Lars Bestle, new Director of Programme Implementation

"New and social media require new thinking and new approaches beyond those of traditional media support", says Lars Bestle, IMS' new Director for Programme Implementation.  Read the interview here

Why does working for an organisation like IMS appeal to you?

- I find IMS' mandate - to strengthen professional journalism and ensure that media can operate in challenging circumstances - highly relevant and pertinent. In the 20 or so countries that I have worked with in Asia the media faces enormous challenges with serious repercussion for democratic progress in the region. In most cases the media is either state-owned or commercially-driven or both with very few cases of a healthy middle ground.

- It appeals to me that IMS is not afraid of taking the lead on media development support in challenging circumstances of conflict situations or in countries going through political transition. Today, many countries are facing a decline in media freedom as government authorities and powerful businesses are becoming more astute in hindering opposition voices to be heard. These are serious development issues that IMS is well-positioned to work broadly with local media and development partners to address.

- For UNDP I have been privileged to have worked on media development and democratic governance with a range of partners from governments and state institutions to media and civil society organisations through relatively established implementation rules. But more than any other organisation, IMS is well-positioned to address the current media development and freedom of expression challenges demanding for flexibility and adaptability to rapidly and constantly changing circumstances.

As part of your responsibilities, you will lead the development of new media and digital communication platforms within IMS. How do you see IMS positioning itself as a central player in this field?

- New and social media has enabled rapid and more diverse reach of media content due to modern ICTs and mobile technologies. Today more than 60 percent of all Chinese and around 50 percent of all Indians have access to mobile technology and it is increasing by the day as the cost of access and devices declines. The fact that social media is interactive enables instantaneous engagement by citizens so that the voices of most groups can be heard shared and shed light on matters where rulers and powerful elites prefer silence.

- The nature of the internet and social media poses new challenges for media organisations and the media industry as a whole. IMS should adopt and approach new and social media as openly and widely as possible to uphold the principles of Freedom of Expression. The challenges and opportunities of new and social and media vary from country to country whether we are working in an authoritarian regime or a more established democracy or a country in conflict. 

- In practice this means that support will have to be highly customised to the country context but with focus on access, advocacy for internet freedom and support for social media interventions.

- My view is that new and social media should be approached broadly as part of ongoing media support where possible whether in conflict situations or in connection with less political sensitive situations such as natural disasters like the earth quake in Haiti. Although access to ICTs is rapidly increasing, the impact of them is still greater in urban centres; the majority of users in developing countries are from upper middle class or wealthy elites with less of an impact in rural areas where the majority of people live.

- I also believe that new and social media challenge the ways that we have traditionally understood and assessed its dynamics - in other words, new thinking and new approaches beyond those of traditional media support is needed. This requires deeper involvement with youth groups, the telecom industry and the internet providers. IMS should embrace these as new partners in its usual collaborative manner and use new and social media as a core element of its outreach and communication strategy. 

- As this field of work is developing and changing rapidly I see IMS positioning itself in new media support as proactive rather than reactive. Although it is impossible to foresee where the technological future is taking us we have to think ahead and adapt to the ongoing changes. Based on scenarios and catalytic research with leading think tanks and networks IMS can prepare and brace itself for a potentially huge transformation of media landscapes fuelled by digital communication platforms.

What experience in media support/development do you bring with you from your years in Asia?

- The Asia Pacific region is an extremely diverse and dynamic region. Inequality and exclusion of large groups of society is unfortunately still undermining progress in most of the countries.  This is partly because the lack of healthy democratic institutions and an independent media that can hold power holders and governments to account. I have over the years as development practitioner obtained experiences in bridging urban-rural media and information gaps among others with intense effort for Asia's 200 million indigenous peoples to establish community based media.

- My time in Asia working in diverse countries from Afghanistan to Maldives and Bhutan to East Timor has taught me that for media and development support to be effective and sustainable it has to driven by local institutions, organizations and includes the governments where possible. It takes longer and requires a lot of patience, adaptability and relationship building in the process but when this is established with credibility and legitimacy with international partners, reforms and capacity development can start to happen.

- Having said that, development work in Asia has also taught me to keep an eye on the broader political landscapes and analyse how the media is situated vis-a-vis political, societal and economic leadership. Today Asia has more democratically elected leaders than ever before. However, below the surface, political leadership is increasingly reconsolidating its grip on power. Opportunities for political participation and opposition voices to be heard are shrinking by manipulation of laws and closing of the space in which the media, political parties and CSOs can operate. In such situations reform depends less on the design of formal processes and institutions than on power relations within the country.

These are trends that make independent media support even more crucial but it also trigger renewed challenges for media support calling for comprehensive approaches including astute and quick political analysis, measurement and indicators in order to identify the room for manoeuvre at both national and sub-national level. I look forward to applying and adapting these approaches to an IMS media support context. 

Lars Beslte takes up his post with IMS on 15 August 2011.