Institutionalization of institutions for better Media – NGO Relations highlighted

Karachi October 14: Media – NGO Relationship is vital for sustainable socio-economic development of Pakistan, and there is a dire need for the institutionalization of civil society organizations for this partnership at various levels, this was stated by recommended by the participants at a concluding workshop here on Thursday.

A two-day workshop on Development Communication for NGOs was organized by NGO Resource Centre (A Project of Aga Khan Foundation) from October 13-14, 2004 with the support from European Commission through Rural Social Development Programme (RSDP).

The workshop was attended by 29 participants, from 25 organizations from across Pakistan who are dealing with the communication and media in their respective organizations. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Abbas Hussain, while Qadeer Baig and Sabahat Saeed Khan of NGORC conducted sessions.

While distributing certificates, Ms Zohra Yousuf, renowned human rights activist, NGORC Steering Committee member, and famous civil society activist emphasized for better and mutual understand of media and NGOs about each other and their work, which is beneficial for better long-term relationship.

Sharing the objective of the workshop, Mr Qadeer Baig, Deputy Director NGORC highlighted the efforts made by NGORC for Media – NGO relationship in last few years and stated that this is a first workshop of its kind and aimed to enhance the image of NGOs through Media.

Highlighting the findings of an extensive research conducted by the NGORC in 2002-3 on the topic of ‘Media-NGO Relations’ he said that it indicated that there exists a communications gap between the media and citizen sector organizations. This study has analyzed the relationship between sectors quantitatively and qualitatively using a variety of research methods. Various aspects of the relationship were examined, including the quality of coverage that newspapers give to the CSOs, the perceptions that the CSOs and media hold about each other and the experiences of the CSOs that have a relatively productive association with the media.

This research has supported the belief that a thriving, cooperative and open association between the two central components of civil society – the CSOs and the media, are crucial in strengthening civil society and alleviating poverty.

Emphasizing the conceptual part of development communication, Abbas Hussain emphasized that communication requires holistic approach instead of reductionists approach which only focuses on its constituent components.

While discussing various aspects of the topic, participants re-enforced that Media – in its numerous forms – plays an important role in any modern day society. Its potential role in information dissemination, in removing prejudices and stereotypes, as an active stakeholder in civil society and as a tool for raising awareness has not been fully utilized in Pakistan.

Participating NGOs shared their experiences of dealing with media at various levels and on various issues. They also highlighted the problems, constraints they face while dealing with media and also suggested the ways for improving these issues. Few NGOs shared the successful case studies of their effective collaboration and support from media.

During the last two-day, working in groups on various aspects of the development communication, participants developed models of the Media – NGO relationship considering the recent trends of citizen sector and internal and external socio-political situation of the country. Furthermore, participants while reflecting on the learning, presented different thematic strategies to improve Media – NGO Relationship considering their working nature and approaches.