"Das Gedenken an den Ersten Weltkrieg in Deutschland und Europa ist nach wie vor sehr auf die europäische Perspektive beschränkt. Tatsächlich war der Krieg ein globaler: Millionen Soldaten aus kolonisierten Gebieten nahmen an den Kämpfen teil. Die Kolonialtruppen bildeten ein wesentliches Elemen
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t der Kriegsführung bei fast allen Kriegsparteien. Als Soldaten "zweiter Klasse" erhielten sie allerdings deutlich weniger Sold sowie schlechtere Verpflegung und Ausrüstung. Zudem waren sie während des Krieges und danach rassistischen kolonialen Unterdrückungsmechanismen unterworfen, an deren Fortbestand auch der Kriegseinsatz wenig änderte. In der dominanten Erinnerungskultur wird das Schicksal der Kolonialsoldaten folglich fast vollständig ausgeblendet – auch deswegen, weil das, was sie erlebt haben, oft nur als "oral history" verfügbar war und von der westlichen Geschichtsschreibung nicht berücksichtigt wurde. Dieses Buch widmet sich der Geschichte der Kolonialsoldaten in neun Comics, die auch eine künstlerische Auseinandersetzung mit Möglichkeiten historischer Überlieferung und dem Fortwirken kolonialer Bildproduktion leisten." (Klappentext)
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"The following report is an exploratory case study analysis of social accountability monitoring of the Eastern Cape Department of Education by the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) and mainstream media in the Eastern Cape. It provides in-depth analysis of the education programme’s work
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within PSAM and a study of newspaper coverage of education in the Eastern Cape. The argument made herein, is that for either civil society or the media to be effective in holding duty bearers to account, and to equip citizens to hold public officials to account, they have to work collaboratively in their efforts. What is required is a shift in the assumption that simply reporting on or highlighting events of maladministration or mismanagement of public resources is sufficient. Highlighting poor resource management is necessary but not sufficient to equate to social accountability. The current media coverage, while extensive and voluminous, does not provide citizens with the contextual knowledge they need to effectively hold duty bearers to account for poor service delivery. Rather, as a result of the formulaic reporting style, corruption and maladministration are further normalised. Fostering a more strategic, conscious and direct relationship between civil society and the media, will ensure a symbiotic relationship of effective society accountability resulting in better public resource management." (Executive summary)
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"The study has concluded that there exists a positive relationship between vernacular radio programming content and participation of community in issues of governance. Therefore, it is recommended that vernacular radio stations should give more attention to the content of these programs. Priority sh
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ould be given to issues that are raised by the audience for they are pertinent to them. This will result in more public participation in matters of county governance in Kenya." (Conclusion)
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"This study assesses linkages between social media and governance dynamics in 49 African countries for the year 2012. The empirical evidence is based on ordinary least squares and quantile regressions. Ten bundled and unbundled governance dynamics are used, notably: (i) political governance (entaili
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ng “voice & accountability” and political stability/no violence); (ii) economic governance (involving regulation quality and government effectiveness); (iii) institutional governance (comprising the rule of law and corruption-control) and (iv) general governance (entailing political, economic and institutional governance). Social media is measured with Facebook penetration. The findings show that Facebook penetration is positively associated with governance dynamics and these positive nexuses differ in terms of significance and magnitude of significance throughout the conditional distribution of the governance dynamics." (Abstract)
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"This chapter focuses on the role of Myanmar's fastest growing form of media—social media—in formulating notions of citizenship and nation amid Myanmar's transition. It begins with an overview of the history of mobile and internet access in Myanmar. The chapter explores the new social and politi
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cal opportunities, tensions and dynamics that are emerging as a result of Myanmar's liberalisation, particularly of the telecommunications sector. It explains how the technologies interact with and alter pre-existing social networks, relationships and communication practices, opening up new spheres for activism and advocacy of various kinds including the reforging of civil-military relations and notions of citizenship. The chapter discusses a call for future research to recognise the interaction between online-offline action, and how this may influence the emergence of a 'national' culture in Myanmar. In addition to enabling civilian humanitarian action, cyber-space has also become one of the primary domains through which civil-military relations are being reforged after decades of authoritarian rule." (Abstract)
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"En este texto se reúnen reflexiones e investigaciones que tienen, de una u otra manera, su mirada puesta en la ciudadanía. Intentando que la comunicación nos permita ver el bosque y que sepamos qué papel debemos jugar en esta realidad acelerada para construir ciudadanías activas e influyentes.
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Los diversos abordajes que aquí se presentan son variopintos y por ello enriquecedores del campo académico desde el que está escritos. Una suerte de pensamientos, hechos, relatoras y crítica social a las ciudadanías, o a sus formas y ausencias. La intención es plantear propuestas que nos relaciones con las muchas ciudadanías posibles y las numerosas maneras de abordarlas. La finalidad es que abran los debates y las reflexiones para ir sumando personas y acciones a la lucha por otra ciudadanía más universal, en el sentido que se entienden los derechos humanos, que trascienda límites y fronteras." (Descripción de la casa editorial)
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"This comparative study examined the Internet’s role and wider social media in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, three Central Asian countries in the democratization process. Specifically, this work aims to discuss how the Internet and social media are allowing Internet users wider opportuni
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ties to access and share information in a media-restricted region as well as collectively speak up in a restricted region of Central Asia. In general, Internet penetration is relatively low compared to other parts of the world. Still, the Internet has demonstrated its power in the region when presidents of Kyrgyzstan in 2005 and in 2010 were ousted. Both times, the Internet played the key role in facilitating such drastic change. While it is true that Central Asian countries have differently related policies and practices, varying from some freedom in Kyrgyzstan and total state control in Uzbekistan, it is also true that the region is experiencing an unprecedented boom in mobile phones, which brings the Internet to citizens." (Abstract)
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"A RAND Corporation study examined Russian-language content on social media and the broader propaganda threat posed to the region of former Soviet states that include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and, to a lesser extent, Moldova and Belarus. In addition to employing a state-funded multilingu
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al television network, operating various Kremlin-supporting news websites, and working through several constellations of Russia-backed “civil society” organizations, Russia employs a sophisticated social media campaign that includes news tweets, nonattributed comments on web pages, troll and bot social media accounts, and fake hashtag and Twitter campaigns. Nowhere is this threat more tangible than in Ukraine, which has been an active propaganda battleground since the 2014 Ukrainian revolution. Other countries in the region look at Russia’s actions and annexation of Crimea and recognize the need to pay careful attention to Russia’s propaganda campaign. To conduct this study, RAND researchers employed a mixed-methods approach that used careful quantitative analysis of social media data to understand the scope of Russian social media campaigns combined with interviews with regional experts and U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization security experts to understand the critical ingredients to countering this campaign." (Back cover)
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"The Russian state media failed to provide sufficient information about political alternatives to incumbent Vladimir Putin ahead of the 18 March presidential election. Coverage on nationwide private channels was similarly limited. For the 2018 presidential election, a strong and independent media pr
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oviding unbiased coverage of the political situation in the country, thereby enabling the electorate to make an informed choice, were significantly lacking. Alexey Navalny, who was barred from running as a candidate, called for a boycott of the election. His political position was largely ignored by most of the monitored broadcast media, with the exception of TV Dozhd and Radio Ekho Moskvy. The nature of the election process, whereby the incumbent refrained in most respects from conventional campaign discourse, including non-participation in public debates, and the only real opponent was barred from running as a candidate, did not provide basic conditions necessary for a normal democratic election. First Channel, Russia 1, NTV and Ren TV, offered viewers an extremely limited range of political viewpoints. They presented only the official Kremlin position, and failed to offer any independent or alternative views, or any critical reporting challenging the performance of the authorities." (Executive summary)
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"This analysis of digital advertising technology and its relevance to disinformation online is designed to broaden the focus in the current public debate beyond Russian operatives buying ads on social media. The problem is much bigger than that and the issues of concern are more diverse. Our analysi
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s points to the core challenge of disentangling the alignment of interests between the commercial pursuits of digital platform companies and the success of disinformation-based political advertisers. It is a mistake to fixate on Russia. Russia is one of many online disinformation operators targeting Americans. Future disinformation campaigns may just as likely be run by domestic operators as foreign ones. These operators will most likely leverage the most dominant U.S. internet platforms to reach tens upon hundreds of millions of Americans. The full range of these disinformation campaigns could produce a grave public harm. In particular, they can progressively weaken the integrity of our democracy by separating citizens from facts and polarizing our political culture." (Conclusions)
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"This book examines the media reform processes and re-democratization projects of Ghana and Nigeria’s emerging democracies. It evaluates and critiques these reform processes, arguing that because of dependency approaches resulting from the transplanting of policy framework from the West into these
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emerging democracies, the policy goals and objectives of the reforms have not been achieved. Consequently, the inherent socio-cultural, economic and political factors, coupled with the historical antecedents of these countries, have also affected the reform process. Drawing from policy documents, analyses and interviews, Ufuoma Akpojivi argues that the lack of citizens’ active participation in policy processes has led to neo-liberalization and the continued universalization of Western ideologies such as democracy, media freedom and independence. Akpojivi posits that the recognition of socio-cultural, political and economic factors inherent to these emerging democracies, coupled with the communal participation of citizens, will facilitate true media reform processes and development of these countries." (Publisher description)
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"In the period after the fall of communism, peculiar new obstacles to media independence have arisen. They include the telltale structure of media ownership, with news reporting being concentrated in the hands of politically engaged business tycoons, the fuzzy and contradictory legislation of the me
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dia realm, and the informal institutions of political interference in mass media. The book analyzes interrelationships between politics, the economy, and media in Ukraine, especially their shadowy sides guided by private interests and informal institutions. Being embedded in comparative politics and post-Communist media studies, it helps to understand the nature and workings of the Ukrainian media system situated in-between democracy and authoritarianism." (Publisher description)
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"It is becoming increasingly apparent that fundamental principles underlying democracy—trust, informed dialogue, a shared sense of reality, mutual consent, and participation—are being put to the test by certain features and attributes of social media. As technology companies increasingly achieve
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financial success by monetizing public attention, it is worth examining some of the key issues and unintended consequences arising as a result. Six key issues: Echo chambers, polarization, and hyper-partisanship [...]; Spread of false and/or misleading information [...]; Conversion of popularity into legitimacy [...]; Manipulation by “populist” leaders, governments, and fringe actors [...]; Personal data capture and targeted messaging/advertising [...]; Disruption of the public square [...]" (Executive summary)
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"In a highly competitive media landscape, BBC Media Action’s governance programmes reached 52.8 million people in 2014 (and an estimated 64.6 million cumulatively), representing more than half the adult population of the country. One reason for this success was the brokering of radio partnerships
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that ensured distribution of radio content across the country. In contrast to other countries that held elections during the course of the Global Grant project, the Nigerian programmes managed to sustain their high level of audience engagement after the elections. This was achieved by: adapting the content to topical issues; transitioning from focusing on encouraging peaceful elections to holding elected officials to account; and encouraging officials to follow up on their electoral promises. Across the five years, the project managed to increase the percentage of rural and female listeners. The Hausa outputs (Mu Tattauna and Gatanan Gatanan Ku) were particularly effective at reaching these groups in northern Nigeria. The debate and discussion programmes were successful at enabling people to question officials directly and audiences appreciated hearing a diverse range of views and opinions. This speaks directly to the project’s objective of encouraging dialogue and understanding of diverse points of view. The dramas were effective at role modelling how people could resolve conflicts, question officials and participate in civic life. By showcasing scenarios people could relate to, their storylines helped ordinary people and leaders understand their rights and responsibilities and how democratic processes work. Those exposed to these factual and drama outputs knew more, discussed more and participated more in politics even when controlling for other factors that may influence these outcomes (such as age, income, education and interest in politics). Despite Nigerians remaining cynical about the willingness and ability of politicians to respond to their needs, the programmes were particularly effective at encouraging people who had not participated in public life before to do so." (Key findings from the research)
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