mediadev library

Ukraine: Media Consumption and Audience Perceptions Research

Thomson Reuters Foundation (2021), 51 pp.

Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA): Serbia

Raiyan Kabir, Susannah Horton, Craig Jolley, Brennan Ireland, Mikael Baker

USAID, Digital Frontiers Project (2021), 58 pp.

"The Serbian government prioritizes digitalization. Serbia’s digital transformation accelerated in 2017 with the government’s focus on building a digital government, or “digitalization” as defined by Serbians, and Serbia’s participation in the Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans. As one ... more

Motivations for Sharing Misinformation: A Comparative Study in Six Sub-Saharan African Countries

Dani Madrid-Morales, Herman Wasserman, Gregory Gondwe et al.

International Journal of Communication, volume 15 (2021), pp. 1200-1219

"In most African countries, “fake news,” politically motivated disinformation, and misinformation in the media were common occurrences before these became a preoccupation in the Global North. However, with a fast-growing population of mobile users, and the popularization of apps such as WhatsApp ... more

Using Social Media to Strengthen the Political Participation of Young Women and Men in Nigeria

London: BBC Media Action (2021), 3 pp.

"The EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU SDGN) project funded by the EU employed a ‘social media first’ approach to strengthen the political knowledge, understanding, discussion and efficacy of young (18-24 years) women and men across all 36 states and FCT in Nigeria. High-impact ... more

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The new constitution freezing the press: Freedom of expression and statutory limitations in Libya

Miral Sabry AlAshry

Cogent Arts & Humanities, volume 8, issue 1 (2021), 16 pp.

"This study examined the Libyan conflict which started in 2011 until now. In the same way, the study also focused on how Libyan journalists are fighting for media freedom, particularly in the context of the media laws in the new Constitution of 2017. Through focus group discussions were done with 40 ... more

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Involve Us: Information & Participation Dynamics, Desires and Challenges in Sudan’s Tigray Refugee Response

Internews;Insight Strategy Partners (ISP);Cisco (2021), 87 pp.

"Through a combination of interviews, surveys, desk research, and focus group discussions this Information Ecosystem Assessment (IEA) explores trends of information demand and supply within refugee and host communities. The report analyzes their information access, needs, use, flows, and identifies ... more

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The Kenya Media Assessment 2021

Chaacha Mwita et al.

Internews (2021), 47 pp.

"There are stark lessons to be learnt from this assessment: Social media has become the main source of news and information for majority of Kenyans, even though it suffers the greatest trust deficit. Radio remains highly important, while television is the most trusted source of information and newsp ... more

Media and Information Literacy Index. Country Report Uganda

Dennis Reineck, Luise Krumm

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2020), 25 pp.

"Young Ugandans are reluctant to voice their concerns and take part in public discussions according to indicative findings from the MIL INDEX country study presented here. The eight focus groups conducted for the study in Kampala and Bugembe early in 2019 revealed that youths are using both traditio ... nal and social media extensively, but discussions of political and public issues take place mainly in closed circles on platforms like WhatsApp. “It is a suffocated environment,” says media expert Gerald Businge. This MIL INDEX study is aimed at obtaining a concise picture of media- and information-related skills amongst youths under the age of 35 in Uganda. It addresses five dimensions of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) based on DW Akademie’s MIL model: access, analysis, reflection, creation, and action. The focus group participants see themselves living in the “the dot-com era” though access to the Internet and even television is far from universal in Uganda. The smartphone is the most popular device and it serves as a benchmark when judging more traditional media (radio, television, and newspapers). Social media are used alongside traditional media, but there is a feeling that traditional media, especially radio, are losing touch with the Ugandan youth of today. There is a general neglect of printed media, based on an aversion to long reads and often also difficulties in understanding them. Some participants feel they are addicted to social media and online messengers. When it comes to analytical skills, the Ugandan youths in the focus groups are not very critical of the media environment they live in despite the overwhelming evidence that state control, intimidation, and media concentration are problems in Uganda. But they do pick up on news bias and sensationalism. They are also aware of the fact that online sources and social media information should not be trusted blindly. Participants can differentiate between quality and tabloid-type media, but an alarming proportion does not know their constitutional right to freedom of expression. The level of reflection on the part of focus group participants is medium to low. They can render many cases of cyberbullying/hate speech, disinformation and cybercrime, though they are not always aware of the difference. Especially the examples of cyber-harassment that are recounted in the focus groups reveal that female youths are primarily targeted. At the same time there seems to be little in the way of counselling for victims and there was not enough reflection of the background to such malevolent forms of communication. Strategies in coping with them are not very elaborate, though some groups did mention methods of verification in the context of disinformation several times. There is considerable potential for support when it comes to dealing with cyberbullying, cyber-harassment, hate speech and cybercrime." (Executive summary) more

Media and Information Literacy Index. Country Report Kenya

Dennis Reineck, Georg Materna, Luise Krumm

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2020), 27 pp.

"The young generation in Kenya rejects disinformative and hateful communication. When asked for their opinion on these matters in a representative survey, a majority of 15-25-year-olds evaluated them as “not to be trusted” and “not funny”. This is one of the most important results of DW Akad ... more

Media and Information Literacy Index. Country Report Côte D’Ivoire

Luise Krumm, Dennis Reineck

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2020), 27 pp.

"Young Ivorians are adept at using digital media. They are creative when it comes to using digital media and many have developed strategies to cope with media malpractices such as cyberbullying or hate speech. These are two significant, indicative findings from the present MIL INDEX country study. B ... oth seem very impressive considering the challenges of high illiteracy rates and the strongly politicized national media landscape in Côte d’Ivoire. The results of the study are drawn from eight focus groups conducted in the beginning of 2019 in Abidjan and Bouaké and interviews with eight local experts. They confirm that young people are very good at using and creating content on social media but urgently need better critical, analytical, and reflective skills. This MIL INDEX study is aimed at obtaining a concise picture of media- and information-related skills amongst youths under the age of 35 in Côte d’Ivoire. It addresses five dimensions of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) according to DW Akademie’s MIL model: access, analysis, reflection, creation, and action. In terms of access the focus groups conducted for this study reveal that young urban and semi-urban Ivorians use a variety of different media for purposes such as consuming information, communication, entertainment, education, or business information. Digital media, particularly social media platforms and instant messengers, are the most used and most popular among this age group and are generally preferred over traditional media. Nonetheless, radio and television are still valued for their auditory and visual input which are significant characteristics considering the high illiteracy rates of about 40,4 % present in Côte d’Ivoire (UIS, 2018). A divide between more urban and more rural regions is visible in the case of radio programs, which are more popular in more rural settings. The focus groups suggest this is due to the fact that local radio stations are often the only media which provide news relevant to more remote areas. Most other media show a tendency to focus only on news from the capital. Printed media are widely regarded as too costly and outdated by Ivorian youths. The results of the analysis dimension indicate that most focus group participants possess a good digital and media knowledge while at the same time many lack awareness of their rights to freedom of expression and access to information. Striking was that youths generally consider content provided by traditional media to be more trustworthy, but mainly consume social media content. This and often very loose definitions of what media quality means showed that there is still room for improvement when it comes to the young people’s analytical skills. Overall, urbanites seem to question the trustworthiness of media content slightly more than youths from more rural regions. Results from the reflection dimension confirm that Ivorian youths are constantly exposed to malevolent forms of communication and media malpractices such as cyberbullying, hate speech, sexual harassment, and disinformation. Most young people show strong abilities when it comes to recognizing media problems and using prevention or coping strategies to handle them. Exceptions are politically motivated disinformation and biased reporting which are taken as normal in the Ivorian context. Due to this tendency towards normalization only very few young people reflect critically upon this media malpractice. Reflection on a deeper level such as on the impact of media messages or motivations of news outlets is often missing among young people." (Executive summary) more

Media and Information Literacy Index. Country Report Burkina Faso

Dennis Reineck, Luise Krumm

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2020), 28 pp.

"Reliable, high quality information is a key priority for the young generation in Burkina Faso. Perhaps as a consequence of political insecurities and the prevalence of violent extremism, a majority of young people between 15 and 25 years seems very aware of the negative consequences of malevolent f ... more

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Media and Information Literacy Index. Country Report Ghana

Dennis Reineck, Luise Krumm

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2020), 27 pp.

"Ghana’s youth is embracing digital. According to the representative survey conducted for DW Akademie’s MIL INDEX study, three quarters of 15-25-year-olds own a smartphone. Over 70 % report going online with a mobile phone as well as using Facebook and WhatsApp on a weekly basis. Use of several ... more

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Media and Information Literacy Index. Country Report Namibia

Dennis Reineck

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2020), 25 pp.

"Young Namibians are embracing the digital transformation, according to indicative findings from the present MIL INDEX country study. Interestingly, the youths that took part in eight focus groups conducted at the end of 2018 in Windhoek and Rundu are immersed in digital communication but are aware ... of the ambivalent nature of the news and information sources they find on social media and related Internet services. The importance of a critical mindset when navigating the World Wide Web was stressed by the eight experts interviewed as part of the study. This MIL INDEX study addresses five dimensions of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) according to DW Akademie’s MIL model: access, analysis, reflection, creation, and action. The focus groups conducted for this study reveal that there is a rural/urban divide in terms of access and use of media. The more rural (and older) groups use radio and television on a regular basis, while the more urban (and younger) groups tend to regard traditional media as yesterday’s media. This shift is in line with the rise of social media. Information uptake is coincidental and journalistic content is intermingled with all sorts of trivia when consumed in social networks. Smartphones are regarded by many as a substitute for newspapers, radio, and television. Amongst those who continue using traditional media, radio is turned to more often for information while TV is regarded more as an entertainment medium. Considering analytical skills, there is a certain disenchantment of the Namibian youths with journalistic media, the reporting being considered not close enough to the interests and issues of the youth. But it was interesting to find that the focus group participants’ appraisal of media in terms of trustworthiness is the exact opposite of their consumption patterns. While the discussions documented frequent use of social media these are evaluated as least trustworthy, whereas newspapers are rated highly on the trustworthiness scale but were hardly ever read. There is an awareness of the ambivalent quality of news and information on social media, but the youths cannot always name sources they consider produce high-quality information. The results in the reflection dimension are ambivalent. The youths can recount numerous cases of cyberbullying and disinformation (“fake news”). But the accompanying survey shows that while they reject hate speech and disinformation, there is a certain willingness to accept cyberbullying as given. This is echoed in the focus groups where participants’ advice is often to ignore hateful messages, rather than do something about them. However, the groups do discuss many other strategies in coming to terms with and combatting cyberbullying and disinformation. Rarely do they reflect the motivations that lie behind such behavior. It was also interesting to note that disinformation is mainly discussed with regards to online rather than traditional media." (Executive summary) more

Alternate Realities, Alternate Internets: African Feminist Research for a Feminist Internet

Neema Iyer, Bonnita Nyamwire, Sandra Nabulega

Association for Progressive Communications (APC);International Development Research Centre (IDRC) (2020), 50 pp.

"For the past decade, internet connectivity has been praised for its potential to close the gender gap in Africa. Among the many benefits of digitalization, digital tools enable groups that are marginalized across the intersections of gender, race, sex, class, religion, ability and nationality to pr ... more

Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA): Kenya

Molly Dean, Kwasi Donkor, Amy Paul, Olu Olutolak

USAID, Digital Frontiers Project (2020), 42 pp.

"Kenya’s digital ecosystem has significant strengths not yet fully leveraged: • Political interest in digital technology at national and county level: The Government of Kenya’s (GoK) digital economy blueprint, ICT Masterplan, and eCitizen (government service platform for Kenyan citizens and re ... more

Independent Media in Lebanon: Content Analysis and Public Appeal

Jaber Bakr, Karim Safieddine, Jad Safwan, Nada Sleiman

Friedrich Naumann Stiftung;Samir Kassir Foundation (2020), 54 pp.

Risk perception and negotiation of safety among Ugandan female journalists covering political demonstrations

Aisha Sembatya Nakiwala

In: Journalist Safety and Self-Censorship

Ingrid Fadnes; Anna Grøndahl Larsen; Roy Krøvel (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2020), pp. 130-147

"Safety of female journalists in and beyond the newsroom continues to stimulate debate on how risky environments can trigger self-censorship among journalists, yet few studies have investigated women journalists’ experience of risk in specific work contexts. This chapter examines the perception of ... more

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Media Accountability and Journalists: To Whom Do Spanish Professionals Feel Responsible?

María-Ángeles Chaparro-Domínguez, Juan-Carlos Suárez-Villegas, Ruth Rodríguez-Martínez

Journalism Practice, volume 14, issue 7 (2020), pp. 812-829

"This paper analyses to whom Spanish journalists feel responsible. To achieve this objective, we sent out a survey to Spanish journalists to ascertain their opinion on this question. The journalists’ point of view was then compared with that of the general public though six focus groups consisting ... more

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Peace Journalism for Conflict Reporting: Insights from Pakistan

Shabir Hussain

Journalism Practice, volume 14, issue 1 (2020), pp. 1-16

"This study proposes a classification framework for conflict journalism with respect to its potential for conflict escalation and de-escalation in Pakistan—a country marred by a number of deadly conflicts. While building on the existing literature, the study proposes the varying levels of intensit ... more