"Nos encontramos ante un hecho incuestionable: desde hace décadas el proceso de concentración mediática es la norma en los estados contemporáneos y el poder político se ve supeditado a las líneas editoriales de los oligopolios mediáticos que tratan de conducir y representar a la opinión púb
...
lica desde la opinión publicada. Así, las corporaciones de medios se han convertido en armas de propaganda de un modelo que se resiste al cambio y son el sustento del imaginario imperante en torno a la felicidad proporcionada por el consumo. La ausencia de regulaciones efectivas y la concentración mediática rompe el equilibrio de poderes que define a los sistemas democráticos. Transparencia mediática, oligopolios y democracia ¿Quién nos cuenta el cuento? pretende desvelar esta situación mediante la aplicación del Indicador de Rentabilidad Social en Comunicación (IRSCOM®) desarrollado por Laboratorio de Comunicación y Cultura (COMAndalucía) de la Universidad de Málaga, una herramienta que busca hacer transparente el comportamiento de los medios y permitir la introducción de mejoras mediante el reflejo de sus fortalezas y debilidades, posibilitando asimismo la implementación de políticas públicas eficaces en pos de la transparencia mediática y la rentabilidad social de la Comunicación. La obra acomete en una primera parte el estudio de la situación del mercado de medios radifónicos y de televisión en España y, en una segunda parte, el diagnóstico de situación en buen número de países latinoamericanos y de la Europa mediterránea que permitan la aplicación de este indicador en sus respectivos países. «Relevar los déficits democráticos, resaltar sus fallos normativos y de control, es ya iniciar el camino para la fijación de unas alternativas democráticas en políticas públicas de comunicación." (Prólogo de Enrique Bustamante)
more
"International development stakeholders harness communication with two broad purposes: to do good, via communication for development and media assistance, and to communicate do-gooding, via public relations and information. This book unpacks various ways in which different efforts to do good are com
...
bined with attempts to look good, be it in the eyes of donor constituencies at large, or among more specific audiences, such as journalists or intra-agency decision-makers. Development communication studies have tended to focus primarily on interventions aimed at doing good among recipients, at the expense of examining the extent to which promotion and reputation management are elements of those practices. This book establishes the importance of interrogating the tensions generated by overlapping uses of communication to do good and to look good within international development cooperation." (Publisher description)
more
"Utilization Focused Evaluation (UFE) facilitates a learning process in which people in the real world apply evaluation findings and experiences to their work. The focus is on intended users. UFE does not prescribe any specific content, method, or theory. It is a guiding framework, rather than a met
...
hodology. UFE can include a wide variety of evaluation methods within an overall participatory paradigm. Decision making, in consultation with those who can benefit from the evaluation, is an important part of the process. Intended users will more likely utilize an evaluation in which they have ownership. This Primer is for practitioner evaluators and project implementers who have heard of UFE and are keen to test-drive the approach." (Lead)
more
"When asked by a Mozambican firm to assist in the development of a communication strategy for the country’s Land Law, we had doubts. We had read about the issue of ‘land grabbing’ in Africa and feared we might become part of that problem. We knew that any communication strategy devoted solely
...
to outreach and public relations would not reach the illiterate farmer. But when the client agreed that the strategy would include a component focused on communicating with and from the small rural landowner, we accepted the contract. We worked well with the local team and delivered the product on time. However, a year later we learned that the component allowing for feedback from rural farmers had been cut, and that the strategy was yet to be implemented. What went wrong? And will the communication strategy do some good, or will it contribute to people giving up land under false promises?" (Abstract)
more