Ethnographic monitoring and evaluation of community multimedia centres: A study of Kothmale community radio internet project, Sri Lanka

Abstract

This report presents the findings of pilot research to explore new methodological approaches to monitoring and evaluating community multi-media centres (CMCs) in the context of development and poverty reduction. The research was originally commissioned by UNESCO’s Adviser for Communication and Information for Asia, Mr Wijayananda Jayaweera, and was funded by DfID with continuing UNESCO support and involvement. The research responded to an urgent need for richer and deeper knowledge of the socio-cultural processes in which community media projects seek to intervene. This report makes the case that a broad-based qualitative research approach – ‘ethnographic action research’ – can provide a reliable foundation for assessing CMC operations, for diagnosing issues and opportunities, and for recommending strategies and solutions. The research project had two specific objectives: • to evaluate Kothmale Community Radio Internet Project (KCRIP), Sri Lanka, focusing particularly on the conjuncture of new and old media; • to develop and pilot a new approach to evaluation research. The following report reflects this dual aim. It delivers substantive findings about one CMC, and it presents these findings as the outcomes of a specific methodology. It is therefore both an evaluation of a particular community media project, and an evaluation of an evaluation methodology.