"Unlike most nations in southern Africa, Zimbabwe has not seen the expansion in community radio stations that has been characteristic of the region from the 1990s. A number of community radio initiatives (CRIs) were formed after the 2001 Zimbabwean Broadcasting Services Act (BSA), but no licences we
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re ever issued in any broadcasting sector. This article argues that CRIs reflected the wider political crises of the years since 2000. Even after the Global Political Agreement of 15 September 2008, no community radio station has been licensed. Taking two case studies of such initiatives – Community Radio Harare and Radio Dialogue of Bulawayo – the article investigates how they have survived the Zimbabwean political crisis. It examines the way they lobbied for the right to broadcast and how they produced and distributed programming, and utilized so-called 'roadshows' in an environment where alternative radio stations are viewed with suspicion by ZANU PF." (Abstract)
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"If the Kremlin should not be held directly responsible for ordering murders against journalists, it certainly bears responsibility for the atmosphere of lawlessness that reigns in Russia. Today’s Kremlin doesn’t mind free and critical voices as long as they remain politically irrelevant and hav
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e no impact on decision-making. In other words, Russia has freedom of expression, but no press freedom if the latter is understood as one of the elements in an institutionalized democratic polity. Media may cover political news, but news can’t become a political event." (Abstract)
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"This working paper is about the private media in Syria. A new publishing law was passed in 2001, which allowed the private sector to re-enter the media industry, having been banned from it since 1963. The relatively high number of approved publications since 2001 provides the Ministry of Informatio
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n with an argument in its favour, which it uses every time the media situation in Syria is discussed. However, even though the new law does not impose censorship as a prerequisite, it does remain very repressive and contains an arsenal of restrictions that complicate the work of journalists. It also affects all other forms of publication in Syria and entering the country from abroad, as well as printing presses, with sanctions ranging from fines to imprisonment. In appearance, there are many indicators of an increased openness, but closer scrutiny of the way that the media actually function gives a better understanding of this distinctively Syrian “static reform." (http://www.search4dev.nl)
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"[...] ist es nicht weiter erstaunlich, dass das Königreich auf der Rangliste zur Medienfreiheit der Reporter ohne Grenzen im vergangenen Jahr Platz 163 von 175 untersuchten Ländern belegte.2 Dass Saudi-Arabien in der arabischen Medienlandschaft aber dennoch ein Spieler der allerersten Liga ist, i
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st überraschend. Kein Land hat es geschafft, die arabischen Medien in einem Maße zu gestalten wie die Golfmonarchie. Saudische Unternehmen setzten sich an die Spitze der arabischsprachigen Medien und stehen auch im internationalen Vergleich den Größen der Medienwelt in nichts nach. Die Erfolgsgeschichte der saudischen Medien war jedoch ein steiniger Weg. Nicht nur konservative Religionsgelehrte, auch die Königsfamilie trat Entwicklungen im Medienbereich mit großer Skepsis gegenüber, erkannte aber zugleich das Potential, das in den Medien steckt. Als der Ölboom der siebziger Jahre dem Königreich enormen Reichtum bescherte, nutzten einzelne Mitglieder der Königsfamilie die Einnahmen als Startkapital und investierten massiv in die Medien. Es entwickelte sich ein Mediensystem, das mit den politischen Entscheidungsträgern eng verstrickt ist und dessen Besitzstrukturen bis auf den heutigen Tag stark von der Königsfamilie geprägt sind. Aus diesem Grund ist die Entwicklung des saudischen Mediensystems ohne die Kenntnis grundlegender innenpolitischer Strukturen Saudi-Arabiens und der Beziehungen innerhalb der Königsfamilie nicht nachvollziehbar." (Seite 107-108)
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"Since the 1990s journalism education programs have expanded exponentially around the world, but media freedom has not. Globally comparative, this edited volume assesses journalism education and the challenging environment in which it is delivered in countries with a partly free or not free status a
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ccording to global press freedom. The countries covered include China, Singapore, Cambodia, Palestine, Oman, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Brazil, Russia, Romania, and Croatia. Contributors demonstrate through careful analysis that wealthy nations are able to set the terms of their journalism education while less affluent countries are more open to the influence of foreign NGOs. Although this book evidences the disconnection between what is taught and what can be practiced, it also illustrates the degree to which journalism education can be an agent of change." (Publisher description)
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"To understand the potential implications of Putin’s media strategy, it is useful to recall the rule and fall of Peru’s Alberto Fujimori. Like Putin, Fujimori used the wealth and power at his disposal to emasculate much of the country’s media. Also like Putin, however, he stopped short of impo
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sing a uniform system of state ownership and censorship [...] In principle, the “minimalist” system of media control used by authoritarian leaders like Putin and Fujimori can work indefinitely, but it is vulnerable to shocks. Control of only the commanding heights leaves room for information to circulate at lower altitudes, threatening the regime’s carefully calibrated message." (Page 85)
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