"The project "Empowering young people in Africa through media and communication" aims to build media professionals' capacities, both men and women, in the treatment of information on various aspects of migration (irregular, legal, intra-regional, female, etc.), in order to guarantee public access to
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quality information on migration, and to enable local populations, especially young men and women, to take informed decisions on migration." (The project, page 4)
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"La Evaluación de Necesidades de Información (INA) de la población migrante venezolana en el Área Metropolitana de Bucaramanga, Santander, se realizó entre noviembre de 2021 y marzo de 2022 bajo la metodología propia de Internews, en el marco del Programa Conectando Caminos por los Derechos de
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USAID. El INA se realiza con el propósito de comprender las necesidades de información de una población en riesgo de sufrir vulneraciones contra sus derechos, la forma como obtienen intercambia y utilizan la información, sus mecanismos de confianza y sus medios preferidos de comunicación e información." (Introducción)
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"A travers le projet « Autonomiser les jeunes en Afrique à travers les médias et la communication », mis en oeuvre dans 8 pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre (Cameroun, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinée-Conakry, Mali, Niger, Nigeria et Sénégal), l’UNESCO a, de septembre 2018 à septembr
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e 2022, oeuvré à l’amélioration de l’accès à l’information sur la migration afin de permettre aux jeunes de prendre des décisions éclairées sur la question. Les diverses interventions du projet ont porté notamment sur le renforcement des capacités des hommes et femmes professionnel(le)s des médias en matière de traitement de l’information, ou d’investigation journalistique, sur divers aspects de la migration, ainsi que la sensibilisation des jeunes, tant en ligne que hors ligne, sur l’importance du recours à l’information fiable sur la migration. Le projet s’est aussi attelé à analyser les pratiques et contenus des médias en rapport avec la migration afin de déceler des tendances, faiblesses et autres bonnes pratiques. Bien que le projet ait permis d’importantes réalisations en terme de production de contenus médiatiques (en français, anglais et en plus de 80 langues nationales) alliant qualité informationnelle, diversité des narratifs et représentation inclusive des voix (jeunes, femmes, hommes, etc.) de la migration, l’un des enjeux majeurs aujourd’hui est d’assurer la pérennisation de l’approche dans un contexte de montée de la désinformation relayée à travers les réseaux sociaux et aggravée par l’insuffisance de ressources dont les médias ont besoin pour assurer la production de contenus informationnels fiables et de qualité. Pour ce faire, il convient d’interroger, pour dégager des pistes d’action, les processus et les facteurs qui impactent la production médiatique, la construction des narratifs, les représentions des voix de la migration en Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre. C’est à cette fin qu’a été organisée du 6 au 8 Septembre 2022 à Niamey la Conférence régionale : « Médias et voix de la migration en Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre ». Les principales thématiques pour orienter les échanges pendant la Conférence régionale sont : « Enjeux et défis de la diversité des voix de la migration dans les médias »; « Médias et représentation de la migration et des personnes migrantes »; « Production de contenus éditoriaux sur la migration et facteurs d’influence »; « Importance de l’accès à l’information « complète » et de qualité sur la migration. » (Contexte et justification, page 4)
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"In an era marked by an unprecedented refugee crisis and ongoing, seemingly unending, borderland conflicts, foreign correspondents could play a pivotal role in helping create a global public sphere that incorporates the perspectives of those who are most effected by ongoing resource-fueled wars—an
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d least powerful. However, aspects of the historical development of foreign correspondence, as well as contemporary practices, do not allow the profession to reach this potential. Borderland takes insights from postcolonial studies, international relations, development studies, and philosophy and uses the site of the world’s largest UN peacekeeping presence, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as its case study. It examines the specific narrative styles, and news-gathering habits in these complex spaces and discovers neocolonial practices stymying ethical praxis. Brought to life through the autoethnographic descriptions and analysis of ‘behind the scenes’ events, Borderland seeks to introduce new, decolonized reporting techniques. And it argues for reporting that explores how local realities are impacted by global discourses. In a digital world where people access news direct from conflict zones, the role and value of foreign correspondents must be questioned. Borderland answers that question by proposing decolonized foundations from which foreign correspondents can be the storytellers needed in today’s global polity." (Publisher description)
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"This manual brings together principles of conflict-sensitive journalism with practical strategies for reporting on migration. It explores how media workers can play a role in protecting and promoting rights of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. It provides guidelines that both editors and their
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journalists can follow as they strategise around ways of reporting on the migration issue, what to do during conflict and how to cover the post-conflict period. This handbook was developed for the Southern African media after an eight-month project that explored the roles journalists can play in reporting on migration in the region. It is based on presentations delivered at a series of workshops organised by Internews in South Africa on the theme ‘Changing the Narrative on Migrants in Southern Africa’. The workshops included a combination of presentations from subject specialists, panel discussions and practical activities facilitated by academics and practitioners, who combined the fundamental theories in their field and rich experiences of their practice." (Foreword)
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"To what extent can critical media literacy education acknowledge and strengthen young migrants’ resilience? In this article, we evaluate the Netherlands-based participatory action research project Critical media literacy through making media. Gathered empirical data include participant observatio
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n in two classes, in-depth interviews with 3 teachers and 19 students, as well an 18-minute film reflection. The focus is on how understandings, procedures and affectivity shape young migrants’ mindful media literacy practice. In order to develop media literacy education which works for all, we need to move away from a one-size-fits-all model based on the norms of Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic societies. Drawing on our experiences of co-creating, practicing and evaluating a curriculum with teachers and migrant students, we demonstrate the urgency of situated, reflexive, flexible, culture and context-aware critical media literacy education." (Abstract)
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"This report is the product of an effort to understand the scale and scope of “transnational repression,” in which governments reach across national borders to silence dissent among their diaspora and exile communities. Freedom House assembled cases of transnational repression from public source
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s, including UN and government documents, human rights reports, and credible news outlets, in order to generate a detailed picture of this global phenomenon.
The project compiled a catalogue of 608 direct, physical cases of transnational repression since 2014. In each incident, the origin country’s authorities physically reached an individual living abroad, whether through detention, assault, physical intimidation, unlawful deportation, rendition, or suspected assassination. The list includes 31 origin states conducting physical transnational repression in 79 host countries. This total is certainly only partial; hundreds of other physical cases that lacked sufficient documentation, especially detentions and unlawful deportations, are not included in Freedom House’s count. Nevertheless, even this conservative enumeration shows that what often appear to be isolated incidents—an assassination here, a kidnapping there—in fact represent a pernicious and pervasive threat to human freedom and security.
Moreover, physical transnational repression is only the tip of the iceberg. The consequences of each physical attack ripple out into a larger community. And beyond the physical cases compiled for this report are the much more widespread tactics of “everyday” transnational repression: digital threats, spyware, and coercion by proxy, such as the imprisonment of exiles’ families. For millions of people around the world, transnational repression has become not an exceptional tool, but a common and institutionalized practice used by dozens of regimes to control people outside their borders." (Executive summary)
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"The book begins by interrogating globalization as a critical and intensely contested concept, and proceeds to explore how digital media have influenced a complex set of globalization processes in broad international and comparative contexts. Contributors address a number of key political, economic,
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cultural, and technological issues relative to globalization, such as free trade agreements, cultural imperialism, heterogeneity, the increasing dominance of American digital media in global cultural markets, the powers of the nation-state, and global corporate media ownership. By extension, readers are introduced to core theoretical concepts and practical ideas, which they can apply to a broad range of contemporary media policies, practices, movements, and technologies in different geographic regions of the world-North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. (Publisher description)
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"En Barranquilla y Soledad se destacan tres categorías de necesidades de información entre la población migrante y retornada: información legal/asuntos migratorios (76%); medios de subsistencia (63%, incluye información laboral); necesidades primarias (55%, esta categoría incluye los temas de
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salud). Las redes sociales son los canales más usados por su bajo costo. La radio, la gran derrotada de los medios tradicionales. Los migrantes prefieren la atención presencial en las entidades, pero no saben cómo acceder a ellas." (Principales hallazgos, página 3)
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"When DW Akademie started a new media development project on Refugees and Migration in Africa in 2019, we knew our objective: We wanted to find ways to improve access to information for people affected by displacement, to provide channels for these people to express themselves and to improve the dia
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logue between displaced communities and host communities. However, we didn’t know how people in and around our project areas in Kakuma (Kenya), Gambella (Ethiopia), Kagera, and Kigoma (Tanzania) communicated. In the absence of studies specific to these three locations in East Africa, we conducted information needs assessments. We had many questions: What languages do people speak in these communities? Do they have access to broadcast, print and digital media? Which sources of information do they trust? What kind of information is lacking? To find out, we commissioned a Kenyan research consultancy company to do a quantitative survey of more than 1,700 people in and around refugee camps, organize 32 focus group discussions and interview 25 key informants. We found that information seeking and communication habits were radically different in the three locations. While 54 percent of refugee respondents in the Tanzania study listened to radio, the rate was much lower among refugee respondents in Kenya (25 percent) and Ethiopia (20 percent), where local or international organizations and other people were the most frequently used sources of information. Internet usage varied between 9 percent and 39 percent and tends to be higher in urban areas and among host communities than in rural areas and among refugees." (Foreword)
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"Using the example of Iraqi refugees in Jordan's capital of Amman, this book describes how information and communication technologies (ICTs) play out in the everyday experiences of urban refugees, geographically located in the Global South, and shows how interactions between online and offline space
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s are key for making sense of the humanitarian regime, for carving out a sense of home and for sustaining hope. This book paints a humanizing account of making do amid legal marginalization, prolonged insecurity, and the proliferation of digital technologies." (Publisher description)
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"The common service for community engagement and accountability, through its consortium members BBC Media Action and Translators Without Borders (TWB), aims to help agencies and sectors working to support Rohingya refugees and local host communities living in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh to achieve thi
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s by providing a range of specialist, technical support services. Movement restrictions implemented since the beginning of the pandemic meant that humanitarian programmes were reduced to essential services only in the Rohingya camps, community engagement efforts were restricted, and many initiatives planned for the host community were cancelled. The common service adapted its activities in a number of ways: carrying out online training sessions with practitioners; conducting telephone research with communities; shifting the focus of communication products to meet communities’ information needs around Covid-19; and working with partners to use communication channels which would ensure information was still able to reach communities [...] This evaluation has shown that practitioners feel the common service played a critical role in getting important information to Rohingya communities during this time. It did this through:
- Helping partner agencies understand Rohingya communitiesf perspectives and concerns, and how to communicate with them, based on up to date research and a cultural understanding developed over time (using What Matters? as a vehicle for sharing this information, as well as providing practitioner training and bespoke advice).
- Creating and disseminating audio and visual content which is easy for Rohingya people to understand, and helps volunteers and field staff communicate effectively with them.
- Working in partnership with humanitarian agencies to adapt communication strategies and make sure information was reaching people despite Covid-19 restrictions, for example adapting audio programmes to be played through mosque loudspeaker systems; training Imams to communicate on Covid-19; ensuring content is played at food distribution points and other essential services; and equipping community health workers with simple and effective communication materials about Covid-19 to use in door to door visits." (Executive summary)
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"Using the Syrian war as a case study, this article examines the theoretical frameworks of media dependency and selective exposure during the war. Through a survey of 2,192 Syrians living in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey during the conflict, the study examined the media needs and trust of four
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groups of Syrians: non-displaced, internally displaced, externally displaced living inside refugee camps, and externally displaced living outside refugee camps. The study aimed to understand how these four groups trust and rely on different media sources to meet their information needs." (Abstract)
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"Top-down approaches have limited potential to reach long-lasting and innovative solutions for the settlement of refugees. There is a growing consensus among scholars and policy-makers that governments alone cannot solve complex societal problems, and that participation of non-government actors, sta
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keholders, media companies, civil society, and the refugee themselves is crucial to achieving more positive outcomes in the long-run. In this special issue, we seek to contribute to this growing research field by exploring the issue in a variety of contexts, using different methodologies and with a focus on the inherent linkages between media, society and political authorities in the management of migration and integration processes. Communication Research, at its diverse layers and from a wide array of topics and methods, is expected to contribute to the analysis of social, political, demographic and cultural changes, so tackling the ongoing refugee crisis in the Mediterranean area is an opportunity to connect theoretical and methodological advances with a relevant topic which certainly requires practical, technical and applied contributions. In doing so, screening the online activity turns into an additional sphere to be kept under attention, as a new space for social discussion and action. The origin of the special issue entitled ‘From fragmentation to integration: Addressing the role of communication in refugee crises and settlement processes’ is a Pre-Conference organized by the guest editors as part of the 68th Annual International Communication Association Conference held in Prague, in 2018. The main purpose of this pre-conference was to open a space for dialogue regarding the way refugee crises and integration processes are tackled by political, social and media actors, aiming to set some guidelines to avoid those mistakes previously noticed and leading to a more constructive and conscious coverage and social action. This event brought together researchers, policy advisors, NGO representatives and refugee migrants to discuss the intersections between refugee migration and communication processes. A selection of original articles that were presented at this event form the basis of this special issue. The main themes addressed in the articles of the current special issue are: (1) inclusive digital forms of literacy and activism for/with refugees; (2) local responsesto refugee crises, (re)settlement and their communication strategies; and (3) media representation of humanitarian crises and refugees in their receiving countries." (Page 4)
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"This editorial introduces the theoretical framework, methodological approach and comparative themes of the Special Issue on 'Somali Diaspora and Digital Practices: Gender, Media and Belonging'. The Special Issue proposes to connect the notion of the Somali diaspora to recent advancements in communi
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cation technologies, exploring the ways in which the Somali, specifically Somali women, keep in touch locally, nationally and transnationally through different forms of everyday digital practices. In particular for Somali migrant women, the use of digital media is highly embedded in their gendered roles as mothers, daughters, reunited wives, students and professionals, who keep the ties with the homeland and diaspora communities in diversified as well as collective ways. The close analysis of empirical findings across different sites in Europe shows multi-sitedness, generation and urban belonging as central features. These issues emerge as findings from a large ethnographic fieldwork carried out across European cities (Amsterdam, London and Rome).1 Ethnography offers an essential contribution in understanding social media practices as situated in specific social, geographical and political contexts, taking into account the intersectional dynamic of factors including gender, race, ethnicity, generation, religion and sexual orientation." (Abstract)
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"Drawing upon ethnographic investigation, this article analyses the digital media practices of second-generation British Somali women who live in London. It addresses the dynamic relationships between digital media and diasporic identity formation by focusing on how second-generation women articulat
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e their diasporic urban and transnational identities via youth-oriented online cultural spaces. It demonstrates that they use the internet and social media platforms to position themselves as urban dwellers in London and members of the global Somali diaspora at the same time. In this context, the author proposes that these young women’s digital practices create a translocal nexus that intertwines urban and transnational social fields in line with their gendered and generation-specific experiences and aspirations. Through this translocal nexus, these young women produce multilayered identities and negotiate their multiple belongings with a youth-oriented perspective and style in a digitally interconnected world." (Abstract)
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"With the rise of digital tools used for media entrepreneurship, media outlets staffed by only one or two individuals and targeted to niche and super-niche audiences are developing across a wide range of platforms. Minority communities such as immigrants and refugees have long been pioneers in this
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space, operating ethnic media outlets with limited staff and funding to produce content that is relevant and accessible to their specific community. Micro Media Industries explores the specific case of Hmong American media, showing how an extremely small population can maintain a robust and thriving media ecology in spite of resource limitations and an inability to scale up. Based on six years of fieldwork in Hmong American communities in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and California, it analyzes the unique opportunities and challenges facing Hmong newspapers, radio, television, podcasts, YouTube, social media, and other emerging platforms. It argues that micro media industries, rather than being dismissed or trivialized, ought to be held up as models of media innovation that can counter the increasing power of mainstream media." (Publisher description)
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"In this comparative article we offer a critical overview of the articles included in this Special Issue, paying attention to common patterns and distinctive features. We do so by exploring the ways in which Somali migrant women living across different cities in Europe engage in everyday digital pra
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ctices. The central question that underlines this comparative investigation is how transnational multisitedness, different generations and urban localities play a role in contemporary Somali diasporic formations and take shape through digital media. We consider the multi-sitedness of Somali diaspora in light of the emergent transnational potentials of communications technologies, while keeping in focus gendered dynamics and intersectional aspects; how generation plays into processes of diasporic cultural change and continuity; and how spatial relationships of belonging are shaped by the communicative spaces that mobile devices and software platforms afford. Our findings show that to better understand the role of digitally mediated experiences, we need to focus on everyday media environments within contexts of international mobility across continental borders marked by postcolonial traces." (Abstract)
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"In this article, I inquire into the relationship between digital media practices, community making and forms of social stratification among Somali women living in Rome. Drawing on a critical approach to the study of 'digital diaspora', I use theories of 'field' and 'capitals' as analytical tools to
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examine the impact of different positionings assumed by Somali women within the local community on forms of diasporic networking through digital means. The relationality between offline and online reality is exposed, unpacking women's positioning and roles through an intersectional approach sensitive to age, class, literacy and gender dynamics. This reveals internal fractures or forms of solidarity shaping the landscape of the local field of Somali digital diaspora." (Abstract)
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