Krishna Kumar surveys the nature and significance of international aid designed to build and strengthen independent news media in support of democratization and development. Providing the first comprehensive coverage of media assistance programs, Kumar discusses the evolution, focus, and overall impact of a range of intervention strategies. He also presents seven in-depth case studies based on extensive USAID-sponsored fieldwork; here he examines the context, accomplishments, and failures of efforts in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Central America, Indonesia, Russia, Serbia, and Sierra Leone. A concluding chapter summarizes the findings of the study and suggests their important implications for international media assistance.