"This article tackles assumptions made by Louise Bourgault in her pioneering book, Mass Media in Sub-Saharan Africa. The article discusses her claims about African journalism in relation to her engagement with Western approaches, and with regard to issues of orality, the Shannon and Weaver communica
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tion model and to the megadiscipline of media studies. Short case studies are provided of the emergence of print media in several African countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Kenya and South Africa), with the South African analysis looking more in-depth at the political economy of print media in the context of post-apartheid ideologies. The article concludes by positioning media studies in Africa against western media studies, and media studies as a ‘megadiscipline’, the intention being to account for and explain some of the disparities between North—South media studies and print media economies." (Abstract)
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"Estudantes, professores e profissionais da comunicação têm se perguntado e refletido sobre quais seriam as tendências do saber legitimado sobre o campo da comunicação no Brasil. A fim de debater sobre esta questão, a Sociedade Brasileira de Estudos Interdisciplinares da Comunicação mobiliz
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ou acadêmicos pertencentes a distintas gerações. Eles foram desafiados a inventariar e problematizar o estado do conhecimento sobre as disciplinas ou interdisciplinas que integram o universo das ciências da comunicação. Neste livro surgem novos olhares sobre antigas e recentes questões, estimulando os tomadores de decisão a agir com os pés na terra e os formadores de opinião pública a superar idiossincrasias, preconceitos e dogmas." (Casa editorial)
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"Mediengewalt ist immer wieder ein Thema öffentlicher Debatten. Insbesondere nach spektakulären Amokläufen taucht regelmäßig die Frage auf, ob Medien ihre Nutzer zu Gewalttätern programmiert und so die Tat verursacht haben. Dabei ist der kausale Zusammenhang alles andere als geklärt: Obwohl d
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ie empirische Mediengewaltforschung mit großem Aufwand betrieben wird, hat sie bis heute keine konsensfähige Antwort gefunden. Diese Studie sucht keine weitere Lösung, sondern fragt, wie sich die Kausalformel »Mediengewalt« historisch herausgebildet hat und welcher Gewinn darin liegt, die Mediengewalt-Debatte beständig mit ungeklärtem Wissen zu versorgen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Quito fue una suerte de "capital de la comunicación latinoamericana" com la presencia de ocho organizaciones internacionales de comunicación. No obstante esto y las importantes actividades realizadas en el campo comunicacional, paradójicamente los efectos, especialmente en el ámbito de la inves
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tigación, han sido mínimos. El texto pone en evidencia la condición marginal de la investigación en el Ecuador (aunque con un interesante repunte en los últimos años) y, más aún, la de los estudios de recepción (ER)." (Resumen)
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"Participatory research design appears as an attractive option in the study of community media organisations. It puts the generation of the research question, the design of data collection methods, and the analysis of the results in the hands of the researched. This approach can demystify the resear
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ch process and can be an empowering experience. But, as I found out with my doctoral research, the researcher needs to carefully assess an organisation’s capacity to undertake do-it-yourself research, because, when things go wrong, this approach can also reveal conflicts within an organisation, as well as give rise to tension resulting from the divergent needs of the researcher and those of the researched. This paper describes the troubles that arose during fieldwork conducted at a community radio station, how these unexpected events forced a reformulation of the research question, and how this eventually led to an improved theoretical insight." (Abstract)
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