Research Consultant At BBC Media Action

BBC Media Action is an independent international charity established by the BBC with the aim of using media to support international development. It operates globally to raise awareness, influence attitudes and behaviour in communities, and enhance the capacity of media sectors in transitional countries.

In partnership with civil society, local media, and other organisations, we produce communication programmes and trusted media to inform and engage communities. This helps give people a voice, enabling them to understand their rights, responsibilities, and one another. In 2023, BBC Media Action reach extended to over 100 million people through local broadcast partners as well as online, mobile, and printed platforms along with interpersonal communication.

BBC Media Action is implementing media development projects in multiple countries, including Indonesia. These multi-year programmes aim to strengthen and support open, accountable, and diverse media and information ecosystems in Indonesia, strengthen editorial and technical skills of local media partners in the country, address challenges and building on opportunities at the audience, practitioner, organisational and systems levels.

BBC Media Action is currently seeking: Research Consultant

Duration: 3 months

Start Date: January 2025

Location: Indonesia

CONTRACT: Consultant Contract. Only eligible for Indonesian nationals or those legally able to work in Indonesia

Overall purpose:

BBC Media Action requires an experienced Research Consultant to oversee research activities for a period of 3 months (Jan – March 2025) to support BBC Media Actions media development projects.

The Research Consultant is responsible for conducting and overseeing research activities in Indonesia ensuring that research activities are conducted effectively and to a high standard. The position requires working collaboratively with colleagues based in Indonesia and occasionally staff in the UK to ensure smooth project operation.

The Research Consultant will liaise regularly and report to the Research Manager. The consultant will also work in close coordination with Head of Projects, Indonesia and Senior Research Manager, Global (based in London).

Main Duties:

This consultant would be responsible for contributing to, and driving, assessments of how best to deliver on this work, adapting as necessary.

The Research Consultant will work to deliver, implement, quality assure, analyse report and share findings with media organisations and others. The Research Consultant will be responsible for delivering work in the following areas:

• Understanding the media and communication landscape – desk review of recent research and information about the media landscape in Indonesia including, media sector capacity, law and policy review, media diversity, audience media consumption patterns, engagement, access, trust, and information needs, and to further understand the role of media in proactively prebunking and effectively debunking misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation (MDM. Understanding AI in the media ecosystem.
• Media capabilities analysis – conduct (and/or support other staff to conduct) qualitative interviews with CSOs, journalists, media organisations, government and others to understand the role and value of media for audiences, stakeholder perspectives of audience needs and key information disorder trends impacting country and audiences. Key initial drivers for independent media to operate nationally and regional (ASEAN) media collaborative solutions.
• Capacity assessment of media partners and prospective partners – in collaboration with project implementation teams and mentors, conduct (and/or support other staff to conduct) assessments of the capacity of media organisations and practitioners on organisational management and editorial skills to support the development of partner support plans. Including media capacity in AI integration to newsroom/newsproduction.
• Final Report with Gap/Needs Analysis – to inform BBC Media Action’s decision making and project design for our media development projects over the next 2 year period – including recommended areas of intervention for best impact.
• Another research as may be required

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Excellent qualitative knowledge, skills and experience, with demonstrable experience of designing research tools, conducting the research, data analysis and reporting.
• Experience conducting research on people’s media usage, including online and digital.
• The ability to work proactively and flexibly in terms of suggesting how to generate media data, including talking to stakeholders, and looking for opportunities to gather media information.
• Research management skills, experience managing research, working with multiple stakeholders, managing timelines, assuring quality and ensuring that the research generates insights tailored to key stakeholder needs.
• Excellent communication and collaborative skills to network effectively at different levels including senior global stakeholders for this project (government officials, media professionals, technical experts, and community actors).
• Excellent spoken and written English language skills.
• Organisational skills, attention to detail, with the ability to deliver work on time, to budget and to high quality.
• Strong understanding of media development and media ecosystems.
• Right to live and work in Indonesia.