The BBC Media Action’s project A National Conversation was designed to improve the media’s ability to empower audiences to hold those in authority to account, give voice to diverse sectors of society, facilitate participatory policy-making, and provide an interface between citizens and government. Funded by DfID, it was structured around four core strategies: research, media development, co-production with partner broadcasters, and participatory outreach.The project operated in three countries experiencing different governance and transparency contexts: Angola (post-conflict), Sierra Leone (post-conflict-stable) and Tanzania (stable) with the intention of contributing to moving each country further along a governance continuum, towards stability.
In 2013, iMedia conducted the end evaluation synthesising quantitative and qualitative data generated by BBC Media Action and triangulating with primary research conducted in each country. The evaluation found that the project had seen signs of impact but external factors inhibited the extent and types of change anticipated in the original project design.