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Media training: triumphs or travesties?Experience from Southern Africa

by Guy Berger,presentation to seminar:“Impact indicators: making a difference”

Independent Journalism Centre, Chisinau, Moldova15 May 2003

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Preview points

• Stakeholders• Complexities• Principles• Priorities• Case study• Conclusion

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Introduction: ideal logic

• Constructing new societies • Media’s role in democracy • Strengthen through training

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Get close up to stakeholders

Ideal vs reality• Journalists are

not saints• Donors & media

are industries • Training impact

is unclear

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Close up 1: Trainers’ interests

True or false?

“Trainers are pure altruists”

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Who earns & who learns?Choose the right answer -

Who gets the most benefit from training:

(a) trainer?

(b) trainee?

(c) employer?

(d) donor?

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Close up 2: Donor drivers

• King of the network• An industry as well• Has its own market fashions, flirtations & fluctuations• Needs hard results = deliverables req’d

• But hard to measure.

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Close up 3: employers• Some employers don’t want better journalists

• Most don’t want to pay for training; some can’t

• Fewer have a training strategy

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Close up 4: TraineesTrue or false?

Many are professional trainees in search of per diems

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Once they’re trained, we pray they’ll stay

• Hand-up = hand-out into PR industry/govt?

• Does training lead to draining of talent?

• Do we really make enough sustained impact from our training?

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Close up: summing upSo, creating effective training is a hard-nosed business!

And there are different interests in impact assessment (IA):

• trainers, • funders, • trainees,• employers

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A complex business:

Creativity & chaos complicate cause-effect

Yet what works best -• Train on-site or not?• Centre vs periphery?• Language & culture?• Skill, talks & texts?• Journos as trainers?

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More complexity:

• Skills transfer, or is it growth?

• Go for breadth, with many trained, or

• Go for depth: train fewer, but better?

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Is there a multiplier effect?

Do trainees bomb out back at the newsroom?

Or is it:“each one, teach one”?

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For training to fly ...• We need core principles about what makes for effective training.

• We need to evaluate training in their light … if we want to assess impact (for stakeholders).

Training

principles ...

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PRINCIPLE 1: Trainee-

Focus point: Learner-centred

So: set objectives in relation to:• needs analysis• baseline data

Note: objectives do not always = changes

Then: measure success in terms of:

• objectives, and

• baseline data or trend analysis

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PRINCIPLE 1: Trainer-trainee-employer

So: a triangle of participants “As the strength of

a chain is determined by its weakest link, so the least contribution of any one partner becomes the maximum level of effectiveness possible”

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PRINCIPLE 2: Ladder of learning

One-off and fragmented training experiences = resource waste

Develop an ongoing culture of learning

Give certificates for competence, not attendance

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PRINCIPLE 3: proactivity

Serving the sector a servant of the sector.

Providers should offer:• Needs-driven AND needs-

arousing training.• Demand- AND supply-

driven courses.

“Put the gain into train”

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In one SA needs analysis of 14 radio stations, 13 failed to identify any need for:

• journalism training, • skills in covering poverty• reporting local govt.

Only 3 said gender training.

None said training in media convergence.

Trainers must be leaders

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PRINCIPLE 4: ProcessTraining is a journey- you can trace problems backwards

No application within the newsroom Maybe: trainee didn’t learn much Cos poor delivery or good, but …

Poor course design Or: reason is - course wasn’t based on needs …

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Process stagesIf course did meet needs

Maybe the wrong people went on itOr: the workplace blocks all

Or: training not in fact the solution

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Process lessons

Front-end workis critical:

you can’t salvage a wrong course or wrong trainees.

Secrets of success can also be traced through preceding phases

In short, evaluate at all stages!Pre-training, during, afterwards

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PRINCIPLE 5: Holism Training target A: Head

Train the brain:

• information• knowledge• intellectual skills

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Training target B: HandsPractice:

• Skills to implement

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Target C: Heart of the matter

If you forget about attitude, your training won’t fly.

(You can train for media freedom & ethics, for anti-sexism, diversity, anti-racism, etc.)

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Target D: The Wallet The point is:

• What’s the pay-off?• Financial• Organisational• Job-related

Challenge: make a difference to the fulfillment of the clients’ missions

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Holistic trainingSo, training should be planned and assessed in terms of:

K nowledge

A ttitude

P ractice

P ay-off

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PRINCIPLE 6: RLAP

Reaction: do they like it?

Learning: are they learning it?

Application: are they using it?

Pay-off: does it make a difference?

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Remember ...Good reaction learning

Learning application

Application effective pay-off

It’s a package.

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RLAP = indicators of kapp:

Reaction≡ Attitude

Learning ≡ Knowledge

Application≡ Practice

Combination affects Pay-off

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Recapping principles• Golden triangle: trainer,

trainee, employer

• Ladder of learning

• Proactive

• Process

• Holistic (kapp)

• RLAP

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At last: Impact Assessment

Pre-course During Post-course

Reaction Reaction Reaction

Learning Learning Learning

Application Application Application

Pay-off Pay-off Pay-off

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Priorities: what to select?

Pre-course During Post-course

Reaction *

Reaction **

Reaction *

Learning **

Learning ****

Learning *

Application *

Application **

Application ***

Pay-off *

Pay-off *

Pay-off *

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Evaluation:• Begin before the beginning of a course;• Continue after the end.• Remember reaction, learning, application, pay-off … at every stage.• Prioritise what to focus upon

• Results: you’ll find out:• what works, • what needs work.

“It’s the training that did it”

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Fly in the ointment…

How? • Evaluation & impact assessment takes

time, money (10%?), skill, follow-up • Needs to be against training objectives & baseline/trend analyis – BUT be open to unexpected findings• Don’t be dominated by findings• Beware being too training-centred.

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• Questionnaires• Focus groups• Observation• Testing

• Other: Output, awards,promotions,public opinion.

Get to grips with HOW

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Case study: Southern Africa

Stakeholders: • NSJ• Funders• Me• Other trainers

A range of interests.

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Principles @ work: Research done .5 to 2.5 years after courses:

• 12 courses 1996-97• 374 individuals • 29% responses

Considerations: • Triangle• KAPP-RLAP• Proactivity• Process• Objectives & baseline

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Case study: Southern AfricaScoping:

• Individual• Newsroom• Medium• Society

Method: • Questionnaires – 58 qtns

(incl asking for evidence)• Quantitative & qualitative

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IndicatorsIndividual

• Skills (LA), confidence (R), motivation (R)

• Remuneration (A), position (A)

• Perceptions of limitations (A)

Newsroom• Sharing of information (L)

• Learning culture (R)

Society• Media freedom & independence (A)

• Provoked ire (R)

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Sampling needed: Structured & representative:

• Training rich/poor countries

• Media free/restricted countries

• NSJ activity concentrated

• Potential markets & donor dependent

• State and private media

• Broadcast and print media

• Male and female

Total: 25 journalists (7%), 6 editors

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Matrix of countries: Swazilnd Zimbab Mozamb Malawi Zambia

Train poor Y Y

Train rich Y

High NSJ Y Y Y

Low NSJ Y Y

Market? Y

Donor case? Y

High control Y Y Y

Low control Y Y

Private ppr Y Y Y Y Y

State ppr Y Y

Private bdcst Y Y

State bdcst

Y Y Y Y Y

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RLAP across scope:

RLAP Individual Medium Society

Reaction Y Y Y (raised ire)

Learning N Y N

Application Y Y Y (SADC)

Pay-off Y (Cost) Y (Cost) N

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Interesting findings:77% said performance increased from average to above-average

90% more motivated & confident

Time elapse: longer = gtr impact

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Pay-off findings:Asked for value of training received: $25 – $500 a day!

30% promoted or pay increase – attributed to course(40% of men, 9% women)

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“Triangle” findings:

Trainees rated improvement higher than their bosses did.

Trainees say they circulate training materials, bosses differ.

60% bosses value certificate;20% of trainees value it.

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Gender findings:Guess who shares course materials – men

Significance: •To make impact, train more women.•To get more women, change duration of course.

… or women?

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Macro-findings:

More impact on: • training-poor

countries, • public media. Newsroom conservatism

as obstacle to application: • 75% public• 20% private

Raised ire:• 40% private media• 25% of public

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Unintended impactA community of southern

African journalists with a growing regional identity

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Since: a strategy to earn our stripes

Pre-course• Needs analysis & establish baseline (R, L, A)• 360 degree survey (triangle)

During course • Joint SMART kapp objectives • Personal plan• Daily & final eval & some tests (RL)

Post-course• Postcards & email (R)• 3 month report on plan (P)

Utility• Data analysis, communication, application

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Warning:

Without impact assessment, and acting on it, training will be discredited and rotten media will result.

Get going!

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Re-cap: context for IA• Accept diverse interests and major complexities.• Recognise principles:

• Triangle• Ladder of learning• Proactivity• Head, hands, heart, purse• Process stages• RLAP.

• Then, evaluate!• And, initiate!

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Lots of work needed ...

In Africa, cicada insects make a racket, but when you look, you can’t find them!

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If training is a good thing,then let’s make it even better with serious IA

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It’s rainingtraining… let’s be sure the crops will grow

http://journ.ru.ac.za/staff/guy/