"Central Asian post-independence media and communication industries, professional practices, education, persisting and evolving values, and traditions remain critically understudied with a notable scarcity of research and scholarly publications on the complex and increasingly changing communicative
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ecology landscape of this region. Mapping the Media and Communication Landscape of Central Asia: An Anthology of Emerging and Contemporary Issues addresses this gap in literature by exploring, analyzing, and shedding light to the field, practice, research and critical inquiry of media and mass communication in four countries in Central Asia—Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. This book includes local authors as well as new and emerging researchers from this region to contextualize the issues explored and provide a supportive dialogue between different points of view." (Publisher description)
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"Internews’ work on disinformation in the Philippines aims at uniting the strengths of stakeholders in the media community, civil society, academia, private sector, and social media companies, along six axes: factchecking and myth busting, media and information literacy, public policy advocacy, di
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sinformation investigation, investment in trustworthy news and media, and algorithm accountability. The latter requires to understand the role each social media platform plays in the information ecosystem, to tailor specific strategies of engagement on and with these platforms. In that context, the Understudied Digital Platforms in the Philippines (UDPP) research project sought to understand the role of lesser-known digital platforms, such as TikTok and WeChat, in the Philippine information environment and draw out strategies to mitigate disinformation among their users. Internews worked with three researchers Jose Mari Hall Lanuza (University of the Philippines, Manila) and Rossine Fallorina and Samuel Cabbuag (University of the Philippines, Diliman) to conduct an Information Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) to look deeper into the role that these platforms play in the media and digital landscape, what their current and future impact may be, and where information actors need to focus their attention. The research provides an in-depth dive into these platforms, examining their affordances, information flows, user demographics, and disinformative potential. The research also offers preliminary recommendations for platforms, policymakers, and public stakeholders to establish regulated but democratic online public spheres within these platforms." (Publisher description)
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"This report provides an overview of media consumption from the perspectives of selected media practitioners in Cambodia and highlights some of the key communication tools, products, materials, and platforms they have used to reach their respective target audiences. This report maps trends across bo
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th traditional and digital media platforms. It describes how Cambodian media practitioners use different media platforms to reach and inform their target audiences. It also looks at how different media platforms, tools, and ideas can be used to engage Cambodian citizens, especially youth, on environment-related topics. The aim is to encourage active involvement in environmental issues. The findings reveal that digital platforms, especially Facebook, have become increasingly popular in recent years. According to the Media Mapping Report, in 2019, key digital media usage was as follows: 87 percent of Cambodians own a mobile phone; 12.5 million were active Internet users (out of a population of 16.4 M); 8.4 million were active social media users; 8.3 million were active Facebook users. Video is the top communication tool that the organizations used to reach specific audiences through storytelling and social media. The findings indicate that targeted media campaigns are the most effective communication and outreach initiatives, followed by celebration of special events, in which video is an effective tool. These campaigns and videos are delivered using Facebook, which is the top social media platform used to reach specific audiences, followed by YouTube and Instagram. The report found that news programs still attract large audiences on TV and radio. Hang Meas is the toprated TV station, followed by PNN and CTN, while ABC ranges among the top programs, followed by RFI/WMC and Vayo respectively. Based on this media mapping exercise, the team found that the USAID Cambodia Green Future Activity should employ an inclusive approach that involves target audiences – whether youth or the broader public – in all phases including design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the project reaches its objectives and goal. Development partners should explore multi-stakeholder strategies to implement project or campaign activities by using multi-platform approaches, such as using a mix of social and traditional channels to optimize reach and impact." (Executive summary)
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"This report presents our main findings from eleven months of social media monitoring. We identify the main narratives of online discourse and their key drivers, as well as the weaknesses of Libya’s social media landscape — and how to address them." (Summary)
"Myanmar was originally portrayed as an internet success story. Connected in a matter of months after five decades of military dictatorship, Myanmar people were supposed to be able to communicate freely, access unimpeded information online, experience the benefits of a range of compelling and empowe
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ring digital services, and connect with the world. While social media opened up the country’s information and communication ecosystem in an unprecedented way, it also came with its share of challenges. Low levels of digital and media literacy, amidst a context of political transition, dominated by rising inter-communal tensions and the formalisation of a Buddhist nationalist movement, made for a dangerous cocktail. Facebook, which came to dominate the Myanmar internet ecosystem, failed to acknowledge and effectively mitigate the risks, letting its platform get abused and weaponised. This case study looks at the role of Facebook in fomenting violence in Myanmar. It explores how the social media platform was weaponised, reviews Facebook’s response to the situation, and draws learnings and recommendations for how risks may be better mitigated, moving forward." (Introduction)
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"Social media has, in a few years, turned the political landscape in Ethiopia on its head not only as a means of mobilising people, but also as a means of spreading rumours, hate speech and disinformation [...] What ultimately is happening is that digital media has made a more invasive, ultimately p
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ersonalised form of marketing possible, which is changing political and commercial communication as a whole and with it the media landscape [...] A number of core problem areas for social media emanate out of the digital technology shift and the emergence of social media that stakeholders need to deal with now and in the future. Among them are: Broadening access to the internet; Regulation: publishing responsibility, freedom of speech and democracy; Consumer protection: data privacy, disclosure of platform data handling and advertising; Copyright of inventions and content; Overall media finance when advertising revenues are migrating to primarily Facebook and Google (incl Youtube); Media literacy in the light of hate speech, disinformation and a completely new range of disruptive, conniving marketing that with it carries both great opportunities and massive losses." (Introduction)
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"Over the past few years, internet access and adoption in India has grown tremendously, giving Indians more access to the online information ecosystem than ever before. Today, India is one of the largest markets for technology platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook. However, the adoption of these t
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echnology platforms has also enabled misinformation and disinformation to spread at scale in the country. This has resulted in the eruption of violence and even the deaths of dozens of people. This policy brief explores the false information ecosystem in India, highlighting the key players and approaches they have implemented to curb the spread of misinformation and disinformation. It also offers a set of recommendations for how these efforts can be improved going forward." (Abstract)
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"The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has great humanitarian responsibilities towards a war-torn region. Deliberately referred to as a regional entrepreneurship hub, over eight million of Jordan’s citizens (86.4%) have access to the internet, and they produce more than half of the digital content avail
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able online in the Arabic language. As Jordanians navigate together through an ongoing humanitarian, economic and political crisis, the mainstream social media platforms to which they are active contributors, such as Twitter and Facebook, with the latter being the top app in the country, are turning into interactive spaces critical for public debate and socio-political transformation. The uses of mainstream social media include coping with the consequences of war, displacement, and the identity negotiations of a young nation. This policy brief identifies gaps and opportunities uncovered by the current programmes offered by organisations aiming at serving groups such as disadvantaged Jordanians and refugees. Overall, the country’s social media landscape reveals underlying societal tensions, collective concerns, and hopes for progress, equity and stability. This policy brief analyses social media impacts on the Jordanian society in 2018-2019." (Overview)
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"The policy brief outlines key snapshots of Sri Lanka’s social media landscape as it stood at the time of writing, in early August 2018, and offers some recommendations aimed at civil society’s use of social media for conflict transformation." (Abstract)
"Dieses Buch bietet einen Überblick über die chinesische Social-Media-Landschaft sowie die Besonderheiten und Trends des Social Media Marketing in China. Der Autor beschreibt, welche sozialen Medien in China genutzt werden, wo Statistiken darüber zu finden sind, welche Hauptfunktionen die wichtig
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sten sozialen Netzwerke haben und wo ihre Schwerpunkte für das Marketing liegen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"This report is the 1st of future analysis, which aims to highlight the personalities and the platforms that are the most impactful through the quality of content and material ( not just the most popular but the most reliable, forward thinking, social media bodies that are in*uencing the landscape w
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ithin Nigeria. Here we classify the who, the what, and the know in the spaces where we see the most rapid developments. Where results, conversations and engagement are explicit, direct and revolutionary." (Page I)
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