Foreign media assistance as a toolbox for local journalists
Mapping the benefits and burdens
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19477129 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ruth Moon (0000-0002-2170-7385, Louisiana State University, corresponding author), Saad Zuberi (0009-0007-7360-0532, Louisiana State University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-11 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journalism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1464-8849 • E-ISSN: 1741-3001 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/14648849261441146 |
| OpenAlex | W7153606724 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 33 |
Journalists and news organizations are high-profile targets of foreign aid in the form of media assistance programming. Much of this is funded by government agencies, notably (until recently) the US Agency for International Development. These training programs prepare local journalists to combat a variety of routine challenges they may encounter. As such, they represent points of intersection between diverse values and goals from funding countries, target countries, and trainers’ origin countries; they also contribute to journalistic doxa — an understanding of good journalistic practice. With the understanding that program structure and narratives have power to shape the identities and priorities of local journalists even beyond the specific training sessions identified, we analyze 413 policy documents from USAID, the US Agency for Global Media, and the Congressional Research Service to understand what messages these programs send about “good” journalism and its barriers. We find that US foreign policy for journalists overwhelmingly prioritizes individual upskilling, trailed by programming about financial challenges, legal and political contexts, and personal safety. These contribute to a definition of “good” journalism that in many ways resembles liberal democratic practices and places the burden for adapting or fulfilling the definition on individual journalists
Democracy · Foreign policy · Journalism · News media · Politics · Toolbox · International Development and Aid · Media Studies and Communication · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts
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Analysing Documents
Thematic Analysis
The Search for Global Media Ethics
Power, Meaning and Geopolitics
Authoritarian Journalism
Freebies and Brown Envelopes in Ethiopian Journalism
Winning hearts and minds
Culture Clash
Exporting Journalism Culture to Vietnam
From Standpoint Epistemology to Epistemic Oppression
Not Really Enough
Media and Development
Narrative Policy Framework
Gone, But Not Forgotten
Problematizing ‘media development’ as a bandwagon gets rolling
Nigerian Newspapers
Journalistic norms between universality and domestication
Donor Power and the News
Good Journalism
The enigma of news media development with multi-pronged ‘capture
Deconstructing the community radio model
Chinese foreign aid and the erosion of media freedom
Social Construction of Target Populations
Studying Policy Design Quality in Comparative Perspective
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |