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Digital News Report 2020

Nic Newman, Richard Fletcher, Anne Schulz, Simge Andi, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (eds.)

Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2020), 111 pp.

"The bulk of this report is based on data collected by a survey of more than 80,000 people in 40 markets and reflects media usage in January/February just before the coronavirus hit many of these countries. But the key trends that we document here, including changes in how people access news, low tr ... more

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Media and Information Literacy Index. Country Report Uganda

Dennis Reineck, Luise Krumm

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2020), 25 pp.

"Young Ugandans are reluctant to voice their concerns and take part in public discussions according to indicative findings from the MIL INDEX country study presented here. The eight focus groups conducted for the study in Kampala and Bugembe early in 2019 revealed that youths are using both traditio ... nal and social media extensively, but discussions of political and public issues take place mainly in closed circles on platforms like WhatsApp. “It is a suffocated environment,” says media expert Gerald Businge. This MIL INDEX study is aimed at obtaining a concise picture of media- and information-related skills amongst youths under the age of 35 in Uganda. It addresses five dimensions of Media and Information Literacy (MIL) based on DW Akademie’s MIL model: access, analysis, reflection, creation, and action. The focus group participants see themselves living in the “the dot-com era” though access to the Internet and even television is far from universal in Uganda. The smartphone is the most popular device and it serves as a benchmark when judging more traditional media (radio, television, and newspapers). Social media are used alongside traditional media, but there is a feeling that traditional media, especially radio, are losing touch with the Ugandan youth of today. There is a general neglect of printed media, based on an aversion to long reads and often also difficulties in understanding them. Some participants feel they are addicted to social media and online messengers. When it comes to analytical skills, the Ugandan youths in the focus groups are not very critical of the media environment they live in despite the overwhelming evidence that state control, intimidation, and media concentration are problems in Uganda. But they do pick up on news bias and sensationalism. They are also aware of the fact that online sources and social media information should not be trusted blindly. Participants can differentiate between quality and tabloid-type media, but an alarming proportion does not know their constitutional right to freedom of expression. The level of reflection on the part of focus group participants is medium to low. They can render many cases of cyberbullying/hate speech, disinformation and cybercrime, though they are not always aware of the difference. Especially the examples of cyber-harassment that are recounted in the focus groups reveal that female youths are primarily targeted. At the same time there seems to be little in the way of counselling for victims and there was not enough reflection of the background to such malevolent forms of communication. Strategies in coping with them are not very elaborate, though some groups did mention methods of verification in the context of disinformation several times. There is considerable potential for support when it comes to dealing with cyberbullying, cyber-harassment, hate speech and cybercrime." (Executive summary) more

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Measuring Digital Development: Facts and Figures

Geneva: ITU (2020), 17 pp.

"Facts and Figures 2020 reveals that people in rural areas continue to face greater challenges than people in urban areas in terms of remaining connected during the lockdown, especially in developing economies. Large swathes of the rural landscape are still not covered by mobile broadband networks, ... more

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Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

Caroline Criado-Perez

London: Vintage (2020), xv, 411 pp.

"Invisible Women shows us how, in a world largely built for and by men, we are systematically ignoring half the population. It exposes the gender data gap - a gap in our knowledge that is at the root of perpetual, systemic discrimination against women, and that has created a pervasive but invisible ... more

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Port-Au-Prince Information Ecosystem Assessment

Internews;Panos Caribbean (2020), 70 pp.

"Key finding 1: A trusted thirdperson is the most important information provider. When asked for their main source of information, family, friends, and religious leaders accounted for 89% of the response choices combined. Additionally, 97% stated they trust their family and friends. Key finding 2: S ... ocial media, the new player in the game? Even though radio remains the main channel of information used by the population (76%) – followed by television (48%) – WhatsApp (29%) and Facebook (28%) combined total 57% of respondents’ choice. Moreover, among participants who have Internet access, the leading applications to receive news areWhatsApp (82%) and Facebook (70%). Key finding 3: News on current events and sports are the most preferred content in traditional media channels. Participants mostly responded they like to see “news on current events” and “sports news” in traditional media channels. Radio listeners mostly enjoy “news on current events” (61%), newspapers readers like to read about “news on current events” (65%) and “sports” (33%), and television consumers mostly favor “news on current events” (49%) and “sports” (37%). Sports are ahead of educational and/or health programs in all types of media. Key finding 4: Residents in Port-au-Prince have unmet information needs. When asked about the information they need the most – at the time –, 52% of participants selected “how to find a job”, followed closely by “general news about what is happening in the country including COVID-19” (51%). Respondents also mentioned the need for information on “access to food and drinking water” (48%), as well as information about the “security situation in Port-au-Prince” (47%). Key finding 5: Information consumers are not passive actors: trust and relevance are key points. Content and source are the two main factors affecting the information ecosystem in Port-auPrince. Even among their preferred source of information – family and friends – or their preferred channel – radio –, trust is not blindly granted. In the focus groups, participants point out the lack of training of journalists, the fact that many confuse facts with opinions or place greater value in sensationalism, often leading to unsubstantiated claims and misinformation [...]" (Pages 5-14) more

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Free Vs. False: Namibia’s Changing Media Landscape Presents Tough Choices for Citizens

Christiaan Keulder

Afrobarometer (2020), 10 pp.

"Most adult Namibians own mobile phones (88%) and radios (67%). Four in 10 (40%) own television sets, and one in four (25%) own computers. Daily Internet use has multiplied over the past decade, increasing from 5% in 2008 to 28% in 2019. But more than four in 10 Namibians (44%) still “never” use ... more

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Exposing the Invisible: The Kit

Berlin: Tactical Tech (2020), 96 pp.

"The Kit is a collaborative, self-learning resource that makes investigative techniques and tools used by experienced investigators more accessible to people and communities who feel motivated to start their own investigations, collect and verify information, build evidence and create a better under ... more

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Communication for Development (C4D): Advancing Positive Social and Behaviour Change. Supplement to the Global Annual Results Reports 2019

New York: UNICEF (2020), 50 pp.

"This supplement to the 2019 Global Annual Results Reports highlights achievements over the past year which illustrate concrete ways in which C4D approaches strengthen UNICEF programming. The report also highlights challenges identified and immediate priorities to address them. C4D contributes to ad ... more

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Sri Lanka Media Audience Study 2019: Consuming News in Turbulent Times

Nalaka Gunawardene, Arjuna Ranawana

International Media Support (IMS) (2020), 63 pp.

"Across various demographics, Sri Lankan audiences highly value news and current information. More than three quarters (77%) identified news as being very important, and another 18% said it was somewhat important. National news on current affairs had the highest level of audience interest (76%), fol ... more

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Afrotopia

Felwine Sarr

Bonn: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (bpb), Sonderausg. (2020), 175 pp.

"Noch immer wird Afrika mit Stereotypen behaftet, die Unterentwicklung und Armut hervorheben. Und noch immer werden die Perspektiven des Kontinents an westlichen Fortschrittsmaßstäben gemessen, selbst wenn sich diese längst als unbrauchbar, wenn nicht gar zerstörerisch erwiesen haben. Felwine Sa ... more

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Love and Resistance in the Films of Mai Masri

Victoria Brittain

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2020), xxxii, 144 pp.

"This book covers Mai Masri’s three decades documenting iconic moments of Palestinian and Lebanese linked history. Her films, unique for giving agency to her subjects, tell much about the untold, unseen people, namely women and children, who lived these experiences of war and occupation. Former Le ... more

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‘Dear Hindu Friends’: Official Diwali greetings as a medium for diplomatic dialogue

Melanie Barbato

Religion, volume 50, issue 3 (2020), pp. 353-371

"This article discusses greeting messages as a genre of interreligious communication. Greeting messages are defined as official communication issued by religious institutions and addressed to the members of another religious community on the occasion of specific feast days or anniversaries. Drawing ... more

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Mobile Connectivity in Emerging Economies: Publics See Mobile Phones and Social Media Bringing Certain Benefits to Them and Their Societies. But These Views Are Paired with Widespread Concerns About Their Impact on Children

Laura Silver, Aaron Smith, Courtney Johnson, Kyle Taylor, Jingjing Jinag, Monica Anderson, Lee Rainie

Pew Research Center (2019), 92 pp.

"Surveys conducted in 11 emerging and developing countries across four global regions [Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia; South Africa and Kenya; India, Vietnam and the Philippines; and Tunisia, Jordan and Lebanon] find that the vast majority of adults in these countries own – or have access to – a ... more

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Beyond Filter Bubbles and Echo Chambers: The Integrative Potential of the Internet

Merja Mahrt

Berlin, Germany: Freie Universität Berlin, Institute for Media and Communication Studies (2019), 246 pp.

"Are online audiences today fragmented into echo chambers or ilter bubbles? Do users only see what digital platforms (like search engines or social media) let them see? And if so, what are the con ... more

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Africa in the Media

Johanna Blakley, Adam Amel Rogers, Erica Watson-Currie, Kristin Jung

USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center, The African Narrative (2019), 51 pp.

"Stories about Africa appeared infrequently on U.S. television: a mention appeared once in every five hours of TV programming. Viewers were seven times more likely to see references to Europe. Despite the low frequency of mentions, we know that the ... more

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Fighting for Survival: Media Startups in the Global South
Inspiring Practice

Anya Schiffrin

New York: Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) (2019), 180 pp.

"Three years after writing the report Publishing for Peanuts, in which we surveyed 35 media startups mostly from the Global South, we decided to go back and see how the outlets had fared. Our area of interest in 2015 was small-to-medium size indepe ... more

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Our Women on the Ground: Essays by Arab Women Reporting from the Arab World

Zahra Hankir, Christiane Amanpour (eds.)

New York: Penguin Books (2019), xxiv, 278 pp.

"International media coverage of the Arab world and its many complex, interconnected conflicts is dominated by the work of Western correspondents, many of whom are white and male--meaning we see only one side of the story. But a growing number of i ... more

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50:50 Project

BBC (2019), 37 pp.

"A year ago, I set our teams a challenge: to aim for at least 50% women contributing to BBC programmes and content by April 2019. In this report, you’ll see how they’ve turned that challenge into a creative opportunity which has fundamentally t ... more

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The Amazon: New Paths for the Church and for Integral Ecology. Working Document

Synod of Bishops. Special Assembly for the Pan-Amazon

Rede Eclesial Pan-Amazônica (REPAM) (2019), 57 pp.

"Following the proposal of the Pan-Amazon Church Network (REPAM), the document is structured on the basis of three conversions to which Pope Francis invites us: the pastoral conversion to which he calls us in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (s ... more

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Managing Misinformation in a Humanitarian Context: Internews Rumour Tracking Methodology. Part III: How to Guide
Key Guidance

Internews (2019), 61 pp.

"You will find information and advice on everything from how to source rumours and factcheck information, to how to share actionable and practical answers to address these rumours. Internews Rumour Tracking Methodology is designed to be flexible and responsive to local context – and you should be ... more

Fighting for Survival: Media Startups in the Global South Inspiring Practice

Managing Misinformation in a Humanitarian Context: Internews Rumour Tracking Methodology. Part III: How to Guide Key Guidance

Fighting for Survival: Media Startups in the Global South
Inspiring Practice

Managing Misinformation in a Humanitarian Context: Internews Rumour Tracking Methodology. Part III: How to Guide
Key Guidance