"When questioning the relationship between media, development, and democracy, especially in the ill-defined “Global South,” it’s important to go beyond the commonly held meta-narratives that frame these concepts as common sense. In a quest to investigate alternative characterizations of these
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terms, this chapter uses Ghanaian political economist Lord Mawuko-Yevugah’s (2014) theoretical framework of “developmentality” to explain how development has been used as an ideological instrument to promote the Western liberal media model in the “Global South.” Using a case study of Malawi, which is heavily dependent on foreign aid from the same countries who have defined and promoted this liberal media model aboard, raises important questions about a media model that is characterized by high objectivity and political neutrality on one side, but subjects countries to high levels of competition and free market principles on the other. By outlining the temporal sequence of events that have unfolded since the arrival of missionary media in the 1800s, the presence of international donors and the rise in non-governmental organizations, this chapter reveals how certain ideologies and practices have been legitimized through development to preserve the unequal balance of power between the “Global South” and their former colonial powers." (Abstract)
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"Les politiques de communication au Gabon se sont construites, depuis l’Indépendance, au travers de multiples tensions entre autocratie et démocratie. Elles ont connu diverses régressions et avancées, tant dans la volonté de promotion du développement que dans le respect des droits et libert
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és. L’ouvrage d’Arthur Félicien Sabi-Djaboudi vise à contribuer à la compréhension de cette lente évolution, parcourant les périodes de décolonisation, de parti unique, de libéralisation de la vie publique jusqu’à l’actuel basculement dans les mondes numériques. La critique menée par l’auteur offre des bases non seulement pour dessiner une nouvelle configuration médiatique, mais pour redéfinir l’économie de la communication au Gabon, et refonder ainsi la communauté politique." (Dos de couverture)
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"The book depicts and reflects the media change by concentrating on five main topics: the development of the media market, the relationship between media and politics, the establishment of public broadcasters, the status of the journalistic profession and the role of digitalisation and the internet.
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The publication provides a chronological background and outlines the characteristics of the media landscape in each of the ten countries monitored by the KAS Media Programme: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Romania and Serbia. Furthermore, the authors - media experts from the respective countries - address the following key questions, considering the fact that some countries have already joined the European Union: What is the state of the media today? What is their contribution to democracy, how viable are they, what has been achieved? - Important questions for all media experts in the region, but also for everyone who is interested in the media change in South East Europe. “The result is a broad historical overview that impressively documents how differentiated and how fast the change has taken place. It is closely linked to the social transformation process as a whole, which has not yet been completed in any of the countries”, says Hendrik Sittig, Head of the Media Programme South East Europe of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. "Moreover, it must unfortunately be said that the hope that accession to the European Union would be accompanied by rapid alignment with the other EU countries has not been fulfilled." (https://www.kas.de)
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"This book explains divergent media system trajectories in the countries in southeast Europe, and challenges the presumption that the common socialist experience critically influences a common outcome in media development after democratic transformations, by showing different remote and proximate co
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nfiguration of conditions that influence their contemporary shape. Applying an innovative longitudinal set-theoretical methodological approach, the book contributes to the theory of media systems with a novel theoretical framework for the comparative analysis of post-socialist media systems. This theory builds on the theory of historical institutionalism and the notion of critical junctures and path dependency in searching for an explanation for similarities or differences among media systems in the Eastern European region." (Publisher description)
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"[...] Radio is still the region’s most popular medium, especially in rural parts of the region where the majority of the population still live. The little advertisement revenue that still goes to media houses in the region lies in the hands of very few media outlets with a national reach. Most of
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these are entertainment-focused commercial radio stations. Most of the digital media revenue from advertisers go straight into the hands of big-tech corporations like Google, Facebook and Twitter. The little that remains is shared among social media influencers and fad bloggers. Smaller radio stations and digital publications in the region have been forced to find alternative models to finance their operations. These include partnerships with development agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and religious institutions. There are numerous opportunities in the digital space than those in legacy media – or traditional media (such as print and analogue broadcast media) – can still take advantage of to achieve sustainability. Paywalls, a model introduced by Kenya’s leading newspapers the Daily Nation and The Standard on their digital publications can be replicated across the region. The radio of the future will need to converge with digital media if it is to maintain its position as the most preferred medium." (Summary of findings, page 2-3)
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"This Information Ecosystem Assessment documents how information around the COVID-19 pandemic is produced, consumed, and shared in Sudan contributing to the existence of multiple and overlapping information sub-systems within the supply side of the broader ecosystem. The findings show how the centra
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lization of news production, as well as power and resources, leads to the development of these sometimes-competing subsystems. This is evident through data collected from marginalized groups, such as displaced communities (refugees, IDPs, migrants) and those in communities that host them, who are not targeted by official supply mechanisms of information." (Executive summary)
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"This book advances alternative approaches to understanding media, culture and technology in two vibrant regions of the Global South. Bringing together scholars from Africa and the Caribbean, it traverses the domains of communication theory, digital technology strategy, media practice reforms, and c
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orporate and cultural renewal. The first section tackles research and technology with new conceptual thinking from the South. The book then looks at emerging approaches to community digital networks, online diaspora entertainment, and video gaming strategies. The volume then explores reforms in policy and professional practice, including in broadcast television, online newspapers, media philanthropy, and business news reporting. Its final section examines the role of village-based folk media, the power of popular music in political opposition, and new approaches to overcoming neo-colonial propaganda and external corporate hegemony." (Publisher description)
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"Due to the relative lack of media comparison studies within Asian contexts, theoretical frameworks based in Western societies have been applied to knowledge production in the global South. Using a ‘most different’ design, this study compares the dimensions of media systems reflected in two Chin
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ese and two Korean newspapers in their initial coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Content analysis showed statistically significant differences in distribution of sources, topics and valence, usage of frame types, and actors including domestic government and foreign entities held responsible between the two groups of media. Based on political implications of crisis on Chinese and Korean news content, we mainly discuss political instrumentalization and parallelism in the media in an Asian context. Finally, we open up the dimensions of media system from an Asian perspective and address the need for future research." (Abstract)
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"A significant number of the surveyed citizens consider the media in Serbia under the control of political groups at both ends of the spectrum. At the same time, many of the surveyed citizens think that the media is free to collect and publish information on all the relevant issues. These findings r
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eflect the media reality in Serbia: after twenty years of reforms, the country has managed to create a system in which the freedom of the media implies (only) that our media freely report on issues relevant to the option whose interests they represent. Both the media workers in the focus group and the surveyed citizens agree that propaganda and hatred are ubiquitous in the media. The media instrumentalizes hatred based on gender, national and other stereotypes in order to realize the particular interests of the groups to which they are loyal for ideological or financial reasons. But as the media workers warn, the media is also abusing the hatred rooted in society to increase circulation, viewership, or reach, and again, in the end, to make a profit. The position of women journalists in Serbia is especially difficult. As many as 95% of the surveyed citizens agree that women journalists are exposed to attacks, threats, insults and harassment because they do their job well. The journalists and editors in the focus group do not see gender prejudices and stereotypes as a cause of attacks but rather as a tool to discredit female journalists. Not their work—because that is difficult to discredit—but rather female journalists personally, where attacks are dominated by discourse strategies stemming from classic misogyny." (Conclusion, page 25)
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"Through a combination of qualitative in-depth interviews with alternative media outlets, quantitative audience surveys involving over 1500 respondents, and focus-group discussions with women and youth civil society actors, this media and information landscape (MILA) evaluates the level of trust tow
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ards different information sources and explores the information flow, dynamics, gaps, and needs experienced by vulnerable groups in marginalized areas. The findings detail gaps between alternative media outlets’ objectives and its organizational structure or capacity needed to achieve its vision, legal and regulatory constraints that limit the accurate sharing of information with audiences, and the detrimental impact of Lebanon’s economic hardships on media financing. The report thus analyzes the information needs of women and youth in marginalized areas, explores linkages between alternative media outlets and civil society actors, and offers recommendations to strengthen media outlet’s capacity to delivery quality news and scale up their reach." (Publisher description)
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"This Information Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) aims to study the information environment in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) of the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Its main objective is to explore the dynamics of information in the region. The first section
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of the report discusses the media landscape in BARMM and its implication on the supply of information in the region during the pandemic. The second section covers the information demands and experiences of communities, particularly those from vulnerable groups such as internally displaced persons (IDP) and remote populations. It also tackles the access to as well as the use and influence of information, along with identifying its trusted sources for the locals. The third section explains the dynamics between the information supply and demand from the community along with their effects on trust, influence, and behaviors. The fourth section outlines the humanitarian response to COVID-19 and the challenges faced by different organizations in their efforts to inform the public at large." (Executive summary)
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"This volume provides a comparative analysis of media systems in the Arab world, based on criteria informed by the historical, political, social, and economic factors influencing a country's media. Reaching beyond classical western media system typologies, Arab Media Systems brings together contribu
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tions from experts in the field of media in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) to provide valuable insights into the heterogeneity of this region's media systems. It focuses on trends in government stances towards media, media ownership models, technological innovation, and the role of transnational mobility in shaping media structure and practices. Each chapter in the volume traces a specific country's media - from Lebanon to Morocco - and assesses its media system in terms of historical roots, political and legal frameworks, media economy and ownership patterns, technology and infrastructure, and social factors (including diversity and equality in gender, age, ethnicities, religions, and languages)." (Publisher description)
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"The 2021 Europe & Eurasia Vibrant Information Barometer (VIBE) publication stands on the shoulders of IREX’s almost 20 years of the Media Sustainability Index (MSI), which was last published in 2019. Through VIBE, IREX aims to capture a modern era where many people around the world are simultaneo
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usly producers, transmitters, consumers, and actors of the information that shapes their environments and their lives. At the start of the VIBE project, IREX engaged with USAID in an extensive methodology development process, the result of which is this VIBE 2021 publication. A senior methodology consultant with an extensive background in monitoring and evaluation led the development process, which involved expertise from USAID in Washington and overseas, and peer reviews by U.S. and European media and information experts. Building on the MSI’s strengths, the VIBE methodology relies primarily on information from country experts who complete a VIBE questionnaire, provide scores for 20 indicators1 (which are averages of panelists’ scores on supporting sub-indicators), and evidence to justify their scores; they then contribute to a panel discussion led by a moderator. In light of the global pandemic of 2020 and 2021, almost all panel discussions were held online. In a new feature of VIBE, IREX introduced a strength of evidence (SoE) rating to each indicator, which is meant to increase transparency about the potential subjectivity of some indicators (and especially indicators measuring newer concepts or newer sources of information). For each expert-opinion indicator, moderators assigned a SoE rating—Weak, Somewhat Weak, Somewhat Strong, or Strong—based on the quality of evidence informing each indicator, the confidence of panelists in their scores, and the level of consensus across the panel." (Executive summary, page 8)
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"This policy report provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities that the media are facing in Slovakia. Based on a number of interviews that took place with key Slovak media stakeholders, it finds that the Slovak media landscape is currently the freest of the Visegrad countries, despite
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an increase in both government and oligarch control of media. These findings are in line with its RSF Press Freedom Ranking of 33rd place in 2020, up two places on the previous year. The murder of investigative reporter, Ján Kuciak, in 2018 was a turning point which established sense of solidarity amongst the media profession which is coupled with an apparent desire amongst some of the public to investigative journalism, demonstrated through their financial support of a number of influential independent media titles. There are some concerns in relation to mainstream media ownership which appears to remain firmly in the grip of a select number of financial groups and oligarchs with strong business and economic interests although a recent sale of shares in leading publication the Denník SME to the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), a non-for-profit investment fund for independent media raises some hope. The government also continues to control the public media through politicised appointment processes and public advertising spend. The popularity of websites, which are typified by health disinformation and anti-European Union narratives, is a further cause for concern as similar narratives are now being disseminated by some of the online media. The tradition for investigative journalism is strong in Slovakia, however, and it is having some impact on policy and tackling corruption." (Executive summary)
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"This guide is a living document that is meant to be used as a starting point when planning and undertaking a campaign prior to (if possible) and during a disaster. It is intended to support the work of the Fiji government and the Fiji Communication and Community Engagement Working Group (CCEWG) in
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terms of messaging including tone, language and frequency as well as use of media outlets and other communication initiatives, while engaging and communicating with affected populations." (Conclusion, page 24)
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"Internews’ Global Tech and Europe & Eurasia teams conducted an extensive information ecosystem assessment (IEA) study in Georgia with a team of local researchers and experts. This IEA examines every region in Georgia, including minority language communities, and adopts a specific focus on social
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media and digital channels of communications in the analysis. The data collected in the study came from a national survey of 1310 individuals, 60 in-depth interviews and eight focus groups, as well as from ethnographic observations and the content analysis of over 12,000 social media posts. Findings in the report are published in three parts: Context, Infrastructure, Regulation, and Revenue; Production, Distribution, and Consumption of Information; Engagement, Trust and Behavior." (https://internews.org)
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"To what extent do structures and conduct of leading news media correspond with requirements of contemporary democracies? Based on a root concept of democracy and several empirical indicators, the Media for Democracy Monitor (MDM) delivers a panorama of the news media’s performance regarding freed
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om, equality, and control across several countries. In 2011, the MDM analysed 10 democracies. Ten years later, it covers 18 countries worldwide and pinpoints essential strengths and weaknesses during this decade of digitalisation. Around the globe, news are highly attractive to users, and the journalistic ethos of watchdogs and investigators is paramount. On the downside, journalistic job security eroded over time, and gender gaps both in content and employment patterns remain strikingly excessive in most countries. Volume two contains all countries analysed for the first time in 2021: Belgium (Flanders), Canada, Chile, Denmark, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Italy, and South Korea." (Publisher description)
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"Un sistema de medios informativos sólido es crucial para enfrentar diversos tipos de crisis. No obstante, caracterizar dichos sistemas en países latinoamericanos plantea dilemas propios de una institucionalización estructuralmente débil, de procesos de modernización acelerados o en curso. Nues
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tro objetivo es reconocer los desafíos metodológicos en la constitución de una base de datos de medios informativos que permitan análisis consistentes y comparativos sobre las condiciones del ejercicio periodístico en el mundo. Para ello, nos basamos en el caso peruano, que no cuenta con bases de datos, de medios ni de periodistas de alcance nacional y en el que la institucionalización de los medios es precaria. Hemos utilizado como estrategia metodológica la triangulación de fuentes. Entre las principales dificultades está la informalidad dentro de los medios formales, una huella digital precaria y la insuficiencia de categorizaciones basadas en un sistema analógico en una sociedad en proceso de transmedialización." (Resumen)
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"This paper investigates the dynamic relationship between hybrid media and hybrid politics in Lebanon and Tunisia. While previous research on the media in hybrid regimes has mainly focused on regime strategies of restricting and manipulating public debate, our analysis moves beyond repression. We ar
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gue that the ambiguities of hybrid politics, which combines democratic and authoritarian elements, not only constrain independent and critical reporting but also open up opportunities for journalistic agencies. We draw on Schedler’s concept of informational uncertainty to capture the epistemological instability of hybrid regimes and the strategies of political actors to control public knowledge. Distinguishing between three dimensions of media hybridity - economic, cultural and technological - we show how the new hybrid media environment significantly increases the volatility of hybrid politics and informational uncertainty for political actors. Our empirical analysis is based on seventy-one semistructured interviews with journalists in Lebanon and Tunisia conducted between 2016 and 2019. The material reveals a broad range of strategies used by journalists who employ the internal contradictions of hybrid politics to pursue their own agenda. The comparison between Lebanon and Tunisia also highlights contextual conditions that enable, or limit, journalistic agency, such as clientelistic dependencies, economic resources, and civil society alliances." (Abstract)
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