Panos' Relay: Communicating research through the media programme works with the media to support the crucial role they play in the effective communication of development research in Southern countries. Better communication of development research findings and recommendations through the media means that existing practice and new policy solutions are brought to the public attention, potentially stimulating civil society debate and action and bringing pressure to change to bear on government. The programme works with researchers and journalists in Southern and Eastern Africa and South Asia.

Relay's latest media resource pack focuses on academic research about the impact of ICTs on poverty. The development of new information and communications technologies such as mobile phones, personal computers and the internet has the potential to improve the lives of millions of people. But issues around access, ownership of the technology and how much it costs may mean that relatively few individuals benefit to the exclusion of everyone else. Furthermore, when communications infrastructure is inadequate, more people may be excluded from the information that technological advances can bring. A liberalised, rather than state-owned, telecommunications sector is also important in meeting ordinary peoples’ information needs, but this is not the whole picture. This briefing for journalists sets out the main issues around this topic and shows how journalists can use academic research as both a starting point and a reference in their reporting.