"In today's Africa racism and ethnicity have been implicated in serious conflicts - from Egypt to Mali to South Africa - that have cost lives and undermined efforts to achieve national cohesion and meaningful development. Racism, Ethnicity and the Media in Africa sets about rethinking the role of me
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dia and communication in perpetuating, reinforcing and reining in racism, absolute ethnicity and other discriminations across Africa. It goes beyond the customary discussion of media racism and ethnic stereotyping to critically address broader issues of identity, belonging and exclusion. Topics covered include racism in South African newspapers, pluralist media debates in Kenya, media discourses on same-sex relations in Uganda and ethnicised news coverage in Nigerian newspapers." (Publisher description)
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"This collection of essays, the first book-length treatment of its kind, explicates the concept of «media interventions», which are herein defined as activities and projects that secure, exercise, challenge or acquire media power for tactical and strategic action. Drawing on insights from media, c
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ommunication and cultural studies, contributors offer penetrating analyses of media interventions in a variety of social, political, and cultural settings from culture jamming and DIY media to public relations campaigns and reality television shows. In doing so, the volume develops an analytical framework for examining the complex and contradictory operation of media power in contemporary society." (Publisher description)
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"The article analyses the media coverage of the BDR mutiny in Bangladesh, February 2009. In examining journalistic processes and how the Bangladeshi media reported the violent conflict, the article looks at how the approaches of peace journalism can be used in actual conflict reporting. Through a co
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mbination of methods the article discusses the dominant trends in the news coverage of the mutiny. Studying three newspapers’ coverage in detail, it was found that nearly two-thirds of the news reports reduced conflicts to force and violence, while one-third had a ‘peace frame’. Interestingly all the editorials analyzed had a ‘peace frame’. Presenting excerpts from interviews with journalists and editors, the article talks to the discussion about how journalists and editors themselves interpret, accept or challenge the process of conflict reporting." (Abstract)
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"During recent years, considerable attention has been paid to the negative portrayal of the African continent in the media of the so-called ‘global North’. Significantly less focus has been put on how to actually represent Africa in the news as more than the site of catastrophes or in other ways
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than through sunshine stories of the ‘struggling but smiling African’. The present article argues that the lack of a wide range of different genres in the North’s mediated representations of Africa is problematic, because the ‘hard news’ we receive is deficient in information about the background and context of news event. The article looks into different cultural expressions such as film, television entertainment and literature to explore how they can play a role in illustrating the concept of ‘Africa’ as both diverse and multifaceted. It argues that opening the northern mediascape to more content from the south would serve as an important backdrop and help in understanding a variety of messages from the African continent." (Abstract)
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"This book examines how the media in different parts of Africa plays an important role in the continent's political and social processes of change. The perspective of the book is comparative. It contains overviews of the role of communication, as well as case studies, of the situation in individual
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countries and societies: Ethiopia, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The book analyzes the printed press and broadcasting, as well as the function of new digital media, such as the Internet and cell phone technology. The chapters discuss both the more political and democratic implications of the media, as well as issues around communication for development." (Publisher description)
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"The present study of the UNESCO International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) is a follow-up of an evaluation of the Programme undertaken in 2002. The purpose of the study is to assess the efficiency of the reforms that have been undertaken since 2002. The study is mainly a de
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sk study based on relevant project and organisational documents of IPDC and the Communication and Information Sector (CI) in UNESCO. In addition, the team interviewed relevant resource persons." (Executive summary)
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"The International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) was created by UNESCO in 1980. The pivotal aim was to increase co-operation and assistance for the development of communication infrastructures and to reduce the gap between countries in the communication field. The programme e
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merged from debates within UNESCO about a New World Communication and Information order, and reflections on the importance of communications media as tools for development.
Norway has supported IPDC from the very beginning, and was, one of the main founders of the program’s Special Account. Down the years Norway has contributed a total of US$ 11 428 000 to the Special Account from 1982 to 2000. The Norwegian contribution has however gradually decreased from 1 052 000 US$ in 1988, to around 2 million NOK annually in recent years (varying between 226,432 and 308,315 US$ according to the exchange rate). During the last six years Norway has allocated 1 576 474 US$ to the Special Account. Norway is the second largest donor after Denmark. Until 2001 support to IPDC was specified as a separate item in the budget of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For the 2001/2002 budget it was decided to allocate support to the IPDC under the heading of “Good governance” (UD 2002: post 74, page 153–154).
The financial contributions to the IPDC have always been inadequate, and the problem worsened after 1995 due to the drastic drop in funding. In 2001 a moratorium was put on new projects and 46 approved projects were waiting to be financed. Given Norway’s relationship to the IPDC, it is not surprising that it would like to see an evaluation both of the program’s impact and its current impecunious situation. The role of projects in the area of media and communication must be considered within the framework of Norway’s total development policies, but particularly in relation to the commitment to strengthen democracy, accountability and transparency where the media play a central role. The present evaluation is intended to serve as a background for a renewed discussion of the continuation of Norwegian support to the IPDC, and of the reorientation and renewal of the programme." (Fact sheet, page 6)
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