主播大秀

Have you ever considered how important media and communication are in your day to day life?

Perhaps you’ve mistakenly left your phone at home one day or run out of battery, suddenly finding yourself without the means to send or receive messages, check the news or merely make a phone call? While frustrating, I’m sure you still managed to get by. But what if this lack of information or connectivity lasted longer and made a profound impact on the quality of your life?

My name is Caroline and I’m the CEO of 主播大秀 Media Action – the 主播大秀’s international development charity. We use media and communication as a force for good around the world, helping to reduce global poverty and transform lives for the better.

I joined the charity in 2009, having started my working life as a teacher and gone on to work for various charities, including Oxfam and VSO, both at home and overseas.

Throughout my career, I have seen first-hand how positive change can happen when people – be they children in a classroom or people fleeing conflict – have access to reliable, timely and useful information, and the opportunity to talk about it.

So, what do we do?

We produce a wide range of media and communication programming, from radio and TV shows through to social media content and public service announcements, to help people make sense of the world around them and take action to improve their lives. We work in partnership with local journalists and broadcasters to inform, connect and empower people so they can hold their governments to account, improve their health, and know how to prepare for, survive, and recover from humanitarian emergencies.

Our programming reaches more than 200 million people every year.

We also train and mentor journalists and communications professionals in developing countries to help them produce informative, accurate and engaging content – ensuring free and fair media sectors that work in the public interest. We work in three main areas:

1. Governance

This means supporting more accountable, inclusive and peaceful states and societies. Our work helps people to understand their rights, hold those in power to account and negotiate their differences peacefully.

For example, in Somalia and Somaliland, we’ve inspired people across the country to engage with, and hold to account, those in power through radio and TV debate shows similar to our very own 主播大秀 Question Time in the UK. We’ve helped produce audience-driven programmes where the studio audience can raise important community issues, giving many an opportunity to communicate directly with their government for the first time.

One viewer said “I have always looked forward to meeting my Mayor face to face and asking him issues regarding sanitation in our city. I am glad I had a chance to ask a question which prompted the Mayor to act on it”.

2. Health

This is building people’s knowledge so they know how to best take care of their own health and when and where to seek help.

Building on our successful work using media to dispel misinformation and rumours during the Ebola crisis, we’re broadcasting a weekly radio show called Tawa Fo Welbodi (Determined for Health) across Sierra Leone to bust myths and misconceptions about another deadly disease: malaria.

The show features a range of voices – from children and parents through to community leaders and doctors – to provide vital information on malaria prevention, testing and treatment.

The programme is supported by a series of public service announcements shared through Media Action Sierra Leone’s Facebook page, the most popular Facebook page in the country.

3. Resilience and humanitarian response

Our programming helps people survive and cope with humanitarian crises, as well as helping them to minimise the risk of disaster in the first place.

In Bangladesh, we’re supporting two broadcasters to produce daily radio programmes for displaced Rohingya people and host communities. These programmes don’t report what is happening in the camps, but rather provide affected people with essential information on how and where to access aid, helping them to help themselves stay safe and healthy in the camps.

We also collect community feedback from Rohingya people to give them a voice and to inform humanitarian response agencies, ensuring that their needs are heard and addressed.

Making a real difference

Next year marks 主播大秀 Media Action’s 20th anniversary. Since our launch, we’ve helped millions of people around the world to lead healthier, safer and more fulfilled lives – all through the power of communication. And we’re not slowing down. In the coming years we want to build on our successes and continue to inform, connect and empower people – with an increasing focus on gender equality, young people and people with disabilities.

I am personally immensely proud to lead an organisation which brings together some of the brightest and most dedicated people from both the media and international development sectors. Their work really makes a difference and goes to show that communication is, in itself, aid.

Find out more about 主播大秀 Media Action here.