"This state-of-the-art Handbook provides unique insights into the governance practices and institutions shaping digitalized public spheres. Focusing on the power relations involved, it presents diverse approaches to key debates in media and communication governance, showcasing groundbreaking advance
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s in the field. Contributing authors explore the impact of long-standing trends such as commercialization, digitalization and transnationalization on media and communication governance, highlighting urgent new developments including algorithmization and datafication. Combining theoretical inquiry with cutting-edge empirical analysis, they address governance challenges at the regional, national and global levels to provide a broad view of the social ordering of media systems. Ultimately, the Handbook explores how to protect the public sphere in the digital age and ensure that media organizations and platforms meet democratic expectations." (Publisher description)
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"Colombian journalists experience abundant threats and acts of violence as well as corporate and governmental obstacles to publishing the truth. In response, many reporters engage in selfcensorship, eschewing stories to protect their livelihoods—and their very lives. Our in-depth interviews with s
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ixteen journalists in the post-conflict era, some of whom have had to leave the country because of such threats, disclose the severity of the problem in deeply textured ways. The results show that dependency on sources and advertising, severe judicial and online harassment, and powerful editorial pressures prevent journalists from reporting freely. The generalized fear, the distribution of official advertising and political publicity, the media’s property, and local journalists’ vulnerability are the key factors that trigger self-censorship. Nevertheless, these journalists also have counterstrategies to circumvent the problem and further democracy, such as sharing scoops with colleagues when covering sensitive issues, finding international funding, or creating new online media." (Abstract)
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"Contrary to widespread claims, consumer electronics and other digital technologies are made in ways that cause some of the worst environmental disasters of our time - conflict-minerals extraction, fatal and life-threatening occupational hazards, toxic pollution of ecosystems, rising energy consumpt
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ion linked to increased carbon emissions, and e-waste. Nonetheless, a greener future is possible, in which technology meets its emancipatory and progressive potential." (Publisher description)
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"Media Imperialism: Continuity and Change advances applied theoretical research on 21st century media imperialism. The volume includes established and emerging researchers in international communications who examine the geopolitical, economic, technological and cultural dimensions of 21st century me
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dia imperialism. The volume highlights and challenges how news, entertainment and social media uphold unequal power relations in the world. Written in an accessible style, this volume marries conceptual, theoretical sophistication, and concrete illustration with rich case studies and global examples. Chapters cover the complete media spectrum, from social media to Hollywood, to news and national propaganda in national and transnational analyses. Readers will find discussions that range from soft power and China to the USA's empire of the internet to the rise of "Chindia" in a post-American media world." (Publisher description)
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"The Routledge Companion to Media and Activism is a wide-ranging collection of 42 original and authoritative essays by leading contributors from a variety of academic disciplines. Introducing and exploring central debates about the diverse relationships between both media and protest, and communicat
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ion and social change, the book offers readers a reliable and informed guide to understanding how media and activism influence one another. The expert contributors examine the tactics and strategies of protest movements, and how activists organize themselves and each other; they investigate the dilemmas of media coverage and the creation of alternative media spaces and platforms; and they emphasize the importance of creativity and art in social change. Bringing together case studies and contributors from six continents, the collection is organized around themes that address past, present and future developments from around the world." (Publisher description)
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"Through a content analysis of 532 programs screened on various national television networks in Colombia, this paper examines portrayals of women in the country’s narconovelas, fictional series derived from the telenovela genre that resonate forcefully with the public. We do so in order to gain a
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better understanding of their role in representing gender in Colombia. Relevant topics include: the widespread violence against women in a traditional, patriarchal country, the ineffectiveness of policies targeting gender discrimination, and ideologies of machismo and Marianismo. These practices are discussed as factors that may prevent women’s social empowerment and participation in the workforce and politics of the country. Our results show that, as per Colombia’s prevailing social relations, narconovelas demonstrate a gendered power imbalance and mestizo heteronormativity via macho plots that glamorize violence against women. Women are rarely key characters in narconovelas, and when they appear, they are dependent on men, and attain status through men or their families. In addition, the genre represents continuous verbal and physical aggression against women, especially if they belong to ethnic or racial minorities." (Abstract)
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"This edited volume, which elaborates on the idea and concept of sustainable journalism, is the result of a perceived lack of integral research approaches to journalism and sustainable development. Thirty years ago, in 1987, the Brundtland Report pointed out economic growth, social equality and envi
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ronmental protection as the three main pillars of a sustainable development. These pillars are intertwined, interdependent, and need to be reconciled. However, usually, scholars interested in the business crisis of the media industry tend to leave the social and environmental dimensions of journalism aside, and vice versa. What Is Sustainable Journalism? is the first book that discusses and examines the economic, social and environmental challenges of professional journalism simultaneously. This unique book and fresh contribution to the discussion of the future of journalism assembles international expertise in all three fields, arguing for the necessity of integral research perspectives and for sustainable journalism as the key to long-term survival of professional journalism." (Publisher description)
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"This edited collection draws upon interdisciplinary research to explore new dimensions in the politics of image and aid. While development communication and public diplomacy are established research fields, there is little scholarship that seeks to understand how the two areas relate to one another
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. However, international development doctrine in the US, UK and elsewhere increasingly suggests that they are integrated-or at the very least should be-at the level of national strategy. This timely volume considers a variety of cases in diverse regions, drawing upon a combination of theoretical and conceptual lenses that combine a focus on both aid and image. The result is a text that seeks to establish a new body of knowledge on how contemporary debates into public diplomacy, soft power and the national image are fundamentally changing not just the communication of aid, but its wider strategies, modalities and practices." (Publisher description)
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"Research on popular culture is a dynamic, fast-growing domain. In scholarly terms, it cuts across many areas, including communication studies, sociology, history, American studies, anthropology, literature, journalism, folklore, economics, and media and cultural studies. The Routledge Companion to
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Global Popular Culture provides an authoritative, up-to-date, intellectually broad, internationally-aware, and conceptually agile guide to the most important aspects of popular culture scholarship. Specifically, this Companion includes: "interdisciplinary models and approaches for analyzing popular culture; wide-ranging case studies; discussions of economic and policy underpinnings; analysis of textual manifestations of popular culture; examinations of political, social, and cultural dynamics and discussions of emerging issues such as ecological sustainability and labor. Featuring scholarly voices from across six continents, The Routledge Companion to Global Popular Culture presents a nuanced and wide-ranging survey of popular culture research." (Publisher description)
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"Taking the participation in social and humanitarian campaigns of TV host and social entrepreneur Luciano Huck as a case in point, this chapter investigates how new models of celebrity civic engagement are becoming increasingly popular in Brazil. Huck belongs to a growing group of Brazilian celebrit
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ies who combine the support for social causes with private economic interests. Just like Angelina Jolie, Bono Vox, and George Clooney, Huck is frequently promoting humanitarian and environmental campaigns aiming at some of the most challenging problems facing society. The eradication of hunger in poor regions, support for actions to protect the environment, and the lessening of natural disasters are some of the most recurrent examples of civic engagement by celebrities. However, for Huck, these issues should be tackled with the assistance of the private sector. He is a champion of social entrepreneurship. His profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are frequently used to give visibility to companies that partner with his philanthropic projects." (Page 397)
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"Celebrities champion global development, bringing public visibility to poverty while spotlighting neoliberal strategies as heroic adventures. The wealthy few are applauded for their noble gestures toward helping the projected grateful beneficiaries. These narratives of individual sacrifice and bene
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fit draw attention away from more complex and contextual issues of inequity and injustice. Issues of global development are of serious concern, with an increasing gap between the wealthy and the poor, impending environmental consequences to human industry, and enduring concerns with human rights. In efforts toward resolution, global development schemes require massive financial capital, steered toward strategic social change, applauded by audiences of celebrities glamourizing development processes. Following a brief articulation of global development as an industry, I turn to the roles of celebrities within this landscape, considering their characterization in narratives that position sanctified heroes as rescuing romanticized victims at the mercy of depoliticized villains. I conclude with concerns over the implications for engagement in global development." (Page 128)
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"Throughout the last century, the idea of popular culture in Brazil was intertwined with matters affecting the nation and national identity – symbols and practices that in combination became representative emblems of the essence of the country. However, there is a structural ambiguity that pervade
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s and constitutes the idea of popular culture among us. At the same time, popular culture can undeniably be equated with the nation, since the weaknesses and social disruptions that have beset Brazilian history are constantly being examined and debated. These include colonialism, slavery, imperialism, backwardness/underdevelopment, social inequality and ethnic/racial exclusion." (Page 510)
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"Global Media Giants takes an in-depth look at how media corporate power works globally, regionally, and nationally, investigating the ways in which the largest and most powerful media corporations in the world wield power. Case studies examine not only some of the largest media corporations (News C
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orp, Microsoft) in terms of revenues, but also media corporations that hold considerable power within national, regional, or geolinguistic contexts (Televisa, Bertelsmann, Sony). Each chapter approaches a different corporation through the lens of economy, politics, and culture, giving students and scholars a thoughtful and data-driven guide with which to interrogate contemporary media industry power." (Publisher description)
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"Genre is central to understanding the industrial context and visual form of television. This new edition of the key textbook on television genre brings together leading international scholars to provide an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the debates, issues and concerns of the field. S
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tructured in eleven sections, The Television Genre Book introduces the concept of 'genre' itself and how it has been understood in television studies, and then addresses the main televisual genres in turn: drama, soap opera, comedy, news, documentary, reality television, children's television, animation and popular entertainment. This third edition is illustrated throughout with case studies of classic and contemporary programming from each genre, ranging from The Simpsons to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and from Monty Python's Flying Circus to Who Wants to be a Millionaire?. It also features new case studies on contemporary shows, including The Only Way Is Essex, Homeland, Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, Planet Earth, Grey's Anatomy and QVC, and new chapters covering topics such as constructed reality, travelogues, telefantasy, stand-up comedy, the panel show, 24-hour news, Netflix and video on demand." (Publisher description)
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