"This article examines the portrayal of Mao Zedong in Chinese literacy textbooks published within the context of the Patriotic Education Campaign during the 1980s and 1990s. Employing critical discourse analysis, this study reveals that Mao is depicted as an authoritative, charismatic, and industrio
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us political leader who maintains a frugal lifestyle and close ties with the people. The textbooks primarily highlight his role during the Chinese revolutions and the early years of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), while avoiding discussion of his later political conflicts and flawed economic policies. This deliberate approach allows the Chinese Communist Party to construct a favorable image of Mao, aimed at preserving Maoism’s legitimacy among younger generations of Chinese who may not be well-acquainted with the Chinese revolutions. Consequently, the collective memories cultivated about Mao through the education system serve as a form of proregime propaganda, illustrating the intricate and symbiotic relationship between education and propaganda in the PRC." (Abstract)
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"Saad Mohseni, chairman and CEO of Moby Group, Afghanistan's largest media company, charts a twenty-year effort to bring a free press to his country after years of Taliban rule, and how that effort persists even after the Taliban's return to power
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in 2021. In the heady early days of the American occupation, Mohseni returns to Kabul which he had last seen as a child before the Soviet invasion. Casting about for ways to be involved in the dawn of a new Afghanistan, Mohseni makes what seems like a quixotic decision to leave the comforts of a career in international banking to start a Kabul radio station with his three siblings. This unlikely venture quickly blossoms into a burgeoning television empire, bringing Mohseni and his family and employees into sometimes uncomfortable contact with everyone who has a stake in the country-from the government of Hamid Karzai to White House officials. Moreover, their radio and television networks soon become a necessary beacon for millions of Afghans, who rely on them not just for independent news but for joyful pleasures like soap operas and Afghan Star, a beloved national singing competition in a country whose previous rulers had banned (and would again ban) music. Mohseni's position at Moby affords him unique insights into this extraordinary yet troubled country, the youngest in the world outside of Sub-Saharan Africa, and his powerful account captures the spirit and resilience of the Afghan people-notably the hundreds of men and women still working in Moby's Kabul office today, who, once again under Taliban rule, create programs, report the news, and educate the public. Radio Free Afghanistan is a stunning, vibrant portrait of a nation in turmoil, poised between despair and hope." (Publisher description)
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"This paper underlines the relevance of devising an effective legislative framework that sets out the organization of the National Communication Council (NCC), the main media regulator in Cameroon. It argues that the rules and procedures informing the functioning of the NCC should clearly affirm and
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protect its autonomy. The duties and powers as well as the ways of making the NCC accountable, the procedures for the appointment of its members and the sources of funding should be clearly defined in law. Equally relevant is the prevalence of a culture of independence, transparency and accountability, where lawmakers, government and the public respect the NCC’s independence without being explicitly required to do so by law. Drawing from a critical analysis of the law creating the NCC and complemented with an interview with the NCC chairman, I argue that independent media regulators (NCC) can have democratizing effects, but it can also limit the growth of press freedom, freedom of expression, opportunities for democratic engagement and the pivotal role that it is expected to play in creating a diverse and pluralistic media landscape. Also, public authorities should refrain from using their financial decision-making power to interfere with the independence of regulatory authorities." (Abstract)
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"This collection of essays was published to honour Chief Aigboje Higo on his 70th birthday. Higo, by many considered to be the doyen of Nigerian book publishing, was a founding father and two-time president of the Nigerian Publishers Association, and for many years Managing Director and later
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Chairman of Heinemann Educational Publishers (Nigeria) plc. The 15 contributions that are brought together in this Festschrift include essays by many prominent members of the African book professions, including Bodunde Bankole, Henry Chakava, Ayo Odeniyi, the late Victor Nwankwo, as well as Keith Sambrook, a former director of Heinemann's in the UK, whose chapter recounts the story of his visit to Nigeria in 1964 when he and the late Alan Hill (then Chair of Heinemann's) met up with Aig Higo and asked him to join HEB and take charge of their business in Nigeria and West Africa. There are also papers on the economics of publishing, training for book industry personnel, and Bodunde Bankole presents an interesting account of the history and development of the Nigerian Publishers Association and its collaboration with international book trade organizations to provide more visibility for Nigerian book publishing output. A flawed index apart, this is a valuable source of information on the development of publishing and the book trade in Nigeria, and also provides useful overviews of publishing practise in the country." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 755)
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"An introduction to the Philippine media, with emphasis on its popular culture aspects - film, radio and television in particular. The various readings present an overview of development; discusses practical economic aspects; makes critical analyses from sociological, political, economic and aesthet
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ic viewpoints; and assesses the various possible roles of the media in a developing country like the Philippines. There are notes and an index. The editor is Chairman of Communication Arts at De La Salle University and a documentary film maker." (Eleanor Blum, Frances G. Wilhoit: Mass media bibliography. 3rd ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990 Nr. 104)
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"Account of the aid at present granted for education and television by different countries and organisations, including the Unesco projects to combat illiteracy, the British Council work for the cinema and educational TV overseas, the British COI tele-cinema service and the recommendations of the UB
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U." (Jean-Marie Van Bol, Abdelfattah Fakhfakh: The use of mass media in the developing countries. Brussels: CIDESA, 1971 Nr. 427, topic code 420, 320)
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