"Interactive TV and radio shows are popular phenomena in Kenya and Zambia. Drawing primarily from interview- and observation based research in TV stations in Kenya and Zambia, this paper examines the role of media practitioners in shaping interactive broadcast programmes, and the nature and possibil
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ities of audience participation. Looking at the cases of Muvi TV’s The Assignment in Zambia and Power Breakfast and Cheche on Kenya’s Citizen TV, it considers the agency of the host and presenter of interactive shows. This working paper analyses the various ways that hosts implement ground rules for appropriate behaviour of audience members and seek to create space for different voices. It then turns to analyse the constraining effects of the wider political and regulatory environment in the two countries, for instance, Zambia as a ‘Christian nation’ and a relatively peaceful country, and Kenya as a ‘volatile nation’ due to insecurity, including terrorism-related threats and ethnic tensions. In so doing, this paper finds that despite structural factors and individual limitations, the hosts of these shows see themselves, and have been seen by audiences, guests and political elites, as key drivers and celebrities that shape access and nature of participation." (Abstract)
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"This report presents an evaluation of the utility of social media for conducting research, monitoring and evaluation in the MENA region, using a case study approach. The Twitter based reaction to the reported cancellation/reduction of food provision by World Food Programme (WFP) for Syrian Refuges
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was taken as the case study [...] The application of frequency analysis to the case study showed that information regarding ebb and flow of the popularity or awareness of the cuts to the WFP could be obtained from Twitter. Spikes in popularity or awareness on Twitter related to key reports in the media relating to the cuts. These spikes were subjected to further analysis using topic classification. Simple topic classification was performed on the spikes identified in the frequency analysis. Wordclouds are simple but effective methods for viewing the high-level discussion on social media. Words are sized in the wordcloud based on their frequency – the bigger the word, the more frequently it is used. The accounts @60Minutes and @bbcworld were dominant in the visualizations, confirming the broadcast reaction on Twitter. To further refine the analysis these Twitter accounts were visualised in retweet networks. Social Network graphs were used to visualise interactions between accounts posting about cuts to the WFP on Twitter. The size of nodes (accounts) in the graphs corresponded to amount of interactions with other nodes (accounts), indicating their relative importance in propagating information about the cuts to the WFP on Twitter. The graphs also identified nodes (accounts) that acted as bridges for information to travel from one Twitter community to another." (Executive summary)
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"This publication will contribute to ensuring that the breadth of human rights violations in Eritrea becomes known, and that the issue of human trafficking migrates more strongly upwards into the public eye." (Back cover)
"Ghost Movies in Southeast Asia and Beyond explores ghost movies, one of the most popular film genres in East and Southeast Asia, by focusing on movie narratives, the cultural contexts of their origins and audience reception. In the middle of the Asian crisis of the late 1990s, ghost movies became m
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ajor box office hits. The emergence of the phenomenally popular "J-Horror" genre inspired similar ghost movie productions in Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore. Ghost movies are embedded and reflected in national as well as transnational cultures and politics, in narrative traditions, in the social worlds of the audience, and in the perceptual experience of each individual. They reflect upon the identity crises and traumas of the living as well as of the dead, and they unfold affection and attraction in the border zone between amusement and thrill, secular and religious worldviews. This makes the genre interesting not only for sociologists, anthropologists, media and film scholars, but also for scholars of religion." (Publisher description)
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"This article argues that a focus on sustainability will allow us to engage the complexity that communication research for development and social change routinely encounters. We start with a brief historical overview, move to the need for sustainability as an organizing principle, then to a consider
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ation of some theoretical and methodological approaches to sustainability, and finally to conclusions concerning the state of the field." (Abstract)
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"The Guide to Developing Open Textbooks has been developed to assist teachers, teaching support personnel and educational technology administrators to: 1. understand the value of open education, OER and open textbooks for teaching and learning; 2. appreciate the potential value of developing an open
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textbook platform; 3. select appropriate technology to build an open textbook platform, using either existing services offered free on the Internet or open-source tools, based on local needs and resources; and 4. build, manage and maintain an open textbook platform." (Objectives, page 5-6)
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"This piece examines the historical construction of a Lusophone cultural-linguistic media space and market that spans portions of Europe, Africa, and South America. Beginning with the Portuguese colonization of Brazil and Lusophone Africa in the 17th century and continuing to the contemporary moment
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, our discussion examines how a combination of political, ideological, and economic patterns created linkages between Portugal, Brazil, and Portuguese-speaking colonies in Africa (namely Angola, Cape Verde, and Mozambique). After examining how Brazil grew to become the dominant cultural producer in this transnational matrix (most explicitly expressed through the massive exports of telenovelas and music since the late 1970s), we examine how other countries are beginning to carve out distinctive national niches, including the contemporary music scene in Cape Verde and the rise of domestically produced telenovelas in Portugal and Angola that are increasing in circulation in the contemporary transnational Lusophone media space." (Abstract)
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"A Companion to Russian Cinema provides an exhaustive and carefully organised guide to the cinema of pre-Revolutionary Russia, of the Soviet era, as well as post-Soviet Russian cinema, edited by one of the most established and knowledgeable scholars in Russian cinema studies. The most up-to-date and
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thorough coverage of Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet cinema, which also effectively fills gaps in the existing scholarship in the field. This is the first volume on Russian cinema to explore specifically the history of movie theatres, studios, and educational institutions. The editor is one of the most established and knowledgeable scholars in Russian cinema studies, and contributions come from leading experts in the field of Russian Studies, Film Studies and Visual Culture. Chapters consider the arts of scriptwriting, sound, production design, costumes and cinematography. Provides five portraits of key figures in Soviet and Russia film history, whose works have been somewhat neglecte." (Publisher description)
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"Mecodify is an open-source tool created as part of the Media Conflict and Democratization Project (http://mecodem.eu) to help gather, analyse and visualise Twitter data for use by social science scholars. The name describes what it does, i.e., Message Codification by converting messages to systemat
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ic structures, tables, graphs and quantifiable content. The platform remains in constant development and the first version (1.0) is currently being used for the research purposes indicated in the website above. The software mainly uses PHP and Javascript and has used several open-source libraries including but not limited to HighCharts, TwitterAPIExchange, D3Js for various components of the platform." (https://github.com/wsaqaf/mecodify)
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"El objetivo que se ha perseguido con esta antología es el de presentar el desarrollo histórico del cine mexicano durante 80 años, así como también el de dar a conocer la riqueza de los temas y géneros que caracteriza la producción cinematográfi ca de México, desde sus principios hasta las
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realizaciones más recientes. Al panorama que se ofrece aquí han contribuido 31 artículos dedicados a obras claves y emblemáticas. Cada uno de ellos vincula un análisis detallado con los contextos políticos, sociales, culturales y estéticos que infl uyen en las respectivas películas. La fase que abarcan en general va desde la llamada Edad de Oro, pasando por las décadas de los setenta y ochenta —marcadas por una profunda crisis económica y artística—, y los inicios de un nuevo cine independiente, en los años noventa, hasta llegar, fi nalmente, a los éxitos internacionales a partir del 2000. Tales tendencias y características del cine mexicano se presentan a la luz de varios paradigmas metodológicos e históricos, entre los cuales se hallan la sociología y el psicoanálisis, las ciencias culturales y los estudios de género. Así, entre contextualizaciones históricas, el lector encontrará también nuevos enfoques teóricos, conclusiones y observaciones que podrá profundizar con selecciones de bibliografías sobre las películas analizadas, con informaciones sobre sus directores, guionistas y actores, y en algunos casos, además, con aspectos relacionados con la producción y la recepción." (Introducción)
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"Kathrin Nieder-Steinheuer hat ein Modell entwickelt, mit dem sich die kommunikative Verfasstheit der Kategorie des Christlichen im Unterhaltungsformat analysieren lässt. Grundlegend dafür ist der in den untersuchten Formaten festgestellte Zusammenhang zwischen kirchlichen Räumen und geographisch
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en Konzepten einerseits und religiöser Normativität und statistisch-normalistischen Konzepten andererseits. Die bisherige theologisch dominierte Religiotainment-Forschung wird somit durch ein nicht normatives Analyseinstrument für die kulturelle Gegenwart des Christlichen im Unterhaltungsformat ergänzt." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Research can improve development policies and practices and funders increasingly require evidence of such socioeconomic impact from their investments. This article questions whether information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) research conforms to the requirements for achievin
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g socioeconomic impact. We report on a literature review of the impact of research in international development and a survey of ICT4D researchers who assessed the extent to which they follow practices for achieving socioeconomic impact. The findings suggest that while ICT4D researchers are interested in influencing both practice and policy, they are less inclined toward the activities that would make this happen, especially engaging with users of their research and communicating their findings to a wider audience. Their institutions do not provide incentives for researchers to adopt these practices. ICT4D researchers and their institutions should engage more closely with the users of their research through more and better communications with the public, especially through the use of information and communication technologies." (Abstract)
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"O fomento à produção cinematográfica em regime de coprodução tem sido uma saída para os países latinoamericanos que pressionados em sua cadeia produtiva pela hegemônica indústria cinematográfica norte americana têm dificuldades em desenvolver suas cinematografias. Desde da década de 19
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90, essa modalidade de realização fílmica tem sido sistematizada de forma mais consistente entre esses países, Portugal e Espanha através do Programa Ibermedia. Ao que pesem as controvérsias, este programa tem tentado cumprir o papel de promover um espaço de interação audiovisual na chamada Iberoamérica. Esse artigo tem por objetivo apresentar minha proposta de pesquisa de doutorado, que buscará avaliar a relação investimento/retorno das coproduções realizadas pelo Ibermedia nos seus últimos dez anos (2003-3013), tomando para estudo de caso 32 coproduções brasileiras realizadas com apoio do fundo, durante esse período." (Resumo)
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"This study contends that democracy and political change is deeply rooted in the mass media’s ability to become a major agent of political socialization that was capable of mobilizing local populations into changing longstanding African attitudes about politics and election outcome behaviors." (Pu
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blisher description)
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