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Media development pathways: A case study of the Media Institute of Southern Africa

Susan Abbott

London: University of Westminster, Doctoral Thesis (2025), 222 pp.

"The purpose of this research project is to contribute to the academic and practitioner understanding of how donors impact the development of media systems in developing and transitioning countries. The study reflects on the evolution of donor strategies in media development over the past 30 years s ... ince 1989, highlighting several key trends [...] Early optimism about democratic transitions has waned, with media development now seen as a rescue operation. A clear definition of ‘democracy’ has become blurred, with autocrats co-opting the term, leading to growing scepticism about its true meaning. The cynicism about democracy is joined by a sense of naïve expectations in that donors once believed that funding free and independent media would automatically strengthen other democratic institutions. This assumption has been challenged as reality proved more complex. When it came to specific feedback on donor strategies, respondents shared that donor funding initially supported traditional media infrastructure. With the rise of the internet and digital media, strategies shifted to support the digital transformation of journalism. Respondents also note that donor strategies have often shifted with geopolitical interests, leaving media development in regions like Eastern Europe and Southern Africa in flux. Wars and political changes have diverted funds and attention, impacting the sustainability of media projects. There is criticism that donors lack a coherent long-term strategy or clear goals for media development related investments. Many rely on Western NGOs to devise strategies, leading to concerns about the effectiveness and sustainability of these efforts. Overall, the research undertaken underscores the need for more stable, well-defined, and strategically coherent donor approaches to support independent media development effectively. Finally, the study relayed concerns from local stakeholders that they feel there is a pressing need to localise practices and prioritize localisation to enhance long-term impact and sustainability. This dissertation focuses on the post-1989 context, which was significant for the spread of democracy following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the breakup of the Soviet Union, and the end of apartheid in Africa. This period, often called the third wave of democratisation, was marked by a belief in the inevitable spread of democracy and liberal democratic order. My research connects media development theories with practical applications in specific contexts examining how donor strategies affect journalism and press freedom, informed by scholarship on liberal democracy. The qualitative research, based on interpretivism/constructivism, probes donor impact on media space and evaluates program success, contributing to a theory of change in media development. The comparative research and grounded theory approach led to the development of a case study about the Media Institute of Southern Africa. Findings and analysis are drawn from the perspectives from donors, program beneficiaries, implementers, academics, and experts. The research interprets the legacy of donor-supported media development in the context of democratisation efforts by Western government aid agencies and foundations." (Abstract) more

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Open Source Software Trap: Our Fatal Business Model Flaw

Nadia Andrada

ICTworks, July 1 (2025)

"I’ve been building open source software technology for NGOs for over a decade, and I have a confession: we’ve been living a lie. For years, ... more

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The Palgrave Handbook of Global Digital Journalism

Bruce Mutsvairo, Kristin Skare Orgeret (eds.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2025), xxi, 444 pp.

"This book responds to mounting calls to broaden the theorization of digital journalism, addressing critical questions about an emerging yet rapidly expanding area of study, and presenting multiple entry points and approaches that help us understand digital journalism better. Seeking to establish it ... more

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Global Media Index for Africa 2024

Wallace Chuma, Rutendo Faithful Nyaku, Trust Matsilele, Grace Itumbiri

Africa No Filter;Africa Center (2024), 46 pp.

"The Global Media Index for Africa assesses and ranks online news stories of the 20 leading news providers that offer primary coverage of Africa for the world. It is also a tool that aims to provide much needed regular 'health checks' on how Africa ... more

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The Routledge Companion to Journalism in the Global South

Bruce Mutsvairo, Saba Bebawi, Eddy Borges-Rey (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2024), xxiv, 491 pp.

"Responding to mounting calls to decenter and decolonize journalism, The Routledge Companion to Journalism in the Global South examines not only the deep-seated challenges associated with the historical imposition of Western journalism standards on constituencies of the Global South but also the opp ... more

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Digital policy in an age of global systemic rivalry: Challenges for liberal democracies

Ann Cathrin Riedel

Potsdam: Friedrich Naumann Foundation (2023), 30 pp.

"Liberal democracies must continue to consistently stand up for internet freedom, democracy and human rights. Germany and the European Union are regarded as role models. It is imperative therefore that they refrain from presenting legislative initiatives themselves that restrict the human right to p ... more

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The Palgrave Handbook of Gender, Media and Communication in the Middle East and North Africa

Loubna H. Skalli, Nahed Eltantawy (eds.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2023), xxiii, 590 pp.

"The Palgrave Handbook of Gender, Media and Communication in the Middle East and North Africa stands as an authoritative and up-to-date resource on the critical debates, research methods and ongoing reflections on how gender and communication intersect with the economic, social, political, and cultu ... more

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Discursos y contenidos en el entorno digital: Análisis desde América Latina

Lida Ximena Tabares Higuita, Ana María Valencia Henríquez, Edwin Alexander Amaya Vera (eds.)

Medellín: Editorial Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (2022), 247 pp.

"La aparición de las redes sociodigitales a mediados de la primera década de 2000 fue recibida con entusiasmo y recelo por diversos sectores sociales. Los ciudadanos vieron en espacios como Facebook, Twitter y, más recientemente, Instagram, una ... more

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Orphaned Landscapes: Violence, Visuality, and Appearance in Indonesia

Patricia Spyer

New York: Fordham University Press (2022), viii, 304 pp.

"Less than a year after the end of authoritarian rule in 1998, huge images of Jesus Christ and other Christian scenes proliferated on walls and billboards around a provincial town [Ambon] in easte ... more

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Media Capture: How Money, Digital Platforms, and Governments Control the News

Anya Schiffrin (ed.)

New York: Columbia University Press (2021), vii, 315 pp.

"This book features pathbreaking analysis from journalists and academics of the changing nature and peril of media capture - how formerly independent institutions fall under the sway of governments, plutocrats, and corporations. Contributors including Emily Bell, Felix Salmon, Joshua Marshall, Joel ... more

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Routledge Handbook of African Media and Communication Studies

Winston Mano, Viola C. Milton (eds.)

Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge (2021), xiv, 286 pp.

"The book goes beyond critiques of the marginality of African approaches in media and communication studies to offer scholars the theoretical and empirical toolkit needed to start building critical corpora of African scholarship and theory that places the everyday worlds, needs and uses of Africans ... more

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The Routledge Encylopedia of Citizen Media
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Mona Baker, Bolette Blaagaard, Henry Jones (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2021), xxviii, 611 pp.

"Citizen Media is a fast-evolving terrain that cuts across a variety of disciplines. It explores the physical artefacts, digital content, performative interventions, practices and discursive expre ... more

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The Great Firewall of China: How to Build and Control an Alternative Version of the Internet

James Griffiths

London: Zed Books (2021), xv, 423 pp.

"China's 'Great Firewall' has evolved into the most sophisticated system of online censorship in the world. As the Chinese internet grows and online businesses thrive, speech is controlled, dissent quashed, and attempts to organise outside the official Communist Party are quickly stamped out. Update ... more

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The Sage Handbook of Media and Migration
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Kevin Smets, Koen Leurs, Myria Georgiou, Saskia Witteborn, Radhika Gajjala (eds.)

Los Angeles et al.: Sage (2020), lxii, 638 pp.

"The SAGE Handbook of Media and Migration offers a comprehensive overview of media and migration through new research, as well as a review of present scholarship in this expanding and promising fi ... more

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Minority and Indigenous Trends 2020: Focus on Technology
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Peter Grant (ed.)

London: Minority Rights Group International (2020), 189 pp.

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Digitally Mediated Art in the War Zone: The Aesthetics of Resilience in Yemen

Nurgul Oruc

CyberOrient, volume 14, issue 2 (2020), pp. 4-37

"This article traces how Yemeni artists have intervened in the representation of the conflict and war in Yemen since 2011. It analyzes the heterogonous artistic forms, contents, and representational strategies that Yemeni artists and filmmakers have employed to express their collective concerns over ... more

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Western Sahara: A Desert for Journalists

Paris: Reporters Without Borders (2019), 34 pp.

"On 26 February 1976, after almost a century of colonization, Spain withdrew from Western Sahara, throwing the territory wide open for Moroccan civil and military occupation and abandoning tens of thousands Sahrawis to their fate. More than four de ... more

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Namibia’s Media: Facing the Digital Challenge

Dietrich Remmert

Windhoek: Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR);Namibia Media Trust;Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung (HSS) (2019), 38 pp.

"Overall, it seems that few local media houses have really dedicated significant resources, time and capacity to exploring how best to both utilise and integrate online digital media and mitigate the threat of digitalisation. With regards to newspapers, NMH has probably been most active in seeking t ... more

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From Russia with Code: Programming Migrations in Post-Soviet Times

Mario Biagioli, Vincent Antonin Lépinay (eds.)

Durham: Duke University Press (2019), xii, 373 pp.

"While Russian computer scientists are notorious for their interference in the 2016 US presidential election, they are ubiquitous on Wall Street and coveted by international IT firms and often perceive themselves as the present manifestation of the ... more

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The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity

Amy Webb

New York: PublicAffairs (2019), 320 pp.

"The Big Nine who will determine the future of artifical intelligence (AI) - Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, and Facebook in America; and Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent in China - serve masters with conflicting interests. Wall Street wants prof ... more

The Routledge Encylopedia of Citizen Media Top Insights

The Sage Handbook of Media and Migration Top Insights

Minority and Indigenous Trends 2020: Focus on Technology Top Insights

The Routledge Encylopedia of Citizen Media
Top Insights

The Sage Handbook of Media and Migration
Top Insights

Minority and Indigenous Trends 2020: Focus on Technology
Top Insights