INDEPENDENT MEDIA

Media for Transparent Governance

Content analysis

Media for Transparent Governance project involves content analysis to be conducted for 10 months. Content analysis will be taken by Ch.Choisamba, teacher of Journalism department of Mongolian National University and D.Narantuya, journalist of Mongol Messenger, English weekly. Methodology of content analysis will be developed in assistance with Violeda Umali, teacher from School of journalism and communication in Manila, who also will conduct one day training for Mongolian teachers of journalism schools.

Mongolian researchers will produce an interim and final reports on their findings and present their recommendations to a final seminar to be held in October 2005. Final report on content analysis

CONTENT ANALYSIS (Handbook)

TRAINING PROGRAM ON
CONTENT ANALYSIS PRINCIPLES AND METHODOLOGIES

29 NOVEMBER – 3 DECEMBER 2004
ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA

ACCOMPLISHMENT REPORT

Background

The Training Program on Content Analysis Principles and Methodologies is a component of the UNESCO-funded MEDIA FOR TRANSPARENT GOVERNANCE project being implemented in Mongolia as a collaborative effort of Globe International, the Press Institute of Mongolia, and Zorig Foundation.

As its title suggests, the aim of the training program is to familiarize media practitioners and researchers in Mongolia on the nature, applications, methodology, and benefits of content analysis. A special thrust of the training program was to show how content analysis can help the media contribute more effectively to the advocacy for greater transparency in government, in general, and to the campaign against corruption, in particular.

The five-day training program consisted of three segments, as follows:

1. An intensive training on content analysis methodology and applications participated in by two media researchers from the Mongolia National University;

2. A one-day session with journalism teachers from the Mongolia National University and staff of the Press Institute of Mongolia on the nature, applications, and methodology of content analysis;

3. A half-day session with newspapers editors regarding the role of content analysis in enhancing the journalists’ practice of their profession.

Each segment is briefly described in the sections that follow.

Intensive training on content analysis methodology and applications

For this segment, the consultant prepared a training module (please see Annex A) that tackles the following topics: 1) the nature of content analysis – definitions, features, and classifications; 2) the purposes and applications of content analysis, 3) steps involved in conducting content analysis; and 4) the contributions of content analysis to media practice and to society.

Because the aim of this segment was to provide the participants with not only a conceptual understanding of what content analysis but also the skills for conducting content analysis studies, a lecture-workshop format was adopted. The specific skills the participants acquired were the following:

1) conceptualizing content analysis studies, i.e., identifying content analysis problems, objectives, and data sources;
2) designing content analysis instruments, specifically the content analysis form and content analysis codebook;
3) content analysis data gathering, i.e., coding media messages
4) using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software for processing and analyzing content analysis data; and
5) preparing the content analysis report.

Orientation on the nature, applications, and methodology of content analysis for journalism teachers and media practitioners

This one-day session tackled basically the same topics that were covered in the abovementioned intensive training but without the workshop component. The main aim of this session was to familiarize the participants with content analysis and its possible contributions towards enhancing media practice and towards making the media more responsive to the needs of society and the citizenry. A powerpoint presentation was prepared for this session (see Annex B).

During this session, there was a lively discussion on how receptive the Mongolian government and political leaders are to the content analysis studies that were previously conducted by some of the participants. It appears that reactions to content analysis results vary, depending on whether they are perceived to work favorably for the politicians’ image or not. It is expected that content analysis results will be received differently by different people; a researcher’s best defense against negative criticisms is proof that the content analysis study was carried out according to the standards of scientific research.

During this session, too, the consultant shared how content analysis has been harnessed in the Philippines to analyze media’s coverage of the national elections, women’s issues, children’s rights, community and rural issues, and other societal concerns.

Orientation for editors on the contributions of content analysis to journalism practice

The purpose of this segment was to increase the editors’ appreciation of content analysis as a tool for enhancing the journalists’ effectiveness as watchdogs of society and as catalysts for social change. A powerpoint presentation entitled Towards a more socially responsible journalism: Content analysis in the service of the mass media was prepared for this segment (see Annex C). Drawing from Philippine experiences, the consultant showed how media practitioners could use content analysis to identify their strengths and weaknesses, understand the personal and social factors that influence the way they practice their profession, and assess the possible impact of the way they cover issues and personalities on individuals and the society.