"This article analyzes the way the Colombian conflict is represented in Colombian and international qualitative independent opinion articles and their influence on readers' understanding of the conflict. In Colombia there are independent journalists, but according to this research, they are victims
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of polarization and for this reason support the war, although without a conscious intention to do so. Nevertheless, with the help of international qualitative media it would be possible to reorient Colombian journalism to journalism pro peace. This research suggests that Colombian journalism must and can be reoriented to a more proactive approach. The results of this experiment are encouraging, and perhaps if they were introduced into praxis, they would provide an opportunity for a country that desperately needs peace." (Abstract)
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"This book has been written to make a contribution to the small but rapidly growing literature on nation branding. It is designed to show not only the ways in which conventional brand management techniques can be applied to nations but also to provide some background depth on the context and nature
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of nation branding. Therefore, the scope of the book encompasses wider issues related to national identity, sustainable development and political awareness, in addition to the more familiar branding themes of brand identity, brand image, brand positioning, brand equity and so on. This approach is intended to ensure that the theory and practice of nation branding is covered in a rich, multi-dimensional manner." (Preface)
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"In 1993, this was the first book-length study of the representation of disasters in the media and of the marketing methods used by major relief agencies. In the preface to this new paperback edition which reviews the major developments in aid and in the media since the early 1990s, Jonathan Benthal
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l contests the view of some commentators that the emergence of new technologies – the Internet and the cellphone – has radically changed the balance of power between the aid system and afflicted populations. He develops his original theme to argue that a ‘stable system’ is in place, whereby representations of misery in the South are exported to the North as consumables which are continuously reciprocated by flows of humanitarian aid. When the allotted role of Third World victimhood is repudiated – for instance, by migrant workers – the North sets up stern political barriers." (Back cover)
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"While the technical capacity for worldwide television broadcasting has existed at least since 1967, when the live program Our World was beamed to thirty-one countries (Parks, 2003), the cultural challenges facing transnational television exchanges have proved more formidable. Even within a single n
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ation, cultural trends and audience tastes are fickle and unpredictable, making television programs risky commercial ventures. The added cultural differences that those programs face when they cross national, ethnic, and linguistic boundaries make it even more difficult to predict the potential popularity of any single television program. Nevertheless, international syndication markets have become more and more important for funding television production around the world over the past two decades (Havens 2006). Consequently, the global television business has developed a variety of strategies to deal with the risks posed by worldwide cultural differences. Central to these strategies are the relationships, reputations, and brand identities that get expressed and renewed at the global television sales fairs." (Abstract)
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"Betty la Fea, the phenomenally popular Colombian telenovela, has been exported as both canned (e.g. either dubbed or unaltered) programming and format to approximately 70 countries, including the recent US prime-time hit Ugly Betty. Guided by an examination of the extended global success of this Co
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lombian production, this article explores the telenovela as a cultural product that is successful because of its appeal on both the local and global level, and as an economic product traversing a global industry. Popular telenovelas succeed as both canned programming and formats because they combine universally appealing stories (rags-to-riches) and style (melodrama) with localizable specifics with which viewers can easily identify. While telenovelas are localized products produced to first achieve domestic success, the cross-ownership structure of and multinational flows that mark the telenovela industry render any conception of telenovelas as South-to-North contra-flows of culture inherently problematic. Instead, this article argues that telenovelas can best be understood as localizable yet universally appealing cultural products traversing global networks of capitalist cultural concerns." (Abstract)
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"Les conflits qui ont ravagé la région des Grands Lacs durant la décennie 1990 ont été tellement interconnectés que certains analystes n’ont pas hésité à parler d’une « première guerre mondiale africaine ». Pourtant, alors que la guerre a été régionale, elle a longtemps maintenu l
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es journalistes enclavés dans leur perspective nationale et a empêché les professionnels de l’information de s’ouvrir aux points de vue les uns des autres. Aujourd’hui, alors que la paix s’installe progressivement et que les tensions entre les différents pays paraissent s’apaiser, les médias de la région sont des acteurs cruciaux du processus de réconciliation. En tant qu’informateurs des citoyens et formateurs de la mémoire collective, ils peuvent contribuer à l’élimination de la méfiance et de la haine, à la lutte contre la rumeur et la désinformation, ce qui est tout à fait capital pour que les populations d’Afrique centrale puissent débattre ensemble de leur destin commun. La présente étude tente de faire le point sur la manière donc les médias issus des trois pays (Burundi, RDC et Rwanda) couvrent les enjeux de la région. Les médias accordent-ils beaucoup d’attention à ce qui se passe dans les deux pays voisins ? Abordent-ils des thématiques d’intérêt régional ? Donnent-ils la parole à leurs voisins congolais, burundais et rwandais lorsqu’il s’agit de commenter les événements qui se déroulent dans les Grands Lacs ? Contribuent-ils à générer la méfiance et les malentendus entre les communautés de la région, ou maintiennent-ils les populations dans l’ignorance les unes des autres ? Pour apporter des éléments de réponse à ces questions, cette étude se fonde sur une opération de suivi et d’analyse des contenus d’information diffusés, durant un mois, par une trentaine de médias burundais, congolais et rwandais." (Dos de couverture)
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"Poverty, violence and underdevelopment are the prevailing images of Africa in German history and geography textbooks. Pre-colonial African history, African culture and philosophy are not covered by Eurocentric curricula. Classic and modern western literature is interspersed with stereotypes about A
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frican people; these stereotypes often pass uncommented by the teachers. As one of the results, students of African descent and their parents commonly experience racism in schools expressed by the fellow students and teachers. The students of African descent are labelled naturally “lazy”, “wild” and “needy”; they are rather expected to excel in sports and music than in science and philosophy, and are undervalued accordingly. In a longitudinal case study, the main project investigates the relationship between the portrayal of Africa in educational context and these racial prejudices. The project anticipates to revise textbooks and curriculum in this regard, to create new un-biased teaching materials on Africa and to test them in real school lessons. The current paper presents the results of an empirical pilot study in a school in Hamburg. A survey conducted with 12-17 year old students in a Hamburg school on their image of Africa showed that they see Africa predominantly as an “exotic” and/or hopeless and violent place; this view is consistent with the one presented in their textbooks. Alongside with these racial stereotypes, students’ answers contained names of their classmates of African descent." (Abstract)
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"From a research perspective, this case study highlights the need for further research into BBG-sponsored international broadcast services, both individually and collectively. Such studies could include quantitative content analyses of program content, survey research of listeners and viewers, inter
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view-based research with present and former BBG journalists and managers; and documentary studies into the history and politics of the services. In addition, there is a need for more comparative examination of Western international broadcasters, such as BBC, Deutsche Welle, VOA, and RFE/RL. Yet another area ripe for examination is the role of Russian international broadcasts into Central Asia and other parts of the former Soviet Union and their role as instruments of Russia’s foreign policy, public diplomacy, and propaganda. The battle for survival of the Uzbek Service continues, despite the fact that evaluations by VOA’s Office of Research for three successive years praised the quality of its radio and television shows. While the Service has been promised that it will survive, it faces crucial questions: How can excellent programs be most effectively delivered? How can VOA boost its presence and expand outreach and penetration? What options exist for better marketing and promotion? Should it mainly rely on the Internet or concentrate on improving reception through shortwave radio? Does its limited TV programming, available only on satellite and stations in neighboring countries, have a future? Technological changes beyond VOA’s control will also play a role in determining the Service’s future as the Internet becomes more accessible." (Conclusions and implications, page 124)
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"The People's Republic of China is seeking to influence the media in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia through a variety of means: direct aid to state-run media in the form of radio transmitters and financing for national satellites; the provision of content and technology to allies and pote
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ntial allies; the sharing of news; and training programs and expense-paid trips for journalists to China. This effort has accompanied a massive expansion of the PRC’s own media internationally, primarily through the Xinhua news agency, satellite and Internet TV channels, and state run television services. It comes at a time when resources for media assistance in some regions of the world–notably Latin America–are becoming scarcer. Chinese news media, far less independent than Western media, form the basis for China’s media assistance, which emphasizes cooperation with governments–many of them undemocratic–and rejects the Western media’s role as watchdogs holding governments accountable. China’s moves pose troubling questions for those in the Western media assistance sector. As the Chinese government propagates a less-than-free model of journalism and assists undemocratic regimes by supporting media that buttress them, advocates of free media and democratic government should take note. Media developers and donors might consider countering these developments with more robust support for independent media in the countries where China is assisting news media. This might include more programs in investigative journalism, ethics, and internationally recognized journalism standards, as well as support for digital media infrastructure, such as broadband Internet access in developing countries to provide citizens with increased access to information." (Conclusion)
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