Project
Strengthening Civil Society and Developing Independent Media in Africa
The project aimed to support six existing street papers in African cities as well as to establish a new paper in Lagos. The overall development goal was to support people selling newspapers to earn a living and at the same time fulfil a broader social need for independent information on social issues The project involved: sharing of stories among the participating papers, through a regional coordination unit in Zambia; training for vendors and journalists, through a regional training coordinator and with support from outside journalists; a feasibility study and establishment of the Lagos paper; and advocacy to the broader public through the regional news service.. The International Network of Street Papers Foundation – the umbrella group managing the coordination among papers – was in a position effectively to support the project by obtaining funding and by taking on project coordination and supervision tasks. These factors ensured the overall relevance of the project. The project’s achievements, in the face of complex logistical challenges, demonstrated that groups of committed, skilled civil society activists can achieve significant results, as the sections below will highlight. However, the project’s relevance was diminished by a number of design flaws. There was an imbalance between the objectives of the project – which concerned the development of media freedom and independent news, as well as empowerment of the poor – and the project activities, which were directed towards capacity building of the papers themselves and towards training.
The project document included a wide range of activities, but did not always clarify how these would lead to the achievement of the ambitious project outcomes. The document did not explicitly address risks and obstacles to the achievement of results.
The project design was over-ambitious. Although based on a sound analysis of needs, it did not take sufficient account of the institutional weakness of African street papers. The need to devote much attention to their support partly hampered the effectiveness of other activities, such as outreach to civil society.
A related design flaw was that insufficient attention was devoted to awareness raising and advocacy activities, which should have underpinned the achievement of the objective concerning greater representation of socially disadvantaged people. Any new project that aims at reinforcing the democratic representation of poor and marginalized people in the street paper context should include an explicit public awareness and advocacy strategy. This strategy should address specific target audiences, such as municipal government and elected officials.
The project’s relevance was diminished by a number of design flaws. There was an imbalance between the objectives of the project – which concerned the development of media freedom and independent news, as well as empowerment of the poor – and the project activities, which were directed towards capacity building of the papers themselves and training. Training and capacity building were given priority over achieving enhanced representation.
It is a testimony to the dedication and effectiveness of the project staff that so many activities were actually implemented, despite the design weaknesses.
The project was generally efficient. However the project management arrangements did not explicitly give a role to the directors and editors of individual papers in the region, thus limiting their sense of ownership of the project.
The regional trainer disseminated ideas and kept in touch with all trainees in different countries, rather than expecting them to come to the regional centre.
The regional trainer became a regional advisor to the various papers. By visiting virtually all of them more than once and meeting editors and Grantee staff on various occasions he effectively disseminated ideas and approaches across the region.
The project was remarkably effective. A wide range of activities were implemented as foreseen in the original proposal, and sometimes beyond what was planned. There was significant work done towards enhancing coordination among street papers in the production and sharing of content, through the editorial coordination work undertaken by the editor of the Zambian paper.
One important element of impact is related to the role of street papers as social enterprises. By supporting the network of papers, the project effectively supported one of the few African social enterprise networks currently in existence. This is significant in that social enterprises are likely to become a key tool in future, as government and civil society develop new strategies to tackle poverty.