MOR-FG-15-1-MBN_11Dec14.pdf

SOW STATEMENT OF WORK – AUDIENCE REACTIONS TO ALHURRA CURRENT AFFAIRS

PROGRAMS AMONG MOROCCANS AND ALGERIANS

Background:

Television viewers in Morocco and Algeria have access to a large variety of news and information programs from 2M, Medi1 Sat, Al Jazeera, Alhurra, Al Arabiya, and others. Programs range from news discussion shows, such as Without Borders on Al Jazeera, Point of View on Al Arabiya, and Eye on Democracy on Alhurra, to broader current affairs shows on sports, women’s issues, economic challenges, and other topics. The programs document important political, economic, and social challenges and provide audiences with news and information that affects their daily lives.

In recent years, the spread of online media has increased the diversity of news to include such things as citizen-generated raw coverage of breaking events, satirized news programs, and game-show like current affairs discussions. Traditional TV news and current-affairs stations within this environment must continuously design new presentation and content formats to attract modern audiences while adhering to high journalistic standards.

Within this vein, Alhurra TV is undertaking a series of focus groups with Moroccans and Algerians to deepen its understanding of the evolving news content and formatting styles that appeal to TV audiences. It will focus on current affairs programs rather than news broadcasts and solicit input from a variety of age groups. Alhurra Television is a 24/7 Arabic-language broadcaster providing programs to 22 countries in the Arab world. It is part of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. that includes Alhurra and Radio Sawa.

The research will be undertaken as part of the Broadcasting Board of Governors International Audience Research Program (IARP). The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) is an independent Federal entity responsible for U.S.-funded non-military international broadcasting. Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN) is a non-profit grantee of the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

Research Objectives:

a) To deepen our understanding of the evolving news content and formatting styles that appeal to TV audiences, with a focus on current affairs programs.

b) To understand differences in preferences among those who are hard-core followers of political news and those who follow more general news.

1. Methodology and Project Design:

The project will involve a total of 8 focus groups, including 2 male and 2 female groups in Casablanca, Morocco, and 2 male and 2 female groups in Oujda, Morocco. Participants in Casablanca will be Moroccans, and those in Oujda will be Algerians or individuals who spend at least half of the year in Algeria. Given the difficulties of conducting research in Algeria, MBN has chosen Oujda as a second-best alternative.

Each focus group will consist of 8-10 participants recruited according to the following criteria:

1. Respondents in Casablanca should be Moroccans and those in Oujda should be Algerians or individuals who spend at least half of the year in Algeria.

2. One group of men and one group of women in Casablanca and one group of men and one group of women in Oujda should be very interested in politics; they should be a mix of ages with at least half ages 20-34 and half ages 35-55; they should seek out news about politics at least once a week. They should have watched a current affairs TV program in the past week, either via TV or the web. They should use the internet for information about current affairs.

3. One group of men and one group of women in Casablanca and Oujda should regularly follow general news, including about politics, sports, women’s issues, technology, health, economic conditions, or similar topics. They should be a mix of ages with at least half ages 20-34 and half ages 35-55. They should have watched a current affairs TV program in the past week, either via TV or the web. They should use the internet for information about current affairs. They should be somewhat interested in politics.

Each group will include approximately 30 minutes of general questions and 1 hour of reactions to clips from current affairs and news shows. BBG/MBN will provide contractor with clips from news programs in electronic format (HD MOV files) and it will be up to the contractor to ensure they are formatted and of good quality for all participants to see and hear. BBG/MBN tentatively plans to include approximately 6 clips of 3-4 minutes each, but may show some clips for up to 8 minutes. Some of the clips may be different for the Algerian and Moroccan groups.

2. Contractor responsibilities:

Contractor will be responsible for the following:

1) Focus group guide – Contractor will write and format the focus group guide based on questions provided by the client. General questions will include such things as: What are some of your favorite TV news programs on TV? What do you like about these programs? How frequently do you watch these programs? Do you watch them on a traditional TV set or via other methods such as YouTube? What are some of your least favorite current affairs programs? What are some of the news programs you consider to be the most unique? What is unique about them?

What would an ideal TV news program look like? Questions about clips will include such things as: What do you like/dislike about this clip? (in terms of content, format, hosts, etc) Have you ever seen this program? What current TV current affairs programs does this remind you of?

Contractor will translate focus group guide into Moroccan and Algerian Arabic (if necessary) and provide a translated copy for the MBN Research Director’s approval within 5 weeks of contract award. Contractor will receive questions for translation within 3 weeks of contract award.

2) Screener – MBN will provide screening criteria within 2 weeks of contract award that contractor will format and translate into Arabic. Contractor will provide a translated copy for the MBN Research Director’s approval at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the focus groups.

3) Recruiting participants – Contractor will recruit all participants according to the screening criteria provided by the MBN Research Director. At least 1 week prior to the start of focus groups, contractor will provide a detailed description of their recruitment methods in each location. This should include how participants were identified and contacted. Contractor should recruit 8 participants for each group in addition to 2-3 alternatives in case any of the original participants cancels.

4) Focus group moderator -- Contractor will provide a trained and experienced moderator for the groups who has a good understanding of Arab language news programs on TV. In their proposal, contractor should specify whether they believe it is necessary to include different moderators (one speaking Moroccan Arabic, one speaking Algerian Arabic). The goal is to make the participants as comfortable as possible. We do not want Algerian participants to have any difficulty conversing in Moroccan Arabic if there is only one Moroccan moderator. Prior to the focus groups, contractor will send client a video excerpt of the moderator’s work for client approval.

5) Filming of focus groups – Contractor will film focus groups and provide BBG/MBN with copies.

Film should be high quality with clear sound. If participants do not consent to videotaping, audio taping is acceptable.

6) Audio Visual Equipment for Viewing TV Clips – Contractor will provide high quality audio-visual equipment to play video clips during focus groups. Equipment should provide a good quality picture and sound and be large enough to be clearly visible to all participants. Clips will be HD MOV files.

7) Focus Group Transcripts – Contractor will provide detailed transcripts of focus groups in both Arabic and English. Moderator questions should be included in red and respondents’ in black for easy differentiation. Contractor should clearly mark which respondents provided each comment so we know exactly which respondent said what. Transcripts will include a short description of the clip content and source before respondent comments so those reading the transcripts know exactly what videos respondents were commenting on.

8) Written Summary of Focus groups – Contractor will provide a 2-3 page written summary of the 8 focus groups in idiomatic English.

3. Project timing and deliverables

Within 3 weeks of award of contract, MBN Research Director and contractor will agree on a final English-language discussion guide and screener. Once these documents are translated into Arabic and approved by client, MBN Research Director and contractor will agree on an appropriate timing for the focus groups. Groups should be timed so client can attend all groups in Casablanca and all groups in Oujda (translation is not needed.)

Arabic language transcripts of the focus groups should be provide no more than 4 weeks after the completion of fieldwork, and English language transcripts should be provided 4 weeks after that.

Contractor should provide electronic or hard copies of video recordings with the English language transcripts.

4. Period of Performance

The period of performance for this project is 6 months after the issue of a task order. Period of performance is January 30, 2015-July 31, 2015.