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"African Communication Systems and the Digital Age contextualizes communication by bringing to the table African contributions to the field, examining the importance of African indigenous forms of communication and the intersection of African communication systems and the digital age. The book cover ... more

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The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Communication

Marnel Niles Goins, Bryant Keith Alexander, Joan Faber McAlister (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2021), xxvi, 686 pp.

"Comprising 39 chapters by a team of international contributors, the Handbook is divided into six general themes: Gendered identities; Visualizing gender; The politics of gender; Gendered contexts and strategies; Gendered violence and communication; Gendered advocacy in action These sections examine ... more

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Media and Digital Technologies for Mixed Methods Research in Public Health Emergencies Such as COVID-19: Lessons Learned from Using Interactive Radio–SMS for Social Research in Somalia

Johanna Riha, Claudia Abreu Lopes, Naima Abdi Ibrahim, Sharath Srinivasan

Journal of Mixed Methods Research, volume 15, issue 3 (2021), pp. 304-326

"Radio shows which invite audience participation via short message service (SMS)—interactive radio–SMS—can be designed as a mixed methods approach for applied social research during COVID-19 and other crises in low and middle income countries. In the aftermath of a cholera outbreak in Somalia, ... more

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Practical Guide for Women Journalists on How to Respond to Online Harassment

Paris: UNESCO (2021), 11 pp.

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Information Ecosystem Assessment: Flow, Needs & Access in Ethiopia. The Case of Addis Ababa and Gambella

Internews;USAID (2021), 119 pp.

"To gain a comprehensive understanding of both urban and peri/urban/rural locations, the assessment was conducted in two locations in Ethiopia: Gambella Region and Addis Ababa City Administration. A total of 240 respondents participated in the assessment, of which about one-third are female. The fin ... more

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Gender Norms, Gendered Work and Intersectional Digital Inequalities in Rwanda

Araba Sey et al.

Research ICT Africa (2021), 58 pp.

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Media Trust in the Western Balkans: Together Apart. Regional Overview

Sandra B. Hrvatin, Brankica Petkovic, Sanela Hodžic

Ljubljana: Peace Institute;South East European Network for Professionalization of Media (SEENPM) (2021), 34 pp.

"Trust in the media varies across the region, with citizens in BiH, Serbia and North Macedonia divided in around half of those that trust and half of those that distrust the media, and a higher number of citizens in Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania having trust in the media. The highest trust is expre ... more

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Transforming Gender Norms Through Communication: Minga Perú's Communicative Actions in the Amazon

Ami Sengupta, Arvind Singhal

In: Handbook of Communication and Development

Srinivas R. Melkote; Arvind Singhal (eds.)

Cheltenham; Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing (2021), pp. 302-321

"We illustrate the principles and processes of gender transformative communication by presenting a case study of a long-running social change initiative spearheaded by Minga Perú, a community-based organization in the Peruvian Amazon. Applying a gender and power lens, we illustrate how communicatio ... more

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Tratamiento informativo de los casos de feminicidio en la prensa y TV: Monitoreo de medios con enfoque de género

Lima: Calandria (2021), 151 pp.

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Understanding Trust: Global Conversations & Local Realities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Pierrick Judéaux

Internews (2021), 20 pp.

"In this paper, we share selected insights from our work across seven countries facing complex and often protracted preexisting humanitarian crises before the pandemic. Over the past nine months, with Internews’ Rooted in Trust project, we have worked to understand the role of rumors and misinform ... more

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How We Talk about Migration: The Link between Migration Narratives, Policy, and Power

Natalia Banulescu-Bogdan, Haim Malka, Shelly Culbertson

Washington: Migration Policy Institute (2021), 46 pp.

"The scan identified eight core findings: 1. Both positive and negative narratives use a moral framework as a justification and trigger to tap into values. Both welcoming and restrictive narratives can be rooted in a view of what is right—for instance, calling for generosity or compassion toward r ... efugees because of humanitarian values, or arguing for penalties for irregular or unauthorized immigrants because of a commitment to law and order. 2. Many positive migration narratives invoke feelings of national pride rather than attempting to “sell” concrete benefits of migration. In many countries, top-down stories about migration tap into (and affirm) core notions of national identity (such as humanitarianism or diversity) and attempt to invoke pride (such as being a nation of immigrants). Other pro-migration narratives take a more transactional approach by highlighting how immigration reaps benefits for receiving societies, often focusing on migrants’ economic contributions. 3. Elite, top-down messages about migration often clash with views on the ground. Many government leaders spread messages about the benefits of migration, but these do not always align with people’s lived experiences. And in many places, the public has a fundamental mistrust of government or perceives that policymakers have failed to effectively manage migration challenges, which can also spark skepticism. 4. Narratives about migration are not always ideologically driven; they can be motivated by political pragmatism or used to advance other political or policy goals. Political rhetoric on migration is not always connected to ideology or values per se, but may instead be used as a calculated means to advance other policy goals (such as boosting foreign aid, gaining votes, or maintaining political power). The link to political pragmatism may offer an important clue as to why certain messages are amplified in certain settings and with certain audiences but not others. 5. The most dominant threat narratives are driven by insecurity—whether related to economics, culture and identity, personal safety, or national security. The stickiest negative narratives about migration are often interwoven with perceived threats to security (for instance, anxiety about jobs and resources, crime, or about changes to culture or social norms), even if these threats are not well supported by data. Threats to personal safety and security or economic livelihoods can be highly destabilizing, even if they are episodic or only affect a small number of people—and these fears are not easily defused with contrary evidence [...]" (Executive summary, page 3) more

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What's Your Story? Story-Sharing and Grief. How Story-Sharing Can Help Your Church Community Deal with Grief and Emotional Stress

Merrishia Singh-Naicker, Brian Helsby, Emma Delius et al.

Heartlines Centre (2021), 15 pp.

"This resource is a guide for how you can use story-sharing in your church programmes to address grief and stress. It includes practical ideas on how to run What’s Your Story? story-sharing exercises to help your church members." (Page 5)

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Collective Memory and the Dutch East Indies: Unremembering Decolonization

Paul M. M. Doolan

Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press (2021), 334 pp.

"This book examines the afterlife of decolonization in the collective memory of the Netherlands. It offers a new perspective on the cultural history of representing the decolonization of the Dutch East Indies, and maps out how a contested collective memory was shaped. Taking a transdisciplinary appr ... more

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Del miedo a la acción. Migración, pandemia y xenofobia en Colombia, Perú y Chile: Tres palabras que nunca debieron unirse

Lucía Ramírez Bolívar

Bogotá: Dejusticia (2021), 28 pp.

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Media Literacy Sector Mapping in Georgia, Latvia, Moldova and Ukraine: General Overview and Recommendations

Baltic Centre for Media Excellence (2021), 12 pp.

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Candidate Advertisements and Afro-Brazilian Political Marginalization

Andrew Janusz, Luiz Augusto Campos

Latin American Research Review (LARR), volume 56, issue 4 (2021), pp. 761-778

"Television is an important political tool in Latin America. In recognition of its ability to shape public opinion and influence political behavior, Brazilian electoral authorities provide political parties with free television airtime in the weeks preceding elections. While Brazil’s publicly fina ... more

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Online Caste-Hate Speech: Pervasive Discrimination and Humiliation on Social Media

Damni Kain, Shivangi Narayan, Torsha Sarkar, Gurshabad Grover

Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) (2021), 32 pp.

"In India, religious texts, social customs, rituals, and everyday cultural practices legitimise the use of hate speech against marginalised caste groups. Notions of "purity" of “upper-caste” groups, and conversely of "pollution" of “lower-caste” groups, have made the latter subject to discri ... mination, violence and dehumanisation. These dynamics invariably manifest online, with social media platforms becoming sites of caste discrimination and humiliation. This report explores two research questions. First, what are the specific contours of caste-hate speech and abuse online? Semi-structured interviews with 12 scholars and activists belonging to Dalit, Bahujan and Adivasi (DBA) groups show that marginalised groups regularly face hate and harassment based on their caste. In addition to the overt hate, DBA individuals and groups are often targeted with abuse for availing reservations – a constitutionally mandated right. More covert forms of hate and abuse are also prevalent: trolls mix caste names and words from different languages together so that their comments appear meaningless to individuals who are not keenly aware of the local context. Such hateful expression often emerges as a reaction from “upper-caste” groups to DBA resistance and social justice movements. Our respondents reported that the hateful expression can sometimes silence caste-marginalised groups and individuals, exclude them from conversations, and adversely impact their physical and mental well-being. The second question we explore is how popular social media platforms and online spaces moderate caste-hate speech and abuse. We analysed the community guidelines, policies and transparency reports of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Clubhouse. We find that Facebook, Twitter and YouTube incorporated "caste" as a protected characteristic in their hate speech and harassment policies only in the last two or three years – many years after they entered Indian and South Asian markets – showing a disregard for the regional contexts of their users. Even after these policy changes, many platforms – whose forms for reporting harmful content list gender and race – still do not list caste. Social media companies should radically increase their investment and capacity in understanding regional contexts and languages; they must focus on the dynamics of casteist hate and abuse. They will need to collaborate with a diverse set of DBA activists to ensure that their community guidelines effectively tackle overt, covert and hyper -local forms of caste-hate speech and abuse, and that their implementation and reporting processes match these policy commitments." (Eexecutive summary) more

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Promoting Smart Policy Options in Closing the Gender Digital Divide in Uganda

Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET);Centre for Multilateral Affairs (CfMA) (2021), 11 pp.

"Although the internet facilitates connection, participation, and engagement, there is a need for new and innovative strategies for closing the gender digital divide in Uganda. A socio-economic, political, and robustic legal approach is needed to close the gender digital divide. This requires regula ... more

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Platforms, Power & Politics: Perspectives Form Domestic & Care Work in India

Aayush Rathi, Ambika Tandon

Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) (2021), 61 pp.

Wie deutsche Medien mehr Vielfalt schaffen: Handbuch für professionellen Journalismus im Einwanderungsland Key Guidance

Wie deutsche Medien mehr Vielfalt schaffen: Handbuch für professionellen Journalismus im Einwanderungsland
Key Guidance