"This collection reflects on the international political economy of media and the valuable lessons to be learned from the media reforms currently taking place across South America. The contributors present a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives on the ongoing battle for media space i
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n South America." (Publisher description)
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"En una minuciosa investigación, se realiza un recorrido a través de la comunicación de gobierno de los últimos tres mandatos presidenciales y se indaga en las particularidades de un aparato comunicacional sin precedentes en la historia de la República Argentina, en el que los gobiernos de Nés
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tor Kirchner y Cristina Fernández de Kirchner se han servido, entre otras cosas, de los medios del Estado para montar una maquinaria mediática cuyo presupuesto “supera la facturación del principal multimedios del país”." (Prólogo, página 7)
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"Der Umgang mit den Relikten nationalsozialistischer Propaganda ist insbesondere in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland heftig umstritten; dies zeigen gerade die Diskussionen um eine wissenschaftliche Edition von Hitlers 'Mein Kampf'. Die Aufsätze des Bandes beschäftigen sich mit verschiedenen Propagan
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damedien des Nationalsozialismus sowohl im Hinblick auf ihre historische Wirksamkeit als auch vor dem Hintergrund ihrer Relevanz im heutigen geschichtskulturellen Diskurs über die Vergangenheit. Neben Hitlers Schrift 'Mein Kampf' und deren Rezeption in den Nachkriegsgesellschaften der Bundesrepublik, den Niederlanden und Israel widmen sich die einzelnen Aufsätze der nationalsozialistischen Tagespresse, verschiedenen Spielfilmproduktionen, der umstrittenen Ausstellungspraxis von NS-Sachzeugnissen und den von bundesrepublikanischen TV-Dokumentationen genutzten Ausschnitten aus den NS-Wochenschauen. Der Band resümiert, welchen Ort diese Relikte des Nationalsozialismus in der europäischen Erinnerungskultur einnehmen und wie sich der schmale Grat zwischen Aufklärung und Anziehungskraft in den vergangenen 70 Jahren wandelte." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"This paper seeks to identify the extent to which the national TV and radio programme Sema Kenya (Kenya Speaks), part of BBC Media Action’s governance work in Kenya, supported accountability, peace and inclusion at the time of the 2013 Kenya election. It shows the specific value placed on Sema Ken
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ya by audiences and experts at election time [...] Sema Kenya is a weekly programme, in the Kenyan national language of Swahili, involving a panel discussion led by questions from the audience. In its first season, episodes were recorded in 14 different locations across the country. Sema Kenya is not an election programme, which allowed it to tackle local and national governance issues and present a diversity of views and dialogue at a time when the rest of the Kenyan media maintained a very narrow election focus [...] The research also shows that at a time when media coverage and debate was influenced by a peace agenda, resulting in an avoidance of sensitive issues, Sema Kenya provided the public with arguably more detailed information than other media sources." (Abstract)
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"Leading media scholars from nine Asian nations focus on three main questions: How frequently do Asians use social media to access and discuss political information? Does the use of social media increase political participation? What political, social and cultural factors influence the impact of soc
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ial media on political engagement in each nation? To answer these questions, contributors first analyze the current state of social media in their nations and then present the findings of a cross-national survey on social media use that was conducted with over 3,500 Asian respondents. By employing a comparative approach, they analyze how social media function and interact with the cultural and political systems in each country - and how they might affect political engagement among individual citizens." (Back cover)
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"From Tehran to Tahrir Square to Gezi Park-to mention only three key sites of protest made prominent in 2013-social media has been lauded as one of the key factors enabling popular uprisings and social movements. This has provided further hype for new or digital media, which were already being toute
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d as a tool for social change, liberation, and the representation of marginalized or oppressed voices. In this essay, I argue not against new media per se but against technological determinism and fetishism. I argue that the transformative or repressive potential of different media changes dramatically across different sites of research and depends on the sociopolitical realities of the region being studied, including factors such as censorship, access, and infrastructure. Drawing on my research in Afghanistan, Iran, and Tajikistan, among other neighboring countries, I show the striking differences in the degree of effectiveness and ineffectiveness of different media in bringing about social change in those respective countries as well as regionally. Comparatively speaking, I focus on television and social media's catalytic role in stirring popular uprisings and the subsequent backlash and attack on those media. I also examine the gendered dimensions and dangers of media use and activism. In the case of Afghanistan, I consider the impact of international and transnational funding of media and human rights efforts. I conclude that in order for international interventions into local social movements to succeed, international experts in development, human rights, and media must take the lead from local residents and contexts, technologically and culturally, and work collaboratively with them." (Abstract)
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"Caricaturistes - Fantassins de la démocratie est publié à l’occasion de la sortie du film-événement éponyme, co-écrit et produit par Radu Mihaileanu et réalisé par Stéphanie Valloatto, qui présente douze grands caricaturistes internationaux, reconnus pour leur courage et leur engagemen
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t en faveur de la démocratie. Radu Mihaileanu et Plantu les ont rencontrés dans leurs pays respectifs. Chacun d’eux a été invité à retracer son parcours, donner les motifs de son combat, raconter les épisodes comiques ou tragiques qui ont ponctué sa carrière. Le livre prolonge ces entretiens avec une large sélection de dessins reproduits, près de 300, et explique le processus créatif des auteurs. Grâce à ces douze lanceurs d’alerte armés seulement d’un crayon, Caricaturistes - Fantassins de la démocratie dit bien l’état du monde d’aujourd’hui et du combat pour la démocratie toujours et partout menacée." (Description de la maison d'édition)
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"Die Studie behandelt nationale Identität als eine mediale Konstruktion und verfolgt dabei drei Ziele. Es wird ein Identitätsbegriff gesucht, der die Mikro- und Makroebene der Identitätsbildung sinnvoll miteinander verbindet. Darauf aufbauend wird eine Methode entwickelt, um nationale Identität
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anhand der Medienberichterstattung zu untersuchen. Diese wird am Beispiel Bulgariens angewandt. Dabei interessiert, wie sich die bulgarische nationale Identität im Zuge des EU-Beitritts verändert." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Government communications is challenging in today’s world, which increasingly insists on transparency, accountability, and proactive disclosure, and when news is presented around the clock. At the same time, governments are being called on to communicate across agencies in a coordinated fashion o
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n complicated and specialized topics. All this is occurring at a time of low confidence in government, requiring even more openness and transparency. Ultimately governments need to understand that it is in their self-interest to communicate." (Conclusion)
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"Das Digitale führt zu einem tiefgreifenden gesellschaftlichen Wandel. Betroffen sind das politische System unserer parlamentarischen Parteiendemokratie, die Medien sowie das Lernen in seinen unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen. Diese revolutionären Umwälzungen bleiben nicht ohne Folgen. Denn: Über
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soziale Netzwerke und Blogs können große demokratische Potenziale mobilisiert werden. Die neuen Partizipationsmöglichkeiten des Web 2.0 haben aber auch Konsequenzen für Inhalte und Formate der politischen Bildung. Doch was folgt aus der täglichen Beschäftigung mit virtuellen Welten? Droht die „digitale Demenz“, wie ein Hirnforscher behauptet? Klicken wir uns das Hirn weg? Untersuchungen über digitale Spielwelten und medienpädagogische Empfehlungen runden den vorliegenden Band ab." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"This book examines the contribution of mass media to modern democracies, in comparative perspective. Part I deals with the conceptualization and implementation of a systematic framework to assess democratic media performance, both in terms of media systems and content. Part II studies media effects
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on the quality of democracy. While the notion that mass media is an integral element of modern democracies is widely accepted, there is much controversy regarding the way in which the media has gone about playing its role as a cornerstone of democracy. This study contributes to the cross-national research on democratic media performance and its effects on the quality of democracy by grounding the debate over the role of the mass media in modern democracies in solid empirical, systematic and comparative evidence. The text develops a theoretical model of media performance which it then compares across numerous democratic states leading to the identification of varying patterns of media performance. The study also reveals important links between media performance and various aspects of a well-functioning democratic regime." (Publisher description)
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"The overarching global trend with respect to media freedom, pluralism, independence and the safety of journalists over the past several years is that of disruption and change brought on by technology, and to a lesser extent, the global financial crisis. These trends have impacted traditional econom
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ic and organizational structures in the news media, legal and regulatory frameworks, journalism practices, and media consumption and production habits. Technological convergence has expanded the number of and access to media platforms as well as the potential for expression. It has enabled the emergence of citizen journalism and spaces for independent media, while at the same time fundamentally reconfiguring journalistic practices and the business of news. The broad global patterns identified in this report are accompanied by extensive unevenness within the whole. The trends summarized above, therefore, go hand in hand with substantial variations between and within regions as well as countries." (Executive summary, page 7)
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"The purpose of the study is to provide baseline data and research-driven recommendations to help inform and later evaluate the impact of ‘Action for Transparency’. Action for Transparency is a three-year, media-for-development programme, managed by Fojo and its partners and funded by the Swedis
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h International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The programme is designed to help tackle corruption and mismanagement of government funds in Zambia and Uganda by putting the power to change in the hands of citizens. Action for Transparency comprises three phases of targeted interventions designed to catalyse a culture of accountability and transparency through a ripple out effect. The three phases include: 1. Training for up to 4,000 journalists, civil society representatives and public sector employees in Zambia and Uganda on how to access, analyse and communicate information on government spending. 2. Development of ICT tools, including an online application (app) which enables users to compare the amount of government money pledged to specific schools and health clinics against their own observations of what appears to have been spent. 3. Public awareness campaign, through which those who took part in the initial training will launch and champion the new ICT tools, nationally, and raise awareness through a range of promotional activities. This study presents baseline data and findings that will inform and later help evaluate the overall3 impact of the three phases on participating journalists and civil society representatives, and their capacity to (a) access (b) analyse and (c) communicate information about government spending." (Introduction, page 4)
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