"China is accused of conducting disinformation campaigns on Taiwan's social media. Existing studies on foreign interventions in democratic societies predict that such disinformation campaigns should lead to increasing partisan polarization within Taiwan. We argue that a backlash effect, making Taiwa
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n's citizens more united against China, is equally plausible. We conduct a survey experiment exposing participants to a real-life rumour and rebuttal to test these competing hypotheses. We find, at best, mixed evidence for polarization. Although neither rumour nor rebuttal mention China, there is consistent evidence of backlash against China. Most notably, participants across the political spectrum are more inclined to support Taiwanese independence after viewing the rumour rebuttal. These findings indicate that citizens may put aside partisanship when confronted with false news that is plausibly linked to an external actor. We conclude by discussing the broader applicability of our theory and implications for cross-Strait relations." (Abstract)
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"The Russia-Ukraine war’s ramifications for Vietnam are felt beyond the economic and diplomatic realms. It has in fact become an online hotbed of conflicting and confounding narratives that demonstrate different worldviews and political leanings among Vietnamese netizens. An examination of 28 Face
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book pages/groups active in trending pro-Russia narratives finds an ‘echo chamber’ that is on a constant lookout for Russian, Western and even Chinese news sources that peddle and amplify pro-Russia and anti-Western voices. The most salient pro-Russia narratives in Vietnam’s cyberspace revolve around justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, echoing anti-America and anti-imperialist worldviews, and lionising Russia while demonising Ukraine. These online groups have likely carved out a niche for the conservative segment of the Vietnamese state to shape a propaganda environment where there is space for pro-Russia and anti-Russia narratives, so that pro-Ukraine sentiments will not become predominant in the public discourse. Pro-Russia narratives in Vietnam’s cyberspace are the result of cross-pollination between sentimental attachment since the Soviet era, psychological bias towards Russia embedded in Vietnam’s education and propaganda system, and the overriding imperative to preserve the Vietnamese state’s political and ideological interests." (Executive summary)
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"This report offers the most comprehensive assessment to date of Beijing’s global media influence and the ways in which democracies are responding. Drawing on media investigations, interviews, scholarly publications, Chinese government sources, and on-the-ground research by local analysts, it cove
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rs developments in 30 countries during the period from January 2019 to December 2021. It updates and expands upon two previous Freedom House studies published in 2013 and 2020, and it focuses largely on democracies to provide a more in-depth understanding of the deployment and reception of influence tactics in countries that possess relatively strong institutional protections for media freedom. Finally, the report offers recommendations to governments, the media sector, technology firms, and civil society groups on how they can bolster democratic defenses against CCP interference." (Page 3)
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"In an era marked by an unprecedented refugee crisis and ongoing, seemingly unending, borderland conflicts, foreign correspondents could play a pivotal role in helping create a global public sphere that incorporates the perspectives of those who are most effected by ongoing resource-fueled wars—an
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d least powerful. However, aspects of the historical development of foreign correspondence, as well as contemporary practices, do not allow the profession to reach this potential. Borderland takes insights from postcolonial studies, international relations, development studies, and philosophy and uses the site of the world’s largest UN peacekeeping presence, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as its case study. It examines the specific narrative styles, and news-gathering habits in these complex spaces and discovers neocolonial practices stymying ethical praxis. Brought to life through the autoethnographic descriptions and analysis of ‘behind the scenes’ events, Borderland seeks to introduce new, decolonized reporting techniques. And it argues for reporting that explores how local realities are impacted by global discourses. In a digital world where people access news direct from conflict zones, the role and value of foreign correspondents must be questioned. Borderland answers that question by proposing decolonized foundations from which foreign correspondents can be the storytellers needed in today’s global polity." (Publisher description)
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"This manual brings together principles of conflict-sensitive journalism with practical strategies for reporting on migration. It explores how media workers can play a role in protecting and promoting rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. It provides guidelines that both editors and their
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journalists can follow as they strategise around ways of reporting on the migration issue, what to do during conflict and how to cover the post-conflict period. This handbook was developed for the Southern African media after an eight-month project that explored the roles journalists can play in reporting on migration in the region. It is based on presentations delivered at a series of workshops organised by Internews in South Africa on the theme ‘Changing the Narrative on Migrants in Southern Africa’. The workshops included a combination of presentations from subject specialists, panel discussions and practical activities facilitated by academics and practitioners, who combined the fundamental theories in their field and rich experiences of their practice." (Foreword)
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"This book is about television in Latin America. Its national and regional industries create most television programming there within genres developed over time in the region. However, part of the programming has always come from the U.S., Europe and elsewhere. With cable, satellite and now streamin
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g TV, that inflow of foreign programming has increased substantially. While many in the audience still prefer national or regional programs for their cultural proximity, an increasing number among the upper-middle and middle classes, particularly the young, are turning to the new foreign services, like Netflix, Amazon and Disney for class distinction, cosmopolitanism or other motives. Among the television industries global regional and national actors are creating a variety of programs and channels (broadcast, pay-TV and streaming) to segment and appeal to different parts of the audience." (Publisher description)
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"Top-down approaches have limited potential to reach long-lasting and innovative solutions for the settlement of refugees. There is a growing consensus among scholars and policy-makers that governments alone cannot solve complex societal problems, and that participation of non-government actors, sta
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keholders, media companies, civil society, and the refugee themselves is crucial to achieving more positive outcomes in the long-run. In this special issue, we seek to contribute to this growing research field by exploring the issue in a variety of contexts, using different methodologies and with a focus on the inherent linkages between media, society and political authorities in the management of migration and integration processes. Communication Research, at its diverse layers and from a wide array of topics and methods, is expected to contribute to the analysis of social, political, demographic and cultural changes, so tackling the ongoing refugee crisis in the Mediterranean area is an opportunity to connect theoretical and methodological advances with a relevant topic which certainly requires practical, technical and applied contributions. In doing so, screening the online activity turns into an additional sphere to be kept under attention, as a new space for social discussion and action. The origin of the special issue entitled ‘From fragmentation to integration: Addressing the role of communication in refugee crises and settlement processes’ is a Pre-Conference organized by the guest editors as part of the 68th Annual International Communication Association Conference held in Prague, in 2018. The main purpose of this pre-conference was to open a space for dialogue regarding the way refugee crises and integration processes are tackled by political, social and media actors, aiming to set some guidelines to avoid those mistakes previously noticed and leading to a more constructive and conscious coverage and social action. This event brought together researchers, policy advisors, NGO representatives and refugee migrants to discuss the intersections between refugee migration and communication processes. A selection of original articles that were presented at this event form the basis of this special issue. The main themes addressed in the articles of the current special issue are: (1) inclusive digital forms of literacy and activism for/with refugees; (2) local responsesto refugee crises, (re)settlement and their communication strategies; and (3) media representation of humanitarian crises and refugees in their receiving countries." (Page 4)
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"This book addresses how digitalization has influenced the institutions, practitioners and audiences of diplomacy. Throughout, the author argues that terms such as 'digitalized public diplomacy' or 'digital public diplomacy' are misleading, as they suggest that Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MFAs) a
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re either digital or non-digital, when in fact digitalization should be conceptualized as a long-term process in which the values, norms, working procedures and goals of public diplomacy are challenged and re-defined. Subsequently, through case study examination, this book also argues that different MFAs are at different stages of the digitalization process. By adopting the term 'the digitalization of public diplomacy', this book will offer a new conceptual framework for investigating the impact of digitalization on the practice of public diplomacy." (Publisher description)
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"China has used Covid to benefit its global image through the activation of existing media dissemination channels overseas and the use of new tactics such as disinformation and misinformation. China’s largescale medical diplomacy campaign has also provided propaganda wins in many developing countr
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ies, burnishing Beijing’s image as a reliable partner. Anecdotal reports indicate that Beijing has stepped up its content offerings, in particular by tailoring content including disinformation for specific countries and translating state-run messages into local languages. In some countries, China was also seen as the purveyor of the most accurate information about the new coronavirus, showing its growing influence over global narratives. For Beijing, Covid diplomacy clearly offers another means through which it can exert its influence. This research shows that countries that are recipients of China’s Covid vaccine clearly have more positive coverage of China, but it cannot draw conclusions as to the factors behind that. This strategy has largely been acceptable to global journalists, who — judging by the results of our focus groups in three separate countries — do not perceive China’s advances as a threat at a national level. Such views are in part due to the incremental nature of the changes, the clumsiness of China’s propaganda effort and the irrelevance of much of the material provided to local audiences. However, the survey does reveal that when viewed globally, there does appear to be more concern about China’s influence, in particular in the Asia Pacific region. The survey indicates that the overall impact of Beijing’s outreach is a redrawing of the global media landscape — one story at a time, one country at a time — shifting the China coverage in a more positive direction. China is using a multi-pronged approach to redraw the information landscape to benefit its own global image. In 2020, Beijing effectively shut down journalistic access to China, through visa denials and freezes, partly driven by international border closures. This had the effect of creating a vacuum in China coverage, creating a demand for stories from China, which could then be filled with statesponsored content already available through content-sharing agreements." (Conclusions, page 7)
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"We can see that the number of countries with concentrated foreign media strategies has increased substantially and that their range of activities and strategies is substantial. Also visible is a decline in spending from Western nations (with countries Austria, Canada, and the Neth-erlands severely
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cutting services) while non-Western nations (like Turkey, Qatar, and China) increase their investments. Despite massive financial support from new ECP players, foreign broadcasters are far from a panacea to achieve global influence. In reality, this spending often happens without a dedicated and localized strategy. Indeed, “the risk of expanding initiatives in fields such as international broadcasting and film co-productions with little attention being given to reception contexts of cross-cultural communications is that nation states will be committing significant resources to these cultural initiatives to little tangible effect, as has arguably been occurring with the international expansion of CCTV services by the Chinese government over the last decade, at least in the advanced industrial nations” (Flew 2016, page 291). Even among resurgent powers, strategies vary. Compared to Russia, China employs a more diffuse strategy to increase understanding and improve China’s image, while also limiting the inflow of information. By contrast, Russia mainly targets Western narratives without expending much effort to portray Russia itself in a positive light and has done relatively little to restrict information flow (although it has considered targeting US social media). Turkey’s approach is somewhat of a mix of the two. As countries experiment with different foreign media strategies, we can expect the range of approaches to increase in the coming years, with some countries adopting a “trial and error” method as particular methods succeed or fail." (Pages 12-13)
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"The most effective campaigns are face-to-face, repeated campaigns. Such campaigns generally have a larger average impact on persuasion, knowledge, and behavior than remote campaigns (such as ones conducted through television or the internet). Negative and positive messages appear to be almost equal
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ly effective in motivating behavioral change. Negative messaging does seem to be more memorable than other types of messages. However, if negative advertisements are attributed to an individual or organization, they tend to lead to backlash against the sender. Targeting a message to a particular subpopulation greatly increases the success rate of information campaigns, especially if the targeting stresses peer groups or community norms. Additionally, targeting and knowledge of relevant subpopulations can decrease the risk of unintended or counterproductive results. In complex environments where people are bombarded by a wide range of messages, adversarial messaging efforts tend to cancel each other out." (Key findings)
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"The analysis is based on online media coverage in five languages throughout the year. CARE sees a concerning trend of crises being neglected year after year. Six out of the ten crises are located on the African continent. The Central African Republic has appeared in the ranking for five consecutive
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years. Both Madagascar and Burundi – the latter this year’s number 1 with the least media coverage – have made CARE’s list four times so far. This lack of attention adds to burdens such as the severe effects of COVID-19 restrictions and the growing impact of climate change in these countries." (https://reliefweb.int)
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"The book begins by interrogating globalization as a critical and intensely contested concept, and proceeds to explore how digital media have influenced a complex set of globalization processes in broad international and comparative contexts. Contributors address a number of key political, economic,
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cultural, and technological issues relative to globalization, such as free trade agreements, cultural imperialism, heterogeneity, the increasing dominance of American digital media in global cultural markets, the powers of the nation-state, and global corporate media ownership. By extension, readers are introduced to core theoretical concepts and practical ideas, which they can apply to a broad range of contemporary media policies, practices, movements, and technologies in different geographic regions of the world-North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. (Publisher description)
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"The 1991 adoption of the Windhoek Declaration in Namibia ushered in a continent-wide commitment to supporting independent media in Africa. Despite initial progress, including the establishment of the regional Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA), independent media in the region continues to s
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uffer. Increasing attacks on independent journalism, the co-option of media outlets by political and economic interests, and the growing problem of disinformation is compromising the viability of independent media in the region. The strong foundation of regional cooperation in Southern Africa that began at Windhoek has also suffered. However, there remains strong enthusiasm among media actors in Southern Africa to reignite a regional network to promote solidarity, address the myriad challenges independent media in the region face, and articulate an African vision and agenda for media development. A regional coalition can help set norms and standards for democratic media by tapping into the leverage points and frameworks of regional institutions and amplifying national-level priorities in regional and global debates. Countries with stronger environments for independent media can support the reform agendas of restrictive countries through knowledge sharing and joint advocacy. For a coalition to be effective, it needs clear goals and a decentralized structure that avoids imposing hierarchy or encouraging unhealthy competition over funding." (Key findings)
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"This article focuses on international news channels in the Global South and the perceptions by audiences in Latin America. Designed with the intention of re-shaping global narratives, international broadcasting is considered instrumental to public diplomacy and improving the image of particular cou
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ntries. While many studies focus on global media policies of specific countries or the messages broadcast by international media outlets, less attention has been paid to the impact on audiences. Based on a series of focus groups conducted in Mexico and Argentina, this article discusses how Latin American audiences perceive public diplomacy efforts as channelled by international news media and their effect on country image perception, by focusing on China’s CCTV-E, Russia’s RT and Iran’s HispanTV. The findings show that preconceived images contribute to undermine the acceptance of international broadcasters. In addition, participants were optimistic about RT’s prospects of success in Latin America, hesitant about HispanTV and pessimistic about China Central Television." (Abstract)
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"Made in Hollywood, Censored by Beijing describes the ways in which the Chinese government and its ruling Chinese Communist Party successfully influence Hollywood films, warns how this type of influence has increasingly become normalized in Hollywood, and explains the implications of this influence
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on freedom of expression and on the types of stories that global audiences are exposed to on the big screen. Hollywood is one of the world’s most significant storytelling centers, a cinematic powerhouse whose movies are watched by millions across the globe. And yet the choices it makes, about which stories to tell and how to tell them, are increasingly influenced by an autocratic government with the world’s most comprehensive system of state-imposed censorship. The free expression implications of this fact are significant, and far-reaching. By influencing which stories Hollywood tells, the Chinese government can soften the edges or erase depictions of its human rights abuses; it can dampen movies’ call for change or encouragement of resistance in the face of oppression; and it can discourage or silence filmmakers interested in making movies that question or critique the Chinese government. Hollywood’s choices have global implications. If prominent Hollywood studios or filmmakers fear to push back against such influence, there is less chance that others around the world will dare to do so. It also reduces the opportunities for independent or exiled Chinese filmmakers looking for a new home for their talents, and undercuts any argument from Chinese filmmakers that the country’s censorship system is inconsistent with international norms of artistic freedom. There are countless stories to be told about China, and those that are non-controversial from Beijing’s perspective are no less valid. But there are also stories to be told about the ongoing crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, the ongoing struggle of Tibetans to maintain their language and culture in the face of both societal changes and government policy, the prodemocracy movement in Hong Kong, and honest, everyday stories about how government policies intersect with people’s lives in the world’s most populous nation. Yet the space for filmmakers to tell such stories is shrinking—at least, unless they are willing to forego access to the world’s largest box office." (Executive summary)
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"Throughout Africa, the right to publish — like political power — has to be grabbed; it cannot be exercised solely on politicians’ goodwill or the strength of a Constitution. Thus, good journalism demands more than an ability to cultivate news sources and generate content. It requires courage.
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In this lies one of the continent’s gravest tragedies — the growing army of talented men and women driven from their homelands for thinking critically and daring to speak out. Their absence may give politicians synthetic comfort, but in reality it leaves their nations intellectually the poorer. Hounded is both a tribute and a record of history. It’s an acknowledgement of the commitment to truth and justice in little-known corners of the continent — the cluttered desk of a lone blogger in Ethiopia, bustling newsroom in Burundi and the dimly-lit studio of a Lagos pirate radio — which has kept the flame of hope burning under the most stifling of political rules. The stories are from 16 jurisdictions, including Madagascar, Chad, Rwanda, Uganda and Togo, and cover different calendar periods." (Page 3)
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"Looking at media involvement in Africa, one can only state that the continent is more important than ever. Next to traditional actors like the BBC or Radio France International, and to a smaller extent of Deutsche Welle or Radio Swiss International, there are new players. They do not seem to have t
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he same agendas as the older ones, but they bring about new versions of journalism, of attempted influence and propaganda. What differentiates them is, in the case of China, that funds do not seem to matter much. In the case of Turkey, that more and more scholarships are being offered and when it comes to Russia, that old alliances of the USSR in the Cold War are being reactivated. What separates them even further from the old players are the values that they stand for and try to propagate. They are offering a journalism that praises their own autocratic models of rule and, in the case of China in particular, they promote a positive journalism, that does not ask uneasy questions, a journalism that does not offend or hurt, but that usually pleases the powers-that-be." (Foreword)
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"Die Medieninhaltsanalysen in Kapitel 2 zeigen, dass Entwicklungspolitik absolut und anteilig betrachtet in den Medien nur eine geringe Rolle spielt. Während der ersten Monate der Corona-Pandemie Anfang 2020 ging die Aufmerksamkeit, die TV-Nachrichten und Beiträge in Printmedien auf das Themenfeld
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richteten, weiter zurück. Auf Twitter konnte dieser negative Trend allerdings nicht beobachtet werden. Insgesamt legen die Ergebnisse nahe, dass die mediale Berichterstattung nicht dazu führen dürfte, dass die Bevölkerung dem Thema Entwicklungspolitik große Aufmerksamkeit schenkt. Die Themenfelder, an die entwicklungspolitische Inhalte anknüpfen, variieren zwischen den untersuchten Mediengattungen. Flucht und Migration spielen jedoch in allen drei Gattungen (TV, Print, Twitter) eine wichtige Rolle. In TV-Nachrichten der öffentlich-rechtlichen Sender und in Zeitungsartikeln wird Entwicklungspolitik häufig im Zusammenhang mit Krieg und Konflikt erwähnt. Auf Twitter tritt Entwicklungspolitik häufig mit Bezug zu Klimawandel und Epidemien auf. Dabei befasst sich die Berichterstattung in TV-Nachrichten und Printmedien hauptsächlich mit staatlichen und internationalen politischen Akteuren. Akteure aus dem zivilgesellschaftlichen Bereich sind hingegen stärker auf Twitter präsent. Die Tonalität der Berichterstattung über Entwicklungspolitik fällt in der regionalen Presse positiver aus als in der überregionalen. Letztere berichtet in der Tendenz eher neutral. Auf Twitter wird hingegen mit positiverer Tonalität über das Themenfeld kommuniziert." (Zusammenfassung, Seite vii-viii)
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"This handbook enables journalism educators worldwide to address one of the challenges of the 21st century – migration and refugee matters. In a set of thirteen modules, journalism educators are provided with a comprehensive curriculum. It covers all aspects needed to train analysis, research, pre
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sentation, marketing, and ethics of migration coverage. The handbook is unique as it comprises results of communication studies as well as political and social sciences. It has been developed by an international and cross-cultural group of media researchers, media educators and media practitioners. Journalism educators will be enabled to jump-start a new curriculum. Journalism students will learn that matters of migration and forced displacement are concerned about human beings and therefore require knowledge and awareness of accurate facts, reliable sources, ethical reporting and good practices. Experienced journalists will benefit from using the volume as a self-learning tool, and media development organizations may adapt the curriculum to their training plans." (Short summary, page III)
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