"This report is one of the first studies comparing systematically different aspects of community radio practice in developing countries. Based on five country surveys - Colombia, Mali, Nepal, Peru and South Africa - it provides descriptions and analyses of: participatory processes and volunteerism;
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relationship with the community; exertion of rights; accountability and good governance; community radio networks; financing and financial sustainability; and community radio in conflict and post-conflict situations. The detailed country studies show that the practice of community radio broadcasting differs widely according to the national context, the legal environment and the specific role of national community radio associations and networks. In comparing the country studies, the main report stresses good practices, e.g. regarding the role of strong national networks, as well as some challenges like the need to accompany volunteers in a more systematic way and to address the precarious financial state of many community radio stations." (CAMECO Update 5-2008)
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"Long before the descriptor “citizen journalism” became a topic of research interest in academia, Indonesia’s Radio Elshinta (www.elshinta.com) in Jakarta had already opened its airwaves for listeners, most with no formal journalism training, to call in their stories. This paper contextualises
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Elshinta’s experience with Asia’s top online citizen media portal Ohmynews (english.ohmynews.com) in South Korea to identify their common and divergent characteristics. The case study is complemented by interviews with journalists from Elshinta and Ohmynews. The study concludes that despite relatively unreliable access to Internet facilities in Indonesia, the main catalysts for Elshinta’s engagement with its listeners are (a) the predominantly oral culture in Indonesia; (b) low literacy, thus their reliance on radio as the primary source of information and entertainment; and (d) the popularity of mobile phones for formal and informal communication. Indonesian television and newspapers, however, have been slow in catching up with people-initiated journalism because of (a) fear of losing its reputation and credibility, and thus its commercial base; and (b) conflict between unedited reports by untrained reporters with the professional practice standards and the Press Law. Other obstacles to people-initiated journalism in television and newspapers are the slow uptake of amateur handycam images by TV stations, poor Internet access, lack of writing skills and lack of interactivity in existing online news sites." (Abstract)
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"Exporting Press Freedom examines the history and practice of media assistance, and argues that the dilemma of media independence and sustainability is best understood as an economic problem rather than one of poor editorial standards or lack of will. It includes profiles of news and public affairs
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media in developing and democratizing countries, and also of two non-governmental organizations that have pioneered the use of low-interest loans in media assistance. These profiles exemplify strategic and entrepreneurial approaches to developing and supporting public service media. Such approaches may be of use not only in the developing world, but in the consolidated Western democracies as well, where concern has grown about poor journalistic performance and its consequences for democratic governance." (Publisher description)
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"Editors and journalists who have been trained to understand issues of gender-based violence and human rights can have a positive influence on educating public and political understanding of these issues. This article describes two workshops held recently in Senegal and Albania for male and female e
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ditors and journalists. The UNFPA workshop for journalists and editors from six African countries in postconflict situations, held in Senegal, was deliberately scheduled to coincide with the Dakar film festival on gender-based violence. The purpose of the UNFPA strategy was to achieve extensive media coverage in these six countries. The Albanian workshop for local and national media took place in Tirana as part of a three-year project against sex-trafficking, conducted by the NGO Albanian Centre for Population and Development in partnership with the Mediterranean Women’s Studies Centre." (Abstract)
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"[...] se va configurando un trabajo basado en entrevistas y relevamiento de documentación institucional (planes de estudio, actas, programas de materias) que describen el marco general de situación y los procesos pedagógicos más concretos: relación docente-alumno, docente-autoridad, autoridad-
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alumno, etc., que son aquellos lugares donde la materialidad de las propuestas de estudio cobran vida. Las voces de los protagonistas, que se entrecruzan, chocan y disputan un relato que no es homogéneo, son el elemento más valioso y fecundo de la investigación, porque así pareciera estar dispuesto por las autoras. Los momentos de análisis y reflexión autoral se presentan como puntos de cierre y conclusión, pero el verdadero trabajo de investigación puede rastrearse en la edición y ordenamiento de los relatos de los docentes, alumnos y directivos de aquella época. De esta manera se ejercita la memoria, pero desde un ángulo que evita caer en lugares comunes, que evade la repetición. La repetición, ensayamos, no hace más que gestar obstáculos hacia la problematización. Este libro hace lo contrario, y así se une a los trabajos que indagan sobre todas las formas donde el poder político y represivo cobra vida. Por eso las autoras entienden el diseño curricular como proceso, como una propuesta político-educativa, y no como permanencia o anclaje. Pero el aporte más destacado de esta obra se encuentra no tanto en la nueva lectura que permite sobre el pasado de la institución y las complejas zonas de intervención de los ideales y acciones de la ideología militar, sino más bien en la interpretación que posibilita sobre este presente de la formación de comunicadores, que en la actualidad es guiada, criticada y transformada por aquellos que se iniciaron y educaron bajo los lineamientos del Plan de estudios 77. El hecho se presenta como relevante en tanto la forma de entender el proceso educativo en la actualidad sigue en mayor o menor medida impregnada –o inevitablemente heredada - con los modos en que se concebía en aquella época. En esta dirección es muy claro el ejemplo del régimen de evaluación y promoción instaurado durante el Plan 77 que aún fija las condiciones de aprobación de las materias en las carreras de la Facultad: 80 por ciento de asistencia a clase, calificación de 7 o más para promocionar, parciales o trabajos que pudieran determinar si los objetivos propuestos fueron alcanzados; lo que permite inferir una “concepción de la evaluación ligada a la mera comprobación”. Es decir, normativas que se enmarcan, junto a numerosos procesos pedagógicos, en lo que las autoras definen como “postura educativa tecnicista”. Estas cuestiones nos permiten formular la pregunta, o al menos darle la posibilidad a la inquietud, sobre el lugar que ocupan estos elementos hoy en el proceso formativo más general. Es necesario dejar en claro que la mirada sobre el Plan 77 no desestima el lugar que el texto le da al análisis del Plan 72, sino todo lo contrario, teniendo en cuenta que su estudio es vital para comprender las rupturas entre ambos Planes en el marco delacontecer político-formativo de la época. Pero es cierto que en términos de primacía y peso histórico, el Plan 77 tiene un lugar clave en el total de las cuestiones que hacen al desarrollo de la institución. “La formación de periodistas...” es un libro que invita a ser leído por su simpleza y capacidad de descripción, aunque por momentos la propia postura de las autoras parece disiparse entre los relatos dispares de los entrevistados, y de estos en su relación con los documentos relevados. Siempre es difícil darle un cierre a todo lo que la dictadura ha rozado y quemado con los filamentos de la violencia política, circunstancia a la que no escapa este libro ni estos párrafos. Pero si las conclusiones abiertas sirven para seguir indagando, recordando e invitando a revisar una y mil veces más los hechos desgraciados y equívocos de nuestro pasado, sin importar quiénes hayan sido sus responsables, bienvenidas sean." (Reseña de Fernando Palazzolo en https://perio.unlp.edu.ar/ojs/index.php/question/article/view/611)
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"The 'Inclusion Through Media' partnership has involved many imaginative and productive collaborations between creative media professionals and young and excluded people in cities and regions of the UK and Europe. Using media as a means of working with, and empowering marginalised people in their co
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mmunities is a practice that has emerged strongly in recent years, nurtured by the extraordinary growth of digital media and the Web. These developments have enabled a participatory culture -particularly online- one in which young people are now more able to represent themselves and their concerns through digital media. This book offers first hand accounts of work across and beyond Inclusion Through Media, alongside critical analysis of many of the processes involved, and the policy issues it raises. It suggests ways in which working with media with disenfranchised groups can contribute to social cohesion and inclusion, and so points the way towards new media, youth and social policy." (Publisher description)
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"The authors present six local and independent radio stations from Africa - community radio stations, and commercial and NGO run radio stations with strong community participation - showcasing good practices for sustainability, defined as "ability of a radio station to maintain a good quality develo
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pmental broadcasting service over a period of time." Asking the question, what is it that needs to be sustained? they offer a holistic view on sustainability by examining how a radio station is embedded in its geographic, economic, infrastructural, social, linguistic and cultural context. Furthermore, the case studies consider the broadcasting environment, programme schedules, management structures and sources of income of the radio stations. Particular attention is paid to the community engagement of the radio stations and to the causes for active community involvement." (commbox)
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