"Why, in the current era of globalization, does nationality remain an important dimension of personal and collective identities? In Materializing the Nation, Robert J. Foster argues that the contested process of nation making in Papua New Guinea unfolds not only through organized politics but also t
...
hrough mundane engagements with commodities and mass media. He offers a thoughtful critique of recent approaches to nationalism and consumption and an ethnographic perspective on constructs of the nation found in official policy documents, letters to the editor, school textbooks, song lyrics, advertisements, and other materials. This volume will appeal to readers interested in the links among nationalism, consumption, and media, in Melanesia and elsewhere." (Publisher description)
more
"Bulgarien gehört zu den Transformationsländern Osteuropas, deren Entwicklung bislang vergleichsweise wenig Beachtung gefunden hat. Das vorliegende Buch zeichnet den Transformationsprozess Bulgariens seit 1989 nach, die politische und wirtschaftliche Entwicklung und besonders die neu entstandene M
...
edienlandschaft. Zudem wird ein theoretischer Zugang zum Zusammenhang von Medien und Transformation eröffnet." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
more
Este libro es el resultado de una investigación académica realizada con el auspicio de la Fundación Konrad Adenauer, que contribuye a desnudar la mitología mediática acerca de la transparencia del periodismo y de su mero papel testimonial. Por el contrario, el estudio sobre el desempeño period
...
ístico en la crisis argentina de fines de diciembre de 2001 no hace sino constatar los modos por medio de los cuales el observador termina influyendo en el proceso observado.
more
"Even if markets properly provide for people’s desires or preferences for most products, Part I of this book shows that unique aspects of media products systematically cause markets to fail in respect to them. Part II shows that four prominent, but different, theories of democracy lead to differen
...
t conceptions of good journalistic practice, good media policy, and proper constitutional principles. While implicitly favoring a theory of “complex democracy,” Part II makes it clear that the choice among democratic theories is crucial for understanding what should be meant by a free press. Part III explores one currently controversial issue – international free trade in media products. Contrary to the American negotiating position relating to media products, both economic and democratic theory justify deviations from free trade." (Publisher description)
more
"La mondialisation des médias est souvent perçue comme une menace pour la souveraineté ou l'identité nationale des pays du Tiers Monde. Elle est en revanche rarement envisagée sous l'angle de ses effets potentiellement subversifs dans ceux de ces pays où le pouvoir, soucieux de son monopole po
...
litique, s'efforce d'exercer un strict contrôle sur les moyens d'expression locaux. Approcher l'action des médias transfrontières à partir, aussi, de leur aptitude à contourner les mesures de censure, tel est l'objectif de cet ouvrage collectif. Les huit auteurs, de sept nationalités différentes, décentrent donc la perspective. Ils mettent en lumière les voies largement clandestines par lesquelles les flux de communication transnationaux plus ou moins indésirables s'infiltrent dans les sociétés, les usages qu'en font les populations, les défis sociopolitiques dont ces flux sont porteurs pour l'État ou d'autres formes d'autorité. Ne sont pas seulement étudiés les enjeux attachés à la circulation d'informations prohibées, mais également ceux liés à la diffusion de programmes de divertissement à la grande force d'évocation. Après avoir, en introduction, retracé les controverses théoriques suscitées par le thème du Tiers Monde face à l'internationalisation des médias, les chapitres de ce livre analysent tour à tour l'impact des radios et télévisions internationales en Afrique sub-saharienne ; le développement de la vidéo et des paraboles en Iran ; l'immixtion des chaînes étrangères en Tunisie et en Algérie ; les stratégies de la radiodiffusion gouvernementale américaine vers Cuba ; la présence des médias sud-coréens en Corée du Nord et l'apparition d'Internet en Chine." (Description de la maison d'édition)
more
"This report analyzes the ways in which civil society and the media contribute to establish more accountable governments in the region. The report is organized around two main sections: section I provides a general overview of the trends and changes that affected the development of Latin American so
...
cieties and the media in the past decade. More specifically, it will concentrate on the appearance of two actors that greatly contributed to shape the agenda of accountability in the region: a regional network of civic associations and movements organized around demands for due process and a new form of investigative or watchdog journalism. The section describes both the types of actors involved in a politics of accountability and the main issues they have addressed. Section II concentrates on the workings and achievements of this politics of accountability. It analyzes the methods and strategies employed to make public officials accountable and on some of their accomplishments." (Page 1)
more
Seit Mitte der neunziger Jahre wurde der senegalesische Medienmarkt durch die Aufgabe des staatlichen Informationsmonopols liberalisiert. Es wurde nicht nur eine Vielzahl von privaten Radiostationen und Tageszeitungen eingeführt, sondern auch das Fernsehangebot erweitert. Der Autor führt diese Lib
...
eralisierung auf die Globalisierung und den damit verbundenen Druck zu Good Governance zurück, denn die Pluralisierung des Medienangebots habe es der alten Regierung unter Abdou Diouf ermöglicht, ihre Demokratiefortschritte gegenüber der internationalen Staatengemeinschaft nachzuweisen. Wie sich bei der Präsidentschaftswahl 2000 herausstellte, hatten die liberalisierten Medien einen entscheidenden Anteil am Sieg des Oppositionsbündnisses unter Abdoulaye Wade. Dies wertet der Autor als einen Hinweis dafür, "dass die Globalisierung nicht als Divergenz-, sondern als Konvergenzfaktor des internationalen Systems fungiert."
more
"In Indonesia press freedom is still just a few years old. When president Suharto fell in May 1998 the democratisation process begun. Hundreds of new newspapers and magazines were established, but many of them had difficulties to survive for economic reasons. The well-established daily newspapers an
...
d magazines seem to be the ones who will survive. One of the newly established magazines is Pantau. The name means to monitor in English and the purpose of this monthly media magazine is to elevate the standard of journalism in Indonesia and to institutionalise media freedom. Its target group is journalists, public relation officials and advertising executives. The whole magazine is written in the local language Bahasa Indonesia. During August to October 2001 I was in Jakarta to do a Minor Field Study about Pantau and media’s role in the democratisation process of Indonesia. Together with Maria Nilson I interviewed the journalists of Pantau and the readers of the magazine. I focused on the content, while she focused on the layout of the magazine. The aim of my study is to understand the role of the media in a democratisation process, drawing conclusions from the experience of Pantau. Can Pantau start a debate which indirectly strengthens democracy and press freedom? Does it reach the target group and is this the right group which can be influential in the democratisation process?" (Abstract)
more
"The book examines the reform of the communication sector in South Africa as a detailed and extended case study in political transformation - the transition from apartheid to democracy. The reform of broadcasting, telecommunications, the state information agency and the print press from apartheid-al
...
igned apparatuses to accountable democratic institutions took place via a complex political process in which civil society activism, embodying a post-social democratic ideal, largely won out over the powerful forces of formal market capitalism and older models of state control. In the cautious acceptance of the market, the civil society organizations sought to use the dynamism of the market while thwarting its inevitable inequities. Forged in the crucible of a difficult transition to democracy, communication reform in South Africa was navigated between the National Party's embrace of the market and the African National Congress leadership's default statist orientation." (Publisher description)
more