"The majority of people now live under illiberal regimes or some form of autocracy as a consequence of democratic declines occurring globally since 2010. Understanding the driving forces behind this historic setback to democratic progress will be essential for turning the tide. An analysis of media
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indicators in the Varieties of Democracy Institute’s global index illustrates a common pattern in countries experiencing democratic setbacks, with important implications for action. Time and again, would-be autocrats seek to methodically dismantle press freedom and independence as an early step towards consolidating power. Analysis of this trend bolsters a growing international effort to support and safeguard independent media as a strategy for revitalizing democratic progress." (Key findings)
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"The agenda for transition after the demise of communism in the Western Balkans made the conversion of state radio and television into public service broadcasters a priority, converting mouthpieces of the regime into public forums in which various interests and standpoints could be shared and delibe
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rated. There is general agreement that this endeavor has not been a success. Formally, the countries adopted the legal and institutional requirements of public service media according to European standards. The ruling political elites, however, retained their control over the public media by various means. Can this trend be reversed? Instead of being marginalized or totally manipulated, can public service media become vehicles of genuine democratization? A comparison of public service media in seven countries (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) addresses these important questions." (Publisher description)
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"This report provides an overview of the innovation capacity of the Asia-Pacific region through ICT-centric innovation activity and offers an insight to how good practice can strengthen Member State capacity to integrate ICT innovation into development agendas.
Although the Asia-Pacific region has a
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strong tradition of innovation, there is room for improvement, for example, some countries have healthy innovative ecosystems that perform well in some elements of the ecosystem but need further support in others to develop a thriving digital innovation ecosystem.
This report uses international indices to monitor the current state of innovation ecosystem performance, aspects of growth, gaps, and discrepancies. The information from these major indices has been analysed to create an ICT-centric innovation performance monitor that provides a comparative assessment of the innovation ecosystems both within and among countries in the region and a threshold for action by decision-makers.
There are many good practices in the region. Each practice presented in this report has been assessed according to three engines of growth (innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology) and the current state of the seven enablers of digital transformation. In addition, the ecosystem maturity map helps to assess stakeholder levels of engagement, for example where the first stage of the journey for entrepreneurs is entrepreneurial interest, and for the public sector it is having a vision and developing a strategy. These monitoring tools enable stakeholders to visualize the maturity of the ICT-centric innovation ecosystem and identify practices to keep, those that must be improved, and those to be replaced." (Introduction)
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"[...] el libro propone un diálogo a partir de tres categorías, a saber: 1) las limitaciones al acceso a la información y sus impactos en la vida política; 2) el régimen jurídico de la comunicación; y 3) los medios de comunicación y la representación política. Esta perspectiva, nos ayuda a
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fundamentar un estado de la discusión al tiempo en que vislumbramos una reflexión posicional que contribuye al análisis comparado del caso latinoamericano." (Introducción, página 15)
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"This report provides an overview of the comparative innovation capacity of the Arab States region through ICT-centric innovation policy monitors, and an insight into how good practices can strengthen capacity to mainstream ICT innovation into national development agendas. It showcases a number of c
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ountries that display exemplary innovation practices and occupy leading positions in all three ecosystems (entrepreneurial, innovation and technology ecosystems), and looks at other countries of the region which lag behind in all three ecosystems as well as in terms of hard and soft infrastructure. To understand this divergence, the report introduces two ICT-centric innovation policy monitors: the 'Three Engines of Growth' monitor and the 'Digital Transformation Enablers' monitor.
The report notes that there are many good practices in the region fuelling the entrepreneurial journey. Each practice presented in the report was analysed on the basis of its impact, in a third ICT-centric innovation policy monitor, the 'Ecosystem Maturity Map' monitor. Each stakeholder group, at each of the five stages of the entrepreneurial journey, is assessed by its level of engagement in order to gauge the maturity of the ecosystem. For example, the first stage of the journey for entrepreneurs is 'entrepreneurial interest', while for the public sector it is having a 'vision and strategy'. This monitor enables stakeholders to visualize the maturity of the ICT-centric innovation ecosystem and identify which practices to keep, which must be improved and which to replace." (Introduction)
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"This report provides an overview of trends and developments in ICT infrastructure, access and use in the Americas region, which includes 35 Member States and is home to a population of 1 billion people. The report highlights changes in ICT adoption since the last World Telecommunication Development
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Conference in 2017 (WTDC-17) and during the COVID-19 pandemic, tracks the evolution of regulation, and reviews progress and challenges in implementing the ITU regional initiatives for the Americas region. Its objective is to serve as a reference for the ITU membership in reviewing progress and identifying ICT development priorities in the Americas region." (Abstract)
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"This report provides an overview of the comparative innovation capacity of the Americas region through ICT-centric innovation policy monitors and insights on how good practice can strengthen capacity to integrate ICT innovation into national development agendas.
Overall, the Americas region has sho
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wn divergent scenarios in reaching the full potential of the innovation ecosystem. Few countries have a traditionally strong innovation system, and most performances in one or all three engines of growth must improve for the region to become a real actor on the global stage. Canada and the United States of America perform well, while emerging economies such as Argentina, Brazil or Mexico are struggling on the technological, entrepreneurial or innovation ecosystems, and others such as Haiti need further support to turn the country into a thriving digital innovation ecosystem.
To understand these discrepancies, the report introduces two ICT centric innovation monitors: the three engines of growth monitor and the digital transformation enablers monitor.
The report notes that there are many good practices in the region fuelling the entrepreneurial journey. Each practice presented in the report was analysed based on its impact in a third ICT-centric innovation policy monitor, the ecosystem maturity map monitor. Each stakeholder group, at each of the five stages of the entrepreneurial journey, is assessed by its level of engagement to assess the maturity of the ecosystem. For example, the first stage of the journey for entrepreneurs is entrepreneurial interest, while for the public sector, it is having a vision and strategy. The monitor enables stakeholders to visualize the maturity of the ICT-centric innovation ecosystem and identify which practices to keep, which must be improved and which to replace." (Introduction)
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"Comparing Gender and Media Equality across the Globe addresses longstanding questions in the study of gender equality in media content and media organisations across countries and over time. Drawing on data from the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), European Institute for Gender Equality (EIG
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E), and the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), this book offers new insights into the qualities, causes, and consequences of gender equality in and through the news media. The book contributes to the critical discussion on gender and journalism, showing that the news media do not reflect reality when it comes to the actual progress of gender equality in societies across the globe. The study aims to inspire future research by making existing data on gender and news media equality available to the global research community. The book presents the GEM-dataset, comprising hundreds of indicators on media and gender equality, and the GEM-Index, an easy to use measure to keep track of key aspects of gender equality in television, radio, newspapers, and online." (Publisher description)
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"Three notable trends punctuated an especially dismal year for internet freedom. First, political leaders used the pandemic as a pretext to limit access to information. Authorities often blocked independent news sites and arrested individuals on spurious charges of spreading false news. In many plac
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es, it was state officials and their zealous supporters who actually disseminated false and misleading information with the aim of drowning out accurate content, distracting the public from ineffective policy responses, and scapegoating certain ethnic and religious communities. Some states shut off connectivity for marginalized groups, extending and deepening existing digital divides. In short, governments around the world failed in their obligation to promote a vibrant and reliable online public sphere. Second, authorities cited COVID-19 to justify expanded surveillance powers and the deployment of new technologies that were once seen as too intrusive. The public health crisis has created an opening for the digitization, collection, and analysis of people’s most intimate data without adequate protections against abuses. The third trend has been the transformation of a slow-motion “splintering” of the internet into an all-out race toward “cyber sovereignty,” with each government imposing its own internet regulations in a manner that restricts the flow of information across national borders." (Pages 1-2)
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"This book explores the potential of the Internet for enabling new and flexible political participation modes. It meticulously illustrates how the Internet is responsible for citizens' participation practices from being general, high-threshold, temporally constricted, and dependent on physical prese
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nce to being topic-centered, low-threshold, temporally discontinuous, and independent from physical presence. With its ethnographic focus on Icelandic and German online participation tools Betri Reykjavík and LiquidFriesland, the book offers plentiful advice for citizens, programmers, politicians, and administrations alike on how to get the most out of online participation formats." (Publisher description)
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"Placed at the crossroads of diverse disciplines – medical sciences, information and communication science, sociology of food, agricultural sciences – this book focuses on media, food and nutrition. Contributors to this volume come from different countries including the United Kingdom, Germany,
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Mexico and Romania, and consider comparatively their native cultures. The book answers several questions: How are food and nutrition made visible and publicized? What is the role of media in relation to food and nutrition? What are the strategies of discourses surrounding food and nutrition within new public spaces?" (Publisher description)
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"Our analysis shows that the mediated debates about migration in Western and Eastern Europe are more differentiated, and less stereotypical, as often assumed. Indeed, coverage in media outlets in Western Europe feature more positive aspects and speakers compared to the outlets in Central and Eastern
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Europe. However, even in Hungary and Poland – two countries marked by very problematic developments in media policy – the outlets involved in the study offer a complex picture. The migration-critical stance of outlets closely related to the government is contrasted by the complex coverage of independent outlets. The case of Magyar Hírlap may serve as an illustrative example how outlets close to the government – in this case the massive anti-migration campaign of Prime Minister Orbán – ignore professional norms. Indeed, Magyar Hírlap did not include a single migrant or refugee in the total of 301 articles it has published in the study period. The study identifies professional challenges for outlets in other countries. Similar to previous studies, this study shows that migrants and refugees are mostly covered as a large, anonymous group. Rarely are they identified as individuals, and rarely do they speak for themselves. But our study also shows that the majority of articles only vaguely at best indicate context and origin countries of migrants. Neither do they make a clear distinction between refugees with protected status and migrants. Certainly, this remains a challenge, given editorial constraints and incomplete information in everyday practice. However, journalists should strive to make use of the correct definitions especially in countries where governments deliberately use incorrect labels. Taking the very low share of background articles into account as well, media users across Europe may find it hard to come to their own informed conclusions on migrants and refugees." (Discussion, page 48)
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"This study analyzes professional ethical perspectives and practices of Central Asian journalists by examining and comparing the four former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. This study uses in-depth interviews with 24 journalists to examine their ethical ideals
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in the profession and how their ethical perspectives impact potential democracy. Its significance lies in revealing the gravity of ethical misbehavior where journalists call ethics a “Western luxury” and where public life was filled with falsehoods." (Abstract)
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"Facts and Figures 2020 reveals that people in rural areas continue to face greater challenges than people in urban areas in terms of remaining connected during the lockdown, especially in developing economies. Large swathes of the rural landscape are still not covered by mobile broadband networks,
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and fewer households in these areas have access to the Internet. Also worrying, the rollout of communications infrastructure is slowing. Since growth in communications infrastructure deployment was already showing signs of slowing in 2019, it is still too early to tell whether growth has stalled because of the pandemic, or whether there are other factors at play. This new edition of Facts and Figures also finds that mobile cellular subscriptions have been declining for the first time in history, and that growth in mobile broadband subscriptions is levelling out. Here, as before, it is not certain if this a result of the COVID-19 crisis: it will be interesting to see what happens once the world finally reverts to a more normal state of affairs. On a more optimistic note, our research confirms that, where connectivity is available, and affordable, young people are enthusiastic adopters of technology and have relatively high levels of Internet use. While overall just over half of the global population is using the Internet, among young people aged 15 to 24 this rises to almost 70 per cent. This is particularly encouraging in view of the fast-growing youth demographic in much of the developing world, where digital technologies have the potential to become a major accelerator of economic growth and development and an important driver of progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals." (Foreword)
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"The review found that while there is a growing global body of evidence around effective education programming to prevent child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA), much of the available evidence is from high income countries (HICs) and largely focuses on programmes which address offline rather tha
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n online abuse. The evidence that does exist on prevention of online CSEA is also from HICs, is of low quality overall and tends to focus on whether the intervention enhanced knowledge rather than changed behaviour. Further, as Internet use amongst children varies between high income and low income countries, it is important to be cautious in applying lessons learned across different contexts. Although online and offline CSEA are closely linked, it was also found that there is often an artificial division, with programmes tending to look at only online or only offline CSEA. Therefore, there is limited evidence of how programmes impact on both online and offline CSEA. In the East Asia and Pacific region, the evidence base on what works to tackle CSEA in education programming is at an early stage in scope and scale. Few comprehensive assessments or evaluations of education programmes tackling CSEA have taken place and/or are publicly available. It is also unclear whether majority of existing interventions are being evaluated and whether they were designed using evidence-informed theories of change methodology. Despite the constraints faced, this review draws on promising global and regional practice, emerging lessons and findings from available data on online risks, to highlight key factors to consider in the development of effective educational materials in East Asia and the Pacific." (Executive summary)
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"This paper presents comparative learning from the evaluation of six international development initiatives that applied various forms of Process Tracing. While these initiatives span across diverse contexts and pursued different aims, they are connected by a common thread: all six case studies centr
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e around efforts to influence others - often decision makers and those in power - around aspects such as practices of consultation and inclusion; public policy; and resource allocation. The paper is organized in the following manner. We first explain Process Tracing and review common definitions. Secondly, we consider the potential value added of an explicitly Bayesian approach to Process Tracing. Next, we discuss the six cases where Process Tracing was applied, noting similarities and differences. Then, we explore key practical learning emerging from the cases and insights from the use of different forms of Process Tracing across different programming contexts. These reflections are organized under four meta-themes of participation, Theory of Change, methodological decisions, and mitigating bias. Finally, we present our key recommendations, ending with practical tips, targeted at practitioners and evaluators interested in applying Process Tracing, especially for initiatives falling under the ‘influencing’ umbrella." (Introduction)
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"Since 2016, Fojo Media Institute, together with local partners, has investigated media landscapes in Eastern Europe from a gender perspective, to find out how women and men in the industry perceive their work life: What are their options to have influence and a fulfilling career? What are the diffe
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rences in beats and job satisfaction between male and female journalists? Is sexual harassment a concern that inflicts on professional practise? First out in the series of gender studies was Russia (2016), followed by Belarus (2017) and Moldova and Georgia (2018). In this report (2020) two more countries are included, namely Armenia and Ukraine. More than one thousand media professionals have shared their views and experiences and contributed to the research [...] One profession that has changed its gender profile is journalism. What was once a male dominated arena has gradually become more gender equal in numbers. The findings of this study indicate that women now make up the majority of media professionals in all the countries covered by this study. According to the experts interviewed, this is not the result of a growing sector with more women coming in, but rather about an outflow of men. The journalistic profession has become less attractive (to men) due to economic restraints (lower wages) and political pressures that make it harder to exercise independent journalism. The study also confirms that women are taking on more decision-making roles, especially in regional and independent media. In Georgia and Moldova, women and men seem to be on equal footing. However, there is still a considerable gender gap in Armenia and Russia, especially when it comes to distribution of power in national media with high circulation/audience, likely related to the fact that the most influential media are still often managed by men. In addition, imbalance in job security and remuneration can be noted, where men have more stable terms of employment and are engaged in beats that pay more. Sexual harassment is another area of interest related to working conditions in the media industry (and elsewhere)." (Preface)
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"This report was commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to examine women’s representation in COVID-19/coronavirus newsgathering and news coverage in India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, the UK, and the US. It is rooted in a computational news content analysis of 11,913 publications an
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d 1.9 million stories between 1st March and 15th April 2020 undertaken by Media Ecosystems Analysis Group; an in-depth qualitative portrayal analysis of 175 highly ranked COVID-19/coronavirus stories across the six countries; quantitative analysis of eight public-facing bespoke Google surveys, as well as multi-country secondary surveys; a pronoun content analysis of COVID-19 headlines; story frames analyses using Google’s news search engine, the Internet TV News Archive in 2020 and the GDELT Project global online news archive for 2017 to 2020; and interrogation of a number of global statistical databases [...] The report has examined the news coverage of the COVID-19/coronavirus story through the lenses of three indicators of gender equality: women as sources of news expertise; news stories leading with women protagonists; and coverage of gender equality issues. The insights from the report have led to the creation of 21 recommendations which aim to support news providers who wish to amplify the substantially muted voices of women in news coverage of the COVID19/coronavirus story. The report has uncovered a substantial bias towards men’s perspectives in the newsgathering and news coverage of this pandemic across both the global north (the UK and US) and the global south (India, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa). This bias operates against a backdrop of women’s effective political invisibility within the COVID-19-related decision-making process in the countries analyzed and the unique socioeconomic, health and psychological challenges that women face globally. Every individual woman’s voice in the news on COVID19 is drowned out by the voices of at least three, four, or five men. The women who are given a platform in the COVID-19/coronavirus story are rarely portrayed as authoritative experts or as empowered individuals but more frequently as sources of personal opinion or as victims/people affected by the disease." (Executive summary)
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"The aim of this proposal is to present the evolution of the digital native media in Spain in order to compare their current situation with European success stories. For that purpose, we have conducted a comparative case study between three highlighted Spanish digital native news outlets and three f
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rom other European countries. The results show a progressive shift towards a member-funded model, while news outlets try to reduce their dependence on advertising. However, the three European natives seem to be more advanced compared to the Spanish cases as these remain still dependent on advertising revenues to stand upright. Furthermore, two models of participation stand out: the user community and, in particular, the model of collaboration networks. Nevertheless, the study reveals how the analyzed European news outlets are changing the role of the reader through innovative forms of participatory interactivity." (Abstract)
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"The highest levels of regulation, from international treaties to constitutions, are unambiguous about creating an environment in which women thrive. However, this egalitarian space must be progressively realized, and one aspect of this work is eliminating discrimination, including in relation to ge
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nder-based violence (GBV). Whether authorities care to admit it or not, the Internet is an inseparable part of the society in which we live, and online GBV demands a resolute hand. Unfortunately, the gaps in legal frameworks, not to mention deficient law enforcement, are forcing women to self-censor online or even wholly abandon platforms that could be used for legitimate expression and the exercise of other fundamental rights. Unless governments take urgent, comprehensive action, the inadequate protection of women’s rights online will continue to erode any other legislative attempts to achieve equality across different spheres of life." (Conclusion)
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