"Self-censorship habits are entrenched in the practices of Egyptian journalists, who largely perceive their role as servants of political masters. Even though the debate on reforming media was high on the agenda during the time of the revolution, this subservient perception did not change. Journalis
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ts were still struggling to cope with a new environment where they could operate without instructions. The deep political polarization between pro-Islamists and pro-liberals under the Brotherhood rule transformed media into the favourite platform for political spin. The newfound liberty was translated into a chaotic expression of unfounded views and rumours [...] Egyptian media reform requires a complex operation involving both legal reform and institutional review of media practices and professional standards." (Executive summary)
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"Social Media and the Politics of Reportage explores the journalistic challenges, issues and opportunities that have risen as a result of social media increasingly being used as a form of crisis reporting within the field of global journalism, with a focus on the protests during the 'Arab Spring'."
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(Publisher description)
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"Das Buch konzentriert sich auf den Aspekt des möglichen Einsatzes von Blogs zur Schaffung einer Gegenöffentlichkeit. Dazu werden englischsprachige, ägyptische Blogs untersucht, die während der Revolte gegen das Mubarak-Regime erstellt wurden. Zentral ist dabei die Frage, ob und wie ägyptische
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Blogger versuchen, mithilfe ihrer Blogs Nachrichten und Positionen zu vermitteln, die in der staatlich autorisierten Medienberichterstattung während des Mubarak-Regimes unterdrückt wurden. Dazu werden ausgewählte Blog-Einträge mittels einer Dokumentenanalyse daraufhin untersucht, ob mit ihnen erkennbar eine Gegenöffentlichkeit konstituiert werden soll und wie dies gegebenenfalls geschieht." (Klappentext)
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"Libyans and Tunisians have grown weary of coverage that represents the interests of those who run or fund the channels and consequently place little trust in the media. Perhaps as a result of these limitations, the audiences are savvy and discerning consumers who “shop around” to access informa
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tion and verify what they have found. People desire the media to do more than highlight problems. They want it to discuss solutions and act as a force for good rather than foster division. The degree to which this is possible varies by state." (Executive summary)
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"This briefing argues that the Iraqi media landscape of 2013 may not be the free, plural and professional fourth estate that many in the West had envisaged in 2003 but that it has real strengths – as well as weaknesses – which reflect the reality and complexity of modern Iraq. The seismic shift
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in attitudes that the Iraqi media was asked to embrace in the reconstruction of the sector after Saddam Hussein’s fall was always likely to take time. It is suggested here that the prospects for Iraq’s media are less bleak than is often assumed." (Executive summary, page 4)
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"Libyan media’s deficiencies are vast and cover all facets of production. For one, the media industry’s decades-long isolation from the Arab and international markets poses a particular challenge to its reconstruction by comparison to the transitional media industries in Egypt and Tunisia. Media
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reform in Libya therefore requires tailor-made solutions that can address the specific needs of the national mainstream industry. While most training available to media staff with little professional experience focusses on basic media practices, it is crucial that these courses provide programmes that are targeting media practitioners of different media platforms (print, magazine, television and radio) as well as different levels of media professionalism (junior reporters as well as senior managers). This process should be based on a deeper understanding of the needs and challenges facing the media industry. It is a must that these programmes target institutions and contribute to their development towards professionalism. In doing so, international and regional agents working in media development should base their operations on a deep understanding of the media industry, its needs and its challenges—a matter that necessitates direct connections with this industry. It is clear that most of the training programmes had targeted citizen journalists recruiting trainees through local centres. They must now focus on media institutions and therefore target their staff with specific training programmes." (Conclusion, page 68)
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"This article aims to compare Portuguese and Spanish radio broadcasting systems from the mid-1970s to the present, from a political economy approach. It analyses the regulatory framework (communication policies) and the ownership structure. It explains how a highly similar situation has been reached
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despite having stemmed from a situation defined by different principles, when both political transitions began. To do so, this work also analyses the role of deregulation and its globalising nature. The study focuses on three key periods: the initial period in both transitions, the years following both countries’ admission into the European Community and the start of the new century." (Abstract)
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"By delving into the detailed account of the Tunisian uprising, this article offers an explanation that sets the 2010 uprising apart from its precursors. The 2010 uprising was successful because activists successfully managed to bridge geographical and class divides as well as to converge offline an
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d online activisms. Such connection and convergence were made possible, first, through the availability of dramatic visual evidence that turned a local incident into a spectacle. Second, by successful frame alignment with a master narrative that culturally and politically resonated with the entire population. Third, by activating a hybrid network made of the connective structures to facilitate collective action – among Tunisians who shared collective identities and collective frames – and connective action – among individuals who sought more personalized paths to contribute to the movement through digital media." (Abstract)
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"Egypt’s revolutionary uprising in 2011 raised important questions about the kind of journalism that would be viable in the country’s changing political dynamics. Suddenly the output of bloggers, online radio and social media news operations, which had all formed part of the groundswell of actio
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n against dictatorship and repression, posed an explicit challenge to journalists in state-run and commercial media companies who were more directly subject to government controls. As different interest groups struggle over the country’s future, Naomi Sakr considers emerging visions of journalism in Egypt. In this book she charts recent transformations in Egyptian journalism, exploring diverse approaches to converged media and the place of participatory cross-media networks in expanding and developing the country's body of professional journalists. She analyses journalist’ initiatives for restructuring publicly owned media and securing a safe and open environment in which to work." (Publisher description)
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"The review starts by elucidating the potential role of the media as a democratising agent. We then explore the relationship between media reform and institutional change during democratisation periods, and move to review the literature on the contribution of media to institution building and due pe
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rformance in Central and Eastern Europe. We continue the discussion on the effectiveness of media for democratisation by assessing the relationship between political accountability and the accountability function of ‘watchdog journalism’ in Latin America. This is followed by a review of major works that look at the media as an instigator to or determinant of changes in individuals’ political attitudes or behaviour during periods of democratisation. Later, we discuss in detail the relationship between the media and change for democracy in the most recent region of interest in terms of potential democratisation, the Arab world, and finally, we assess the media’s revolutionary roles in regime changes with particular focus on the rising debate about the connection between social media and the Arab Spring." (Executive summary)
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"A state-of-the-art analysis of the situation of national television in Arab countries, addressing what Arab national broadcastings today say about public policy and political opening. The essays deal with the reforms of public broadcasting organizations and the evolution, perspectives and issues of
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national broadcasting." (Publisher description)
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"Der Fokus ist auf die angestrebte Umwandlung des Staatssenders Radio Television Afghanistan in einen öffentlichen Sender gerichtet. In Experteninterviews mit Vertretern dreier relevanter Akteursgruppen und einer schriftlichen Rezipientenbefragung wurde unter anderem herausgefunden, dass RTA eine h
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erausgehobene Rolle im Nationbuilding-Prozess zugesprochen wird." (Klappentext)
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"Characterized by socio-political changes, instability and conflict since 1990, Nepal is a nation in political transition. The media play a significant role in influencing this transition. Since 1990, various global and local factors have contributed to an unprecedented growth in the mass media in N
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epal. This article analyses the expansion in the media against indicators of media pluralism to ask whether this expansion, within a difficult political transition, translates to media pluralism. The article draws upon qualitative research to assess the media market, the resources available for the media, diversity in media ownership and products, competition and ethics and policy and regulatory provisions within a struggling economy and an environment of poor law and order." (Abstract)
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"This article explores the emergence of a new landscape of local print and broadcast media in revolutionary Libya that is both the result of the dramatic changes that the country has undergone and one of their facilitators. This article analyses the political impact of these new forms of media durin
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g and after the 2011 Libyan uprisings, with an emphasis on how the role and the self-image of journalists and media producers has evolved alongside with Libya’s political transformation. It is demonstrated that the new Libyan media began their life as ‘partisan advocates’ and that different societal currents are now struggling to set the new role of media. It concludes with an analysis of the newly implemented legal framework and institutions which govern the Libyan media. It remains unclear if recent legislation will protect independent media from the authorities or, conversely, allow the state to exert censorship and consolidate its ownership over the media. This article analyses the various approaches to media jurisdiction prevalent in post-Qadhafi Libya as reflecting various degrees of state intervention. This discussion reflects the inherent contradictions of a society which, with very little preparation, has had to manage the change from conditions of absolute governmental control to conditions of relative anarchy." (Abstract)
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"Les pays en quête de démocratie ont traversé de grands bouleversements. C’est ce dont témoignent les mouvements sociaux sur Internet, acteur incontournable des soulèvements populaires. Leurs contours, les lieux où ils évoluent ainsi que les volontés qui s’y expriment constituent un terr
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ain d’investigation fondamental. En effet, les enjeux qui leur sont associés pèsent sur le quotidien de sociétés en pleine mutation. Ainsi, le présent ouvrage ambitionne d’explorer ces enjeux. Pour ce faire, les contributions sont issues d’expériences sociales, culturelles et académiques différentes. L’objectif est de faire apparaître aussi bien les incertitudes et les impasses que les espoirs qui accompagnent les « processus de transition démocratique » que traversent ces sociétés du Moyen-Orient à l’Europe de l’Est et du Maghreb à l’Amérique latine, au prisme de ces nouveaux acteurs du net. Enfin, l’étude des mouvements sociaux en ligne s’impose à tout le champ des sciences sociales. De fait, il a le mérite d’agiter des questions plus ou moins classiques en les revisitant à partir d’une nouvelle « historicité ». Il en est ainsi de la démocratie, la perception de l’événement historique, des frontières des territoires individuel et collectif, du temps social ou encore des institutions politiques traditionnelles." (https://irmcmaghreb.org)
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"Following the revolutions, the battle for the Arab blogosphere has turned from being a competition over accessing the Internet and circumventing government controls to a cyberwar for the predominant narrative through Facebook, Twitter, and traditional media [...] Social media is reinvigorating trad
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itional print and broadcast media, including satellite networks, which are adopting multi-platform strategies [...] Social media is serving as political cover: News outlets are recognizing the benefit of using social media to preempt official repercussions by disseminating sensitive stories first on social media sites and in other cases to gauge possible reaction before going to print or air [...] Numerous media observers and professionals have complained that professional journalists, citizen journalists, bloggers, activists, and pro-government contributors in the region lack ethics, do not understand libel, practice incitement, and fail to meet other international journalism and legal standards [...] While user-generated content is plentiful, authenticating this content can take up valuable resources. Training for citizen journalists and non-journalists who are online would help established media outlets and the public to gauge the accuracy and authenticity of news and information." (Executive summary, page 8-9)
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