iMedia advises cli­ents on com­mu­nic­a­tions approaches to help solve com­plex prob­lems, as well as man­aging and eval­u­ating media-led pro­jects. Recent work has included devel­oping com­mu­nic­a­tions strategies to combat violent extremism in Pakistan and Afghanistan, promoting HIV/AIDS social and beha­viour change in southern Africa, and strength­ening the media’s role in elect­oral reform in Nigeria.

In the UK, iMedia has worked with the For­eign and Com­mon­wealth Offi­ce on using a range of media to facil­itate inter­na­tional engage­ment on Afghanistan’s future. iMedia advises local gov­ern­ment on community-based com­mu­nic­a­tion to counter ethnic extremism. In addi­tion, iMedia con­ducts work­shops on media and peace-building, most recently in Bel­fast for the Com­mon­wealth Par­lia­mentary Association.

iMedia cli­ents include UK gov­ern­ment depart­ments, bilat­eral and mul­ti­lat­eral donor agen­cies, and non-governmental organisations. Over the past 12 years iMedia and its directors have worked in more than 25 countries with South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa as two focal regions.

Consultancy

Media Asso­ci­ates carry out con­sultancy assign­ments in the UK and over­seas, for a range of cli­ents including bilat­eral, mul­ti­lat­eral and non-governmental organ­isa­tions. iMedia delivers high quality advisory, research and ana­lysis using multi-media plat­forms to engage with cli­ents and audi­ences. iMedia believes that moving com­mu­nic­a­tions from a tra­di­tional mes­sage based approach to one defined by con­ver­sa­tion helps address issues of trust between cit­izen and state.

iMedia applied these prin­ciples to com­munity cohe­sion work with local gov­ern­ment in the town of Barnsley, south York­shire, UK, and to researching and designing com­mu­nic­a­tions strategies that counter extremism and pro­mote devel­op­ment in Pakistan and Afghanistan. iMedia designed the media component of the Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme, DFID’s biggest peace building initiative, and continues to provide consultancy advice.  iMedia also designed a German government funded initiative to encourage financial literacy through the media to stimulate small business growth in rural Mozambique. iMedia staff have designed HIV/AIDS communications projects in Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, Madagascar, Guyana and Cambodia.

iMedia has undertaken evaluations for clients such as BBC Media Action and Internews (in Kenya, Somalia, Angola and Tanzania) of media projects that promote peace and improve governance.

iMedia responds rap­idly and flex­ibly to client needs by fielding a wide range of skills and expertise through its con­tacts with media and com­mu­nic­a­tions professionals around the world.

Project Management

Media Asso­ci­ates draws on the exper­i­ence of its parent com­pany, Media Sup­port, to manage media and com­mu­nic­a­tions pro­jects. It also bene­fits from local organ­isa­tions set up or partnered by Media Sup­port/ iMedia which offer a source of local expertise from which pro­jects can be man­aged in the coun­tries them­selves or the region. Media Support has recently handed over an HIV/AIDS communication project to a local organisation, March Zambia, after seven years work together.

Training

iMedia offers a diverse range of train­ings: they include short tailor-made work­shops for staff of local media organ­isa­tions to intro­duce new skills and know­ledge as well as repeated inputs over the life­time of pro­jects. Gen­er­ally, iMedia believes that the best impact can be achieved through long term on-the-job training and ment­oring to build rela­tion­ships with pro­ject teams, strengthen insti­tu­tional capa­city and shape working practices.

Training also includes one-off ses­sions aimed at influ­en­cing policy and decision-makers. In early 2010 iMedia dir­ectors facil­it­ated a work­shop on media, con­flict and sta­bil­isa­tion for vis­iting mem­bers of the Com­mon­wealth Par­lia­mentary Asso­ci­ation, as part of a con­fer­ence on Fra­gile States, in Bel­fast, Northern Ire­land. In Barnsley, iMedia trained local elected mem­bers in com­mu­nic­a­tions skills including crisis and rebuttal skills, as well as blog­ging skills. Currently, iMedia is organising a series of workshops for media in Nigeria on Conflict Sensitive Communication, and is coordinating an online post-graduate course in the subject with Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Northern Nigeria.

Gordon Adam lec­tures on media, con­flict and health at the London School for Hygiene and Trop­ical Medi­cine, and at King’s Col­lege London.