"We used computational social network mapping in combination with human and automated content analysis to analyze the Iranian blogosphere. In contrast to the conventional wisdom that Iranian bloggers are mainly young democrats critical of the regime, we found a wide range of opinions representing re
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ligious conservative points of view as well as secular and reform-minded ones, and topics ranging from politics and human rights to poetry, religion, and pop culture. Our research indicates that the Persian blogosphere is indeed a large discussion space of approximately 60,000 routinely updated blogs featuring a rich and varied mix of bloggers. Social network analysis reveals the Iranian blogosphere to be dominated by four major network formations, or poles, with identifiable sub-clusters of bloggers within those poles. We label the poles as 1) Secular/Reformist, 2) Conservative/Religious, 3) Persian Poetry and Literature, and 4) Mixed Networks." (Abstract)
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"This article examines Deutsche Welle's Arabic television programming to evaluate its goal of promoting intercultural dialogue. Framed around the concept of media-promoted intercultural dialogue, the paper presents the results of a comparative content analysis of Deutsche Welle and two pan-Arab sate
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llite channels, al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya. Taking the results as a starting point, I propose suggestions for how to improve the performance of government-sponsored international broadcasting to overcome cultural divides." (Introduction)
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"SAMAR did a more in-depth, comprehensive analysis of news coverage. It examined coverage every day for the entire month (15 June to 15 July). Hundreds of stories were examined. The results offer what we believe to be an astonishing view of what the mainstream media delivered in one month as well as
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insights into the priorities, tendencies and trends that helped define the news agenda. Among the key findings are: Front and back pages of the newspapers examined were dominated by largely quarter size advertisements. In some newspapers, even three fourth of front page was found occupied by advertisements. Advertisements inserted between news stories on front and back pages was a common trend except DAWN which did not allocate more than one quarter on front page and two quarters (lower half) on back page. Particularly, front pages of both English and Urdu newspapers were dominated by a few mega-stories, such as war in FATA, politics and judges issue. Front and back pages of Urdu newspapers were dominated by advertisement and stories on politics, judges' issue and fuel and wheat prices. English newspapers, particularly DAWN, covered the world on its front and back pages. Urdu newspapers, however, ignored what was happening in the world. The coverage of international events, except Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, was only 3%. Rather it would be more accurate to say Urdu media covered some U.S. interests. The media and the public often disagreed about which stories were important. General feelings are that the most read front and back pages of particularly the English newspapers failed to deliver sufficient coverage of some basic bread and butter issues, such as rising fuel and flour prices." (Introduction, page 2-3)
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"This research project in Liberia has tried to do first steps to understand in detail the quality of media, especially radio, in Liberia and what the audience is thinking of and expecting from the media. Being the first of its kind in Liberia after the end of the civil war it has investigated a) the
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quality of media output by means of content analysis and b) audiences perceptions of the media quality extracted from focus group discussions." (Page 4)
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"En el presente estudio exploratorio se describirá las características de la percepción que las personas mayores tienen de los medios de comunicación (técnica de grupos focales) y se analizará la información que los medios (técnica de observación de medios) emiten acerca de las personas may
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ores." (Metodología, página 5)
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"This project advances the existing theoretical work on the CNN effect, a claim that innovations in the speed and quality of technology create conditions in which the media acts as an independent factor with significant influence. It provides a novel interpretation of the factors that drove Western
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policy towards military intervention in this area." (Publisher description)
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"The paper explores how peace journalism has been applied in Uganda basing on an assessment of findings from a survey on the media coverage of the conflict in northern Uganda. The paper analyses the findings from the print media coverage of 2 newspapers for 3 years that were used as sample. The anal
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ysis considered several quantitative and qualitative variables including: frequency, type of stories (news vs non-news), authors of stories (journalists vs non-journalists), placement/prominence of story, balance in the story, information sources, language and tone, focus, peace initiatives and use of photographs. The introduction gives an overview of the concept of conflict and why we continue to have conflicts in society. The paper posits that since all people in society cannot have the same definition of a situation all the time, especially regarding the distribution of power and resources, disagreements and conflicts arise, which in extreme cases escalate into armed conflicts or wars. The paper looks at the major causes of conflicts in Africa and gives a background to the conflict/war in Northern Uganda, where the fighting has been going on since 1986, when President Museveni took over power. A synopsis of the findings showed that most of the coverage on the war was done by journalists in the form of news stories, with a few feature articles. This implies that journalists are largely responsible for what people get to learn about the war. Depending on the way journalists report about the conflict, people's perceptions will be influenced accordingly. The analysis showed that the government paper was largely biased towards government and confrontational in its reports, while the private paper used a more conciliatory tone and was more balanced by using various sources for their stories. There was fair coverage of peace initiatives, although this focused most on government efforts. An evaluation of the coverage showed that this had its strengths and weaknesses. While the media had helped in raising awareness about the war, there was self-censorship amongst the journalists, partly due to the Anti-terrorism Act, which makes it a capital offence if a journalist gives information that can aid terrorism. The paper looks at some obstacles that prevent journalists from giving objective reports when reporting on conflicts/wars. The paper concludes with some recommendations on how peace journalism can be consciously applied to contribute more meaningfully to the peace building process in Northern Uganda." (Abstract)
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"This paper is a briefing for health practitioners, TB programmers, policymakers, media professionals and people affected by TB. Based on an analysis of media coverage of TB, it argues that health professionals and TB specialists should be supported to engage more effectively with the media so that
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the media can, in turn, play a more critical role in national and international responses to public health concerns. The briefing aims to raise awareness of TB and to raise its media profile, while at the same time highlighting key obstacles to effective reporting on TB and other health issues. It concludes with practical suggestions as to how the relationship between the health and media sectors can be strengthened to enhance the media’s contribution to global efforts to control TB. The paper highlights findings from a content analysis of print media in 12 countries undertaken in 2006 by the Panos Global AIDS Programme. It also draws upon recent reports and initiatives around health journalism. Although 7 of the 12 countries included in the analysis are ranked among the highest TB burden countries in the world, the research found little coverage of TB in local or national print media." (Executive summary)
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"There is a general consensus that media are an essential element of democracy if they fulfil particular quality requirements in their reporting. Abundant literature deals with media quality from a theoretical perspective, but empirical knowledge on journalistic practice with regard to its role in d
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emocratization is rare, and this is even more so in the case of African countries. First, this article seeks to assess the quality of radio in Liberia, which is the country’s most popular medium. Second, the article tests a specific methodology in order to measure the contribution of radio to democracy. It argues that radio stations in Liberia strongly differ in their quality, each with specific shortcomings. These findings are confirmed by interviews with civil society representatives and by audience research." (Abstract)
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