"Transformations in the Arab media landscape are a key element in the regional dynamics of political change. Where do the private owners of Arab media outlets stand on the scene? What part, if any, have they played in weakening dictatorships, countering sectarianism and political polarisation, and r
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eforming business practices in the Arab world? Arab Media Moguls charts the rise of some leading investors and entrepreneurs in Arab media, examining their motives, management styles, financial performance and links to political power. Responding critically to scholarship on Western moguls, this book uncovers the realities of risk and success for Arab media potentates and billionaires." (Publisher description)
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"Mechachal is a collaborative project developed by the University of Oxford and Addis Ababa University to understand the nature and potential of online debates in Ethiopia. Mechachal can be translated from Amharic as “tolerance”, or as one’s awareness of their own social sphere and willingness
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to accommodate other social spheres that are different from a cultural and religious standpoint [...] Mechachal’s team developed methodology to analyse online debates that are emerging from and targeting Ethiopians in Ethiopia and in the Diaspora. This report is the first of a series of three and examines some key aspects of this approach. In particular, it offers an empirically grounded illustration of how, despite the polarization that has characterized the political environment in Ethiopia, online debates tend to favour engagement across divides, rather than exacerbating existing tensions." (Introduction)
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"Assumptions about the role of call-in programmes as open spaces for pubic engagement and accountability often fail to account for the influence of existing power structures and multiple publics engaging in these programmes for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, the history of call-in programmes rev
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eals that the nature of the medium itself can restrict participation in ways that have not been considered in the literature on media and development in Africa. As this article has argued, radio call-in shows are dynamic spaces where journalists, audiences and public authorities contribute to shaping the public debate, negotiate and renegotiate their roles, and assert and transform the networks of power that link them together. While these spaces have been hailed by academics, NGOs and donors as tools to promote institutional accountability and democratic participation, our analysis shows that they do not simply offer a new platform for citizens to speak up; they also offer a way for existing power structures to reproduce themselves in new forms. This analysis has demonstrated that motivations for calling in are diverse and reflect the multiple actors who call in, many of whom are not seeking to hold authority to account but rather to build their own reputation and social capital. These radio call-in programmes can take on different forms and be influenced by different structural, political and social factors. They are also invested with different degrees of politicisation by the audience." (Conclusion, page 1521-1522)
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"Blogs and online content contribute significantly to opinion diversity in Africa today. Because of that, they are increasingly monitored by federal agencies, which aim to more strictly define the grey zone between journalism, blog-writing and opinion stating in social media. It is especially agains
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t this backdrop that digital opinion makers deserve more attention and support." (KAS website)
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"Mit Blick auf die Rolle sozialer Netzwerkmedien in arabischen Gesellschaften lässt sich resümierend festhalten, dass durch deren vielfältige Nutzungsmöglichkeiten während Protestphasen und unter den restriktiven Bedingungen autoritärer Herrschaft übergreifende bürgerschaftliche Identitäten
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und protestorientierte Handlungsräume geschaffen werden können. Während einer Demokratisierung des politischen Systems, in der politische Strukturen neu- und umgebildet werden müssen, haben soziale Medien aber auch ein dysfunktionales Potential. Anstelle eines übergreifenden nationalen Dialogs werden vorhandene politische Polarisierungen verstärkt." (Fazit, Seite 72-73)
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"This study compared social media (new media) and newspapers’ framing of the January 2012 #Occupy Nigeria Protest. Authors employed content analysis to investigate similarities and differences in the frames adopted by social media (Facebook page, blogs, conversations in Nairaland and Twitter) and
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three national newspapers (the Nigerian Tribune, The Guardian and The Punch) during the protest. Findings show that the old media fared better than the social media in their framing of the motivation, diagnosis and prognosis of the protest. This study established that representatives of the old media were better contributors to the prosecution and/or discourse of the Occupy Nigeria Protests than the social media." (Abstract)
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"In this chapter, we explore the role of the media in the context of Africa's broader democratization trends through an examination of three main areas: the media as political actors in conflict; the challenge of looking beyond formal state structures to informal governance in order to better unders
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tand the structure of the media and its relationship to centres of power, including ethnic or religious allegiances; and [...] the attempts of Africa's leaders to offer an alternative 'theory' about the role of media in democratization in conflict and postconflict societies." (Page 290)
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"In the transitional states of South East Asia, an alternative media helped mobilize support for popular uprisings against authoritarian rule. In a democratizing context which promoted press freedom, joumalists emphasized their role as ‘watchdogs‘, striving to ensure that new political leaders d
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id not betray the ideals of that anti-dictatorship movement. This media watchdog attitude in transitional South East Asia has not always been conducive to democratic stability, however. Press-based anti-corruption campaigns have sometimes had destabilizing effects. In weakly institutionalized transitional systems, harsh and sustained criticism of the moral integrity of a sitting president or prime minister and their inner circle have helped mobilize large civilian protests that in turn provided justification for the rapid removal of the executive or even military intervention against elected leaders, resulting in illiberal ‘people power‘ coups." (Page 277)
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"Wie verändert sich Journalismus in autoritären Regimen angesichts technischer, wirtschaftlicher und politischer Entwicklungen? Inwieweit können Medienakteure Wandel anstoßen? Mit welchen Mitteln versucht das Regime, steuernd einzugreifen? Judith Pies beantwortet diese Fragen anhand einer detail
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lierten Beobachtung des Journalismus in Jordanien. Sie beschreibt die Entwicklung professioneller Normen von 1989 bis 2007, analysiert die dahinter stehenden Akteure und bewertet ihre Relevanz für die journalistische Arbeit." (Klappentext)
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"Das Fazit der Beiträge in diesem Heft bringt Snežana Milivojevic nüchtern auf den Punkt: „Der Glaube, dass ein freier Markt gleichbedeutend mit freien Medien ist, hat sich in den Transformationsländern als Illusion erwiesen.“ Die größte Gefahr für unabhängigen Journalismus liegt dort ni
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cht vor allem darin – wie es derzeit laut Olga Tokariuk in der Ukraine der Fall ist –, Gewalt, Entführung und Morddrohungen ausgesetzt zu sein, sondern vor allem in der Abhängigkeit von Finanzquellen: Zwar entsprechen die gesetzlichen Rahmenbedingungen für Medien mittlerweile internationalen Standards, doch als viel schädlicher, so schreibt Sanela Hodžic im Fall Bosnien-Herzegowinas, gilt der Zugriff geschäftlicher Netzwerke und politischer Interessengruppen auf die Medien. Besonders deutlich wird das auch in den Beiträgen zu Bulgarien, Serbien, Albanien und Ungarn. Zudem stellen Péter Techet in Ungarn wie auch Remzi Lani in Albanien fest, dass Journalisten meist schreiben können, was sie wollen, aber niemand darauf regiert: „Gleichgültigkeit gegenüber Kritik führt zur Abwertung des freien Wortes.“ Deshalb warnt auch Christian Mihr von „Reporter ohne Grenzen“: „Freiheit, um die nicht gerungen wird, stirbt.“ Es gibt aber auch Lichtblicke: In der Ukraine legen mehrere unabhängige Sender Wert auf professionellen Journalismus und finanzieren sich durch Crowdfunding. Die Slowakei findet sich auf der Rangliste von „Reporter ohne Grenzen“ auf Platz 14 (Deutschland steht auf Platz 12, die Schweiz auf Platz 20). Nicht zuletzt zeugen auch die Autoren und Autorinnen dieser Ausgabe von den bestehenden Oasen für qualitätsbewussten Journalismus in Osteuropa." (Editorial)
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"This non-paper aims to facilitate the OSCE participating states in formulating national and international law and policy toward the current spread of propaganda intertwined with the conflict in and around Ukraine. It distinguishes two sorts of propaganda in the contemporary world. The first is call
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ed propaganda for war and hatred; it demands legal action with appropriate measures in accordance with international human rights law. The second type of propaganda combines all its other faces. It may be against professional standards of journalism, but does not necessarily violate international law. This non-paper reviews OSCE and other international commitments in regard to hateful international propaganda in the context of the obligations of the participating States on freedom of expression and freedom of the media. The particular focus lies on the relation between Article 19 (on freedom of expression) and Article 20 (on banning war propaganda and incitement to hatred) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its interpretations by the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC)." (Executive summary)
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"Die Entfaltung der E-Demokratie legt die Probleme der demokratischen Praxis in Südkorea offen: da sich die Bürger durch die politischen Institutionen nicht repräsentiert fühlen, suchen sie neue Wege, ihre Meinung zu äußern. Dabei sind die Netizens den politischen Akteuren und staatlichen Stel
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len zwar in der Nutzung der neuesten Programme und Medien zu politischen Zwecken einen Schritt voraus, aber sie setzen sich noch nicht positiv oder langfristig mit dem politischen Alltag auseinander." (Seite 156-7)
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"The transparency of media market in Albania continues to be low, including both commercial operations and the state funding, despite of the existing databases. The involvement of new actors, such as advertising agencies, and sister companies of media outlets, makes it even more difficult to track s
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tate funding for the media, given in the form of advertising or funding to organise cultural events or public awareness campaigns. The fact that there is no central body to oversee and monitor the distribution of state advertising does not help. Furthermore, the absence of data from public companies that are not part of the state authorities makes it difficult to have a complete picture of the true extent of public funds allocated to the media." (Conclusions)
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"Particular political and business interests seem to overpower any notion of public interest in the financial relations between government and the media. The public interest that these financial patterns should in theory serve remains under-articulated and unmonitored with a lack of clear criteria,
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transparency and developed remedial mechanisms. Minimum guarantees of political independence are not provided in the schemes of government funding for media, with political bodies directly deciding on the allocation of funds." (Commentary)
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"The outflow of money from state/public funds to the media has for years been unreasonable and non-transparent. Therefore, the ultimate goal of the ongoing media reforms is to introduce certain control and transparency through privatisation of state-owned media and introduce co-financing of media pr
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ojects pursuing public interest." (Conclusions)
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"The Story of an Uprising examines the political and media dynamic in pre-and post-revolution Egypt and what it could mean for the country's democratic transition. We follow events through the period leading up to the 2011 revolution, eighteen days of uprising, military rule, an elected president's
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year in office, and his ouster by the military. Activism has expanded freedoms of expression only to see those spaces contract with the resurrection of the police state. And with sharpening political divisions, the facts have become amorphous as ideological trends cling to their own narratives of truth." (Back cover)
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"1. The DAME project has contributed to its overall objective of ‘strengthening the democratization process in Timor-Leste’ and to its specific objective of ‘enhanced engagement between NSAs, State authorities and their constituencies’ in the development process. 2. Most effective were the a
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ctivities strengthening youth leadership (Youth Forums and Civic Leadership trainings). Some 2500 youth all over Timor-Leste learned about the very skills needed for democracy. This is a promising contribution to strengthening the democratic process. 3. Core elements of the DAME approach - inclusiveness, NSA-SA collaboration, conflict prevention, and a consistent focus on youth and women - are highly relevant in view of the social, political and postconflict context in Timor-Leste, in particular by contributing to (and complementing) current government approaches. 4. However, the Action was over-ambitious in terms of objectives, partners with mixed capacities, activities, and target groups, covering all districts, and as a consequence some Action components suffered from insufficient in-depth development of quality, follow-up, coherence and cross-fertilization." (Executive summary)
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