Memorandum on Impact Assessment for Journalism Training

We, the participants at the SEENPM workshop "Impact Indicators: making a difference" Chisinau, Moldova (May 15-17, 2003), having devoted three days to intensive discussions, resolved the following.

Noting that:

Impact assessment beyond the existing course evaluations should be an integral part of training courses for journalists;

It should be done in relation to assessable course objectives as well as identifying possible unintended effects;

Impact assessment requires development of measurable indicators, which in turn are related to establishing intermediate goals within the broad goal of a course;

An understanding of impact ideally requires that evaluation is done before, during and after the training course;

Impact assessment can cover the realms of effects on attitudes, knowledge, behavior and pay-off, and can be scoped according to impact on individuals, media companies, journalism, society and even the training organization itself;

Impact assessment can profitably take into account comparisons between trainees and those who have not been trained or between different groups of similar trainees in different countries;

Impact assessment is useful for a range of stakeholders such as employers or donors, and for trainers in particular it provides critical information for revising training and improving impact;

Stakeholders such as trainees and managers should be involved as partners in both course design and implementation of impact assessment where possible.

We therefore, agree:

To incorporate into our training courses more systematic impact assessment, whether on a smaller or larger scale;

To set up a task force to plan a large-scale impact assessment of investigative journalism training across South Eastern Europe;

To share information and experience of impact assessment within the SEENPM and more widely;

To call on donors and supporters of journalism training to help facilitate and underwrite impact assessment as part of the projects' support.