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Mind the Gap! 18th fome Symposium 2024. A critical review of common practices and strategies in International Media Assistance

Michel Leroy, Anja Wollenberg, Sofie Jannusch (eds.)

Forum Medien und Entwicklung (fome) (2025), 35 pp.

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Emerging Media Structures, Media Policy and the Challenge of Disinformation in Post-Assad Syria

Asiem El Difraoui, Carola Richter, Anja Wollenberg

Berlin: Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT) (2025), 54 pp.

"This study analyses the media ecosystem in post-Assad Syria, focusing on the proliferation of disinformation, ethno-sectarian hate speech and Foreign Interference (FIMI). It covers the period from December 2024 to December 2025, one year after the collapse of the Assad regime. Besides disinformati ... on, the research examines emerging media structures, media policies of the transitional government, and the professional conditions of journalists across different regions of Syria. The study is based on field research conducted in Damascus in September and November 2025, semi-structured interviews with approximately 60 stakeholders —including government officials, journalists, and media experts from eight Syrian cities— in-depth desk research, social media analysis and a focus group discussion with Syrian media professionals held during a workshop in Amman [...] Within this broader context, the Syrian media landscape is undergoing significant transformation. State media institutions, such as the television channel Al-Ikhbariya, the news agency SANA, and the newspaper Al-Thawra, have adjusted their editorial lines and now largely support the new government, with limited critical coverage. The state media sector employs an estimated 7,000–8,000 staff, but displays pronounced salary inequalities between long-standing employees and newly appointed executives from Idlib. Media outlets funded by Qatar, including Syria Now and Syria TV, have gained prominence due to their close alignment with the new authorities. While some exile media outlets have begun to return to Syria, local and independent media organisations continue to operate under precarious financial conditions. In the Kurdish-controlled northeast of Syria (AANES), an autonomous media system persists, though it has been severely affected by the withdrawal of U.S. funding. Disinformation represents a central challenge in the Syrian media and information environment, particularly given the dominance of social media and messaging platforms as primary news sources. The study identifies multiple actors involved in coordinated disinformation campaigns. These include remnants of the former regime (Foloul), who seek to destabilise the transitional authorities as well as foreign actors—for example Russia, Iran, Israel and Turkey—that pursue their own geopolitical interests partly through coordinated campaigns; and ISIS propaganda, which routinely calls for attacks on Alawites, Shias, Christians, Druze, Kurds, and other groups it casts as enemies. Most of the various ethno-religious communities are both targets and producers of disinformation. Competing narratives centred on victimhood, revenge, and revisionism have contributed to cycles of mistrust and fear. Disinformation, hate speech, and propaganda are primarily disseminated via Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram. Based on these findings, the study proposes five policy recommendations: (1) the establishment of a Syria Media and Disinformation Observatory to monitor and analyse disinformation trends; (2) the development of a context-sensitive media literacy toolkit; (3) sustained international funding for public interest media; (4) cross-regional professional networking and training programmes for Syrian journalists; and (5) youth-focused initiatives aimed at promoting social cohesion. The study concludes that the future development of a pluralistic media system in Syria will depend largely on internal power dynamics within the ruling elites, particularly the balance between ideological hardliners and more pragmatic actors." (Executive summary) more

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“Priorities Were Chosen by Donors”: A Critical Review of International Media Assistance in Afghanistan (2001-2021)

Hazrat Bahar, Anja Wollenberg

Global Media Journal - German Edition, volume 15, issue 1 (2025), 23 pp.

"This study presents findings from research on international media development strategies and practices in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2021. Based on qualitative interviews with 35 Afghan journalists in Afghanistan, the research offers a retroactive assessment of key patterns in International Media ... more

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Narrative Framing of EU Accession on Most Popular Moldovan Online Platforms: A Discourse Analysis

Anja Wollenberg, Marian Vogel

Berlin: Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT) (2024), 18 pp.

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The Role of Media in Social Cohesion and Conflict Transformation in Ninewa

Aida Al-Kaisy, Pakshan Bibani, Anja Wollenberg et al.

Berlin: Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT) (2024), 52 pp.

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Local media in transitional fragile states: The cases of Iraq and Libya

Carola Richter, Anja Wollenberg, Reda Fhelboom

Journal of Alternative and Community Media, volume 7, issue 2 (2023), pp. 137-155

"Local media that cater to their local communities are still rare in Arab countries due to government control and centralization of media production. In some transitional states, however, we observe a mushrooming of new local small media initiatives after regulation modes have changed. Yet, these me ... more

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Modes of Perception and Issues of Trust in the Media

Anja Wollenberg, Katharina Nötzold (eds.)

Global Media Journal - German Edition, volume 12, issue 2 (2022), various pag.

"What are root causes of trust and distrust in media in different political contexts? How is media use shifted from one source to another with the change of political culture? What factors shape media perception across cultures and across political regimes? Are there commonalities or are they differ ... more

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Political Parallelism in Transitional Media Systems: The Case of Libya

Anja Wollenberg, Carola Richter

International Journal of Communication, volume 14 (2020), pp. 1173-1193

"Among the media systems in transitional countries of the Middle East and North Africa, political parallelism has become a widespread feature that has both promoted and undermined the transition to democracy. Political parallelism refers to structural ties between media organizations and political a ... more

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Fragmented, Polarised and Yet Unified: How Local Media Reflect and Transform Ethno-Sectarian Politics in Iraq

Anja Wollenberg

Berlin: Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT) (2020), 27 pp.

"[...] MiCT conducted a comparative content analysis on coverage of two issues of national concern on eight different Iraqi TV channels in August 2019: (1) the shelling of a PMF-held position near the Balad Air Base in Salahuddin and (2) the lifting of parliamentary immunity of select Members of Par ... more

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Medien und Demokratie im Irak: Öffentlichkeit im Kontext von Transformation und bewaffneten Konflikten

Anja Wollenberg

Wiesbaden: Springer VS (2019), x, 446 pp.

"Die vorliegende Studie untersucht, welche Rolle Massenmedien in der politischen Transformation im Irak nach 2003 gespielt haben. Dabei diskutiert Anja Wollenberg zunächst, ob und in welcher Weise politischer Wettbewerb, Partizipation, Kritik und Kontrolle von irakischen Rundfunkmedien ermöglicht ... more

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Iraqi TV Debates in the Run Up to Elections in May 2018: A Discourse Analysis by MICT

Anja Wollenberg

Berlin: Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT) (2018), 34 pp.

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Critical Thinking Meets Selective Exposure: An Examination of the Media Literacy of Iraqi Media Users

Anke Fiedler, Anja Wollenberg

Berlin: Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT) (2017), 25 pp.

"This study shows that the use of media in Iraq is only partly based on ethno-sectarian patterns, and that the majority of media users are not naively susceptible to the views of individual media offerings. There are broadcasters that explicitly appeal to ethno-denominational target groups, and ther ... more

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Rebels with a Pen: Observations on the Newly Emerging Media Landscape in Libya

Anja Wollenberg, Jason Pack

Journal of North African Studies, volume 18, issue 2 (2013), pp. 191-210

"This article explores the emergence of a new landscape of local print and broadcast media in revolutionary Libya that is both the result of the dramatic changes that the country has undergone and one of their facilitators. This article analyses the political impact of these new forms of media durin ... more

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The Sudanese Press After Separation: Contested Identities of Journalism

Anke Fiedler, Anja Wollenberg, Magdi El Gizouli, Roman Deckert

Berlin: Media in Cooperation and Transition (MiCT) (2012), 47 pp.

"This volume seeks to impart a deeper understanding of the political nature of the Sudanese press. Through observation, research and analysis, it also conveys a multifaceted impression of Sudanese journalists’ working conditions. It tries to paint an authentic and differentiated picture of their s ... more

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Radio Baba Gurgur: A Field-Report on Community Broadcasting in Kirkuk (March 2007)

Naser Hasan

In: Shahadat: Witnessing Iraq's Transformation After 2003

Anja Wollenberg, Klaas Glenewinkel (eds.)

Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) (2007), pp. 86-91

"The work force at Radio Baba Gurgur includes a mixture of four Iraqi ethnicities: Kurds, Turkmens, Arabs and Chaldean-Assyrians. Because our programs aim at targeting all listeners in our multifaceted city, we broadcast in all of Kirkuk’s different languages. Our policy is not to increase the lin ... more