"This books is the first standard introduction into the situation of the mass media and journalism in Romania [...] The mass media system of Romania is shown in its essential elements: the legal framework, the economy of the media, the institutional structure of the printed press and of the audio-vi
...
sual media, and the element of media education. Part of this analysis shows the kind of battles for control of the professional field among various interest groups, among them: media owners, managers, pundits, stars, reporters etc. This book gives full insight into the impressive evolution of the mass media in Romania. The context of the post-communist press and of the communist one is analyzed under such auspices. The study reveals elements of continuity both at the level of institutional structures, also of work routines and, particularly, of professional ideology. A remarkable point is made in showing the connections between the 19th century, and the beginning of the 20th century press. The emphasis here is on the kind of political culture: a high regard of the subjective, of a press of personal expression, of elitism. The connections to political parties and the awareness of a missionary role in creating a national identity through mass media are presented and reflected in view of the present day media system and its journalism." (Publisher website)
more
"'The only true history of a country', wrote Thomas Macaulay, 'is to be found in its newspapers'. This book explores how the media shaped and defined the economic, social, political and cultural dynamics of the British Empire by viewing it from the perspective of the colonised as well as the colonis
...
ers." (Publisher description)
more
"Since independence in 1991, the Central Asian republics to varying degrees have given lip service to democratization and the recognition of free press and political rights. However, the reality has been dramatically different under all five authoritarian regimes. That reality includes limits or ban
...
s on opposition parties, as well as elections that are neither fair nor free. Most mass media entities remain state-owned or tightly controlled, and there is pervasive censorship, self-censorship, harassment, and intimidation of individual journalists and their media organizations. One result is inadequate, shallow reporting about political, press, and speech rights and controversies. Western-based Web news sites provide alternative venues for some. Central Asian journalists to independently cover such issues. This study analyzes the coverage of political, press, and speech rights news on three such sites: Eurasianet, IRIN News, and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. It examines the topics covered, the degree to which these stories use unnamed and named sources, and the proportion of journalists writing under pseudonyms. It concludes that even journalists reporting on these issues for Western-based media operate under tight constraints, including the risk of official retaliation." (Abstract)
more
"This special volume is devoted to a selection of papers from the many that were presented at the ‘Reporting Zimbabwe: Before and After 2000 Conference’ held on 25th February 2005 at London’s Stanhope Centre, as part of the Africa Media Series organized by the University of Westminster’s Com
...
munication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI). The appetite for Zimbabwean news is demonstrated by, for example, evidence presented at the conference which showed that of 48 documentaries shown on BBC from November 2000 to January 2004, Zimbabwe received the second most attention, with 7 documentaries. Zimbabwe came after the Israel/Palestine conflict which was covered by 16 documentaries. Zimbabwe came to dominate headlines in various UK and global media. Zimbabwe had become such major global news story at the start of the new millennium, 1999- 2005. The idea was to critically evaluate and investigate the ways in which local and global mass media were depicting the events in troubled Zimbabwe, a former British colony that obtained independence in 1980. Attended by over 100 delegates from different countries and continents, the conference succeeded in bringing together critical interdisciplinary analyses of the role of the mass media in the ongoing democratic and social- justice struggles in today’s Zimbabwe. The various papers presented at the conference, and those in this volume, dealt with diverse themes ranging from the rise of patriotic journalism in Zimbabwe and media freedom struggles to the definition, character and representation of the ‘land issue’, and more broadly the ‘Zimbabwe crisis’ in African and international media. The participants included British and Zimbabwean politicians, government officials, students, journalists, academics, activists, civic groups and members of the Britain- Zimbabwe Society (BZS)." (Editorial abstract)
more
"The challenge to press freedom in Thailand in 2003 was much more critical than the year before. Since the Thai Rak Thai party took power in 2001, press-freedom violations have become much more obvious, and the situation was expected to worsen in 2004, the last year of the current government’s fou
...
r-year term. Conflict of interests — between the government’s administrative responsibility and the business interests of political groups within the ruling party — has come into the picture. This has been most noticeable in the area of media and telecommunication business — the Thai Rak Thai’s main financial base. The media industry has been experiencing a high level of interference as acquisition of shares in media companies by groups and individuals with links to politicians or political parties has become common. To date, interference in media has come in various forms, including through content. This situation has become worrisome, putting at risk the country’s independent media and press freedom in Thailand. The violation of press freedom can be described as both structural and cultural. It poses a threat to the media’s system and makeup even as it reflects the media organizations’ weak structures, which have proved too accessible to outside interference. As a result, there has evolved a submissive culture that is vulnerable to intimidation." (Overview, page 1)
more
"This study documents a crucial dimension of the resistance of Nigerian civil society to a repressive and monumentally corrupt military state in the late 1980s and 1990s in Nigeria. Employing a neo-Gramscian theoretical framework, the study relates how a section of the media defied censorship laws,
...
outright bans, incarceration and the assassination of opposition figures, to prosecute the struggle for democracy. It captures the tensions and contradictions between a pliant section of the media, which sought to legitimise the state and a critical section of the same media, which in alliance with radical civil society, invented rebellious outlets to carry on the struggle against dictatorship. The study seeks to make fresh departures by documenting not only the role of the national media in the throes of democratic struggle, but that of the international media whose role was influential in the years studied. Finally the report offers empirical proof of the mechanisms by which a vibrant civil society can curb the ravages of a predatory state in an African country." (Abstract)
more
"Since September 11, 2001, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, many television viewers in the United States have become familiar with Al Jazeera as offering an alternative take on events from that presented by mainstream U.S. media, as well as disseminating anti-American invective. Westerners have
...
tended toward simplistic views of Arab newspapers, radio, and television, assuming that they are all under government control and that freedom of press is non-existent. William A. Rugh, a long time observer of the Arab mass media, offers a more nuanced picture of the Arab press as it relates to the political situation in the Arab world today. Although governmental influence over the media is stronger in the Middle East than in Europe or the United States, Rugh argues that there is more diversity in the Arab media than most people in the West realize. In reality, the Arab media are coming to reflect the diversity and wide range of opinions of those within the Arab world itself. In particular, the advent of privately owned Arab satellite television in the 1990s has led to significant liberalization of the media throughout the region. Rugh concludes that a democracy of ideas and voices is slowly growing in the Arab world, and he remains guardedly optimistic about the positive role the Arab media can play in processes of democratization and nation-building." (Publisher description)
more