VACANCY: Media Narratives on Conflict and Humanitarian Crisis in Nigeria – Media Monitoring Expert

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Project Background

Media Narratives on Conflict and Humanitarian Crisis in Nigeria is a joint project of Free Press Unlimited with The Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (henceforth PTCIJ). The project aims to contribute to a more, professional, unbiased media that function as a change catalyst in Nigerian society through the following activities – media monitoring, training of journalists on conflict-sensitive reporting and workshops with the security sector.

The planned activities on media monitoring are expected to lead to one of the results (outcomes) of the project: Coverage of conflict and humanitarian issues in Nigerian media is professional and accurate.

Nigeria suffers a variety of complex conflicts including the Boko Haram insurgency and the dispute between herdsmen and farmers in the North of the country. This turmoil has led to mass casualties, millions of displaced and the violation of fundamental human rights. The complexity of the conflict-torn country has led media to report inaccurately at times, failing to understand root causes. One of the reasons for unreliable reporting is the lack of training and experience journalists receive in writing stories on conflict and humanitarian issues. Stories lack depth and a human face, which as a result have led to a great, disconnect between the public and media. Citizens are left in the dark to their own assumptions.

As conflict continues to plague Nigeria, the media is faced with the heavy burden to report responsibly and safely on issues related to humanitarian crisis and conflict. And as Nigerian media representatives to a great extent lack knowledge and skills to produce credible and fact-checked information media reporting on humanitarian issues and conflict needs to be monitored and analyzed to help media houses identify gaps and weaknesses in their coverage, including gender-sensitive content.

For this reason, Free Press Unlimited is looking for a media monitoring expert to develop a tailor-made monitoring tool to measure media coverage of conflict and humanitarian issues in Nigeria.

The objective of the assignment

The objective of the assignment is to develop a media monitoring method that aims to gather information about the conflict and humanitarian crises. The method will examine biases, representation, depth, demography and accuracy, among other categories. The method will pay specific attention to how men and women are portrayed in conflict and humanitarian reporting.

For this, existing methods and tools will be reviewed to ensure that the project can build upon them. The monitoring tool will be designed in such a way that it can be applied long after the project ends. Furthermore, the monitoring tool shall easily be adaptable to other thematic areas such as oil and gas, energy and environment.

Methodology

The methodology to develop a monitoring tool will be finalized and based on a plan to be developed by the selected consultant. The assignment will be based on the revision of already existing media monitoring tools to ensure that the project can build upon them. The design of a tailor-made monitoring tool is critical to the project, as it will help define the scope of the subsequent media monitoring.

Scope of work

The consultant is expected to provide a brief technical offer stating their methodology approach and work plan. The work plan shall include the following sections: Approach, methodology and relevance and justification of the proposal.

The consultant will produce a final report by the latest November 15, 2018. The final report will be in English and will include the following sections: Executive summary, methodology, findings and analysis, recommendations and a template and methodology for monitoring the conflict and humanitarian crises reporting that can be implemented immediately along with the common annexes. Additionally, the report will pay special attention to how men and women are portrayed in conflict settings in Nigerian media. Lastly, the report will explain how different areas such as oil and gas, energy and environment can be monitored using the same tool in the future.

The entire assignment will not exceed the duration of 5 days. Commencement shall be as soon as possible, preferably immediately but no later than November 1, 2018.

Requirements and Profile Consultant

Profile of the consultant:

  • Proven experience in media monitoring and the development of media monitoring tools
  • A very good understanding of conflict and humanitarian crises in Nigeria
  • Experience or familiarity working with UNESCO´s Conflict-Sensitive Reporting Curriculum
  • In-depth knowledge of gender-sensitive conflict reporting, gender and media and/or gender mainstreaming
  • Ability to conduct research and produce analysis
  • Experience and understanding of the Nigerian context is an asset
  • Excellent analytical and writing skills

The consultant should meet the following requirements:

  • Adhere to the Code of Conduct for assignment of Free Press Unlimited (will be attached to the contract)
  • Honesty, integrity and respect for the context and people of Nigeria

Application process

An expression of interest responding to the ToR including a CV, brief technical offer and budget are to be sent to Bethel Tsegaye [email protected] before October 19, 2018.