mediadev library

Evaluating Democracy Assistance

Krishna Kumar

Boulder, Colo.: Rienner (2013), x, 241 pp.

"A comprehensive, practical guide to the on-the-ground tasks of evaluating and monitoring democracy assistance programs, from planning and implementation to preparing and presenting evaluation reports." (Publisher description)

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How the people of India live with climate change and what communication can do

Varinder Gambhir, Prerna Kumar

London: BBC Media Action (2013), 89 pp.

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Health Communication: Strategies for Developing Global Health Programs

Do Kyun Kim, Arvind Singhal, Gary L. Kreps (eds.)

New York: Peter Lang (2013), vii, 383 pp.

"Promotion of healthy behaviors and prevention of disease are inextricably linked to cultural understandings of health and well-being. Health communication scholarship and practice can substantially and strategically contribute to people living safer, healthier, and happier lives. This book represen ... more

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Mass Communication in India

Keval J. Kumar

Mumbai: Jaico Publishing House, 4th completely revised and updated ed. (2010), xviii, 609 pp.

Do Informed Voters Make Better Choices? Experimental Evidence from Urban India

Abhijit V. Banerjee, Selvan Kumar, Rohini Pande, Felix Su

[authors] (2010), 20 pp.

"Disclosure laws for politicians exist in over a hundred countries. But can disclosures about politician performance and qualifications influence electoral accountability in settings characterized by weak institutions and less educated populations? In the run-up to elections in Delhi we implemented ... more

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Reorienting Global Communication: Indian and Chinese Media Beyond Borders

Michael Curtin, Hemant Shah (eds.)

Urbana: University of Illinois Press (2010), 313 pp.

Waves of Peace: Experiences of Nepali Radio

Mohan Mainali (ed.)

Kathmandu: Search for Common Ground (2010), 43 pp.

"There are many examples in Nepal of radio programs helping in peace building. A few of these examples are included in this book. The personal stories of the radio producers are as interesting and inspiring as the examples of positive impacts their radio programs had in their societies. Success stor ... more

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One Size Does Not Fit All: Objectives and Priority Areas for Media Assistance in Different Societies
Top Insights

Krishna Kumar

Washington, DC: Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) (2009), 39 pp.

"The essential thesis of this paper is that the requirements and problems of the media sector differ substantially from country to country according to its political, social and economic conditions: in authoritarian states the scope and intensity of media assistance is quite limited, whereas democra ... more

Open Access to Knowledge and Information: Scholarly Literature and Digital Library Initiatives. The South Asian Scenario

Anup Kumar Das

Bimal Kanti Sen; Jocelyne Josiah (eds.)

New Delhi: UNESCO (2008), 137 pp.

"This publication has its genesis in the recommendations and proceedings of UNESCO-supported th international conferences and workshops including the 4 International Conference of Asian Digital Libraries (ICADL2001, Bangalore); the International Conferences on Digital Libraries (ICDL2004 & ICDL2006, ... more

Banking on Mobiles: Why, How, for Whom?

Ignacio Mas, Kabir Kumar

Washington, DC: Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) (2008), 27 pp.

"This paper examines how banks can translate the potential of mobile phones into greater financial access for poor people. Although mobile phone operators have been able to use the mobile phone for mobile remittance and bill payment services in several countries, banks have had little success in usi ... more

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Global Bollywood

Anandam P. Kavoori, Aswin Punathambekar (eds.)

New York; London: New York University Press (2008), vi, 314 pp.

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Promoting Independent Media: Strategies for Democracy Assistance
Top Insights

Krishna Kumar

Boulder, Colo.; London: Rienner (2006), 189 pp.

"This book represents one step in explaining international efforts to promote independent media. It attempts to examine the nature and significance of media assistance, discussing the evolution of the field, the focus of various programming approaches, and the possible impact of such efforts. It pre ... sents case studies of media assistance programs in different countries. The book concludes with a set of recommendations for expanding and deepening media assistance for the international community. This book project grew out of a multi-country study that I directed in 2002–2004 to examine media assistance programs funded by the US Agency for International Development. The overall purpose of the study was to assess the nature and effectiveness of USAID programs and make policy and programmatic recommendations for the future. In writing this book I have mostly drawn from the massive information collected during two years of research and analysis. The book is based primarily on three sources of information. First are reviews of literature covering scholarly writings, project and program documents, and articles in popular magazines and newspapers on media assistance. Such reviews were country specific as well as global in nature. Because the academic literature is extremely limited and media assistance is hardly covered in magazines and newspapers except in high-profile cases such as Bosnia and Serbia, reviews largely relied on program documentation. I had the unique advantage of perusing thousands of documents that are not available to the public. Although mostly descriptive and often self-serving, they identified critical gaps in our knowledge and illuminated the challenges and achievements of international media endeavors. Second, my colleagues and I undertook extensive fieldwork in seven countries/regions—Afghanistan, Bosnia, Central America, Indonesia, Russia, Serbia, and Sierra Leone. In each of these cases, research teams conducted extensive discussions with international donor agencies, officials of host countries, project staff and contractors, and local media experts and journalists. Every possible effort was made to interview all those experts and managers who had intimate knowledge of the ongoing media assistance programs. Teams also examined locally available documents and reports and used translators to translate documents into English when necessary. In the absence of hard quantitative data, they largely relied on available documentation, indepth interviews, and their own knowledge of the media scene for their findings and conclusions. Finally, I organized a series of meetings in Washington, D.C., to discuss the findings of the country studies and explore new directions for media assistance programs. Such meetings helped to identify many problems and challenges facing media assistance programs and helped in formulating a set of recommendation for policymakers." (Chapter 1, page 10-11) more

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International Assistance to Promote Independent Media in Transition and Post-Conflict Societies

Krishna Kumar

Democratization, volume 13, issue 4 (2006), pp. 652-667

"This article focuses on an important but neglected area of democracy assistance: international aid to build and strengthen independent media in transition and post-Conflict societies. The purpose of such assistance is to promote democratization by facilitating the free flow of information, transpar ... more

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Building a Community Radio Network in Afghanistan

Krishna Kumar

In: Promoting Democracy in Postconflict Societies

Jeroen de Zeeuw; Krishna Kumar (eds.)

Boulder, Colo.; London: Rienner (2006), pp. 257-272

"The experience of establishing community stations in Afghanistan provides four distinct, but interrelated lessons [...] The project has demonstrated that international organizations can promote community stations in impoverished, war-tron societies that have had no experience of independent or comm ... more

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Promoting Democracy in Postconflict Societies

Jeroen de Zeeuw, Krishna Kumar (eds.)

Boulder, Colo.; London: Rienner;Clingendael - Netherlands Institute of International Relations (2006), xii, 331 pp.

"This study critically evaluates international democratization assistance in postconflict societies to discern what has worked, what has not, and how aid programs can be designed to have a more positive impact. The authors offer a unique recipient perspective as they explore three dimensions of demo ... more

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Promoting Independent Media in El Salvador

Anne Germain Lefévre

In: Promoting Democracy in Postconflict Societies

Jeroen de Zeeuw; Krishna Kumar (eds.)

Boulder, Colo.; London: Rienner (2006), pp. 237-256

"[...] aid for the media in El Salvador played a role in shaping a more open, tolerant tone for political debate and a more dynamic news media. Although the assistance was relatively modest, it came at a pivotal moment after the signing of the peace accords. To realize the full potential of media as ... more

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Media Assistance to Postgenocide Rwanda

Christopher Kayumba, Jean-Paul Kimonyo

In: Promoting Democracy in Postconflict Societies

Jeroen de Zeeuw; Krishna Kumar (eds.)

Boulder, Colo.; London: Rienner (2006), pp. 211-235

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