"This paper looks at the structure and functioning of public information departments in peacekeeping operations, and at the relationship between the departments and the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the Department of Information (DPI) at Headquarters in New York. Wh
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ile recognizing that information strategies vary from one mission to another and are dependent on individual mission mandates, the paper addresses the organizational structures that determine mission information strategies and policies general to all missions. The paper takes as a case study the role of the public information department in the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), with a particular focus on public outreach by UNMIK’s radio and television units. Recognizing that each peace mission is different in scope and mandate, and that Kosovo is characterized by an unusual degree of UN control and authority, the paper contends that lessons may nevertheless be extrapolated from the UNMIK experience that are relevant to UN missions elsewhere in the world and to communication strategies in post-conflict environments in general." (Executive summary)
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"This research initiative assessed the key media changes and developments in seventeen African countries over the past five years and aimed at recommending intervention strategies for strengthening an independent, professional media sector. The summary report presents the main findings regarding med
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ia landscapes, media legislation, media technology and equipment, journalism training and principles of media development. According to this publication "substantial evidence is provided that points to: non-sustainable and short-term approaches to projects; disconnected programmes; unneccesary competition amongst donors; and, consequently wasted investment of donor funds" (Page 15). In addition, individual country reports have been released, written by renowned African media specialists and researchers. They include: Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Each country report consists of three sections: 1) Media sector developments, 2) Challenges for future media development activities, 3) Case study: illustrating good practice in media development." (commbox)
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"This study engages in the examination of the role of journalism in a time of violent conflict and explores the discourse that has come to be known under the umbrella term “peace journalism.” Through a case study of the Open Broadcast Network (OBN) coverage of the Bosnian conflict, the study ana
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lyzes the initial lessons learned from one of the original implementations of peace journalism precepts in violent conflict. As demonstrated by the fleeting and partial success of OBN, the news media can play a role in transformation of conflict but the feasibility and accomplishments of such practice depend upon a variety of variables." (Abstract)
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"This book presents conceptual and methodological issues related to the use of communication in order to facilitate participation among stakeholders in natural resource management (NRM) initiatives. It also presents a collection of chapters that focus on participatory development communication and N
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RM, particularly in Asia and Africa. There are many approaches and practices in development communication, and most of them have been implemented in the field of environment and natural resource management. But, even when considering participatory approaches in NRM, communication is often limited to information dissemination activities that mainly use printed materials, radio programmes and educational videos to send messages, explain technologies or illustrate activities. These approaches, with their strengths and weaknesses, have been well documented.
Participatory development communication takes another perspective. This form of communication facilitates participation in a development initiative identified and selected by a community, with or without the external assistance of other stakeholders. The terminology has been used in the past by a number of scholars to stress the participatory approach of communication in contrast with its more traditional diffusion approach. Others refer to similar approaches as participatory communication for development, participatory communication or communication for social change.
In this publication, participatory development communication is considered to be a planned activity that is based on participatory processes and on media and interpersonal communication. This communication facilitates dialogue among different stakeholders around a common development problem or goal. The objective is to develop and implement a set of activities that contribute to a solution to the problem or the realization of a goal, and which support and accompany this initiative. This kind of communication requires moving from a focus on information and persuasion to facilitating exchanges between different stakeholders to address a common problem, to develop a concrete initiative for experimenting with possible solutions, and to identify the partnerships, knowledge and materials needed to support these solutions." (Preface)
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"Die vorliegende Studie wendet den Blick ab von den bisher in erster Linie erforschten journalistischen Inhalten hin zu den Prozessen und Strukturen, innerhalb deren sie entstehen. Sie erweitert dabei die Perspektive der Rühl’schen Redaktionsforschung (1969) um Erkenntnisse der betriebswirtschaft
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lichen Managementlehre und hier besonders des Total-Quality-Managements (TQM). Neben den originär journalistisch-handwerklichen Entscheidungsprogrammen (z. B. Recherche, Themenselektion, Gegenlesen) werden auch Entscheidungsprogramme des redaktionellen Managements (z. B. Personalmanagement, redaktionelles Marketing) als potenzielle redaktionelle Routinen gesehen, die in ihrer Vernetzung ein zielgerichtetes Qualitätsmanagement ermöglichen können. Diese Routinen werden als Instrumente (Werkzeuge) des Qualitätsmanagements bezeichnet. Die Praxis des Gegenlesens oder die institutionalisierte Blattkritik sind also ebenso solche Instrumente wie die redaktionelle Zielformulierung, Weiterbildungsofferten oder Leistungslohnsysteme für Mitarbeiter. In einer Vollerhebung aller deutschen, tagesaktuell arbeitenden Nachrichtenredaktionen wurde ermittelt, welche der einzelnen Instrumente des redaktionellen Qualitätsmanagements im Nachrichtenjournalismus der unterschiedlichen Medientypen bereits Anwendung finden und in welcher Form dies geschieht. Eine abschließende Zusammenschau der einzelnen Instrumente soll zeigen, ob diese Bemühungen um die Sicherung der redaktionellen Qualität bereits auf eine systematische Anwendung im Sinne des Total-Quality-Managements hinweisen oder – falls nicht – inwiefern sich Tendenzen und noch ungenutzte Potenziale zeigen (siehe Kap. 7). Die Analyse wird vor dem Hintergrund einer funktional multidimensionalen Definition journalistischer Qualität durchgeführt (siehe Kap. 3.2.2). Es wird davon ausgegangen, dass jede Redaktion ihre eigenen Qualitätsziele und -kriterien hat (inwiefern sie diese auch schriftlich fixiert, ist ebenfalls Teil der Untersuchung). An ihnen richteten sich alle Bemühungen ihres internen Qualitätsmanagements aus. Im Zentrum der Erhebung steht also nicht die fallbezogene Untersuchung der Effizienz der Maßnahmen (denn dazu müssten ebenfalls die Qualitätsziele, -kriterien und Inhalte einer Redaktion untersucht werden), sondern ihre Existenz und Vernetzung im Sinne von TQM. Dies entspricht nach Donabedian einer Analyse der Struktur- und Prozessqualität. Werden diese für gut befunden, ist es auch wahrscheinlich, dass die in diesem Umfeld produzierten Inhalte (Ergebnisqualität) den Zielen der jeweiligen Redaktion entsprechen." (Seiten 22-23)
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"This study breaks the downward communication challenge in post-tsunami Aceh and Sri Lanka into four main areas. The first looks at the nature of communication problems between organisations and communities. The second covers mass information campaigns, including an overview of the information chann
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els in Aceh and Sri Lanka and how best to use them. The third section investigates complaints mechanisms, and, finally, the fourth section is a brief glance at what has been done to bridge information gaps in Aceh and Sri Lanka. Many organisations are still paying for mistakes made in communicating with communities in the early days of the tsunami recovery effort, resulting in what many call the “broken promises” phenomenon. The inherent problems of managing expectations were exacerbated by a widespread use of translators and jargon and the extreme levels of trauma experienced by beneficiaries. A number of organisations, however, have started to address these mistakes and build communications strategies into projects, developing models that potentially have wide application." (Executive summary)
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"Klaus Fiedler tells the story of the ‘Kachere Books series’ developed at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Chancellor College, University of Malawi. Fiedler believes Africa has a lot to offer for academic publishing in Africa,“forget about the handicaps and look at the oppor
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tunities”, and, despite frequent statements to the contrary, a market for academic books does exist in Africa, “and it is a market in the right place, since books on Africa are needed first of all in Africa.” He proves his point by drawing attention to the remarkable success of the Kachere series launched in 1995, supported by some statistical analysis of sales at home, elsewhere in Africa, as well as overseas through African Books Collective. The series started with a remit to publish primarily books on theology and religion in Malawi, but soon expanded to include books with more political content, and titles on Malawian culture and society. Over a hundred titles have been published (of which 33 have been reprinted) with page extents ranging from a slim 28 pages to as much as 607 pages, with initial print runs of 500-700 copies. The author says “what has been possible here may well be possible elsewhere” and urges other publishers to get started: “Complaining, though emotionally satisfying, does not achieve anything… It is better to find practical solutions." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2285)
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"The purpose of this report is primarily to report on the results of the 2006 Children in the Media Monitoring Project, and specifically on how children would write the news, reflected in the newspapers the children produced during a workshop in 2006. The report also reflects the results of a childr
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en’s monitoring exercise, the impact of the CCMP on reporting on children, concluding with some recommendations for child-friendly reporting." (Page 2)
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"[...] This publication, Writing for Our Lives, documents best practices from the Maisha Yetu project, whose defining feature has been continuous in-house mentoring and training on health care reporting in six African media houses over a two-year period. The uninterrupted presence of journalist-trai
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ners (as opposed to the more widespread model of one-time workshops on health care reporting) has allowed for the integration of theory and practice, resulting in dramatic changes in the quantity and quality of reporting on HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. It has created champions of health care journalism in mid- and upper-level management where there was little or none before. It has helped journalists to recognize the centrality of women’s stories in the HIV/AIDS crisis." (Foreword)
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"Young people, working with a range of media materials, produce innovative content through dialogue and discussions says this publication. On the basis of case studies in Ghana, Haiti, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Vietnam, and Zambia, the study examines how
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youth get involved with an assortment of media including newspaper and magazine, radio, television and video, the internet, and personal digital assistants. The study [...] provides a detailed sketch of the various initiatives, offers some interesting perspectives on how ICTs and media mixes have become popular with youngsters both in creative engagement and content creation. It explores the various kinds of innovative uses and participation of youth in media in different cultural contexts, and demonstrates that young people, working with a range of media materials, produce innovative content through dialogue and discussions." (UNESCO website)
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"This book provides the first comprehensive examination of the issues and politics of NGO accountability across all sectors and internationally. It offers an assessment of the key technical tools available including legal accountability, certification and donor-based accountability regimes, and ques
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tions whether these are appropriate and viable options or attempts to 'roll-back' NGOs to a more one-dimensional function as organizers of national and global charity. Input and case studies are provided from NGOs such as ActionAid, and from every part of the globe including China, Indonesia and Uganda." (Publisher description)
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"This book, compiled by South African experts in community broadcasting with the assistance of many key figures in the sector, traces the two-decade campaign for local-level television in South Africa. It highlights the development of policy, reviews existing international models and spells out the
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technical, financial and managerial challenges that face this nascent sector. Policy-makers, community television station managers and staff, development analysts and funders, media academics and students, press officers, organisations wishing to access local TV together with anyone interested in community media in the developing world generally, and community television specifically, will find this book important reading." (HSRC website)
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