundaries and appeal beyond efforts of the state to control and manage information flows. One of the most striking cases is Al Jazeera in the Middle East, which appears to be an alternative to other new media organisations like Al Arabiya that play a more harmonious role in relation to existing state broadcasters. On a different scale, informal modes of media, like sermons, also function outside of state control and pose a challenge to public authorities that may either attempt to bring them within the fold or undermine their activities. The arena of media, writ large, in fact have offered new possibilities of destabilisation of both democratic and authoritarian regimes. How important are these new media organisations and new modes of communication? Who is active within them and do they offer possibilities of empowerment to societal groups or are they primarily a destabilising force? What are their implications for efforts to rebuild states in the wake of war?
Background Papers:
James Putzel and Francisco Gutierrez “Anti-politics and the Role of the Media”
Ed Webb “Religion in/as Politics”
III The Media and the Making of the Post-War State: (Re)thinking the Prevalent Strategies
Taking context from the previous day this session will revisit and critique the dominant literature and prevailing media development strategies. Questions as to how the role of the media in a post-war agenda is being defined and who is defining it and with what motives will be addressed. We will take context from debates on good governance and democratisation discourse, as well as geo-strategic interests, to question whether the current prescription for media development in post war situations is really the most useful for the local environment or is rather just indicative of a particular and broader development consensus. Also to be discussed will be ways in which NGO’s have become a powerful industry with an influence that is usually regarded as a positive one but in reality is much more tenuous.
In addition, particular attention will be placed on the new issues facing political authorities, media actors and international organisations. Questions of evaluation, the importance of public service broadcasters, adjustments and transitions in state broadcasting, the effectiveness and utility of the “Temporary Media Commissioner” model, the role of the media in elections in post-war environments and comparative approaches among the international organisations including the UN, OSCE, and NATO will be touched upon.
Background Papers:
Professor Monroe Price and Simon Haselock “Re-examining Media in Conflict: Comparing the Histories of Bosnia Hercegovinia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq”
Dr. Tim Allen and Nicole Stremlau “Media Policy, Peace and State Reconstruction”
IV Implications for Post-war Media Development Strategies: Summing Up and Planning Ahead
In this final session we would like to have some discussion about the policy implications coming out of the three sessions, with the view towards writing a report useful to the policy community. Further, we wish to discuss the possibilities of putting together a book and the interest participants would have in contributing to this. We also expect to identify a research agenda for the future.
OUTCOMES
We currently envision a final report similar to Crisis States publication from the Symposium on State Reconstruction and International Engagement in Afghanistan which can be found at: . The final version of the workshop report will be available by 1 May 2005. We have developed a dissemination strategy to ensure that the report is widely read by relevant actors- we will also welcome your help in distributing it.
We are also planning to have a edited book published with contributions from workshop participants and some that have been unable to join us- we very much hope that this programme will set the research agenda and scope for this publication.
The LSE Crisis States Programme, The Annenberg School for Communications and the Stanhope Centre are working to develop ties and a future programme for research in Media and Crisis States, your contributions will be integral to helping us set this agenda. This workshop should serve as a launch for future collaboration that we very much hope all workshop participants will continue to be a part of.
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[*] We thank the Department for International Development of the UK government for generous funding of the Workshop.
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