"Increased political participation is seen as central to building accountability between citizens and leaders. Through debate and other factual programmes BBC Media Action uses media and communication to foster participation by providing information, stimulating discussion and enabling people to int
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eract directly with decision-makers. Using quantitative data from seven countries (Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Myanmar, Tanzania and Sierra Leone), the report explores the links between watching and listening to governance programmes and political participation, as well as the key drivers of participation: political knowledge, discussion and efficacy. The findings are clear and consistent: BBC Media Action’s audiences participate more than people who do not listen or watch its programmes, even when taking other influencing factors – such as age, income and interest in politics – into account. There is also a strong, positive association between exposure to BBC Media Action programmes and political knowledge and discussion. Finally, the findings also suggest that exposure to governance programmes can have a “compensating effect” on the political participation of groups who have historically been less engaged in politics – those who are young, less educated and less interested in politics." (BBC Media Action website)
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"In 2014, South Africa’s democracy turned 20. Just like the young democracy is learning to find its feet, young citizens are negotiating the unknown territory of full citizenship rights while confronting a ‘totally different world than that of their parents’. Whether their parents were black a
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nd not entitled to full citizenship or whether their parents were white and therefore implicated in a system that withheld full citizenship from the majority of the population, young people do not have a template to draw on for meaning and form of citizenship in a new and liberated South Africa. This article examines political participation amongst young South Africans and their negotiated participation in both political and civic activities within the context of media use and consumption. Their paradoxical relationship with both politics and the media is detailed in an attempt to understand how to deepen a culture of meaningful citizenship amongst South African youth." (Abstract)
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"Through an investigation on how Palestinian youth appropriate low-end information and communication technologies (ICTs) and digital media forms, Sanjay Asthana and Nishan Havandjian analyze how certain developments in globalization and media convergence enable young people to create new civic space
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s." (Publisher description)
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"Eine umfassende Medienbildung ermöglicht es, die Prinzipien der katholischen Soziallehre auch in Bezug auf digitale Medien wahrzunehmen. Einzelne wie gesellschaftliche Gruppen können so zu einem souveränen Umgang mit Phänomenen der Digitalisierung wie mit digitalen Medien befähigt werden. Medi
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en versteht die katholische Kirche nach wie vor als „Soziale Kommunikationsmittel“, die für alle Menschen eine Chance der Kommunikation und somit der Teilhabe und Entwicklung bieten. Der Beitrag der katholischen Kirche angesichts der Digitalisierung besteht daher in einem nachdrücklichen Eintreten für einen Wertediskurs und die Geltung rechtlicher sowie ethisch-moralischer Standards. Dazu gehören auch ihr Engagement für Teilhabegerechtigkeit, Medienbildung sowie einen zeitgemäßen Jugendmedienschutz." (Zusammenfassung und Ausblick, Seite 26)
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"Following the Arab Spring, the use of social media has become instrumental in organising activist movements and spreading political dissent in the Middle East. New online behaviours have transformed traditional communication channels, enabling young people of all backgrounds to feel politically emp
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owered. But now that spring has turned to winter, what are the long-term implications of internet activism in the region? Social Media in the Arab World provides a unique insight into the role of online communications as a force for change in the Gulf States. Featuring examples as diverse as neo-patrimonial politics in Saudi Arabia and the ways an online presence affects the status of women in Kuwait, the chapters examine shifts in the political, social and religious identities of citizens as a result of increased digital activism. With contributions from a variety of inter-disciplinary experts, this wide-ranging study examines the consequences of changing power dynamics brought about by popular social media." (Publisher description)
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"Consumption-Critical media practices are those practices which are either using media for criticising (certain) consumption or which are (consciously practiced) alternatives to the consumption of media technologies such as repairing, exchanging or producing durable media technologies. While the for
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mer can be found on the level of media content, the latter are practiced on the levels of production and appropriation. This article aims at conceptualizing the phenomenon ‘consumption-Critical media practices’ by analysing examples on the levels of media production, appropriation and content. Moreover, consumption-Critical media practices are discussed as political participation as they are aiming at shaping and changing society – often striving for sustainability." (Abstract)
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"The United Nations-led constitution-making process, while highly controversial, has sought to create an opening to help Somalia transition to a new phase in its political development. This article considers the structural features, problems, and opportunities of the process, particularly in the con
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text of debates over external interventions and state sovereignty. It also addresses an area that is often overlooked during constitution-making: the role of media and communications in advancing narratives that not only shape perceptions, but also define the scope of the debate. International actors have worked to promote legitimating narratives, emphasizing certain aspects and values with a focus on the constitution being ‘Somali-owned’. This article shows how local and private media treated and reshaped these emphases and priorities. At this stage it is not possible to conclude whether efforts to “sell” the constitution have generated greater legitimacy, but what is clear is that the narratives that have dominated public discourse have been focused on participation and politicking, reflecting underlying concerns about which groups will have access to state resources, as well as responding to the interventions by international actors. This emphasis has obscured the role of local legal cultures and previous experiences with grassroots constitution-making processes and reconciliation in the Somali territories that might allow for the reimagining of the nation." (Abstract)
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"We draw on insights from a two-year research project, Politics and Interactive Media in Africa (PiMA), and the related applied research pilot, Africa’s Voices, which worked with local radio stations in eight Sub-Saharan African countries. We examine the social and political significance of new op
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portunities for voice, debate and claim-making in the mediated public sphere that interactive broadcast media enables, and how an approach to citizen engagement that values pluralism and inclusivity and is not extractive, might better seize opportunities that interactive broadcast offers. The chapter critically reappraises what kinds of engagement count in communication for development, what kinds of ‘publics’ audiences in interactive shows constitute and how we should understand the power of these ‘audience-publics’." (Abstract)
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"This paper explores how Egyptian, Kenyan, Serbian and South African civil society organisations (CSOs) use communication and relationships with media to engage in democratic contestation. Individual interviews were conducted with 91 CSO members who participated in the various democratisation confli
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cts listed in MeCoDEM’s research design [...] The study found that key sources of conflict identified by the interviewees included group identity (e.g. religious and ethnic identity) and contestations around notions of citizenship. Interviewees also identified the distribution and control of power was another key source of conflict - Egyptian, Serbian and South African activists all placed significant importance on networked civil society. Thus, communications among members and with the outside world was key to redistributing power. However, Kenya’s CSOs saw their power as stemming from the ability to build healthy relationships between different groups of people, and so the primary communication activities centred on citizen education. Egyptian, Kenyan and Serbian activists viewed regular elections as a key marker of democracy, and the media was correct to focus on such issues. But South African activists suggested that the media focussed too much attention on elections, and not enough given to local participatory mechanisms of listening to citizens." (Executive summary)
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"El presente artículo aborda la construcción del Índice de Rentabilidad Social en Comunicación (IRSCOM), que pretende recoger valores ligados al funcionamiento de los medios audiovisuales, eludiendo la visión mercantilista, potenciando la participación ciudadana y la transparencia en su gesti
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n. Este indicador es una propuesta que persigue corregir las deficiencias en la rentabilidad social de los medios para consolidar modelos mediáticos que respondan a lógicas centradas en la construcción democrática, la fortaleza de la pluralidad y la diversidad." (Resumen)
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"O livro é uma coletânea que reúne especialistas em Democracia Digital de diversas áreas (comunicação, administração, ciência política, sociologia etc.) para discutir questões conceituais e práticas que envolvem este campo. Temas como participação política e Internet, mídias sociais
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e engajamento político, cidadania online, transparência digital, consultas públicas e accountability são algumas das principais abordagens que constituem a obra. Tais temáticas, hoje fundamentais para se compreender a relação entre comunicação digital e democracias contemporâneas, são debatidas por pesquisadores atuantes nos principais grupos de pesquisas na área de diversas universidades brasileiras." (Contracapa)
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"This guide helps to define what civic space is, its threats, challenges and the pivotal work being done across the world to protect and promote civic space. It seeks to identify, refine and explain the different groups and processes involved. Most importantly, it provides story ideas, angles, and p
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rompts designed to help media and journalists cover these issues better. You will also find useful resources and hyperlinks for further resources and reading. The guide comprises the following: Section 1 provides information about the toolkit and introductory background on civic space. Section 2 outlines key concepts for reporting civic space, including what makes a story newsworthy, and gender balanced reporting. Section 3 unpacks the three fundamental freedoms associated with civic space, and offers stories ideas. For each of these freedoms you will find." (About this toolkit)
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"For over five and one-half years, the Civil Society and Media Leadership (CSML) Program, led by IREX in partnership with The Carter Center and Social Impact, contributed to building a more capable, collaborative, and agile civil society and media sector in Liberia. The CSML team provided intensive
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support including training, mentoring, small grants, and equipment to over 60 civil society organizations and 35 media outlets in 15 counties. IREX has distributed over $6 million in grants to civil society organizations to conduct advocacy, reconciliation, civic and voter education, Ebola awareness raising, and contribute to their own organizational development. Community radio stations have received a total of over $400K worth of equipment, including 19 transmitters. The Carter Center trained 3,500 chiefs, women, and youth to advance access to justice and resolve community disputes, and broadened awareness of Freedom of Information to over 15,000 Liberians across the seven original target counties. Beyond these outputs, CSML has contributed to true impact, fostering an improved and enhanced civil society and media sector. These accomplishments are a result of the collaborative effort of IREX and its wealth of partners both international and national who sought, together, to achieve the goal to “sustain peace in Liberia through greater inclusion, giving a voice to, informing and engaging Liberian citizens.” As a result, in part, of the CSML program, IREX’s civil society partners conduct advocacy that is more informed and less confrontational, engage the media as a key stakeholder, and have more productive strategies for engaging local and national government." (Executive summary)
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"Partizipative Medienarbeit führt nicht automatisch zu einem demokratieorientierten Programm. In Abhängigkeit von den Rahmenbedingungen ist dieses manchmal nur schwer zu realisieren. Comrnunity Radios sollte daher nicht per se eine demokratiefördemde Wirkung zugesprochen werden. Vielmehr sollte e
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ine realistische Einschätzung in Abhängigkeit von den beeinflussenden Faktoren vorgenommen werden, die sich von Land zu Land und vielleicht auch innerhalb eines Landes unterschiedlich darstellen können. Der Fokus sollte dabei zunächst auf der Arbeit in den Stationen liegen, denn ein demokratieorientiertes Programm erscheint nur glaubhaft, wenn die damit verbundenen Ansprüche auch innerhalb der Stationen bewusst sind und gelebt werden." (Seite 338)
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