Media Handbook for Development Researchers.
Abstract
This guide is primarily a how-to manual of tools, resources, and tips for the benefit of development researchers interested in opening an ongoing dialogue with the media and a reliable avenue for disseminating their research. It is intended to give researchers valuable insights in the professional cultures and operations of the media in East Africa and practical knowledge on how to convey research results with the media in compelling form, substance and style. It is specifically targeted at researchers in eight countries of East Africa and the Horn of Africa: Dijbouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda.
This handbook clarifies the professional context of journalism that development researchers must be aware of in their media outreach efforts. It offers a series of practical tips on how to effectively present and package development research for the consumption of the media and for the benefit of their audiences. The handbook also gives some extra insights into the structure of the media industry and journalistic profession in Eastern Africa generally. Researchers are reminded that development research must ultimately compete for time and space, and have the same appeal, as any other category of public information and news. In many significant ways, therefore, suggestions in this guide reflect the typical advice that anybody interested communicating important public issues via the media would find applicable and handy. Similarly, although the advice in this guide draws on specific examples and experiences from selected countries in Eastern Africa, development researchers across the region will find the guidelines equally relevant.
Citation
Panos Eastern Africa, Kampala, Uganda, 46 pp.
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