Media Coalitions for Change

The assessment specifically aims to understand the development of innovative coalition approaches, systems and models that can strengthen the role of the media in democratisation in Africa, especially in collaboration with IMS partners and the networks and coalitions they are part of.

The assessment sought to explore how coalition-building can contribute to media freedom through work in three distinct though related areas, defined as:

Net freedoms and public interest technology: This theme explores how coalitions can effectively engage in and influence issues related to the impact on media freedom, democracy and human rights of technology and particularly internet access and inclusion, internet governance, digital rights, artificial intelligence and mis- and disinformation.

Media and public interest: This theme explores issues of how coalitions engage with and influence how the media and social media act as platforms for addressing and solving critical public interest issues such as climate change through formats such as but not limited to investigative journalism, and how journalism can engage relevant audiences and regain trust and purpose in the era of mis- and disinformation.

Media and governance: This theme explores issues related to media capture, media regulation, safety of journalists and the media’s function within political processes such as elections, with particular interest on how these issues affect the media’s performance.

The assessment focused on the following 15 countries in east, west and southern Africa: Angola, Burkina Faso, Eswatini, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The study was conducted from July to December 2023, with data collection taking place from 25 July to 31 August. Data was collected through interviews and focus group discussions and complemented with a desk review of literature. Three sub-regional consultation meetings and a regional validation workshop were held in Dar es Salaam, Ouagadougou and Cape Town. The meetings were held to discuss preliminary findings emerging from fieldwork in the selected countries and also served as platforms for further data collection.

The findings presented in this report are organised in three main categories in the following order (1) A description of the state of media coalitions; (2) Coalition-building in public interest technology and net freedoms, public interest journalism and media and governance; and (3) Analysis of coalition-building and advocacy strategies. A section on recommendations follows the findings section. The report ends with suggestions for future areas for research in the field of media coalition-building.