"This study aims to investigate media intervention in the extractive sector, like media training for journalists, and investigative reporting in the sector, to improve innovations designed to drive transparency and accountability. It also aims to understand the experiences of journalists and media o
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rganisations in the overall mission to ensure a more transparent extractive sector. The research employed a combination of methods - key informant interviews with 10 media organisations and CSO stakeholders, an online survey for journalists, and focus group discussions with newsroom managers selected from the media institutions identified by respondents to the survey. Findings revealed that Nigerian journalists had attended media training in the extractive sector, and this training has impacted their delivery and reportage, improved wide-range and sophisticated viewpoints that can direct their reporting methods and choices. Their capacity is built in utilising critical thinking to assess news sources, information, and the motivations of individuals and advancement in journalism. Journalists and media organisations continue to demand more collaborative and action-oriented processes to advance their reportage and generate more impactful stories, especially in the extractive sector." (Executive summary)
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"This article examines how documentary film can be employed as visual evidence to create a thick description of environmental injustice among low-social-economic status communities in China. In particular, this article exemplifies the approach with a case study of a 2022 research project on transiti
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onal injustice during China’s phase out coal strategy in the case study of Liupanshui, the largest coal mine in southern China since the 1950s. Drawing upon the author’s environmental documentaries that explored the local struggles and sufferings of environmental injustice in China, the article explores how we can examine environmental injustice via a multidisciplinary approach that combines public policy, environmental studies and documentary filmmaking." (Abstract)
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"Este estudio, nuevamente, evidencia que existen grandes debilidades en la implementación de políticas de transparencia y acceso a la información por parte de las instituciones relacionadas directa e indirectamente con el sector hidrocarburos; por tanto, para contribuir con su mejora se recomiend
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a que: las autoridades públicas de los niveles Central y subnacional, involucradas directa o indirectamente en el sector hidrocarburos, asuman acciones para cumplir la normativa relacionada con la transparencia y acceso a información, y se implementen nuevos principios, directrices y normas internas para dotar a la población de mayor información que permita una adecuada participación y oportuno control social sobre este recurso que es estratégico y de propiedad de todos los bolivianos; la sociedad civil organizada también debe desarrollar iniciativas y presentar propuestas de nuevas políticas de transparencia y acceso a la información, éstas pueden tener como base las buenas prácticas internacionales de transparencia y acceso a la información relacionadas con el sector hidrocarburos; en la segunda década del siglo XXI resulta fundamental que las instituciones públicas, tanto desde el nivel central como subnacional, implementen instrumentos y herramientas tecnológicas que faciliten el acceso a información por parte de la población mediante el uso del internet y portales web; se debe impulsar y desarrollar una política nacional de datos abiertos que permita contar con datos técnicos del sector con regularidad y calidad, que permitan ser reutilizados por la ciudadanía; desarrollar una política de transparencia y acceso a la información, ya sea mediante una norma específica o incorporada en la nueva Ley de Hidrocarburos, que establezca aspectos mínimos relativos al desarrollo del sector que deben ser transparentados, mecanismos para el acceso a información, con plazos para su publicación y sanciones ante posibles incumplimientos." (Recomendaciones, página 29)
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"The dominant transparency narrative in policymaking attributes a key role to the public: once citizens gain information, they are predicted to use it to demand better resource governance. Whether the public receives the available information in the first place, however, has not been scrutinised in
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a large-N analysis. This article examines Ghanaians’ information sources and information-seeking behaviour using a unique survey with over 3500 respondents. Although Ghana has actively pursued transparency in its natural resource revenue management, most Ghanaians have poor access to understandable information as information is disseminated through channels that the intended receivers normally do not use. Non-elite citizens and those with limited English skills were least likely to have heard about natural resource revenue management, compared with elected duty bearers, traditional authorities, other opinion leaders, and those with an interest in the issue through working in mining or living near an extraction site. The results suggest that the conceptualisation of transparency may be too simplistic, and that the expectations linked to transparency in enhancing natural resource governance may not materialise through the mechanisms hypothesised in the literature." (Abstract)
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"Mining extractive companies have extended their operations to other realms, such as the management of media. Thus, from a space of physical intervention, they start to conquer a space of symbolic representation, creating a gap between local communities’ perceptions of the mining process and the p
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erception that is spread through media outlets about the operations in the territories. In Chile, this perception is complicated by the participation of the mining industry in media ownership and the overall concentration of media. Through critical ethnographic fieldwork, analysis of national and local community media examples, this article explores an ongoing socio-environmental conflict in the Choapa Valley where the copper mine Los Pelambres operates. It does it by first discussing how the mining industry pursues narratives of extractivism in the Chilean media and then discussing how local communities defy this narrative by creating their description of the territory through local media outlets." (Abstrct)
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"Las instituciones públicas subnacionales inciden directamente en la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos de todo el país, ya que cuentan con autonomía de gestión y administración de sus ingresos. En ese sentido, la transparencia es el principio por el cual los ciudadanos conocen la información b
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ásica de la información sobre la gestión pública, así como sus procedimientos y mecanismos de adopción de decisiones. La transparencia y el derecho de acceso a la información en el nivel subnacional, a pesar de la emisión de normativa general, no ha mejorado en los últimos años. Esta falta de información coarta una participación y control real y efectivo por parte de la ciudadanía. La implementación de políticas de transparencia y acceso a la información, al interior de las diferentes instancias departamentales y municipales, constituye no solo una demanda de la ciudadanía, sino una oportunidad para promover una administración más eficiente, confiable y legítima." (Conclusiones, página 14)
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"Combining perspectives from media studies and political ecology, this book analyses socially constructed news regarding three environmental conflicts in South America. In recent decades, South American political administrations have tied national economies to neo-extractive development strategies,
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creating not only vulnerabilities to global commodity boom and bust pricing cycles, but also to conflict regarding environmental and cultural degradation from extraction activities. Environmental contestations among indigenous peoples, environmental and social NGOs, state actors, and extraction industries receive media attention, but how these disputes are covered has implications for understandings of media performance in democratizing nations. The authors examine three case studies of environmental contestation in a region that is simultaneously vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and yet has become once again dependent on commodity exportation to industrializing and industrialized nations for economic benefit and social development strategies." (Publisher description)
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"Since the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, fossil fuels have supplied much if not most of that energy. Today, oil, coal and gas meet three-quarters of our needs. The oil and gas industry alone generates revenue running into several trillion dollars each year. It’s a market
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that can offer a producing country a one-off opportunity to change life for the better [...] for everyone. Experience has shown that that does not always follow. Oil production, in some countries, has been a curse instead of a blessing. Translating wishful thinking into reality depends on how the resources, and the revenue from them, are earned, managed and spent. This is where you come in. You, the journalist, have a vital role to play. This handbook will not teach you everything you need to know about the oil and gas industry. It’s more of an introductory guide to help you get your bearings. It will offer you a few pointers and, hopefully, stimulate your natural curiosity." (Introduction)
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"This research looks at the distribution of balanced and accurate information about one of China's biggest investments in the South Pacific region, the Ramu Nickel Project. Are the local people in the project impact areas of Kurumbukare and Basamuk well informed and do they have a voice that is fair
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ly represented in the media? How does the overall project appear to be represented by the media and received by the people? [...] In this chapter, I focus on the role of the media in this project, including the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), particularly the local NBC radio Madang, FM 100 of Kalang Advertising and the two national newspapers Post Courier and The National. Because of the isolation of the area, the research looked at how the reporters source their information, whether it is first hand or second hand, and the challenges that they face in obtaining information." (Page 125)
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"This report is intended to serve as a guide for organizations considering establishing journalist-training programs in Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda. The report provides an overview of the challenges and opportunities in the journalism profession in these three countries. Generalizations across countri
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es are difficult. Thus, we encourage anyone making use of this report for program planning to consider the findings on each country as a distinct entity." (Executive summary)
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"The Rio Tinto ilmenite mine in the Fort Dauphin area of southern Madagascar is the first of a number of mining projects planned for Madagascar with the support of the World Bank. The effects of this mine are widespread, not only on the people and economy of the region but also on its unique environ
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ment. 'A Mine of Information?' examines the debates, grievances, consultations and negotiations that have taken place between the mining company and the many different stakeholders affected by the project, not least members of the local community. The report reveals the gaps in consultation and communication and assesses the consequences. It raises questions to be considered by all stakeholders, making recommendations for essential improvements in communication." (Back cover)
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"Over the last two years, the Initiative for Policy Dialogue and Revenue Watch, working with local partners and other sponsors, have organized workshops for journalists in the oil-exporting countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Nigeria on the subject of “Covering Resource Wealth.” This book i
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s a result of those workshops, in which journalists expressed a great need for more information to help them understand the petroleum industry and the impact that petroleum development and export may have on their countries [...] [htis book] will provide journalists with practical information in easily understood language about the petroleum industry and the impact of petroleum on a producing country. The report contains tip sheets for reporters on stories to pursue and questions to ask. Sample stories are also included. A resource section recommends further reading. A glossary defines key financial, geological, and legal terms that can improve reporters’ understanding of the literature on petroleum development. We hope that this book will give journalists the background information they need to write in-depth, analytical, critical, and informative pieces on energy and development—a subject affecting millions of readers around the world." (Foreword, page 7-8)
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"This book presents the history and role of Bolivian miner's radio stations, covering more than forty years. It deals with their historical development, political struggles, and current situation. It also advances some structural proposals for the reinforcement and survival of these radio centers. T
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he investigation relied on the personal as well as collective experiences of communication professionals, miners, farmers, and those who were involved in this matter in some way or other. The work does not pretend to be an exhaustive treatment of this subject; however, it is the first investigative approach to it." (Communication Research Trends, 14:4, 1994, page 41)
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