This manual serves as a resource for journalism students and media professionals in developing countries, providing them with essential knowledge for the analysis of the relationship between media functions and active citizenship, and the underlying nexus of democracy, development and the media based on the fundamental principles of democracy and human rights that lie at the heart of UNESCO’s mandate.

The media is an important part of democracy. A good test of democracy is citizen participation. Civic awareness enables both media practitioners and users to appreciate the role of journalism and media in building democratic societies. The normative nature of the media opens up avenues for negotiating what the media can do to deepen the democratic experience of developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

The objective of the manual is, therefore, threefold:

• to raise greater civic consciousness among media professionals about the democratic role of the media in the transitional democracies of the developing world;
• to enhance the civic competence of media practitioners to help them in their analysis and reporting of civic affairs; and
• to encourage greater prioritization of civic news among media institutions.