"Nine of the 15 interviewees said the most important change in the media sector in the last five years has been the mix of deregulation/liberalisation/privatisation. Four interviewees said the newly democratic environment has been the key change. All interviewees agreed that media development in the
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past five years has had significant impact on their own area of work [...] Four key political and economic factors were identified as allowing for successful media development in Nigeria: the return to democracy; Nigerians’ desire for information; a better business environment; and, computer/Internet usage. In terms of the role of the state in media development, most felt the state cannot be relied upon to help all media, and will tend to support state-owned media. The donor community was applauded for its good work, but was urged to involve local people more, and to avoid imposing agendas." (Summary & conclusions, page 66-67)
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"On the whole, interviewees report both a positive quantitative and qualitative change in terms of the number and content of media messages. Liberalisation and more stable political climate has facilitated the opening up of the telecommunications sector, and has led to a diversification of the media
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industry. Community radio has proliferated and has brought many benefits, particularly in terms of enhancing participation and information provision to those living in remote areas. The establishment of a Press Congress and the High Authority for Media has created a more favourable environment for the media to development. The advent of national and international NGOs that promote peace, and defend freedom of information and of the press, has been important in supporting journalists who suffer repression. There has been a substantial increase in the number of further education institutions and courses that offer training in journalism and communication sciences. According to one interviewee, expanding digital telecommunications networks offer the greatest potential to improve communication and information provision across the country." (Summary & conclusions, page 73
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"Die Annahme, dass eine kontrollierte Presse das Ziel einer Förderung demokratischer Strukturen immer ad absurdum führe, darf vor dem Hintergrund einer politischen Ausnahmesituation nach einem bewaffneten Konflikt durchaus hinterfragt werden. Die in diesem Zusammenhang geführte Diskussion über M
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edienfreiheit versus Konflikteindämmung verdeutlicht die grundsätzlich verschiedenen Zielsetzungen und Ansäze zwischen internationalen NGOs und IGOs beim Medienaufbau. IGOs, wie die OSZE, plädierten in Bosnien für den Aufbau neuer Medienorgane unter Kontrolle von IGOs. Die OSZE befürchtete zu Recht, dass bereits bestehende und etablierte Medienorgane oft unter dem Einfluss von Konfliktparteien stehen. Das galt auch für die Übergangsregierung in Afghanistan. Für die NGOs hingegen ist die Förderung bereits bestehender lokaler Medienorgane die Voraussetzung für einen nachhaltigen Medienaufbau, der zugleich auch den Aufbau der Zivilgesellschaft unterstützt. Das Auswärtige Amt hat in den Schwerpunktsetzungen grundsätzlich einen richtigen Ansatz verfolgt. Allerdings sind die gegenwärtigen Rahmenbedingungen wie das Haushaltsrecht und der Mangel an Evaluierungsmechanismen sowohl seitens der Geldgeber als auch der Implementierungspartner unzureichend. Darüber hinaus wiederholen sich in Afghanistan die Probleme mangelnder Koordinierung. Internews und die UNESCO waren beide in Bosnien aktiv und schon dort mit unzureichender Koordinierung der internationalen Maßnahmen und der Parteilichkeit von nationalen Medienorganen konfrontiert. In Afghanistan übernahm die UNESCO im Frühjahr 2002 die Koordinierung der afghanischen Medienlandschaft und der internationalen Hilfsleistungen in diesem Bereich. Die mangelnde Kohärenz der Aktivitäten konnte dennoch nicht behoben werden. Trotz der früheren Erfahrungen aus anderen Post-Konfliktstaaten wurden die Fehler im Umgang mit Medien wiederholt." (Fazit, Seite 37)
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"After interviewing numerous media experts and reviewing all available information, the media assessment team recommends additional donor support for media as part of an overall approach to promoting democracy and governance. The team recommends a comprehensive media assistance program that focuses
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on the key areas of a) improving professional skills and capacity; b) enhancing media management skills across the sector; c) building awareness/advocacy with respect to key media law and regulatory issues; and d) augmenting the media's ability to reach populations outside Dili." (Executive summary)
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"Instead of limiting ourselves to an enumeration of the obstacles to pluralism, we tried to push the analysis further, proposing draft solutions to problems raised, in a realistic way. The democratic debate today can not be limited to the political arena only, by turning up one’s nose at the debat
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e on the media, especially at television pluralism, as in a kind of conspiracy of silence by politicians in power or in the opposition. Our inner conviction is that there can be no democracy in this twenty-first century without audiovisual democracy. Unless Africa, persisting in its denial of development or having opted for backwardness, by afro-pessimism, is not yet mature for any kind of pluralism. Which is obviously not the case, because Africa is already embracing television pluralism, something which, to quote a famous retort, is too serious to be left solely in the hands of politicians. The real challenge is and remains that of professionalism and economic viability." (introduction, page 15)
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"The reorganisation of radio broadcasting in the five Arab countries we have looked at is a slow, unequal, up-and-down and unfinished process. It is unfinished in that some states (Egypt and Syria), still have not published the conditions for awarding broadcasting licenses, even though some independ
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ent stations have received authorisation. The beneficiary stations thus have no real legal status, but are private businesses broadcasting music, and refraining from broadcasting news. The stations seem to be of most benefit to businessmen close to the authorities, and are more a part of the process of State privatisation than media democratisation. There is a general lack of transparency, and very little information is available about these radio stations. Journalists know little about the shareholders, working conditions in the stations and how they are organised. The legal vacuum will no doubt eventually be filled in these two countries. But, for the time being, radio broadcasting in Egypt and Syria remains totally under the control of the authorities. Lebanon is a special case. By allowing radio and television stations to be privately owned, Lebanon has essentially brought an existing state of affairs within the law, since these independent stations did not wait for the 1996 law to be passed before going on the air. Nevertheless, the various attempts to prevent religious interests from controlling the media have so far failed, and the political stations are a direct mirror of the country’s religious polarities. Every political/religious party has its own radio station (and television channel), which it uses to support its political choices. And the only non-religious station, Sawt Al-Shab, is close to the Lebanese Communist Party. Despite their vulnerability, the Palestinian and Jordanian experiments are without doubt the most promising. The legal framework is restrictive, in these two countries, but the privatelyowned stations are pushing back the boundaries of news broadcasting, are helping to render the media more autonomous, and introducing a relative degree of democracy in the field of information. But these experiments remain dependent on the unstable political context and resulting legal restrictions. The new legislation is more favourable to entertainment stations and benefits businessmen close to the authorities, leaving little space for civil society radio projects to develop." (Conclusion, page 42)
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"This report will describe changes in the TV industry in Russia between 2002 and 2005.1 According to the request of the European Audiovisual Observatory, in conformity with its statute, this report describes the organisation and market evolutions of the Russian television system and does not have th
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e objective of assessing the quality of the Russian news system or the quality of media pluralism in the Russian Federation. In a system where the role of political power is still important in structuring the market, it is however difficult to completely avoid any reference to political elements in the description of the development of this system." (Introduction)
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"Los datos indican que el mercado de los medios ha alcanzado gran dinamismo en los últimos años. A la fecha de cierre del Directorio se registran 1.180 medios de comunicación (sin contar los digitales), de los cuales 44,3% fue creado a partir de la década de los ’90. Es así como 264 correspon
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den a prensa escrita, incluyendo diarios, periódicos y revistas; 750 a radios; y 166 a canales de televisión. También se contabilizan 356 medios digitales, aunque esta información es de carácter exploratoria, tratándose de un fenómeno emergente. Estos últimos se subdividieron, de acuerdo a una tipología preliminar, en: versión digital de un medio, medio on line y e-medio. Uno de los hallazgos del informe es que existen tres ejes problemáticos, transversales a todo el sistema: financiamiento de los medios de comunicación regionales, propiedad de los medios de comunicación y relación de los medios de comunicación con la ciudadanía." (Resumen)
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"El presente documento contiene la síntesis de una aproximación a la situación actual de los medios informativos y de los periodistas en Colombia, así como una caracterización de los trabajos que se han adelantado en el país en los últimos cinco años orientados a fortalecer el sector y que h
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an contado con la vinculación de donantes, organizaciones nacionales e internacionales y los propios medios de comunicación. La óptica bajo la que se desarrolla el estudio es la de proporcionar una serie de elementos que contribuyan al proceso de construcción de una estrategia coordinada, innovadora y de largo plazo, para definir un plan de acción que logre conjugar intereses comunes sobre líneas que se detectan como prioritarias y estratégicas. El estudio fue hecho para International Media Support, Reporteros Sin Fronteras Suecia y el Proyecto Antonio Nariño en el marco de la convocatoria que han realizado estas tres organizaciones del encuentro internacional Hacia nuevas estrategias de apoyo al periodismo y a los medios de comunicación en Colombia, que se realizará en Bogotá el 25 y 26 de septiembre de 2006." (Introducción, página 1)
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"This books is the first standard introduction into the situation of the mass media and journalism in Romania [...] The mass media system of Romania is shown in its essential elements: the legal framework, the economy of the media, the institutional structure of the printed press and of the audio-vi
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sual media, and the element of media education. Part of this analysis shows the kind of battles for control of the professional field among various interest groups, among them: media owners, managers, pundits, stars, reporters etc. This book gives full insight into the impressive evolution of the mass media in Romania. The context of the post-communist press and of the communist one is analyzed under such auspices. The study reveals elements of continuity both at the level of institutional structures, also of work routines and, particularly, of professional ideology. A remarkable point is made in showing the connections between the 19th century, and the beginning of the 20th century press. The emphasis here is on the kind of political culture: a high regard of the subjective, of a press of personal expression, of elitism. The connections to political parties and the awareness of a missionary role in creating a national identity through mass media are presented and reflected in view of the present day media system and its journalism." (Publisher website)
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