FPU/ EJC have done three baseline workshops, in Indonesia, Tanzania, and Bangladesh, to test and refine our baseline instruments. The information gathered during these workshops has been processed and the baseline instruments have been finalised. Now they are being used to organise baseline workshops in all the countries of the No News is Bad News programme. EJC has done their baselines in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Bolivia. FPU and EJC have established nine indicators, three for each intermediary outcome of our Theory of Change. These are monitored in each of the countries we are working in. We have defined on which indicators we will be working in each of these countries and included them in the results sections. As of now, they contain mostly qualitative information: a description of the change that we would like to achieve on each indicator relative to the current situation. We will operationalise this quantitatively using a progress scale, which will be included in the next publication. Target values are set at 1-3.

FPU/EJC, together with the Ministry, support media in functioning as change catalysts in their societies. This partnership will increase and leverage the impact of the common objective. Multiple impediments exist in the countries where we work. Worldwide press freedom has declined for the past seven years. Government and non-state actors hostile to press freedom do not allow an effective civil society to flourish. In many countries, regulatory frameworks are absent and impunity for violence against journalists is rampant. Lobbying and advocacy for social change depend in large part on the ability of CSOs to communicate openly and securely. Media pluralism is important for civil society development and democracy. Public service media inform all citizens. Private media strengthen the sector economically and community media offer a platform for participatory citizen engagement. Also ownership of media institutions has become a major challenge. In many countries, governments exercise control over content through direct media ownership or through business conglomerates that do not serve the public interest.

The common objective of the five-year programme for the coming years is: Media and journalists, as independent players in civil society, constitute a diverse and professional information landscape and function as catalysts for change This common objective can be achieved by: An enabling environment for the media is established, conducive to freedom of expression Media serve the interests of the public and act as a watchdog on their behalf Journalists and media actors work professionally and are effective and sustainable Key actors across civil society, government and the public sector stakeholders will have to engage strategically to realise these outcomes. Media play a crucial role in inclusive and sustainable growth and development, linking grass-roots civil society concerns to national and global policy levels.