GOOD GOVERNANCE

        If a country isn't governed effectively, it is difficult to reduce poverty, improve health and uphold human rights. While the media cannot create good governance in isolation, in partnership it can play a vital role in building effective societies by improving:

• Transparency: freedom of information and clarity and openness in decision-making
• Participation: freedom of association, ability to voice views and participate in the electoral process
• Accountability: power to question public authorities

• Stability: conflict resolution, peace building, social cohesion; democratic transfers of power
• Fairness: rule of law, equal rights and treatment for all
• Human rights: respect for civil, political, social and economic rights
• Government effectiveness: freedom from corruption, use of resources in the public interest

The media can help keep citizens informed about official decisions that affect their lives, including government policies, electoral processes, legislation, and the delivery of public services.

The media can also provide people at all levels of society with a platform for discussing and debating how they're governed, and for questioning government decisions and actions.

This process exposes governments to public scrutiny, which helps reduce corruption and hold officials to account. It also encourages wider participation in elections and public life.

Different types of states may require different approaches to governance and human rights

• Closed states

In closed states, such as Burma, Zimbabwe or Iran, engaging in overt governance programming may be too sensitive. Instead, governance messaging can be integrated into programming focusing on softer issues like health and education, by exploring topics such as the delivery of health or education services. Drama can be a useful format for exploring issues too sensitive for discussion in factual formats.

• States in conflict, or dealing with emergencies

In conflict and emergency states, media work focuses primarily on providing lifeline programming (such as our Darfur Lifeline programmes in Sudan) designed to help audiences survive; however where possible conflict resolution and peace-building messaging can be integrated into this programming.

• States in transition

In states in transition, it may be appropriate to support long-term, large scale initiatives focusing on media reconstruction and capacity building, transitional justice, increasing dialogue and debate, and election support.

• Stable states

As states become more stable, the focus shifts to facilitating demand-side governance, through public service broadcasting support, media policy advice, budget monitoring programming, and support to dialogue and debate.

Although interventions will differ markedly according to whether states are closed, in conflict, transitional or stable, media has important effects in almost all states.