Terms of Reference – Media Monitoring Manual
Background
IMS is an International NGO working in Ethiopia since 2020 as a registered organization with the Charities and Societies Agency (CSA). IMS has entered an institutional partnership to offer a comprehensive approach and base of expertise to Ethiopia's media development program – “Media Reform in a Time of Change: Promoting Journalism and Democracy” implemented by Fojo and IMS 2020-2023. Under this initiative, IMS would like to strengthen the organizational capacity of the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA), in particular its media monitoring activities. The laws need to be backed up by effective institutions in charge of their implementation, among other things. Consequently, the Ethiopian Federal Parliament, by virtue of the power vested on it under Article 55(1) of the FDRE Constitution, established the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA) as an independent national media regulatory body in 2021. The establishment proclamation of the Authority, Proclamation No. 1238/2021, gave it a wide range of powers of protection and promotion of freedom of expression and media freedom in Ethiopia through, inter alia, awareness creation, monitoring and supervision and investigation of complaints of infringement of rights by the media. EMA’s media monitoring operations should seek to promote and support journalistic excellence and professionalism in Ethiopian media.
A presumption can be made that a strong, professional and quality media serves a core democratic function, as watchdogs of power and a critical forum for public discussion. In developing its monitoring capacity, EMA will ultimately contribute to enhancing the ability of citizens to engage and participate in democratic processes and public life as they receive quality, useful and relevant information and news from the media. EMA will also use monitoring reports and analysis for professional development of the media.
It is within this context that IMS seeks to support EMA, this as part Media Reform Program in Ethiopia to capacitate and professionalize the monitoring department of EMA as part of the ‘EMA Regulation and Institution Building Support’.
Therefore, IMS seeks to hire a consultant to develop a media monitoring manual for print, radio, television and online media. This Terms of Reference (TOR) is prepared to guide the preparation of comprehensive manual for regulators and trainers on media monitoring and facilitate the selection of a qualified consultant who will be tasked to develop the media monitoring manual.
Objective and Scope of Work:
The overall objective is to strengthen and capacitate EMA towards an effective and transparent Media Monitoring structure that enhances professionalism and ethical conduct of the media, this based on evidence, research and interaction with media. IMS is looking to hire a consultant to support the development of a media monitoring manual to be used in a series of capacity building trainings and other appropriate interventions for EMA media monitoring officers and the broader members of the Ethiopian media. The manual will provide guidelines for monitors on coding for the different media. In addition, it will identify aspects that can be monitored, for example pluralism, hate speech, gender inclusivity – which in effect seeks to monitor equitability, fairness and balance in news stories. The manual will also indicate how EMA publicise and engage media on its findings.
The specific objective of the assignment is to:
undertake a brief desk review of existing media monitoring manuals prepared by EMA, and other institutions to draw on the experience of other jurisdictions, and determine the scope and content of the manual to be developed
develop a media monitoring manual that indicates EMAs principles and aims for media monitoring, with the aim of building knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors of monitoring officers and learners on media monitoring
identify clear and acceptable standards and indicators of media monitoring measurements and document best practices and gaps in media performance in this regard
highlight the specific circumstances, background and history of media monitoring in the country focusing on educating media rights and obligations and the mechanisms that protect them, and on compliance of media obligations towards developing an understanding of everyone’s common responsibility to make professional and responsible media a reality in Ethiopia which would contribute to EMA’s role of promoting understanding of media freedom, and prevention of rights violations and abuses
promote usage of evidence produced to inform interventions in media training and related media professional development increase informed citizen or audience engagement on media issues in Ethiopia
hold 2 workshops for at least 40 media monitoring officers of EMA, with a focus on introducing the main parts of the manual and the best practical ways of responding to the major problems.
The media monitoring manual aims to indicate how EMA will monitor the media in terms of quality of content, noting issues among others such as accuracy, hate speech, falsehoods, misrepresentation and also document good stories for learning as case studies. The Manual will also identify and understand the state and standards of media reporting, gaps and training needs to improve professional and quality media that serves a wide variety of media outlets representing both private media, public media, and community media (print, online, broadcasting media, etc.), and develop a tailor-made training plan for EMA’s media monitoring officers and the media. The manual will also inform on how best EMA could publicise its monitoring reports. The manual will consider the manuals that is already in place to determine opportunities and constraints to the success of clearly identified outcomes of the program. An indicative Capacity Building Plan (CBP) will be also be developed by the consultant based on findings from the manual. The CBP should provide a clear pathway to achieve the outcomes of the program. An important principle of the IMS program in developing the manual and capacity building training is to ensure the effectiveness of interventions and that they should be owned and driven by the main beneficiary, the monitoring department of EMA, and the media to sustain outcomes.
IMS is seeking the services of individual consultants or firms who will work in close collaboration with its program officers to undertake the media monitoring manual and develop a capacity building training workshop. The manual needs to address specified areas within the broad categories of media outlets and the regulatory body.
The Methodology of the Manual
IMS expects the process of developing the manual to be participatory and consultative. Therefore, the consultant should develop the manual using a methodology that is built around media monitoring processes and measurements to help validate, expand, and improve the range of information collected. The assessment framework should recognize the multiple dimensions of organizational capacity and training needs concerning the bridging outcomes of the program. The methodology therefore should help to understand EMA’s organizational capacity (functional, technical, and professional) by scrutinizing its governance, structures, processes, etc. in relation to media monitoring.
The consultant should develop a manual taking into consideration the experiences, opportunities and challenges on EMA in its current monitoring activities, and also consider interactive adult learning methodology. Even though the assumption is that the audience of the manual and the trainings is likely to involve EMA’s monitoring officers, the methodology should be flexible enough to adapt to a range of audiences. The aim of the manual is improved delivery and the effective conveyance of media monitoring knowledge. The methodology should be developed in consultation with IMS program officers and relevant staff.
Roles and Responsibilities
Consultant
The consultant will report to IMS, work in close collaboration with designated EMA contact, and will be responsible for designing and delivering the media monitoring manual and capacity building plan.
The consultant will be responsible for the overall management of the task including developing the study methodology and delivering the final report in time:
Key Deliverables
Duration and Timeframe
The duration of this assignment is 40 working days, and the completed study should be submitted by January 30, 2022.
Skills and Experiences Required of Consultants
The consultant must have the following skills and expertise: