mediaME: About

What is mediaME?

mediaME is a collaborative initiative to collect and share knowledge and experience in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in the field of media development. Participants in this initiative include media assistance organizations, researchers and other media and development practitioners – who engage with the project as partners, members of the mediaME Expert Advisory Group, content contributors, and as users.

What are the aims of mediaME?

The mediaME initiative aims to:

(1) Collect the knowledge and experience in media development M&E among practitioners, evaluation experts and the academic community;

(2) Provide a resource for knowledge and capacity building in media development, and to ensure a wide dissemination of useful tools and learning materials for media practitioners and media development specialists; and

(3) Facilitate the creation of “toolkits” for assessing media, media development, and media development assistance. The online platform specifically seeks to encourage communication and collaboration among those engaged in M&E in media development, to provide a forum for further discussion and development of existing methodologies, and to give access to existing studies and lessons learned.

How can YOU be part of mediaME?

mediaME is a collaborative initiative that draws on the expertise and knowledge of a wide range of organisations and individuals. The mediaME initiative is open to all, and contributions and suggestions about monitoring and evaluation methods, tools and experience from around the world is highly welcome. It is your experiences and expectations regarding monitoring and evaluation in media development that will make the mediaME-Wiki a valuable resource.

Individuals can participate in MediaME:

• As a registered user –to participate in the online interactive features such as discussion forums and content development. Registered users will be able to take part in discussion forums and revise or contribute contents. (to register as a user ‘join here’)
• As a member of the 'expert' panel (‘join here’)

Organisations can participate in MediaME:

• As a partner – The mediaME-Wiki project welcomes organisations interested in media development monitoring and evaluation to join this community as partners in developing and managing content. ( ‘join here’)

To find out more about being involved in mediaME please contact Sofie Jannusch, [1].

What is the mediaME system?

mediaME is open for users around the world to benefit from this collective knowledge, and is a free online platform. The initiative is based on levels of engagement. The initiative as a whole is managed by CAMECO. Each section is managed by a ‘lead partner’. These lead partners draw from their own network of partners and experts who are significant in that focus area. Organisations and individuals who wish to engage in the development of the initiative are very welcome; these include content contributors, ‘experts’ and partner organisations. New or changed contents will be displayed after a process to assure quality control and relevance to the basic orientation of the resource. (see Join mediaME). Each author and contributor will be displayed on the site.

What is the background to mediaME?

The mediaME initiative grew from recognition amongst participants of a two-day conference – Measuring Change: Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation in Media Development hosted by FoME, the German Forum Medien und Entwicklung (Media and Development) in 2007 – that there is a need for collaborative sharing of M&E tools and experience in media development. Conference participants included journalists’ associations, media assistance implementing organizations, researchers/academics, evaluation experts and donors. The conference highlighted that the complex contexts of media assistance require a diverse toolkit of means and methods for monitoring and evaluation, and that there is an agreed need for consensual frameworks that many organisations can use. mediaME is the direct response to these needs. The Catholic Media Council (CAMECO), which co-organized the conference, volunteered to coordinate the development of this initiative in the start-up phase, supported by Press Now and Thomas R. Lansner (Columbia University).

Who is involved in mediaME ?

The mediaME initiative has the support of a wide range of organisations. Founding members of the expert group include individual consultants and organisations with expertise in M&E, such as Global Partners; representatives from media organisations such as Radio Netherlands Training Centre, the Deutsche Welle Akademie, World Federation of Science Journalists, Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR); and academic bodies such as the Center for Global Communication Studies, Annenberg School for Communication, USA, and the School of Journalism & Media Studies of Rhodes University, South Africa. (see full list mediaME experts on the right). Following these early beginnings, the mediaME-Wiki was formally launched in October 2009, at the Conference Measuring Change II (October 12-14th 2009) and is now ready for a more intensive phase of further development.