"Social media are increasingly popular channels of information on which migrants base their decisions on whether to migrate and the destinations where to settle. While social media offer a relatively cheap, easily accessible, and media-rich means of communication, their use is not without challenges
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for asylum migrants. Various studies describe issues with access and evaluation of the truthfulness of available information for this specific group of migrants. This article discusses social media use by asylum migrants prior to and during migration. This study is based on in-depth interviews with 54 Syrian asylum migrants who recently obtained refugee status in the Netherlands. Syrians were the largest group of migrants applying for asylum in European Union (EU) member states in 2015 and 2016. The findings show that the majority of Syrian asylum migrants have access to social media information before and during migration, often through the use of smartphones. Besides uneven access to technologies, fear of government surveillance restricts the smartphone use of asylum migrants. The results of this study indicate that Syrian asylum migrants prefer social media information that originates from existing social ties and information that is based on personal experiences. Generally, this information is considered more trustworthy. Asylum migrants use various strategies to validate rumors that are present on social media and come from unknown sources. These strategies include checking the source of information, validating information with trusted social ties, triangulation of online sources, and comparing information with their own experience." (Abstract)
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"The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for anyone involved in humanitarian assistance who produces communications on behalf of an organisation (e.g. press releases, social media, fund raising appeals) or engages with the media (e.g. interviews). It aims to support communications expert
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s to provide accurate information that protects and supports infants and young children and their caregivers and reduces harmful interventions." (Page 1)
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"En este trabajo de investigación posdoctoral se invita a los periodistas de los medios de comunicación de América Latina a transformar sus prácticas y narrativas para dar voz a la niñez e incluirlas en los discursos mediáticos autorregulando el ejercicio profesional para aportar en la consoli
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dación de imaginarios de la niñez como sujeto de derechos, partiendo de estudios en sociología jurídica sobre el derecho y la comunicación, y tomando como referentes a autores como Liebel (2015), quien expone las contradicciones que tiene la Convención sobre los Derechos del Niño al dejar fuera a las infancias (Gaitán, 2006) y a su autonomía (Cordero, 2015), centrando su postulado en la mirada adultocéntrica (Picontó, 2016). Así mismo, aquí se expone que la Convención no contempla los medios de comunicación en los escenarios convergentes (Prensky, 2001), sino en la linealidad del siglo pasado, dejando de lado la sociosemiótica de las hipermediaciones (Scolari, 2013), la teoría de los nuevos medios y los nuevos consumos culturales (Igarza, 2009). Así, esta investigación busca abrir nuevas tramas de significación que permeen el discurso mediático en el que predomine la concepción de los niños y las niñas como sujetos de derechos y sujetos sociales." (Descripción de la casa editorial)
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"Objective: To explore the emotional health of journalists covering the migrations of refugees across Europe. Design: Descriptive. A secure website was established and participants were given their unique identifying number and password to access the site. Setting: Newsrooms and in the field. Partic
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ipants: Responses were received from 80 (70.2%) of 114 journalists from nine news organisations. Main outcome measures: Symptoms of PTSD (Impact of Events Scale-revised), depression (Beck Depression Inventory-Revised) and moral injury (Moral Injury Events Scale-revised).
Results: Symptoms of PTSD were not prominent, but those pertaining to moral injury and guilt were. Moral injury was associated with being a parent (p*=*.031), working alone (p*=*.02), a recent increase in workload (p*=*.017), a belief that organisational support is lacking (p*=*.046) and poor control over resources needed to report the story (p*=*.027). A significant association was found between guilt and moral injury (p*=*.01) with guilt more likely to occur in journalists who reported covering the migrant story close to home (p*=*.011) and who divulged stepping outside their role as a journalist to assist migrants (p*=*.014). Effect sizes (d) ranged from .47 to .71.
Conclusions: On one level, the relatively low scores on conventional psychometric measures of PTSD and depression are reassuring. However, our data confirm that moral injury is a different construct from DSM-defined trauma response syndromes, one that potentially comes with its own set of long-term maladaptive behaviours and adjustment problems." (Abstract)
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"It is crucial that any initiatives focussing on the safety of women journalists exist within the broader framework of conversations aimed at meeting the specific targets of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, and recognize that much
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of the violence that women journalists face stems from more deeply rooted gender-based discrimination and inequality in the media industry, and society at large." (Introduction, page 77)
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"During the last fourteen years, Afghan media has played a significant role in empowering women and they still do. Media has a crucial responsibility in promoting women’s participation in society. It has the power to spread messages and raise awareness for the challenges women face. Most important
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ly, media has given women a voice which has allowed them to actively engage with the Afghan government, interest groups and society at large. This paper is about Afghan women print media, focusing on media representation of Afghan women in the Afghan women’s print media in post-Taliban Afghanistan. The Afghan women’s media has been studied to find out how Afghan women are represented and how it impacts women’s social condition in Afghanistan. A textual analysis of Afghan women’s magazines provided the research material for this study. Feminist theory is used to determine the effect of Afghan women media representation in the post-Taliban period on the perception of women in the Afghan society." (Abstract)
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"Information campaigns designed to raise awareness of the potential risks of (irregular) migration have attracted much attention and investment across the world in recent years. Studies have repeatedly shown that many migrants start their journeys with limited or biased information and end up in vul
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nerable situations. In response, information campaigns have increased in number and the type, format, messages and strategy of such campaigns have diversified.
This report presents the results from a systematic literature review of evaluations of such information campaigns in the field of migration. The study reveals that the evidence base available for programming and policymaking in this area is strikingly limited. We find that the uptake in the use of information campaigns has far outpaced any rigorous assessment of the effects that different campaigns may have on their respective target groups. In the absence of reliable evidence, the debate on the potential of this policy tool often relies on largely anecdotal evidence. Better evidence can show how information campaigns can be designed to best achieve their intended effects given the particular circumstances. The current lack of evidence limits the impact of future campaigns. While rigorous assessment of campaign impact can be difficult and costly, better evidence is clearly needed – wherever feasible and appropriate.
Based on an extensive, systematic literature review, 60 relevant evaluations of information campaigns that targeted potential migrants and traffickers, as well as communities at large, were identified from a pool of 3,600 records. Only 30 of the selected campaign evaluations had publicly available results; the rest were collected through expert referrals. Two studies were published in peer-reviewed journals. Among the campaigns featured in the 60 studies, the most popular communication tools were workshop-type activities and cable TV programmes/advertisements. Most campaigns focused on trafficking, followed by irregular migration and, more generally, smuggling. A common issue is the lack of a clearly defined campaign objective and/or target group. This hampers any rigorous evaluation of programme effects. Whenever an objective is defined, it is most often aimed at “awareness-raising” and “knowledge generation.” The majority of the campaign evaluations claimed that the campaign under study was “successful” in inducing a change in knowledge, perceptions, attitudes and – to a lesser degree – (intended) behaviour. However, most of the evaluations reviewed provided relatively little evidence of the full impact of information campaigns. While many of the evaluations reported the number and profiles of campaign recipients or beneficiaries, impact was not directly measured. (In the evaluation literature, impact is defined as a change in outcome that is directly attributable to the programme and not any other factor.)
Most of the evaluations identified did not meet minimum standards for robust evidence on programme effects. The large majority of evaluations were based on based on cross-sectional surveys of small numbers of participants (N) sampled at convenience, limiting the generalizability of the results. Only a few large-N studies employed a control-group design or involved pre- and post-measurements. None employed a (quasi-)experimental method for causal inference (e.g. randomized controlled trial, which is considered the “gold standard” for measuring impact)." (Executive summary)
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"Radio produced and broadcast behind prison walls is redefining traditional meanings of 'public service broadcasting' and disrupting traditional power structures within the prison system. Focusing on one of the most interesting developments in UK prisons over the past 10 years, this book examines th
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e early history of the Prison Radio Association and the formation of the first national radio station for prisoners. Highlighting the enduring importance of social values in broadcasting, this book shows how radio can be used as a powerful force for social change. It will be of interest to those involved in media, criminal justice and social activism." (Back cover)
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"To understand public opinion about immigration in Europe, one has to understand the media’s role in it. We present a literature review on research on media discourse on immigration and their effects. Despite differences in the way immigration and migrant groups are represented in European media,
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we can observe common patterns. Migrants are generally under-represented and shown as delinquents or criminals. Although, media framing differs based on specific migrant groups the discourse is focusing on, immigration coverage is often negative and conflict-centred. Frequent exposure to such media messages leads to negative attitudes towards migration, may activate stereotypical cognitions of migrant groups, and even influence vote choice. In addition to discussing these issues in depth, the present review also focuses on comparative findings." (Abstract)
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"Este libro pretende plantear, cuando menos, algunas preguntas sobre el problema de las audiencias: ¿cuál es el efecto y el impacto que estas nuevas formas de categorizar a las audiencias pueden tener en la propia industria de los medios y los mercados de la comunicación? ¿Qué corrientes de est
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udio alrededor de las audiencias nos pueden ayudar mejor para explicar este fenómeno? ¿Cuáles han quedado relegadas dentro de esta transformación comunicativa? Además, su interés es mostrar los retos teóricos e investigativos que implica hoy pensar las audiencias, y ofrecer al lector una introducción extensa al problema. Su objetivo es ampliar el debate, moviéndolo de un escenario fragmentado en las visiones sobre la audiencia a uno integrador, que acerca a los investigadores a tener consideraciones que vinculan diferentes preguntas y que permiten acercarse de mejor manera a los individuos, más que a la cuantificación de sus consumos." (Descripción de la casa editorial)
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"This work investigates the relationships between community radio and their audiences in the Department of Nariño, Colombia, considering Latin American and European experiences, and participation as a key element for social sustainability. The aim is to investigate whether the participation of citi
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zens in the production, diffusion and radio management has been supported or not. Methodologically, we follow a mixed design that combined the results of two questionnaires: one, applied to 632 people from eleven municipalities; and the second, to eleven directors of communal stations. This was complemented with information provided by eleven groups composed of radio broadcasters, publishers and producers. One key finding within the audiences is that they recognize a radio station as a tool to enhance socio-cultural dynamics in the region. As to the directors of stations, it was found that they didn’t encourage active participation with communities. It seems that the absence of active and critical participation on the part of the audiences is due to an organizational and radio production model that mirrors the commercial one. In conclusion, these factors have limited the construction of democratic relations between communal broadcasters and their audiences; and especially, reduced the possibilities for citizens to participate as valid interlocutors in a local communicational project." (Abstract)
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"El presente trabajo indaga sobre las relaciones entre las emisoras comunitarias y sus audiencias, en el Departamento de Nariño en Colombia, en el contexto de experiencias latinoamericanas y europeas, desde una perspectiva de participación, como elemento clave para la sostenibilidad social. Intere
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sa observar cómo los ciudadanos se han propiciado o no de la producción, difusión y gestión radiofónica. Metodológicamente se trabajó desde un diseño mixto que trianguló los resultados de dos cuestionarios: uno, aplicado a una muestra de 632 personas de once municipios, y otro, a once directores de emisoras comunitarias. Esto se complementó con la información de once grupos focales integrados por locutores, editores y realizadores de radio. Uno de los hallazgos más relevantes, en las audiencias, fue el reconocer la emisora como un medio que puede potenciar dinámicas socioculturales en la región. Por su parte, en los directores, se encontró que han agenciado incipientes procesos de participación con las comunidades. Se infiere que existe una deficiente capacidad reflexiva y crítica en las audiencias, esto debido a que la mayoría de emisoras han adoptado el modelo organizativo y de producción de la radio comercial. Se concluye que estos factores han afectado la construcción de relaciones democráticas entre las audiencias y las emisoras comunitarias, y en especial, las posibilidades de participación de los ciudadanos como interlocutores válidos en un proyecto comunicativo." (Resumen)
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"The book develops the analytics of grievability as an analytical framework that unpacks the ways in which news about death constructs grievable death and articulates relational ties between spectators and sufferers. The book employs the analytics of grievability in a comparative manner and analyses
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the coverage of three different case studies (terror attack, war and natural disaster) by two transnational news networks (BBC World News and Al-Jazeera English). This comparative analysis showcases the centrality of news media in selectively cultivating a sense of cosmopolitan solidarity in a global age." (Publisher description)
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"Elements of Indigenous Style provides guidelines to help writers, editors, and publishers produce material that reflects indigenous people in an appropriate and respectful manner. Gregory Younging, a member of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba, has been the managing editor of Theytus
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Books, the first Aboriginal-owned publishing house in Canada, for over 13 years. Elements of Indigenous Style evolved from the house style guide Gregory developed at Theytus in order to ensure content was consistent and respectful. This guide contains: a historical overview of the portrayal of Indigenous peoples in literature; common errors and how to avoid them when writing about Indigenous peoples; guidance on working in a culturally sensitive way; a discussion of problematic and preferred terminology; suggestions for editorial guidelines." (Publisher description)
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"The Oral History Manual is designed to help anyone interested in doing oral history research to think like an oral historian. Recognizing that oral history is a research methodology, the authors define oral history and then discuss the methodology in the context of the oral history life cycle – t
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he guiding steps that take a practitioner from idea through access/use. They examine how to articulate the purpose of an interview, determine legal and ethical parameters, identify narrators and interviewers, choose equipment, develop budgets and record-keeping systems, prepare for and record interviews, care for interview materials, and use the interview information." (Publisher description)
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"This paper is based on a qualitative study of couples living in SASA communities and secondary analysis of endline quantitative data collected as part of a cluster randomised control trial designed to evaluate the impact of the SASA! intervention. The primary trial was conducted in eight communitie
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s in Kampala, Uganda between 2007 and 2012. The secondary analysis of follow up survey data used multivariate logistic regression to examine associations between intervention exposure and interpersonal communication, and relationship change (n = 928). The qualitative study used in-depth interviews (n = 20) and framework analysis methods to explore the intervention attributes that facilitated engagement with the intervention and uptake of new ideas and behaviours in intimate relationships. We found communication materials and mid media channels generated awareness and knowledge, while the concurrent influence from interpersonal communication with community-based change agents and social network members more frequently facilitated changes in behaviour. The results indicate combining community mobilisation components, programme content that reflects peoples’ lives and direct support through local change agents can facilitate diffusion and powerful collective change processes in communities." (Abstract)
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"This article synthesizes the theoretical developments concerning Latin American indigenous communication formulated in the last decade (2005–2015). By conducting a review of the main theoretical frameworks that have deepened the issue, we observe a gradual progression from the dominance of extern
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al views to the emergence of indigenous people’s own perspectives. We propose four analytical theoretical approaches that depict continuities (media and information and communication technology [ICT] appropriation; policies and regulation) and discontinuities (indigenous media; communication from Buen Vivir) regarding traditional Latin American frameworks. We also discuss the limitations of the original literature on this topic, and we provide a set of conclusions and recommendations for further studies." (Abstract)
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"The article revisits classical debates about the positive and negative relation of popular culture and socio-political developments with regard to the Arab world. Within the Frankfurt School and modern Cultural Studies at times contradictory approaches to the role of entertainment in political cult
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ure are being debated. In Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies rather positive readings of entertainments’ political potential seem to prevail. During the “Arab Spring” the impact of participatory values promoted by both popular culture and the new social media (“entertainment is political”) appeared to be actually tangible. The article discusses the dynamic relation of entertainment television and individualization on a theoretical and empirical level. On the basis of a large body of follow-up discourses of media reception (group discussions) with young Egyptians during the time of the “Arab Spring,” we ask whether contemporary television shows promote both individualization on a cognitive, affective and practical level of experience as well as the appreciation of individualization as a social value. We argue that popular culture reveals tendencies of differentiation and modernization in Arab societies, which are all too often described as “collectivistic.” The case study shows that critical faculty, media literacy and the appreciation of individual articulation can be triggered by entertainment. Moments of “ironic pleasure” and transitions of simulated empathy and stimulated action are discussed." (Abstract)
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"This article presents findings from investigations of acclaimed gender employment changes in Israeli journalism, focusing on two main questions: Is the feminisation process of Israeli journalism continuing? Is it improving women’s employment and occupational status? Data were gathered from two in
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ternational surveys that included Israel. The study found that while women are integrated in a variety of news areas, such as news presentation, and play a significant role in management, their roles and salaries are unequal to men. These findings shed light on gender (in)equality and identify some of the mechanisms that exclude Israeli women from the labour market." (Abstract)
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