E VA LUAT ION R E P OR T 2 02 3

Executive summary
Kyrgyzstan
Impact study community media support in Kyrgyzstan

dw-akademie.com

Background
When DW Akademie set up its first project in Kyrgyzstan in 2014, the country
stood out positively as the only country
in Central Asia on the road to a relatively functioning parliamentary democracy.
In recent years, the situation has unfortunately deteriorated: pressure on themediam — on individual journalists andeditors as well as on independent media
outlets — has increased, including criminal proceedings against journalists andthe detention of media representatives.
DW Akademie has been active in Kyrgyzstan since 2007. It focused its initial activities on providing consulting and training
to radio and television stations as well as
online media outlets. The BMZ-funded
DW Akademie projects in Kyrgyzstan forthe years 2014-2017, 2018-2020 as well as
2021-2023 (as part of the Uzbekistan proj-ect) worked along several parallel projectlines, one of which was the developmentof community media (CM). DW Akademie’s
implementing partner, the Association ofCommunity Media of Kyrgyzstan (ACM),
was founded in 2013 with the continual
support of DW Akademie and other donors.
The aim of this evaluation is to gather
evidence of the long-term impact of theproject line focused on supporting CM in
Kyrgyzstan and to identify factors contributing to its positive impact. The lessons
learned can be useful for other DW Akademie project collaborations, including inUzbekistan. The evaluation took place between November 2022 and March 2023,
with a field visit to Kyrgyzstan from February 13 to 18, 2023. During the field visit,the evaluators examined two of the 30 CM

outlets (one ACM founding member located in Suusamyr and a new ACM member
located in Krasnaja Retchka) in greater
detail. The data collection carried out for
the impact study also consisted of desk
research, two online surveys for CM outlets and for their audience, 24 semi-structured interviews and two validation workshops with ACM and DW Akademie.

Impact study results
The working hypothesis that the (female)rural population contributes issues relevant to them to the programming of their
CM is overall confirmed.
The CM sector is dominated by womenand gives a voice to women’s issues. As
part of their editorial policy, CM outlets
are open to the active participation of therural population. In recent years, someCM outlets strengthened their collaboration with local governments and thereby
act as a bridge between rural communities and local political decision-makers. Both ACM and donors highlighted
the fact that CM outlets are in a uniqueposition to raise awareness about local
socio-economic issues and to contributeto problem-solving in the community. Interviewed community members insteadhighlighted CM reporting on local events,heritage, talents, and role models, whichmakes residents more aware of positive
developments in their community. Local
CM news are automatically published on
the ACM’s website (https://kyrgyzmedia.kg). In the past, the most interestingnews items were compiled into a weekly
15-minute program broadcast on national radio.

The working hypothesis that CM journalists have improved their journalistic
expertise and are able to convey information to their target groups according
to basic journalistic standards is partiallyconfirmed.
95 female and 27 male CM journalists arelisted in ACM’s records. In interviews, CM
journalists received very positive feedback, but the expectations were also verylow. While the CM managers are relatively professional and many of them havebeen involved in CM for a longer time, thejournalists — who are volunteers — areoften high school students between
13 and18 years of age. This affects thecontent of the productions and leads tosome inherent problems, such as a discontinuity in (trained) volunteers. The CM
managers play a crucial role: they recruit,
train and guide CM volunteer journalists,and support and quality check their productions. In addition, the CM journalists
receive training from ACM and their poolof trainers as well as from different donor projects. There is surprisingly little(digitalized) training and collaborationmaterial available.

The working hypothesis that CM can produce a large quantity of journalistic products and engage in sustained outreach ispartially confirmed.
The development of the CM sector in
Kyrgyzstan is a success story: at the timeof the impact study’s completion, ACM
encompassed 30 CM members from allacross Kyrgyzstan. A few CM have left
the association for various reasons.
Only three CM outlets broadcast via radio, as the licenses are expensive. The
others disseminate their content mainly via their websites and social media.
ACM has defined a target for CM outlets
of a minimum of eight productions permonth and ACM staff make an effort tosupport underperforming members. It is
not clear how the assessment of informational needs and the implementation of
CM content programming and strategicplans is done, if at all. The concentrationof knowledge in a select number of individuals in a CM outlet is a risk for sustainability. There seems to be little horizontal
exchange between the 30 CM members,
although they all face similar challenges.

The working hypothesis that the Association of Community Media is institutionally and financially sustainable and canoffer support services to the CM sector isoverall confirmed.
DW Akademie has closely accompanied
ACM from the beginning. Currently, theAssociation is no longer in the forming
stage, and has moved into a consolidating and norming phase. ACM has gained agood reputation, internally and externally. ACM offers a broad range of support
to its 30 members, including training, adhoc expert support, access to contacts
and networks, an annual meeting, legal
and technical advice, and access to project funds. While this support is available,
it is not transparently presented as a service to its members. ACM has a very stable and experienced staff, but the lack offluctuation and knowledge management
bears risks for sustainability and innovation. ACM attracts and channels funding
from multiple donors, who see strong(but diverging) potential in CM. There isno independent strategy that lays down
concrete priorities and provides guidance to CM outlets and donors. ACM hasvarious ideas for generating revenue,
but thus far there has not felt the need toimplement them.

The working hypothesis that CM outlets
are able to contribute to the development of the media sector and/or civil society is partially confirmed.
The impact on youth development in rural areas was very important for mostinterview partners. They all highlighted that CM provides an opportunity foryoung people to develop skills in a region
where there are not many options forthem and to collect valuable experience
for their future careers. Working in CM
can also have a positive effect on personal development. CM reports on personalities with special talents or remarkableachievements from the local community
who can act as role models for others.
ACM had previously set up an alumni network, but this network did not seem tobe active at the time of the impact study.
There was no direct evidence of CM
strengthening of civil society throughmedia work, which might be related to
the nature of CM as multimedia centersrather than media branches of NGOs andto CM’s reliance on volunteering highschool students rather than locally rooted adults.

The working hypothesis that framework
conditions for CM have improved is partially confirmed.
At the local level, CM outlets and ACM
have established closer relationships
with local authorities, who provide contributions in kind (including office space)to CM outlets. It is a continuous challenge for CM to find the right balance
between proximity to local political elites
and maintaining its independence. At thenational level, the political and economic
framework for media in Kyrgyzstan has
deteriorated in recent years, but this has
not yet affected CM. CM received a formally recognized status in the media law
in 2017. Further advocacy is needed, especially to gain easier access to licenses.
ACM has established working contacts
with relevant institutions at the nationallevel. There is little networking with other CM and CM associations in other countries, apart from one working meetingwith interested parties in Uzbekistan.

Lessons learned learned– The profile of the CM organizations (inKyrgyzstan mostly multimedia centers)
and their volunteers (in Kyrgyzstan,mostly high school students between 13and 18 years of age) determine the content, impact and sustainability of CM.
– It is a strength of CM that they include
and give a voice to female contributors
and issues.

– In the current consolidating and norming phase of the Association, it is important to have a strategy for internal andexternal orientation/guidance on CM
priorities.
– To achieve real impact beyond project duration, knowledge management
during activities and monitoring of thefollow-up after activities is important.

– Demand-oriented and long-term donor
support should be aligned with clear objectives and transparent processes within and between the partners.

Selected recommendations

DW Akademie

To DW Akademie

is Deutsche Welle's center forinternational media development,journalism training and knowledgetransfer. Our projects strengthen thehuman right to freedom of expression
and unhindered access to information.
DW Akademie empowers people
worldwide to make independent
decisions based on reliable facts andconstructive dialogue.

– Provide support for journalism, but also
beyond journalism (such as organizational development).
– Introduce a systematic approach toknowledge management, including digitalized formats.
– Consider intended and unintended consequences of providing institutional
support.

DW Akademie is a strategic partnerof the German Federal Ministry
for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment. We also receive funding
from the Federal Foreign Office andthe European Union and are active inmore than 70 developing countries
and emerging economies.

CONTAC T
Dr. Laura Moore
Head Research and Evaluation
laura.moore@dw.com
Berlin, Germany

DWAkademie@dw_akademie
DWAkademie
dw.com/newsletter-registration
dw.com/mediadev

The objective of the external evaluation is to provide a constructive assessment of the project results. It does not necessarily align with theperspective and planning of DW Akademie. Nevertheless, all findings were discussed in order to allow lessons learned to be incorporated into
the development of future strategies.