Impact Framework for Media Projects Toolkit
A new IMS tool has been launched to help editorial teams measure the impact of media projects based on more effective ways to define targets and track progress and results.
Media development actors and funders globally are grappling with how best to measure results. Reach alone is no longer an effective measure. High-quality data and results matter to international, regional and local donors as well as investors and practitioners.
Public interest journalists, content producers and media organisations need to know if their content and services are reaching and meeting their target audiences. Demonstrating links between activities and impact is also a key aspect of securing funding for and increasing the sustainability of public interest media.
Impact is much more than just increased amounts of content or growing numbers of readers.
The impact framework tool goes beyond simply tracking “what” and “how many,” providing a broader and deeper understanding of the actual impact media projects have on target audiences and local media organisations. This approach is especially beneficial for projects that aim to reach groups in marginalisation within their audience, enhancing both the reach and impact of these media initiatives. The methodology is founded on three pillars of work at IMS: audience understanding and community building, public interest products and services and business viability.
The methodology understands impact as a measurable change resulting from project activities in one or more areas, including the targeted audiences and communities, public interest products and services and the business viability of media organisations. It embraces a user-centric approach, links project activities to key performance indicators (KPIs) and outcomes and helps to identify and collect data from the beginning to the end of projects. The framework also allows project teams to assess risks, track a project’s progress towards established targets and, if necessary, correct its course in a timely fashion.
The impact framework is packaged as a toolkit that includes:
- Hypothesis Statement Template
- Hypothesis Statement Guide
- Impact Measurement Worksheet
- Impact Measurement Worksheet Demo
- Impact Guide
IMS designed the impact framework as part of the technical support in the Local Media for Democracy (LM4D) programme, which was implemented by a consortium that included the European Federation of Journalists, Journalismfund Europe, the Centre of Media Pluralism and IMS, and was co-funded by the European Union. The LM4D programme ran from February 2023 to July 2024. The impact framework assisted 42 media partners from 17 EU member states in effectively planning and implementing their projects and in maximising their projects’ impact on participating media outlets and their target audiences. The programme targeted a number of Europe’s news deserts – areas in which it is difficult or impossible to access diverse and reliable information from independent local and regional media.
