To demonstrate the importance of fostering independent media, this report provides examples of how access to information has transformed political, economic, and social systems. It shows what can happen when conditions allow independent media to operate and flourish. The report was written for presentation to the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) at the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) working group to support an examination of the various ways in which media today have a significant impact on decision making and the improvement of society.

The document is organised into the following topics with media-related examples:

• Media Create Political Change - In this section the author not only cites historical examples of underground reports spread by printed leaflets and word of mouth, and radio broadcasts and newspapers, in which reporters strove to publish, despite government controls of information; but he also describes the advent of the internet as a new opportunity for citizen journalists and bloggers to breach national borders. However, the document also describes the extent to which some governments are trying to censor internet content and ban foreign media. Of the 67 countries listed by Freedom House as having "not free" press status, restrictions range from maintaining repressive laws that are used to intimidate journalists to complete control of all media.
• Media Reduce Corruption - The author supports his thesis: "One of independent media’s primary roles is to be a watchdog over public officials’ actions" with examples of investigative reporting such as Watergate, official resignations over corruption reports in Peru, Thailand, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kenya, as well as stories on police corruption, food safety, and other press investigations that have led to legal and regulatory changes. Nearly 40 non-profit centres for investigative reporting and training are linked by various international journalism associations.
• Media and the Economy - The author frames this discussion in figures on mergers and value of media. He describes the high market value of linking people with one another to share information, stating that information at the core of commerce fuels economic growth through open markets governed by transparent pricing. In the field of development, media give people access to information; cover issues of relevance to those marginalised and living in poverty; and reflect their perspectives; and provide platforms where development issues can be discussed. Market-building strategies of the World Bank, as stated here, prioritise linking communities of people in networks of information and trade. Further, the author cites the role of advertising, most frequently disseminated by media along with news of commerce, in creating demand in a market economy. The author observes that the widespread use of technology, including among the economically poor, has resulted in media expansion to serve the interests of a wider spectrum of economic classes. He uses several examples of the contribution of development donors or loan funds, particularly the Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF), in nurturing independent media in the emerging countries of Eastern Europe and South Africa.
• Media and Society - This topic opens with Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen's observation that “no substantial famine has ever occurred in any independent and democratic country with a relatively free press." It then states that "social impact of media includes improving the quality of education, informing the public about health threats and safe practices to avoid them, serving local communities by bringing attention to their needs, and in times of disaster, providing information and sources of assistance to people displaced from their homes."
• Media Improve Education - Addressing education, the document gives a sampling of media strategies that exemplify its potential to educate. For example, a Nicaragua project produced a radio programme that improved test scores in math among primary students. Panamanian daily La Prensa created a six-week educational supplement on Panamanian history, which resulted in circulation increasing by nearly a third of its customer base. In Uganda, a newspaper campaign against corruption in administration of school budgets resulted in an increase from 20 percent to 80 percent of transfer of school grants to local schools.
• Media Support Disaster Relief - The example here is Chad Radio Absoun serving refugees of Darfur. As stated here, "this was the first time refugees heard news that directly affected their survival, including information on security, food rations, and water distribution; where to get health and immunisation services; and what is happening in their home areas."
• Media Improve Health Practices - Research in a variety of countries show that development-related media messages have resulted in quantitative evidence of behaviour change. For example, a 2001 study found that 32 percent (38 percent among teenagers) of African respondents with high exposure to Soul City TV said they always use condoms, compared to 31 percent with medium exposure and 28 percent with low exposure. Uneducated women in Zambia who are regularly exposed to broadcast media are twice as likely to use birth control as those exposed to no media.
• Media Serve Local Communities - The author gives examples of the vitality and importance of media that provide information relevant to local communities. For example, "[t]he community-level need for access to information is especially evident in Africa, where community radio is an important source for relaying information to people as well as building communal ties. Community radio stations are local nonprofit, nongovernmental organisations managed by a board of directors, with a mechanism for community involvement and local management. These stations are usually low-powered, run limited ads, and have programming content that is often driven by community interests. Typically, they are supported through a combination of ad revenue and donations, which can be both international and local."
• Media Influence Public Policy - According to the author, "[m]edia also shape public opinion and influence public policy." An example is the sixteen-fold increase in newspaper coverage of children and adolescents in Brazil, attributable to a Brazilian children and adolescent rights advocacy organisation. The document points to Panos London’s 2007 report At the Heart of Change which states that political process are communication processes and that communication lies at the heart of good governance through inclusion of the marginalised in debates and decisions that effect their lives.

In conclusion, the author emphasises the potential of media to encourage democratic development by giving people voice and providing a window for transparency in government; by opening a country's economic benefits through providing financial and market information to citizens; and by educating the public to social concerns, including those of marginalised groups. In addition to the short-term utilisation of media for messaging campaigns, according to the author, "[t]the establishment and nurturing of free and independent media is crucial across all sectors to achieve real and sustained overall development of society."