This unique project brings together advocates, activists and researchers in an extraordinary global network, dedicated to documenting and changing patterns of portrayal in the news. Welcome to the network!

What the Monitoring Involves

Getting Started

When You Have Finished 

What the monitoring involves

Media monitors in each country apply a standardised set of monitoring tools to collect the necessary information. Each country sends its results to Media Monitoring Africa, (formerly Media Monitoring Project) a non-governmental organisation in Johannesburg, the data analyst for GMMP 2009/2010. MMA analyses the data and compares them with data from the previous studies (1995, 2000, 2005). The results of each Global Media Monitoring Project are published by the WACC and are available to all participants in the form of a report and on the Internet. National data will be provided to countries that wish to produce reports based on their own particular findings.

There are two main aspects to the monitoring. First and foremost, the study will collect quantitative (i.e. numerical) data. This part of the project will provide a detailed picture of the numbers of women and men in the world's news, the types of story in which they are found, the roles they play in the news etc. Second is the qualitative monitoring that gets behind the numbers to explore the quality of the coverage.

Detailed monitoring methodology guides, summary code sheets and blank coding grids can be downloaded here.

Back to the top

Getting started

1. Liaise with your national/regional coordinator to ensure that there is no unnecessary duplication of effort, no misunderstandings etc.

2. Read through the Monitoring Guide for the news medium that you are going to monitor. If you are monitoring all three media, read carefully through all three Monitoring Guides. Study the examples and the Coding Sheets.

3. If necessary, translate the Monitoring Guides and Coding Sheets into your own language. Be sure to use the same numbering system that we have used. Be very careful not to change the meaning. On no account should you change the order of the columns in the Coding Sheet!

4. Particularly if you have little experience of monitoring, it is a good idea to work with a partner. Find a reliable person to work with, and agree on a procedure.

5. Decisions about which television and radio newscasts, and which newspapers to monitor must be taken in consultation with your national coordinator. Follow the guidelines given in the Monitoring Guides.

6. Before the monitoring day, practise coding some news stories from the newscasts and newspapers you have decided to monitor. Make sure you do this well in advance of the monitoring day, so that you have time to find answers to any questions or problems that come up during the practice sessions.

7. Make sure you have reliable equipment to record the radio and television newscasts. Try it out before the monitoring day.

8. On the monitoring day itself, try to take photographs of yourself and your group at work. Send an email message to let people around the world know how the monitoring is going. Enjoy the monitoring day!

Back to the top

When you have finished

1.Photocopy your coding sheets. Keep the copies in case the originals get lost. Keep the newspapers, television and radio tapes for twelve months, in case there are queries.

2.Collect the following materials, ready for mailing:

    * The originals of the completed coding sheets.
    * Newspaper pages: the front page from each newspaper you coded.
    * Photographs of you and your group at work.
    * If possible, promotional material from television and radio stations (e.g. station logos).

3.Mail your monitoring materials:

    * If you received a monitoring pack from your national/regional co-ordinator, return materials to the coordinator who will forward them to Media Monitoring Africa.
    * If you received a monitoring pack directly from the WACC, mail materials to:

Media Monitoring Africa
Suite no.2, 22 Art Centre
6th Street
Parkhurst (Johannesburg)
South Africa

Postal address
PO Box 1560
Parklands 2121
South Africa
Tel: +27 (0) 11 788 1278
Fax: +27 (0) 11 788 1289
Email: info@mma.org.za

4.Queries?

    * If you have queries, first contact your national/regional coordinator.
    * If the question cannot be resolved by them, contact:

The Coordinator GMMP 2009/2010


Back to the top

NB: THE MONITORING GUIDES FOR GMMP 2009/2010 WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOADING HERE IN JULY, 2009

Back to the top

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites