"This volume, Shaping Global Cultures through Screenwriting: Women Who Write Our Worlds, tells stories of women who have worked with and within communities to bring the communities’ stories to life through screenwriting. In gathering these examples, we asked for stories that achieved some level
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of impact for the communities. Impact was considered across a number of indices. We wanted to show that attitudes have shifted, policies have been rewritten and the life experiences and ranges of possibility for some have changed for the better as a result of women’s work. We hope to show through our stories that film can change lives; that sharing stories matters; and that women are everywhere, using their skills in screen production for the good of many.
In her excellent book, Women in the International Film Industry: Policy Practice and Power, Susan Liddy (2020) offers ‘a wide-ranging, critical assessment of practice, policy and progress’ to establish the range and scale of gender inequality that currently exists in the world of screen production. She quotes O’Neill and Domingo (2015) to point out that social, economic and political conditions vary, and ‘combine in different ways to enable or constrain women’s agency and leadership’ in screen production (Liddy 2020: 1). In contrast, our book approaches the same problem from the opposite perspective: we seek to correlate the ‘policy, practice and power’ (Liddy 2020) with the actual work of women screenwriters. Our aim is to point out what women screenwriters, creators and filmmakers are doing in disparate corners of the world, and how their effort is positively impacting communities, shaping culture and creating change.
We argue that, despite the fact that women screenwriters are underrepresented in leadership roles in film industries worldwide, the impact of their films remains visible and palpable. We provide evidence that, as women step into the roles of screenwriter, filmmaker and collaborator, using known and emerging technologies, formats and genres under the broad scope of ‘screen production’, they raise the voices of other women and other communities. This volume shows the impact of women’s voices in creating real change for the communities whose stories are told through the topics and themes of these women’s screen works. Not least, this volume seeks to celebrate these women and their communities and bring awareness of that impact to broader communities worldwide." (Introduction, page 1)
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"The book is divided into five sections that examine philosophical principles for reporting on poverty, the history and nature of poverty coverage, problematic representations of people experiencing poverty, poverty coverage as part of reporting on public policy, and positive possibilities for pover
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ty coverage. Each section provides an introduction to the topic, as well as a broad selection of essays illuminating key issues and a Q&A with a relevant journalist. Topics covered include news coverage of corporate philanthropy, structural bias in reporting, representations of the working poor, the moral demands of vulnerability and agency, community empowerment, and citizen media. The book's broad focus considers media and poverty at both the local and global levels with contributors from sixteen countries." (Publisher description)
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"Why has the Taliban been so much more effective in presenting messages that resonate with the Afghan population than the United States, the Afghan Government and their allies? This book, based on years of field research and the assessment of hundreds of original source materials, examines the infor
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mation operations and related narratives of Afghan insurgents, especially the Afghan Taliban, and investigates how the Taliban has won the information war. Taliban messaging, wrapped in the narrative of jihad, is both to the point and in tune with the target audiences it wishes to influence. On the other hand, the United States and its Kabul allies committed a basic messaging blunder, failing to present narratives that spoke to or, often, were even understood by their target audiences. Thomas Johnson systematically explains why the United States lost this "battle of the story" in Afghanistan, and argues that this defeat may have lost the U.S. the entire war, despite its conventional and technological superiority." (Publisher description)
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"This cutting-edge handbook brings together an international roster of scholars to examine many facets of comics and graphic novels. Contributor essays provide authoritative, up-to-date overviews of the major topics and questions within comic studies, offering readers
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a truly global approach to understanding the field. Essays examine: the history of the temporal, geographical, and formal development of comics, including topics like art comics, manga, comix, and the comics code; issues such as authorship, ethics, adaptation, and translating comics connections between comics and other artistic media (drawing, caricature, film) as well as the linkages between comics and other academic fields like linguistics and philosophy; new perspectives on comics genres, from funny animal comics to war comics to romance comics and beyond." (Publisher description)
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"The book first provides a historical reference, detailing the emergence of viruses, worms, malware, and other cyber threats that created the need for the cybersecurity field. It then discusses the vulnerabilities of our critical infrastructures, t
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he broad arsenal of cyber attack tools, and the various engineering design issues involved in protecting our infrastructures. It goes on to cover cyber intelligence tactics, recent examples of cyber conflict and warfare, and the key issues in formulating a national strategy to defend against cyber warfare. The book also discusses how to assess and measure the cost of cybersecurity. It examines the many associated cost factors and presents the results of several important industry-based economic studies of security breaches that have occurred within many nations. The book concludes with a look at future trends in cybersecurity. It discusses the potential impact of industry-wide transformational changes, such as virtualization, social media, cloud computing, structured and unstructured data, big data, and data analytics." (Publisher description)
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"In this fully revised and expanded Fourth Edition, Ronald E. Rice and Charles K. Atkin provide readers with a comprehensive, up-to-date look into the field of public communication campaigns. Updated to reflect the latest theories and research, thi
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s text extends coverage to new areas, including sun protection, organ donation, human rights, social norms, corporate social responsibility, condom use, ocean sustainability, fear messages, and digital games. Classic chapters include updates on topics such as campaign history, theoretical foundations, formative evaluation, systems approaches, input-output persuasion matrix, design and evaluation, meta-analysis, and sense-making methodology." (Publisher description)
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"The Handbook of Comparative Communication Research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of comparative communication research. It fills an obvious gap in the literature and offers an extensive and interdisciplinary discussion of the gener
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al approach of comparative research, its prospect and problems as well as its applications in crucial sub-fields of communications. The first part of the volume charts the state of the art in the field; the second section introduces relevant areas of communication studies where the comparative approach has been successfully applied in recent years; the third part offers an analytical review of conceptual and methodological issues; and the last section proposes a roadmap for future research." (Publisher description)
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"This article describes and analyzes a little understood Afghan Taliban propaganda tool: chants or taranas. These melodic refrains effectively use historical narratives, symbology, and iconic portraits. The chants are engendered in emotions of sorr
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ow, pride, desperation, hope, and complaints to mobilize and convince the Afghan population of the Taliban’s worldview. The chants represent culturally relevant and simple messages that are communicated in a narrative and poetic form that is familiar to and resonates with the local people. They are virtually impossible for the United States and NATO to counter because of Western sensitivities concerning religious themes that dominate the Taliban narrative space, not to mention the lack of Western linguistic capabilities, including the understanding and mastering the poetic nature of local dialects." (Abstract)
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"This book is a contribution to efforts to improve governance systems around the world, particularly in developing countries. It offers a range of innovative approaches and techniques for dealing
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with the most important nontechnical challenges that prevent many of those efforts from being successful or sustainable. By so doing, the book sets out the groundwork for governance reform initiatives. Its overarching argument is that the development community is not lacking the tools needed for technical solutions to governance challenges. The toolbox is overflowing; best practice manuals in various areas of interest tumble out of seminars and workshops. However, difficulties arise when attempts are made to apply what are often excellent technical solutions under real-world conditions. Human beings, acting either alone or in groups small and large, are not as amenable as are pure numbers. And they cannot be put aside. In other words, in the real world, reforms will not succeed, and they will certainly not be sustained, without the correct alignment of citizens, stakeholders, and voice." (Introduction, page 1)
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"In this book, leading international scholars examine the way new media is reshaping lives and politics. Covering topics from women's rights to terrorism, and countries from Israel to Saudi Arabia, these authors explore the global and regional ramifications of the proliferation of communication tech
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nologies and the information they disseminate." (Publisher description)
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"The Routledge Handbook of Family Communication offers a comprehensive exploration and discussion of current research and theory on family interaction. Integrating the varying perspectives and issues addressed by family researchers, theorists, and
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practitioners, this volume offers a unique and timely view of family interaction and family relationships. With a synthesis of research on issues key to understanding family interaction, as well as an analysis of many theoretical and methodological choices made by researchers studying family communication, Family Communication serves to advance the field by reframing old questions and stimulating new ones. The contents are comprised of chapters covering: zheoretical and methodological issues influencing current conceptions of family; research and theory centering around the family life course; communication occurring in a variety of family forms; individual family members and their relationships; dynamic communication processes taking place in families; family communication embedded in social, cultural, and physical contexts." (Publisher description)
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