"This article explores the reception practices of multi-lingual audiences in Ghana, focusing on their views on the different norms and approaches of local language and English language radio newscasts. Using data from a convenience sample of 1000 radio listeners in five Ghanaian cosmopolitan cities
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the study finds that audiences prefer more performative modes of news delivery on their local language stations. It was also evident that radio audiences are discerning and make distinctions between what is acceptable on local language versus English language radio. These results call for a reconsideration of western-influenced standards of news delivery and the development of professional standards more accommodating of the inflections of culture." (Abstract)
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"The Afrobarometer survey conducted in late 2019 shows that although radio and television remain the most dominant news sources, daily news consumption via social media (by 22% of Ghanaians) and the Internet (19%) is steadily increasing. Social media is less trusted as a source of information – on
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ly 39% of Ghanaians say they trust it “somewhat” or “a lot” – than private and public media (55% each) and government sources (54%). Close to eight in 10 Ghanaians (78%) say politicians and political parties spread information that they know is false. But smaller majorities also blame government officials, journalists, social media users, and activists and interest groups. Although an overwhelming majority (92%) of Ghanaians who have heard of social media think social media usage makes people more aware of current happenings, almost as many (86%) say it makes people more likely to believe fake news. One-third (32%) of Ghanaians support government regulation of access to the Internet and social media, but close to half (48%) prefer unrestricted access. Large majorities of Ghanaians “agree” or “strongly agree” that the government should be able to limit or prohibit the sharing of false news (77%), hate speech (69%), and news and opinions that criticize or insult the president (57%). Close to half (48%) also say the government should be able to limit the spread of information it disapproves of." (Key findings, page 2)
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"This report [...] presents a bespoke analysis of how women around the world consume and perceive news, based on data on audience behaviour from 11 countries featured in the 2020 Reuters Institute Digital News Report: Kenya, South Africa, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, Finland, Germa
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ny, United Kingdom, and United States. We have selected these 11 to represent as wide a geographical base as possible, and cover some of the richest and poorest countries in the report [...] As the country profiles show, a growing set of women-led protest movements against femicide, sexual assault, and online harassment around the world have created a new debate around how the news portrays women, and new conversations about who is in the newsroom deciding the agenda and framing the news. While news reporting has sometimes played an important role in these debates, it is also clear that many of them are driven by feminists who use social media as activist tools to speak out and organise against sexism and misogyny, sometimes in the news media too [...] Key Findings: Men are more likely than women to say that they are ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ interested in political news across all markets; Women are more likely than men to express high levels of interest in news about health and education; Women are more likely than men to report that they use TV news programmes or bulletins; Facebook is still an important source of news for both men and women, but YouTube and Twitter are more popular with men; Women will talk about news face to face with friends and family more than men. They are less likely to comment on news on news websites or on social media; Women’s levels of trust in news, and concern over ‘fake news’ online, are broadly similar to men’s." (https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk)
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"Die vorliegende Studie untersucht, wie etablierte Medienunternehmen und journalistische Neugründungen in Deutschland nutzerseitige Zahlungsbereitschaft für digitaljournalistische Inhalte besser identifizieren, fördern und abschöpfen können. Auf Grundlage einer für die deutsche Online-Bevölke
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rung repräsentativen Befragung mit rund 6.000 Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmern und acht vertiefenden Gruppendiskussionen gelangt die Studie zu folgenden Kernergebnissen: 1. Nutzerinnen und Nutzer zahlen am liebsten für „harten“ Journalismus [...] 2. Nutzerinnen und Nutzer wünschen sich Orientierungshilfe im Inhalte-Dschungel [...] 3. Digitaler Journalismus wird (immer noch) häufig als „Katze im Sack“ wahrgenommen [...] 4. Digitaler Journalismus ist Nutzerinnen und Nutzern zu teuer [...] 5. Nutzerinnen und Nutzer sollten in der Lage sein, vertrauenswürdigen und demokratisch wertvollen Journalismus erkennen zu können." (Executive Summary: Kernergebnisse)
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"This 2019 report pays special attention to social media and social media influencers even as it focuses heavily on news media. As always, we look at media use by platform and content while also honing in both generally and in detail on the use of the internet. As a member of the World Internet Proj
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ect based at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, we contribute to that global survey and are the sole source of Middle East regional data." (Introduction, page 6)
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"Convergence of services usually affects the quality and price of services offered by providers. However, this has not been the case in Romania yet. People benefit from a very competitive market and enjoy fairly cheap services, but the implications of convergence on the content made available to con
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sumers are less beneficial for citizens. If three major companies start controlling both the infrastructure and the media content, the production of good quality journalism is likely to be affected and tastes and ideas could be shaped in unexpected ways. If these companies establish ties with the political elites as well and start endorsing certain ideologies, they can start having an unwarranted impact on society. Although these concerns are now hypothetical, they are grounded in practices that could be observed already for years in Romania. Social media is becoming increasingly influential as a source of information, with more than two-thirds of Romanians getting their news from Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms. Recent debates surrounding fake news have prompted calls for regulation of the online media in a similar way broadcast activities have been regulated for decades. Civil society organizations have been critical of such initiatives, fearing that they could pave the way to the reintroduction of censorship disguised as user protection." (Page 4)
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"Nas últimas décadas, têm sido vários os estudos que documentam a importância das notícias na vida dos públicos mais jovens, argumentando sobre a presença da atualidade na sua socialização e na construção de significados sobre o mundo. No contexto português, são ainda escassas as pesqu
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isas desenvolvidas sobre esta problemática, particularmente no que concerne ao universo das crianças. É nesse sentido que esta obra analisa e debate sobre as formas de acesso e de consumo de notícias, por crianças portuguesas a frequentar o 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Incidindo particularmente sobre como os tópicos da atualidade mediática ajudam estes públicos a apreender e a assimilar o mundo global e o mundo imediato, coloca-se a tónica na receção noticiosa e na ideia de público como sujeito. Com base em metodologias quantitativas e qualitativas, conclui-se que a natureza do envolvimento dos públicos mais novos com as notícias é contextualizada em função de variáveis sociodemográficas, do background familiar e do tipo de mediação que aí se pratica, dos interesses e experiências pessoais, e das formas de exposição mediática. É de salientar que as crianças contactam habitualmente com a atualidade em momentos de reunião familiar, embora demonstrem pouco interesse nos tópicos apresentados. Os resultados evidenciam que a informação noticiosa é vista como referência para conhecer o mundo e que o diálogo com os adultos pode ser um elemento impulsionador do gosto pela informação e um auxiliar fundamental na compreensão das notícias." (Sinopse)
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"The analyzed studies and surveys reflect some common trends concerning changing news habits in Europe. First, although the newspapers are still the main original sources for stories and provide institutional basis for high-quality journalism, they are not the primary gateways through which users ac
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cess the news. The main platform for media use remains the television, while the use of the internet and online social networks grows in the media habits of Europeans. The direct relationship between readers and publishers is weakening with the exception of Nordic countries, where users prefer to access news online directly. Second, comparative data on trust in the news media show the decline in general. Still, trust seems to be higher in traditional news media (radio on the first place and then TV), while lower in the online news media. A large number of users remain concerned about their ability to separate what is real and fake on the internet, and about the impact of disinformation on democracy generally. Third, a significant number of users are worn out about information overload while proportion of users avoiding the news steadily increases. It should be acknowledged at the same time, that there seem to be remarkable differences between countries as well as demographic categories (e.g. young and older, more and less educated) within these patterns." (Conclusion)
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"Trois-quarts des Nigériens possèdent un téléphone portable ou y ont accès à travers quelqu’un du foyer qui en possède un. Cet accès est de 55% pour la radio, 21% pour la télé, et 6% pour l’ordinateur. Mais juste 12% des Nigériens ont un téléphone portable avec accès à l’Interne
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t, une facilité plus grande chez les mieux nantis. La radio est la source d’information la plus utilisée, avec six Nigériens sur 10 qui l’écoutent au moins quelques fois par mois. En termes de régularité, 32% des Nigériens suivent les informations à la radio tous les jours, 13% à la télé, 6% sur Internet, 6% sur les médias sociaux, et 1% seulement via la presse écrite. Radio, télévision, Internet, médias sociaux, et presse écrite ont une constante: Ils sont davantage suivis pour les infos par les urbains que par les ruraux, par les hommes que par les femmes, et par les plus instruits que par les moins instruits." (Résultats clés)
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"In chapter 2, the book lays down its foundations with a review of a large body of experimental psychology research on how and why individuals can preserve their beliefs, sometimes in the face of all evidence, logic, and argument to the contrary. The second part of the chapter shows that millions of
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people do the same in the real world outside the laboratories, whatever the media say [...] Chapter 3 considers political partisanship and party identification - that is, strong attachments to political ideas, values, and organizations. Experiments show that people are likely to engage in belief preservation where partisan opinions are concerned, and the same seems to be true of partisans in the outside world [...] Chapter 4 broadens the scope of inquiry to examine how non-partisanship and non-party political beliefs and values can influence the ways the majoritiy of individuals receive and process news reports and draw conclusions from them [...] The first eight chapters deal mainly with the micro, demand side of the equation - but there is also the macro, supply side of news media systems. Supply and demand are often analyzed separately, although understanding media effects requires examining the interaction between them [...] Chapter 9 compares commercial and public service broadcasting, showing that they have different effects on political knowledge, trust, participation, and democratic support. Chapter 10 turns to the classic theory of news media pluralism as a cornerstone of modern democracy [...] The research strategy of this book involves comparing and contrasting a large number of studies of media effects on political attitudes and behavior in order to compare and contrast the conclusions they reach. The book does not merely traingulate in order to reach reliabe conclusions, but it polyangulates, using many different studies written by sociologists, political scientists, psychologists, and economists who employ a variety of methods to investigate many possible media effects on politics. American and British research is used in the main, but single-country research on Russia, the Netherlands, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Belgium is included, as are comparative studies of European Union member states." (Chapter 1, page 2-5)
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"The information ecosystem in DRC is fragmented and fragile. It is characterised by a great number of media outlets, however their level of professionalism is low and their vulnerability to partisan capture is high. This fragility is replicated in the online space. The Congolese population rely heav
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ily on informal sources of information such as word of mouth, interpersonal communication with family and friends. The scarcity of reliable information open avenues for the rumours and misinformation to spread. This context presents serious challenges for the promotion of good governance and accountability that requires well informed citizens. To better address those challenges, it is necessary to understand the main sources and dynamics of information flows both offline and online, and through media and non-media channels. A consortium composed of Fondation Hirondelle (FH), Demos, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) and the Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) was created in order to provide a more holistic view of the Congolese information ecosystem and to identify opportunities for entry. Due to the limited time and resources of the study, and because of the pre-existing networks and capacities of the consortium in this region, its focus is on North Kivu. To identify the voices, networks and themes that dominated this information ecosystem in this region, three levels of analysis were chosen: 1. The sources and level of information of the local populations. This analysis was provided by HHI that implemented household surveys of large samples of populations in Eastern DRC; 2. The sources of information of local journalists. This analysis was provided by FH that surveyed a network of 18 local radios in North Kivu; 3. The network and content analysis of digital and social media provided by DEMOS [...] Findings: Radio is the primary media source of information for the population of Eastern DRC (78% of the sample listens to it occasionally and 43% daily [...] The main sources of information depend on the context and the nature of the information people are seeking [...] The results highlight the lack of reliability of information sources (46% of respondents expressed a moderate to high level of confidence in local radio, and 39% for national radio) ..." (Executive summary)
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"The retrospection, which covers Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates, includes the following highlights: Internet penetration has increased in every country since 2013. The biggest increase occurred in Lebanon – from 58 percent to 91 percent in the la
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st five years; Smartphones are the ‘go-to’ device, connecting 97 percent of people to the internet as declining numbers of people (45 percent) rely on computers as their primary source of internet access; In terms of social media, fewer Arab national now use Facebook (74 percent) and Twitter (27 percent), while Instagram and Snapchat have risen to 40 percent and 29 percent respectively, due perhaps in part to the privacy these applications provide; Direct messaging is ubiquitous, with 97 percent of people using it; 47 percent of people send messages to group chats; Trust among Arab nationals in mass media is widespread, but figures have declined in several countries such as Tunisia (from 64 percent to 56 percent) and Qatar (from 69 percent to 64 percent); Most Gulf nationals say news media in their country is credible, but nationals elsewhere tend to disagree (Qataris are among the highest group in this respect with 62 percent saying their national media is credible, and Jordan among the lowest, at just 38 percent - down from 66 percent in 2013); At the same time, the belief that international news organizations are biased against the Arab World has grown. An average of 37 percent of Arab nationals thinks this." (https://www.qatar.northwestern.edu/news/articles/2018/05-mideast-media-retrospective.html)
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"Radio hat mit 31% den höchsten Marktanteil an der Info-Nutzung zu regionalen Themen, gefolgt vom Internet knapp vor der Tageszeitung. Fernsehen an vierter Stelle [...] Die Tageszeitung bekommt mit Abstand die meisten Nennungen als wichtigste Quelle für regionale Infos. Internet wie bei der Nutzun
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g auf dem 2. Rangplatz vor Radio und TV." (Seite 8-9)
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"Publics around the world overwhelmingly agree that the news media should be unbiased in their coverage of political issues, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of 38 countries. Yet, when asked how their news media are doing on reporting different political issues fairly, people are far mo
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re mixed in their sentiments, with many saying their media do not deliver. And, in many countries, there are sharp political differences in views of the media – with the largest gap among Americans. To build off Pew Research Center’s earlier findings about U.S. news media habits and attitudes, this new cross-national survey begins to study these dynamics globally. The survey finds that a median of 75% across 38 countries say it is never acceptable for a news organization to favor one political party over others when reporting the news. Just 20% say this is sometimes okay. People in Europe show the greatest opposition to political bias in their news." (Page 3)
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"55% of the interviewees have mixed feelings about how well informed they are regarding the general events from the Republic of Moldova. 43% of the respondents stated that they don’t feel informed at all or feel informed to a small extent regarding the events from the country. At the same time, 40
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% stated that they are satisfied with the Republic of Moldova mass media. A large percentage - 92% - of the respondents totally agree or somewhat agree that “it is important for Moldovans to be able to distinguish the news which intend to manipulate and misinform citizens”. At the same time, when asked what type of sources they use for information, almost half (45%) mentioned that they follow the news, but are not sure which sources are independent. 44% of the respondents believe that it would be “difficult” or “very difficult” to distinguish when mass media’s intention is to manipulate or change the opinion of the citizens. At the same time, 61% of the interviewees believe that the population of Moldova could hardly make a difference between fake and real news. 85% of the participants believe that news in the Republic of Moldova are influenced by politics 'a lot' or 'very much'." (Summary)
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"Women are underrepresented in newsrooms and are less likely to read political and international news. Preliminary data shows that news organizations with a higher share of women writing the news and in leadership positions also have a higher share of women in their audience. A number of academic st
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udies found that (1) women are more likely to cover the news with a positive framing and (2) women are more likely to read and respond to news with a positive framing. As such, it is possible that increasing the share of female journalists, editors, and newsroom leaders in a newsroom could reduce the gender gap in political and international news consumption. More women reading these news topics could create (1) revenue opportunities for media companies through audience growth and (2) a more informed and engaged public." (Summary)
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"In dieser Studie wird mithilfe qualitativer Fokusgruppendiskussionen mit Migranten bzw. mit Menschen mit Migrationsabsicht aus Subsahara-Afrika (i) nach Motiven für Migration, (ii) nach der Nutzung von Informationen und dem Wissen über Migration sowie (iii) nach der Rolle von Projekten der intern
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ationalen Zusammenarbeit im Kontext von Migration gefragt. Ausgangspunkt der Untersuchung ist die Annahme, dass Push-/ Pull-Modelle Migrationsprozesse nur unzureichend beschreiben; diese aber in der Politik häufig eingesetzt werden, um Fluchtursachen zu erklären und mögliche Wege ihrer Bekämpfung aufzuzeigen. Insgesamt wurden 17 Fokusgruppendiskussionen mit Befragten aus neun Ländern in Subsahara-Afrika im Zeitraum März bis Mai 2017 durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass nicht nur „klassische“ Push-Faktoren bei Migrationsentscheidungen eine Rolle spielen, sondern auch sozialer Druck durch die Familie, die an die Migration eines Familienmitgliedes bestimmte Erwartungen knüpfen. Dies führt dazu, dass Rückkehrer, die diesen Erwartungen nicht gerecht werden, häufig unter sozialer Ausgrenzung leiden. Darüber hinaus zeigen die Befragungen, dass Migranten besser über Risiken der Migration informiert sind als in der Öffentlichkeit gemeinhin angenommen wird. Dazu gehört zum Beispiel das Wissen über Gefahren auf der Flucht sowie das Risiko, im Ausland scheitern zu können. Ein weiteres Ergebnis der Untersuchung ist, dass die Reichweite von Projekten der internationalen Zusammenarbeit mit Schwerpunkt Migration weiter ausbaufähig ist und auch das Image von zentralen Akteuren dieses Bereichs verbesserungswürdig." (Zusammenfassung)
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"About two-thirds of Turkish adults (65.0%) currently say they go online for news at least weekly. Among Kurdish speakers, that figure is much higher at 70.8%. Half of all residents (50.2%) say they use newspapers or magazines for news every week. While four in five adults (80.5%) say they get news
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from friends or family members at least weekly. Almost all households in Turkey (98.0%) have a working TV set, and most have a computer (72.9%) and internet access (83.9%) via computer or mobile device." (Page 2)
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"Turks still have a large number of media outlets available to them, though press freedom is increasingly circumscribed. A significant portion of the population – especially among the better educated – express some degree of dissatisfaction with Turkish media. No single media outlet enjoys clear
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dominance. Widespread access to satellite TV and digital technologies means those who wish to can and do take advantage of foreign media. Among younger Turks, Internet has become the #1 platform for news. Attitudes towards the U.S. appear less negative than in much of the Islamic world, especially among younger Turks." (Key takeaways, Slide 45)
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