Definitions of quality criteria

TERMS	EXPLANATION
Main topic	It is assessed from a list of 38 topics i.e. on the topic the story is about. If the topic is not on the list, it is identified as “other topic”.
Urban-Rural focus	It is assessed whether articles covering issues or events originate from big cities on Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar (Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Arusha, Mwanza, Mbeya, Mjini Magharibi and Kusini Pemba) or small cities and rural areas.
Regional focus	It is assessed from which district on the Mainland or Zanzibar the story originates.
A national or local story	It is assessed based on whether the story covers a nation-wide issue of national relevance or a local issue that is only locally relevant.
Context of reporting	It is assessed from the media piece, whether reporting on it was triggered by a press conference or an official statement, or whether a journalist made own effort (initiative). High media initiative means that a story is a product of investigation initiated by the media house. Low media initiative includes all stories that demonstrate an attempt by journalists to go beyond press conferences, accidents, or any other events.
Sources number	It is assessed based on how many sources are mentioned in a journalistic unit. Journalists or presenters are not counted as sources. Also, callers into radio and TV programmes are not counted as sources but separately as contributors.
Number of female sources	It is assessed how many sources are female.
Actors as sources	It is assessed from a long list of actors, which actor (s) is present as sources in the media piece.
Perspectives	It is assessed which perspectives/angles are present in a media piece, under which angle (policy, politics, economy, ordinary concern, security) a topic is treated. Concerning political reporting, we differentiate two perspectives, namely “policy” perspective (focus on the content of the political matter); and “politics” perspective, focusing on the deliberation/negotiations/struggles about this policy.
Clear storyline	A good media piece provides a clear storyline of what is conveyed within the media piece. Without a clear storyline, media pieces may confuse an audience. Therefore, it is assessed whether a media piece has a weak or a strong storyline.
Background/ History	A good media piece puts a story into context. This means providing some historical background information to the issue or problem in the storyline so that the audience understands the background of the issue at hand. The codebook measures this by looking at the extent to which reference is made to past events, as related to the basic storyline.
Root-causes	This is assessed by looking at whether a media piece explains the root-cause(s) of the problem or issue. Only the root-cause(s) that refer to the problem in the storyline are assessed.
Viewpoints	Viewpoints are opinions expressed by sources. It needs to contain some judgemental expression in terms of positive or negative assessment. A media piece is assessed whether it has a viewpoint (s).
Opposing Viewpoints	Good journalism provides balanced stories. This does not only mean having sufficient and diverse sources but also presenting more than one viewpoint and, where possible, presenting opposing viewpoints so that everyone understands the “other” side. This ensures a balanced reflection on the issue being covered.
Right to reply conceded	A good story needs to concede the right to reply in case a specific person or organisation is accused of wrongdoing. In those cases, the accused person needs to be given a chance to respond to allegations. This is assessed for all stories, except those that treat crime and court cases, as the laws do not allow media to speak to accused persons.
Figures in context	Using figures in a media piece is a good way of making stories concrete. Even more important is it that those figures are well explained by putting them into context, i.e. compare them to something the reader or listener understands well.
Structure	A media piece must be coherent or ‘flow’ for the media audience to understand easily. Therefore, it must have a clear and logical link so that different parts of the story are in harmony, for example, by using transitional devices such as “in addition to that…”, or “in contrast to the first speaker, our second guest…”, etc.