Skip to content

ITP Media

An advanced International Training Programme - ITP
With the purpose to promote Media Development in a Democratic Framework

Why we do this

Media Development in a Democratic Framework (ITP Media) is a Sida-financed training programme that provides a platform for constructive, creative dialogue between high-level representatives from media, government and civil society on how to improve self-regulatory and regulatory frameworks for the media. The underlying need for this programme is the demand from citizens for trustworthy, free, independent and professional journalism, which is prerequisite for a functional democracy. Self- and co-regulation of both legacy and social media are a means to that end.

The overall ambition with this programme is to promote and strengthen free, independent and professional journalism and reduce (self) censorship while promoting freedom of expression/access to information, accountability, transparency and a civilized public discourse.

Several trends are currently transforming the media sector but also influencing fundamental pillars of democracy, such as freedom of expression and public discourse. For example, digitalisation and new forms of distribution is challenging the old order, traditional/legacy media is losing ground, misinformation/disinformation (“fake news”) is on the rise and online platforms are becoming de facto dominating publishers and distributors of news and information. 

The International Training Programme (ITP) model has proven to be a vehicle through which interested players can collaborate on specific challenges and take advantage of opportunities in ways that achieve greater impact than they could achieve alone. Our participants range from representatives of self-regulatory bodies and leading media houses to parliamentarians, state regulators, civil society representatives and influencers.

How we work

The training programme are designed for persons qualified to participate in reform processes and who hold a position in their home organisation with a mandate to run processes of change. The methodology assumes that the participating countries wish to carry out changes and are willing to invest their own resources to achieve these changes. This programme aims to complement the participants own plans or projects for change.

The goal is to support the participants in their national and regional change processes, coordinated with organisational and legal structures to regulate media through functional up-to-date systems and structures for self-regulation. In this way, the training programme can promote and contribute to a media environment characterised by freedom of expression, pluralism and diversity. Yet, often the ITP is not powerful enough to drive change on its own.

The main added value of the ITP is bringing people together to identify joint solutions to common challenges. The ownership for this process is thus very much in the hands of the participants and there are so far many notable examples (from all regions) where the change initiatives of the programme has been able to influence the institutional framework of self-regulation of media.

To take part of what the programme has done so far, see Yearly reports and Stories of change.

 

The programme runs for 12 months. For the scheduled phases, a range of tools and methods are used, including group work, discussions, seminars, case studies, study visits and lectures. The participants are expected to actively contribute with their own experiences and expertise. Participants will also manage the development and implementation of the change initiative throughout the programme’s duration. They will get support and coaching of the national facilitators, the thematic mentors, and participating peers.
The number of participants is limited to 25 in order to ensure a close working relationship between participants, mentors and lecturers.

For more information about the programme and how to apply, see Programme Application

 

Watch the video below to hear more about the participation in ITP Media