The Sustainability Imperative in Media Development: A Critical Analysis of a Self-Serving Myth

By: Michel Leroy

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Synopsis: This book critically examines how the media assistance and broader 'development' sector have appropriated the catch-all concept of sustainability, originally rooted in economic and environmental fields, to suit their agendas. Analysing 289 project evaluations conducted globally between 1999 and 2019, it scrutinizes the tacit discourses underpinning what Bourdieu termed “the imperialism of the universal” in fostering media systems in the global South. The book reveals how processes of self-legitimation operate within an increasingly competitive aid market, highlighting a shift from ‘post-missionary’ approaches to business-driven models. Focusing on the often-overlooked African context, it explores nuanced coping capacity in Uganda and the Eastern DRC. Amid questioning of the populist wave as well as power-motivated new entrants, it challenges the recurring aid pattern, emphasizing the urgency of centering social impact and values in media assistance. It offers essential insights for scholars and practitioners navigating the evolving geopolitics of development and public diplomacy.