Norah Mallaney reports from the launch of the IREX Media Sustainability Index, which examines the working conditions for independent media worldwide.
Today, the Center for International Media Assistance hosted an event to publicize the release of the International Resource and Exchanges Board’s (IREX) Media Sustainability Index (MSI). This report “provides in-depth analyses of the conditions for independent media in 76 countries” and addresses media as a system unto itself, looking at the fields of print and broadcast journalism in their own context rather than through the broader lenses of corruption or freedom of expression.
To view the different regional MSI reports please visit the IREX website:
Media Sustainability Index (MSI)
Despite focusing narrowly on the conditions of independent media, the MSI appears to employ a similar methodology to our own Global Integrity Report. Local journalists are hired and lead the way in collecting data. The indicators were answered not only through a quantitative score but also with additional commentary to bring these numbers to life. In addition, all the journalists for a given country were brought together to compare scores and discuss their opinions on their country’s media climate. This pairing of narrative and numbers is a frequent feature of the most useful of the new generation of governance measurement tools.
All in all, the Media Sustainability Index is a good example of a measurement tool that employs some of the best-practice strategies highlighted in A Users’ Guide to Measuring Corruption, showing how the methodologies recommended by the guide can be applied to a host of international trends, beyond just corruption.
— Norah Mallaney
