MEDIA DEVELOPMENT

Evaluation Report
Executive summary Lebanon
Relevant information for all: Empowering refugees
through media and exploring media viability strategies
in Lebanon

dw-akademie.com

Background

Conclusions of the project evaluation

Lebanon has the most free, diverse and active media landscape in
the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Yet nearly all outlets
depend on the patronage of political parties, wealthy individuals, or
foreign powers that strongly influence the political orientation ofcoverage. Local watchdog groups say summonses, interrogationsand complaints filed against journalists have increased. In addition
to these political constraints, the Lebanese media market — similar
to most media markets in the region — suffers from a precarious financial situation.

Relevance: Concerning project strand 1 (“Shatila”), all stakeholders
interviewed saw the need for public participation of young people and refugees through media. Similarly, the objective of project
strand 2 (“Media Viability”) of strengthening media viability in theregion was supported by all stakeholders interviewed. Each project
strand is well justified and consistently broken down into objectives
and outcomes and measurable output indicators. In a fragmented
state such as that of Lebanon, governmental documents should inform a project like the one under evaluation, but should also look atwhat politically marginalized groups need. The project is doing thatto a great extent. In conclusion the criterion Relevance is assessed as“comprehensively fulfilled”.

At the same time, Lebanon now has the world’s highest proportionof displaced people. Syrian and Palestinian refugees face the gamutof official and societal discrimination, occasional violence and economic hardships. The presence of refugees is seen as a problem
among many Lebanese, with anxieties stoked by political slogans,media scare stories that promote fear, and perceived injustice.
This is in brief the context that informs the two objectives of DW
Akademie’s Lebanon project, which is part of DW Akademie’s regional program “Freedom of expression and media development in theMiddle East”. The program is financed by the German Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the overall project period is 2017-2019.
The project objectives at the outcome level are twofold, each informing its own project strand. 1: Young people participate in social discussion by using media. 2: “Media Viability”: Selected media from theMENA-Region to be strengthened in their viability.
Within these two project strands a variety of activities have been accomplished during the last two years. In strand 1, the Campji Facebook-platform was established, which young refugees use to reportabout refugee camps in Lebanon, particularly the Shatila camp inBeirut. Furthermore, courses were set up in Shatila to improve young
people’s media and information literacy (MIL). In project strand 2,
the brand “Digital Media Viability Lab” (DMVLab) was established by
DW Akademie and project partner Maharat Foundation. DMVLabconducted media management training courses and organized international exchanges. As the project is ongoing (until the end of2019), further activities will follow.

Effectiveness: Consolidating the citizen platform Campji has been
fully achieved despite a very insecure period after the exit of B&Z
as local project partner. All indicators and activities are on track inproject strand 1. In general, the objective at outcome level and therespective indicator 2.1 for the project strand “Media Viability” areambitious. Two of three outputs have been achieved, while the third
has been adapted to better cater for the needs of sustaining quality journalism courses. In general, the project was very effectively
managed despite the fact that the DW Akademie team had a toughtime with saving Campji and finding a new project partner. In conclusion the criterion Effectiveness is assessed as “overall fulfilled”.
Efficiency: For the DW Akademie team it was challenging to keep
Campji going after B&Z had left, which took time and caused extra
work and higher expenditures. Still, these efforts were necessary
because otherwise DW Akademie would have run the risk of losing
the whole project strand. On the second project strand, Maharat
Foundation worked efficiently. Several interviewees from different
stakeholder groups criticized the general DW Akademie administration for low salaries, long delays in paying salaries and complicatedadministrative procedures. Additionally, project amendments are
considered a challenge to efficiency by interviewees from the implementing stakeholder group. Money has to be spent at short notice.
In conclusion the criterion Efficiency is assessed as “comprehensively fulfilled”.

Impact: Campji (project strand 1) has increased its impact enormously. With daily
postings on the Facebook platform, a core
newsroom team and a total of roughly 35
500 channel subscribers, Campji could consolidate its work over the evaluated project
phase. This is particularly remarkable after
all the challenges the project faced throughout 2018. All in all, the project strand “Shatila”
has had a wide and diverse positive impact.
The media management training (project
strand 2) had an impact on the participants’knowledge and outlook. It particularly increased their knowledge of the economic
aspects of media viability and strengthened
their confidence that quality media have achance to financially survive in the region. In
conclusion the criterion Impact is assessed
as “comprehensively fulfilled”.
Sustainability: The major challenge vis-a-vis
the “Shatila” project strand is the transition
into a broader capacity-building strategy.
If the new project partner wins the trust of
the young Campji team and manages to focus its activities, there’s every chance that
Campji will prove sustainable beyond theend of the actual project period. Steps havealready been taken to work out a strategy
for it to become a viable media institution.
The Maharat Foundation is currently trying
to build a brand in the “Media Viability” proj-ect strand with DMVLab, in order to sustain
the project impact and to work on their own
financial sustainability. In general, the DW
Akademie team commits strongly to ownership and do-no-harm principles, both being
an important pre-requisite for sustainability. In conclusion the criterion Sustainability
is assessed as “comprehensively fulfilled”.

DW Akademie

is Deutsche Welle’s center forinternational media development.
As a strategic partner of the Federal
Ministry for Economic Cooperation
and Development (BMZ), DW Akademie
carries out media development projects that strengthen the human rightto freedom of opinion and promote
free access to information.
DW Akademie also works on projects
funded by the German Foreign Oﬃce
and the European Union — in approximately 50 developing and emerging
countries.

ContactDr. Jan Lublinski
Head Research and Evaluation
jan.lublinski@dw.com
53113 Bonn
Germany
DWAkademie@dw_akademie
youtube.com/DWAkademie
dw-akademie.com

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 thedevelopment of future strategies.