The GFMD strategy for the period 2016-18 was approved at the GFMD World Forum for Media Development, held in Jakarta in September 2016. It focuses on three key areas: Raising and developing standards in media development and actively reflecting on the transformations of the field in the midst of “post-truth politics” and the power of digital media, leveraging on its previous efforts in reinforcing media development as a priority in international development, and enhancing coordination between international and local actors.
 

In a speech delivered to celebrate the World Radio Day 2017 at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, James Deane (Director of Policy and Learning at BBC Media Action) spoke about the central role radio has played in some of the greatest political, cultural, and technological transitions during his career. Drawing from his experience of 30 years in working to strengthen independent media worldwide, he concludes by saying that radio offers the opportunity to foster genuine public debate and dialogue that can counter the increasingly fragmented and fractured public sphere impacted not only by a digital and social media transformation of the media landscape but by a linked fragmentation of old and new media as ‘a combination of politics, technology, and economics which has led to communication coalescing along different sides of the fracture points in society’.
 

As the phenomenon of fake news continues to disrupt political processes, media, and journalism practice around the world, the question arises whether it is time to look back at long-standing media development toolkits for a possible solution. Media Information Literacy (MIL) has been an integral part of media development programming, especially in the Global South. Can MIL be effectively leveraged as a potential tool to counter the adverse effects of fake news? If so, how might existing MIL strategies be adapted for such a purpose? Dennis Reineck (DW Akademie) and Chido Onumah (AFRICMIL; PAMIL; GAPMIL) respond to these emerging questions for the GFMD.
 

Who tells the stories to the world about the development challenges we care about? Journalists. When it comes to democracy, human rights, poverty eradication, and religious freedom, journalists are there capturing the big moments. The Lorenzo Natali Media Prize celebrates the best and the bravest among them on a global scale. Deadline 10 March 2017.

In December 2016, as a part of Open Government Partnership, GFMD participated in a workshop held by Saferworld, the Transparency, Accountability and Participation Network and the United Nations Development Programme. The workshop was aimed at engaging with how indicators and data can strengthen accountability for SDGs and how they can foster national and local change. The summary captures participant’s discussion on this topic.
 

Open Society Foundations (OSF) Program on Independent Journalism presents a collection of the best journalism stories drawing from 16 major global or regional journalism awards given in 2016. This collection of stories is meant to serve as an inspiration and a reminder to media outlets facing challenges in the United States and Europe that quality journalism continues to be relevant today in calling power to account.
 

Will Taylor, Senior Adviser (Governance and Rights) at BBC Media Action, reviewed the World Development Report 2017: Governance and the Law to find that though the report acknowledges the key role played by media in fostering accountability and government responsiveness much is left wanting in the areas of protecting civic space, investing in quality journalism, and engaging with the finer nuances of the issues that compound the space for media, democracy, and governance.