The media landscape is changing faster than many donors can process. New technologies are forcing change upon business models, regulatory structures, and basic patterns of information access and distribution. Yet how much have efforts to assist independent media really changed as a result? I recently tackled these questions in a short study for the Center for International Media Assistance at the National Endowment for Democracy.

The report, which can be found here, posits that media assistance efforts don't necessarily need to change radically to keep up with ongoing changes, but that donors, practitioners and scholars must keep abreast of current trends to be effective and relevant. There are certainly various schools of thought on this, and I'd like to hear from those who agree, disagree, or would like to continue the conversation in more detail.

At CommGAP, we're interested in exploring not only developments in new technologies and media, but the intersection between new technologies, citizens, and governance in developing countries as well. We'll be posting more on these and other issues in the near future, so please watch this space . . . and in the meantime, feel free to suggest particularly interesting or innovative topics to pursue.

Photo Credit: Flickr user renaissancechambar a's