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USAID
Document: US-Russia Media Partnerships
These are excerpts from the narrative
portion of the request for applications from USAID.
All applications are due no later than 3:00 p.m.
Washington, D.C. time, August 15, 1994.
Excluded here are all materials concerning the
preparation of applications and requirements for
supporting documents.
SECTION I PROGRAM
DESCRIPTION
I. OBJECTIVE
The U.S.-Russia Media Partnership
Program seeks to support the financial viability and
political independence of the non-governmental media
sector in Russia. A financially viable and
politically independent non-governmental media sector is
a central mechanism for keeping a democratic government
accountable for its actions, for keeping state media
honest and for safeguarding freedom of the press.
To implement this Program, USAID seeks
applications from organizations for the Program’s
MANAGEMENT GROUP, as described below.
II. PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The goal of the Program is to help
a number of high-quality non-government Russian media
organizations become sustainable and independent
institutions. To achieve this goal, the Program
seeks to establish partnerships between organizations in
the U.S. and Russia with the aims of: (1) providing
participant Russian organizations with technical and
business training they need to become financially viable,
(2) providing participant Russian organizations with
equipment to help them become financially viable and
independent of government facilities, and (3) encouraging
a broad range of cooperative activities between
participant U.S. and Russian organizations.
The Program will involve between 10
and 20 partnerships and will provide funding for their
activities for a period of three years. The Program
will be administered and coordinated by the MANAGEMENT
GROUP.
It is expected that at the end of the
Program, the Russian partners will have a greatly
improved capacity to:
(1)
operate as financially viable organizations;
(2) operate with minimal public sector
constraints;
(3) produce high-quality, responsible
programming; and
(4) lead and mange themselves effectively and
responsibly, observing high professional and
journalistic standards.
NOTE:
Proposals for specific partnerships are NOT being
requested under this RFA. This RFA seeks only
applications for the Program’s MANAGEMENT
GROUP. Organizations serving in the MANAGEMENT
GROUP cannot also participate in the Program as a
partner.
III. PROGRAM BACKGROUND AND STRATEGY
A. An Overview of the Non-Governmental Media Sector
in Russia
Since the advent of glasnost in
1985, growing numbers of non-governmental media
organizations have emerged in Russia. These
organizations include newspapers, magazines, radio
stations, television stations and news agencies.
Though reliable data are difficult to obtain, it is
estimated that there are now over 400 non-governmental
television stations in Russia and over 300
non-governmental radio stations. There appear to be
over 5,000 non-governmental daily newspapers, though many
of these continue to receive considerable state
subsidies.
The primary problems that these
organizations faced in the past were political
ones. Though non-governmental media organizations
multiplied rapidly under glasnost, the state often used
its leverage to influence the content of their
programming. Government interference with the
non-governmental media in Russia became increasingly
common as political tensions mounted between Gorbachev
and Yeltsin in 1990-91. The state’s political
leverage over the media during this period was
significant: it controlled all major media equipment, all
distribution and broadcast networks, most resource supply
networks and most major information sources.
Much of this leverage remains
today. Most notably, the state continues to
maintain a virtual monopoly on major media equipment and
on distribution and broadcast networks. In
addition, it continues to control many of the
country’s major information networks. As the
political confrontation between Yeltsin and the Russian
parliament became increasingly hostile in 1992-93, both
side attempted to use the government’s leverage over
the non-governmental media to their advantage.
In spite of the state’s leverage
on the non-governmental media, however, today’s
non-governmental media organizations in Russia face
primarily economic problems. With the freeing of
prices in 1992, many of these organizations were forced
to turn to new sources of income to supplement their
revenues. Most, however, have little or no business
experience. Many have closed. The prices and
taxes continue to rise and as government subsidies
continue to be reduced, many are finding it increasingly
difficult to survive.
B. The Need for Assistance
Of the many problems facing the
non-governmental media in Russia, two stand out as the
most significant: the need for business training and the
need for equipment. Surprisingly little has been
done in either area by Western media assistance programs
to date.
1. The need for Business Training
Perhaps the most important need
facing the non-governmental media in Russia is for
business training. After the breakup of the Soviet
Union, most non-governmental Russian media organizations
found themselves forced to survive in a market
environment. Most had their subsidies discontinues
or reduced, and all had to struggle with dramatically
rising costs. Few had any business
experience. Particularly needed is training in the
areas of advertising and management.
From a strategic point of view,
business training represents one of the key contributions
to be made to media independence in Russia. Media
is a business, and non-governmental Russian media
organizations must become financially viable if they are
to survive. Most are striving to do this, but lack
the experience and know-how to succeed in the new market
economy.
Business training would also
contribute significantly to the political independence of
the Russian media. The financial viability of a
media organization is perhaps the greatest guarantee of
its long-term political independence. Over the past
five years, many non-governmental Russian media
organizations have turned to sponsors to stay
afloat. These sponsors include the federal
government, local administrations, private political
parties, corporations and, increasingly, banks.
Many Russian media organizations have sacrificed a
considerable degree of their editorial independence to
these sponsors as the price of financial survival.
Providing business training to these and other
non-governmental Russian media groups would be a
significant investment in their long-term political
independence.
The need for Equipment
Another central need facing
non-governmental Russian media organization is for
equipment. This includes administrative equipment
(computers, printers, faxes, modems, etc.), production
equipment (television cameras, editing equipment, tape
recorders, printing presses, etc.) and broadcast
equipment (radio and television transmitters).
Equipment needs vary from sector to
sector, but most needed is production and broadcast
equipment. In the print sector, all major printing
houses, or “tipografii,” continue to be
controlled by the government. Most continue to be
sources of both political and economic pressures on news
publications. In the television sector, the Russian
government continues to maintain a near monopoly on major
production on broadcast equipment and continues to charge
high prices for its use.
Administrative equipment is also
greatly needed. Many non-governmental Russian media
organizations have talented personnel that might be
running their organizations more efficiently and
producing better work if they simply had access to more
administrative equipment. Computers, faxes and
printers are expensive by Russian standards and sometimes
difficult to find.
Russian media organizations can never
become politically independent as long as they have to
rely on government production and broadcast
equipment. The government’s monopoly on major
media equipment remains a potential stranglehold on
almost all non-governmental media organizations could
make a significant contribution to their long-term
political independence and survival.
Providing equipment to
non-governmental Russian media organizations would also
address another of the central problems facing the
Russian media: the dearth of broadcast programming.
Independent television and radio stations across Russia
are fighting to find whatever programming they can to
fill their airtime. Many of these organizations can
ill afford to purchase their own equipment or to pay
government prices for the equipment they need to make
their own programming. Empty airtime, multiple
rebroadcasts and widespread piracy of Western films have
all resulted from this shortage of equipment.
Many observers have written about the
preponderance of Western programming on Russian airwaves
and the resulting antagonism towards the West this has
caused in many Russian citizens. This preponderance
of Western programming has resulted in part from the
simple lack of television production equipment in Russian
television stations and production houses would thus be a
triple investment: it would be an investment in the
political independence of these organizations, an
investment in their financial viability, and an
investment in a stronger U.S.-Russian relationship.
C. Current Assistance Programs
Most media assistance programs in
Russia to date have focused on journalist training and on
the creation of information networks. The two
biggest funders of assistance programs to the Russian
media—USAID and the Soros Foundation—have both
devoted the majority of their funding (a total of over $5
million) to programs involving these two activities.
Many of these programs have been
effective. A number of the journalist training
activities—particularly those involving hands-on
technical training in Russia and internships in
America—have been notable successes. The
creation of information networks, in addition, has
enhanced media communication in Russia and has
contributed a lasting structure for future media
development.
By themselves, however, these programs
do not go far enough. Trained journalists and
information networks are valuable, but they do not make
for a sustainable independent media. Media is a
business, and independent Russian media organizations
must become financially viable if they are to
survive. Russian media organizations must also have
access to independent equipment if they are to become
free from government interference with their programming.
Surprisingly few media assistance
programs have focused on business training or the
provision of media equipment. USIA and the Soros
Foundation have funding for a number of media business
training activities. Aside from these programs,
however (which total less that $1.5 million), little has
been done in the areas of business training or equipment
provision. These areas, however, remain two of the
most pressing needs facing the non-governmental media in
Russia.
D. Program Strategy
The aim of the Program is to
address these problems directly and to provide a
framework through which the further problems of
participant Russian organizations can best be met.
The partnership model is particularly well-suited to
these ends, for it establishes long-term one-on-one
relationships between U.S. and Russian media
organizations that allow for sustained technical
assistance and training tailored to the specific needs of
the Russian partners. It also creates direct
channels for equipment contributions.
In addition, partnerships (1) focus
U.S. assistance on a select number of Russian media
organizations that could play a significant role in
Russia’s transition, (2) provide a framework for a
wide range of other media assistance activities, (3)
leverage considerable financial and technical support
from the U.S. private sector and (4) increase private
sector contacts between the U.S. and Russia.
Another central aim of the Program is
to encourage a broad range of cooperative activities
between participant U.S. and Russian organizations, both
as a vehicle for the transfer of skills to the Russian
partners and as a means of supporting U.S.-Russian
private sector cooperation as an end in itself. It
is hoped that the relationships that are created and
supported through the Program will continue to survive
and flourish after program funding has ended.
IV. PROGRAM SUMMARY
The Program will be administered
and coordinated by the MANAGEMENT GROUP. The
activities of the MANAGEMENT GROUP are divided into three
major areas: 1) selection of the partnerships; 2)
coordination and management of partnerships; and 3)
organization of support activities that extend beyond the
partnerships.
A. Selection of the Partnerships
In consultation with USAID, the
MANAGEMENT GROUP will competitively select between 10 and
20 partnerships between U.S. and Russian media
organizations.
Partners
Partners in the Program may
include U.S. and Russian newspapers, magazines,
television and radio stations, broadcast networks,
newspaper chains, news agencies, press associations,
journalism schools or other commercial or non-profit
organizations engaging in media activities. The
Program may establish new partnerships and may support
existing partnerships as well.
Selection Criteria
Final criteria for selecting and
matching the partners will be determined by the
MANAGEMENT GROUP AND APPROVED BY USAID. These
criteria will include the following. The Russian
partners must: (1) be non-governmental and (2) have
demonstrable potential to develop into financially viable
organizations. The U.S. partners must: (1) be
capable of providing the technical assistance needed by
their Russian counterparts, and (2) be willing to
contribute in-kind contributions of staff time.
Given these criteria, it is recommended that partnerships
be formed between like media organizations in the U.S.
and Russia—e.g. between a U.S. television
station and a Russian television station or a U.S.
newspaper and a Russian newspaper. Likeness of
organization, however, is not a necessary condition for
selecting and matching partners.
Priority Areas
The following will be priority
areas for partnerships:
News
Organizations: The political significance of
news organizations makes them central to
USAID’S efforts to promote democratic
development in Russia. News agencies, as
well as publications or broadcast outlets that
focus on news production, are priority candidates
for partnerships.
Regional
Media Organizations: USAID places a high
priority on stimulating the independent media in
Russia’s number of regions in which to focus
partnership activities. It is recommended
that these activities be coordinated with the
activities of other U.S. media assistance
programs.
Selection
Procedure
The MANAGEMENT GROUP will be
responsible for the selection of the partnerships as
follows.
Competitive
Selection of Partnership Candidates: The
MANAGEMENT GROUP will be responsible for the
competitive selection of partnership
candidates. The selection process will
include investigation in the U.S. and Russia of
potential partnerships, discussions with
potential partners to determine areas of mutual
interest, and the solicitation of bids from pairs
of organizations seeking to be program
participants. The MANAGEMENT GROUP will
submit two lists of potential partnerships to
USAID, each containing 15 recommended
partnerships. Signed documents of intent to
participate in the Program will be required from
each pair of potential partners on these
lists. The first list will be due four
months after the signing of the cooperative
agreement. The second list will be due
seven months after the signing of the cooperative
agreement.
Final
Selection of Partnerships: In consultation
with the MANAGEMENT GROUP, USAID will select the
final 10-20 partnerships from these two
lists. Selections will be made within one
month after receiving each list.
B.
Coordination and Management of the Partnerships
Management GROUP will be
responsible for managing the partnerships over the life
of the Program. Management responsibilities will
include:
Development of Partnership Activities
The MANAGEMENT GROUP will work
with each group of partners to develop a specific
schedule of partnership activities. These
activities will be of three kinds: training activities,
cooperative activities and equipment donations. The
nature and balance of these activities in each
partnership will depend on the interests and needs of the
individual partners. Each partnership, however,
will minimally involve training activities designed to
help the Russian partner become financially viable.
Training
Activities: The nature of the training
activities will be determined by the MANAGEMENT
GROUP in consultation with the individual
partnerships. These activities may include
short-term and medium-term training (one week to
three months) in Russia and the U.S.; expert
one-on-one U.S. consultations to the Russian
partners; and occasional workshops, seminars or
conferences. Internships for Russian
participants in their partner U.S. organizations
will be highly encouraged.
Cooperative
Activities: Each partnership will be expected
to determine several areas of cooperative
activity in consultation with the MANAGEMENT
GROUP. These areas may include
co-productions, news-gathering activities,
programming exchanges, communications networks,
information-sharing arrangements or other joint
projects the partners may wish to pursue.
The amount of financial support the Program will
provide for these activities will depend on the
transfer of skills they involve and on their
ability to contribute to the financial viability
and political independence of the Russian
partner. This amount will be determined by
the MANAGEMENT GROUP.
Equipment
Donations: The MANAGEMENT GROUP will set
aside a pool of resources to be used to purchase
new equipment and to pay for the shipping of
donated equipment for the Russian partners.
This equipment may include administrative
equipment (computers, printers, faxes, etc.),
production equipment (television cameras, audio
recorders, television and radio editing
equipment, printing presses, publishing software,
etc.) and broadcast equipment (television and
radio transmitters). Each U.S. partner will
be expected to provide consultation on equipment
purchases to be made for its Russian
partner. Each U.S. partner will also be
encouraged to donate used equipment to its
Russian partner. Each partnership will have
a limited budget for equipment purchases and/or
shipping cost associated with donated
equipment. Partnerships may decide to pool
their allowances to purchase larger items of
equipment for joint use. Final purchasing
and shipping of equipment will be contracted by
the MANAGEMENT GROUP to ensure economies of scale
and to ensure proper enforcement of USAID
regulations regarding equipment purchases.
Management
of the Partnerships
The MANAGEMENT GROUP will be
responsible for the management of the partnership will
include:
Providing
Funding to the Partnerships: The MANAGEMENT
GROUP will provide funding directly to the
partnerships. It will thus serve as the
immediate funding organization for the
Program. The funding for partnerships will
be scheduled in a manner most appropriate to the
plans of the MANAGEMENT GROUP. All
financial allocations must abide by USAID
regulations.
Assisting
in the Management of Partnership Activities:
The MANAGEMENT GROUP will assist in the
management of partnership activities, including
assisting partners in planning and scheduling of
partnership activities, assisting partners in
arranging travel, organizing equipment purchases
for the Russian partners and overseeing program
expenditures.
C.
Financing
USAID funding will cover operating
expenses for the MANAGEMENT GROUP, partnership
consultation and training activities, partnership travel
expenses, partnership equipment purchases, shipping costs
for donated equipment and support activities for the
Program. As stated above, USAID funding will cover
cooperative activities between the partnership partially
or fully, depending on the transfer of skills they
involve and depending on their ability to contribute to
the financial viability and political independence of the
Russian partners. USAID funding will not cover
salary or operating costs for the U.S. or Russian
partners.
D. Partnership Coordination and Outreach
In addition to facilitating and
managing the individual partnerships, the MANAGEMENT
GROUP will be expected to coordinate media support
activities between and beyond the partnerships.
Theses activities will serve several functions: 1)
facilitating outreach and dissemination of information on
media issues and programs; 2) providing media support
opportunities for organizations not directly
participating in the partnership program; 3) facilitating
a dialogue towards the development of a supportive legal
and regulatory environment for independent media
organizations in Russia.
Coordination activities may include:
Workshops
and conferences on cross-cutting issues facing
the Russian media, such as media law, journalist
rights and advertising;
Establishing
an information center, clearing house and
communications center for media support
activities (please note: these activities may
build upon, but should not be duplicative of,
current media-related information centers in
Russia);
Printing
a newsletter to publicize partnership activities
and to share experiences between the different
partnerships on common problems successful
solutions and common interests;
V.
PROGRAM ORGANIZATION AND STATEMENT OF WORK
A. Overall Project Organizations
The entire Program will be managed
by a U.S. NGO or consortium of U.S. NGOs and other
organizations (the MANAGEMENT GROUP) based in
Moscow. The MANAGEMENT GROUP will report directly
to USAID. Given the breadth of the Program’s
aims and the variety of groups that will be involved,
organizations are encouraged to form consortia to compete
to be the MANAGEMENT GROUP.
In the event that consortia are
formed, one member from each consortium will be the
PRIME. The PRIME will be directly responsible to
USAID for the management of the Program. Other
consortium members will assist the PRIME in program
management. The PRIME must be a U.S. NGO,
not-for-profit- organization, university or journalism
school. Other consortium members may be U.S. NGOs,
not-for-profit organizations, universities, journalism
schools or private firms. The PRIME may be a single
organization or a legally recognized joint-venture or
association. If a consortium wishes to compete to
be the MANAGEMENT GROUP, proposals responding to this RFA
must come from the PRIME. Any organization that
serves as a member of the MANAGEMENT GROUP cannot also
participate in the Program as a partner.
In conjunction with USAID, the
MANAGEMENT GROUP will establish a Board of Advisors for
the Program. The BOARD will serve as an independent
source of expert advice and guidance to the MANAGEMENT
GROUP and the partners on such topics as partnership
selection, implementation issues and program
outreach. Board members, who will not be paid, will
include U.S. and Russian media professionals,
journalists, political scientists and other figures
knowledgeable about the Russian media.
The statement of work for the
MANAGEMENT GROUP is as follows.
B. Statement of Work
The MANAGEMENT GROUP will report
to USAID and will be responsible for overall program
management and accountability, including the following:
determine
final selection and matching criteria for
partnership candidates;
investigating
potential partnerships in both the U.S. and
Russia;
organizing
competitive selection of partnership candidates
and presenting recommended partnership lists to
USAID for final approval;
providing
funding to selected partnerships;
assisting
in the management of partnership activities,
including assisting partners in arranging travel,
equipment purchases and consultation;
organizing
conferences, workshops and other support
activities to encourage discussion and
information dissemination between partnerships;
organizing
outreach activities to provide information and to
extend other support services beyond the
partnerships;
establishing
a Board of Advisors;
serving
as a clearinghouse of information on independent
media activities and developments in Russia for
the benefit of the MANAGEMENT GROUP, the BOARD,
participating partners, other Russian media
organizations, USAID and USIS; and
advising
USAID on opportunities for further media
assistance programs in the NIS.
VI.
PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION AND MANAGEMENT
A. Staffing
The following staffing suggestions
are illustrative only. Organizations submitting
proposals for the MANAGEMENT GROUP are requested to
describe staffing patterns that are most appropriate to
their proposals. The MANAGEMENT GROUP will be
responsible for locating office space in Moscow and
setting up an office suitable for project
functions. The expected level of effort for the
Program is 387 person months (9 permanent staff members x
43 months).
Moscow office:
U.S.
Office
B.
Timing
Critical to this project is a
MANAGEMENT GROUP that can establish functioning
components of the Program in the shortest possible time,
as a good number of very significant activities must be
initiated early in the project implementation.
Suggested timing of a number of critical components is
identified below. This or a similar, appropriate
time frame should be up by a clear justification that the
proposing organization has the capability to provide the
staff, the expertise and the logistic and administrative
support for thoughtful, quality activities from day one.
It is required that proposing
organizations be prepared to have all cored staff in
Russia and the U.S. within 30 days of the signing of the
cooperative agreement and establish a project office in
Moscow within 45 days of the signing of the cooperative
agreement. A list of 15 potential partnerships
should be submitted to USAID within 4 months of the
signing of the cooperative agreement. A second list
of 15 further potential signing of the cooperative
agreement. A total of between 10 and 20
partnerships from each list will take place within one
month of the list’s submission. The funding of
partnership activities may then begin immediately.
The funding for the first group of
partnerships will thus begin approximately 5 months after
the signing of the cooperative agreement, and the funding
for the second group of partnerships will begin
approximately 8 months after the signing of the
cooperative agreement. As the Program will provide
funding for the activities of each partnership for a
period of 3 years, the total life of the Program is
expected to be approximately 43 months.
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