"Analyses how radio journalism since the late 1990s has been shaped by and contributed to Reformasi, or the ambition of democratizing Indonesian politics, economy and society. The book examines ideas and practices such as independent journalism, peace journalism, meta-journalism, virtual interactivi
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ty, talk-back radio and community radio, which have all been designed to renew audience interest in media and societal affairs. It pays special attention to radio programmes that enable hosts, experts, listeners and other participants to discuss and negotiate the very rules and boundaries of Indonesia’s newly acquired media freedom. The author argues that these contemporary programmes provide dialogic alternatives to the official New Order discourse dominated by monologism." (Publisher description)
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"This book examines, from theoretical and empirical perspectives, the claims that new information and communication technologies (ICTs) are catalysts of democratic change in Africa. Contributors do so from optimist, pragmatist-realist, and pessimist stances through analyses of various forms of evide
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nces—including words and deeds of various political actors and organizations or institutions, from government units to political parties and party leaders to civil society organizations and minority or marginalized groups. The main focus is, therefore, on the interrelated concepts of e-participation and e-democracy." (Preface)
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"[...] It is clear that the importance of the media in sustenance and development of democracy is well recognised by stakeholders in Africa. This is evidenced by the existence of liberal media laws and regulation in democratic African countries. This then forces the conclusion that there is delibera
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te manipulation or disregard of the media laws so as to fit in with the needs of the few elites. Mostly those in position of power, as the case of Malawi has demonstrated. For instance, there seems to be a general consensus in the reviewed articles that the media in Malawi is largely owned and controlled by a group of elite politicians, through direct ownership and through regulation and censorship. Where they do not have direct access they resort to intimidation or harassment, this can be physical, mental and economical. Again, the literature has substantial evidence of such cases; we have seen how government in Malawi decides media houses that are to be given advertising revenue, a lifeblood of any media organisation; this works like a reward for those who are not, to become 'royal', so as to reap the rewards, as their colleagues." (Summary, page 27-28)
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"The town of Gulu in northern Uganda stood still as the leader of a then 16-year-old insurgency against the government was heard live through a local government radio station. On 28 December 2002, Joseph Kony called in to Mega FM’s live debate talk show and was heard throughout northern Uganda. Th
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e significance of this event cannot be underestimated in local and global terms. How had this man, labelled by the government as a terrorist, killer, and child abductor, come to be broadcast on a Ugandan Government radio station? The answer to this question directly engages and critiques current debates of the role of the media in societies where violent conflict is a reality. Through engagement with two radio presenters from Mega FM, I explore the space for dialogue and debate in northern Uganda. By learning from their experiences, it becomes clear that the question is not whether media censorship is useful in peace building, but what can be done to support the daily struggles of media actors who are constantly negotiating their way through a labyrinth of restrictions." (Page 610)
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"This paper has tried to find out whether newspapers in Bangladesh have any influence on policy formulation, revision and improvement in respect to investment climate. Reviewing two Bangla and two English newspapers for three fiscal years, we found that newspapers have strong interest in policy rela
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ted issues. They have covered different important sectors with the policy perspective. But the relationship between newspapers’ role and policy direction is not very strong. Newspapers heavily emphasize informative news items since disseminating information is their primary objective, but policy related advocacy and analyses are still low in the newspapers." (Abstract)
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"This study explores the structure and content of the Arabic blogosphere using link analysis, term frequency analysis, and human coding of individual blogs. We identified a base network of approximately 35,000 active Arabic language blogs (about half as many as we found in a previous study of the Pe
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rsian blogosphere), discovered several thousand Arabic blogs with mixed use of Arabic, English and French, created a network map of the 6,000 most connected blogs, and with a team of Arabic speakers hand coded over 4,000 blogs. The goal for the study was to produce a baseline assessment of the networked public sphere in the Arab Middle East, and its relationship to a range of emergent issues, including politics, media, religion, culture, and international affairs. We found: a Country-Based Network: We found that the Arabic blogosphere is organized primarily around countries [...] Who are Arabic Bloggers? Demographic coding indicates that Arabic bloggers are predominately young and male. The highest proportion of female bloggers is found in the Egyptian youth sub-cluster, while the Maghreb/French Bridge and Syrian clusters have the highest concentration of males. Personal Life and Local Issues are Most Important: Overall, the writing of most bloggers is centered on personal, diary-style observations. Those that write about politics tend to focus on issues within their own country and are more often than not critical of domestic political leaders." (Key findings, page 3-4)
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"It is generally said that an independent press is vital for any democracy. However, the case in many African countries is that the independent or private press is weak and lacks credibility, although its assumed role as a cornerstone of young democracies is repeatedly stressed by commentators and p
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olicy-makers. This research investigates the role of the private press in Ethiopia since 1991, when democracy came to the country. Through interviews with 15 key actors in the media and political sector, it reflects on the role of the private media vis-à-vis Francis Kasoma’s theories of the independent press in Africa. From the Ethiopian perspective, the research takes on a slightly more pessimistic view of the role of the private newspapers in building democracy than what Kasoma concluded in light of his comparative research of media in Sub-Saharan countries in general. Findings indicate that the Ethiopian private press has had a pragmatic relationship with recognized professional and ethical standards; the private press has largely failed to represent and inform the citizens; and it has been generally politicized. However, the existence of the private press has also served as a caution for the government, although the press has had more of a symbolic role than being a real cornerstone of democracy." (Abstract)
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"kifaya! – „Es reicht!“ Lautstark protestieren Menschen auf Kairos Straßen gegen Präsident Mubarak und seine Regierung. Sie fordern demokratischen Wandel. Arabische Fernsehsender und neue Zeitungen in Ägypten berichten ausführlich über die Kifaya-Bewegung. Sie ist klein, aber nicht zu üb
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ersehen. Dieser öffentliche Protest im Wahljahr 2005 war neu in der arabischen Welt. Eine wesentliche Rolle für den Erfolg der Bewegung spielten ägyptische und andere arabische Medien. Theoretisch fundiert und auf Basis zahlreicher Interviews geht Jan Michael Schäfer am Beispiel Kifayas der Frage nach, welche politische Bedeutung Massenmedien in der arabischen Welt haben können. Können sie zu einer Liberalisierung beitragen? Der Autor zeigt auf, welche Akteure hinter Kifaya stehen und wie die Verbindungen zwischen der Protestbewegung und den Journalisten der neuen privaten Fernseh- und Printmedien ausgestaltet sind." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Electronic Government (e-Government) is becoming a global phenomenon that is increasingly attracting the attention of community citizens including politicians, economists, decision and policy makers amongst others. Once only regarded as a means for modernizing the public sector and increasing gover
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nment productivity and efficiency, e-Government is presently recognized as a driver and a key enabler of citizen-centric, cooperative, and seamless modern governance implying not only a profound transformation in the way government interacts with the governed but also the reinvention of its internal processes and how organizations carry their business both internally as well as externally while interacting with the other segments of the community. Based on the literature, it is frequently claimed that the availability of an effective e-Government assessment framework is a necessary condition for advancing e-Government proper implementation. The objective of this article is to develop an e-Government appraisal framework encompassing several components such as people, technology, processes, and strategic planning. The article examines the relations and interactions of these components in an emerging e-Government environment using a case study on an agency affiliated to the government of Egypt as a primary step in the process of testing the framework presented." (Abstract)
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"This paper has demonstrated that the benefits for the general Afghan and Iraqi public derived from the ‘promotion of independent media’ by institutions like the NED are questionable, especially for parties interested in encouraging more deliberative or participatory forms of democracy. Instead,
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the promotion of ‘independent’ media in Afghanistan and Iraq seems to be playing a key role in the promotion of low-intensity democracy or polyarchy. Additionally, it also appears that countries of greater geostrategic value need more ‘democratization’, for example, both countries have roughly the same population but ‘oil rich Iraq received 20 times more American media development assistance per year than war-ravaged Afghanistan, one of the poorest nations on earth’ (Rohde, 2005: 29). With such large amounts of money being wielded by ‘democracy promoters’, their short term influences may impact heavily on both countries, yet perhaps the most significant effects of these media interventions will be felt in the long term. Previous case studies have shown that groups or individuals supported by ‘democracy promoters’ are expected to move on to fill leading roles within their societies." (Conclusion, page 124)
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"Um die Medienlandschaft Bulgariens steht es nicht zum Besten – trotz zweier Jahrzehnte Distanz zum Fall des Kommunismus und eines von zahlreichen Medien vereinbarten Ethik-Kodex, der von Wahrhaftigkeit und Achtung der Menschenwürde, von Zensurfreiheit und redaktioneller Unabhängigkeit spricht.
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Als Handelsgesellschaften registriert, entziehen sich die Medien in der Regel einer Kontrolle ihrer Finanzierungsquellen. Ausländische Investoren fördern zwar die Modernisierung etwa der Printmedien, behindern aber durch ihre Preisgestaltung die Etablierung einer unabhängigen Presse. Beherrscher des Printmedienmarktes sind die WAZ-Gruppe mit Produkten wie Trud, 24 tschassa und 168 tschassa sowie das auf Wirtschaftsthemen spezialisierte Verlagshaus Economedia. Im Rundfunk- und TV-Bereich, der durch das Hörfunk- und Fernsehgesetz reguliert ist, wacht der Rat für elektronische Medien über die Einhaltung von Bestimmungen etwa zu Werbung, Urheberrecht und Jugendschutz. Doch fördern weder die Politik des Rats selbst noch die Besitzverhältnisse der Einzelmedien deren tatsächliche Freiheit und programmatische Souveränität. Als weitgehend unabhängig gilt allenfalls das Internet. Die Zeiten sind nicht günstig für anspruchsvolle Medien und einen selbstbewussten, investigativen Journalismus in Bulgarien. Zu hoffen bleibt nur, dass die zunehmende Verwurzelung des Landes in Europa auf lange Sicht positiv wirkt." (Seite 6)
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"Senegal is said to be a democratic model for Africa. This reputation was promoted by the former presidents Senghor and Diouf (both Socialist Party), and confirmed through the democratic change of government to the Senegalese Democratic Party under its leader Wade in 2000. Ostensibly, the successful
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democratization is reflected in the mass media sector, which has gone through a dydnamic change since the end of the 1970s. In the course of the process of liberalization, pluralization and popularization, the market was segmented and media usage increased. The public sphere is established by political, religious, economic, media and regulation actors who compete for influence, control and ownership. One of the main characteristics of Senegalese media culture consists of multiple conflicts between these actors. In fact, the media played an important part in the democratization process and the development of civic resonsibility, but at the same time these transformations paradoxically contributed to the undermining of foundations of democracy in the last 15 years. After a historic retrospect, the article describes the conflicting practices of the competing actors in the public sphere, and explains why these practices are responsible for the lack of credibility of mass media among the Senegalese population." (Abstract)
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"This commentary provides an overview of the recent phenomenon of Ibero-American observatories which work on issues related to information, communication and culture. It also shows the results of some research under way which seeks to analyse the diversity of 61 observatories regarding their geograp
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hical location, key research themes and area of operations." (Abstract)
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"Von einer konsolidierten Medienlandschaft ist Rumänien noch entfernt. Gewiss, die Pressefreiheit hat sich nach 2004 verbessert und die Verfassung spricht von Gewissens-, Meinungs- und Religionsfreiheit, verbietet Zensur und sichert das Recht auf Information. Doch hört „freie Meinungsäußerung
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da auf, wo „die Ehre” anderer und die „nationale Sicherheit” betroffen sind. Die Medienlandschaft des Landes selbst ist vielfältig: Lokal und regional gibt es ein breites Angebot an Tages- und Wochenzeitungen. Im TV-Bereich sind die Privaten im Kommen. Der öffentlich-rechtliche Hörfunk hat zahlreiche Kanäle sowie internationale, lokale und regionale Sender. Noch kaum verbreitet ist das Internet. Bei den Besitzverhältnissen sind Korruption und „oligopolistische” Marktstrukturen kennzeichnend. Die Werbung für Staatsfirmen und die Subventionierung vieler Medien schaffen wirtschaftlich-politischen Druck, setzen journalistischer Unabhängigkeit Grenzen. Soll Medienfreiheit in Rumänien Wurzeln finden, wäre eine Reform der institutionellen Voraussetzungen ebenso vonnöten wie eine Rückbesinnung auf ethische Standards." (Seite 44)
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