"This is the first collection to de-Westernize the scholarship on women, politics and media by: 1) highlighting the latest research on countries and regions that have not been ‘the usual suspects’; 2) featuring a diverse group of scholars, many of non-Western origin; 3) giving voice through pers
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onal interviews to politically active women, thus providing the reader with a rare insight into women's agency in the political structures of emerging democracies. Each chapter examines the complex women, politics and media dynamic in a particular nation-state, taking into consideration the specific political, historic and social context. With 23 case studies and interviews from Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Russia and the former Soviet republics, this volume will be of interest to students, media scholars and policy makers from developed and emerging democracies." (Publisher description)
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"Throughout 2014 the IFJ and EFJ have been working hand in hand with affiliates, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine and the Russian Union of Journalists to support their members in the field, condemn the intimidation of journalists and manipula
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tion of media and to maintain a professional co-operation between journalists across the conflict. The unions have shown great courage and leadership and we can be very proud of their responses. We are also grateful to the support of Dunja Mijatovic, Representative on Freedom of the Media for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe for initiating a dialogue between the journalists unions in the spring of 2014. Since then six meetings have taken place that have been vital in building the climate of trust and co-operation. The process has not been easy, there have been tensions and sometimes serious disagreements, but there has been a remarkably broad areas of agreement, both on the principles that underline our profession and on areas of practical action to support and protect our members. This handbook was one initiative from this process and attempts to document the conflict through the eyes of the journalists and the unions. It draws on the joint monitoring and reporting that was conducted by the unions to record the major incidents against journalists in Ukraine and in Russia when related to the conflict. Through a series of interviews with journalists who have been in the war zone it provides an occasionally rough but authentic voice of the reporters and their experiences. The value of proper safety training and preparation for any correspondent is a major theme with interviews packed with advice to journalists contemplating heading to the front line." (Preface)
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"Television is the dominant news medium in Ukraine. Almost all Ukrainians (96.8%) watch TV for news at least weekly, including 95.7% of Crimeans. The Internet has overtaken radio and print media as the second most dominant news source in the country, with about half (48.3%) going online for news at
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least weekly. Radio and newspapers are each used weekly for news by close to one-third of the population (36.5% and 33.8%, respectively). In Crimea and Ukraine’s southern and eastern regions, pro-Russian sentiment is strongest and some Ukrainian analogue broadcasts have been blocked and replaced by Russian broadcasts. In these regions, most residents use either a satellite dish for TV reception (19.8%), or an Internet connection directly to the TV or through another device (38.5%). Only about one in five Crimeans (18.7%) say the cessation of some Ukrainian TV channels in Crimea has changed their news-gathering habits. Most of those whose habits have changed (71.1%) say they are using Russian sources more often; just 5.8% are using other foreign sources more." (Page 1)
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"Through the methodological framework of the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), the report measures the extent to which 144 economies, from both the developed and developing worlds, take advantage of ICTs and other new technologies to increase their growth and well-being. The NRI identifies the most r
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elevant factors driving ICT readiness and impacts, providing policymakers, business leaders, and civil society at large with a useful tool for designing national strategies for increased networked readiness and for benchmarking their country’s performance against other relevant comparators. The Global Information Technology Report 2013 features the latest computation and rankings of the NRI, and in referring to this year’s theme, dives deeper into the connection between ICTs and economic growth and job creation. As in previous years, it also showcases a number of ICT development stories of particular interest. In addition, the report includes detailed profiles for the 144 economies covered this year together with data tables for each of the 54 indicators used in the computation of the NRI." (Back cover)
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"The current UIS Questionnaire on Media Statistics provides information for three UNESCO frameworks, namely the Media and Information Literacy Framework, the Media Development Indicators Framework and the Framework for Cultural Statistics. The questionnaire collects data for reporting global progres
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s on Action Lines C2, C3, C8 and C9 of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in UNESCO’s fields of competencies. In particular, Action Line C9 recommends appropriate policies to foster and sustain media and information development. This document provides country profiles for each of the countries that participated in the two pilot surveys conducted in 2011 and 2012." (Background, page 3)
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"Freedom House has conducted a comprehensive study of internet freedom in 60 countries around the world. This report is the fourth in a series and focuses on developments that occurred between May 2012 and April 2013. The previous edition, covering 47 countries, was published in September 2012. 'Fre
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edom on the Net 2013' assesses a greater variety of political systems than its predecessors, while tracing improvements and declines in the countries examined in the previous editions. Over 70 researchers, nearly all based in the countries they analyzed, contributed to the project examining laws and practices relevant to the internet, testing the accessibility of select websites, and interviewing a wide range of sources. Of the 60 countries assessed, 34 have experienced a negative trajectory since May 2012." (Page 2)
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"The advent of digital television has accelerated the elaboration of regulation and related processes in the countries of the region. Some countries adopted changes in their broadcasting statutes (Ukraine in 2006; Armenia in 2008 and 2010; Kazakhstan in 2012) or their mass media statute (Russia in 2
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011). One country laid the foundations for the switchover in a presidential decree (Uzbekistan in 2012), while the rest have opted for governmental ordinances and executive orders. Some changes made in the process go beyond merely adjusting the legal framework to digital technology." (Conclusion)
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"This book captures a snapshot of the contemporary role of online journalism in rapidly evolving post-Soviet, post-Colour Revolution political environments, exploring the wider journalistic and political context alongside the use and influence of online news sites. In particular, it aims to fill a g
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ap in the literature by undertaking qualitative work in the post-Colour Revolution nations which seeks to assess the views of active journalists on the role of online political journalism in those environments." (Publisher description)
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"The Report is composed of four thematic parts. Part 1 describes the conceptual framework and relates the findings of the Networked Readiness Index (NRI) 2012. In addition, Part 1 features selected expert contributions on the general theme of hyperconnectivity. Part 2 includes two case studies showi
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ng the efforts that two countries, Azerbaijan and Mauritius, are making to develop ICT and fully leverage their potential benefits. Part 3 comprises detailed profiles for the 142 economies covered in this year’s Report, providing a thorough picture of each economy’s current networked readiness landscape and allowing for international comparisons of specific variables or components of the NRI. Part 4 includes data tables for each of the 53 variables composing the NRI, with rankings for the economies covered as well as technical notes and sources for the quantitative variables used." (Executive summary, page xi)
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"TThe 2012 MSI study for Europe & Eurasia revealed a mix of positive developments, regression, and stagnation (or resilience, depending on one’s point of view). Nearly half of the 21 countries included in this study showed little change either way, their overall score moving by 0.10 or less. Six c
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ountries showed improvement and five slid backward. The former Yugoslavia accounted for all but one of the countries with lower scores this year. Montenegro improved, Croatia remained roughly unchanged, but the rest of the former Yugoslavia—Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia—suffered losses (note that Slovenia is the only country of the former Yugoslavia not studied by the MSI) [...] Moldova continued to improve and achieved the highest score among the four countries in “Russia and Western Eurasia.” All objectives except Objective 4, Business Management, received a score in the “near sustainability” range. Armenia maintained its leadership amongst the three countries in the Caucasus. Its overall score remained mostly unchanged, although the score did slip slightly. Georgia continued to slowly regain ground lost in 2008. Russia’s score improved; despite serious lingering challenges, panelists expressed a cautious optimism that the situation will continue to improve in the coming years. Kyrgyzstan returned to the top spot in Central Asia as the political situation there stabilized. However, two objectives, those covering professional journalism and business management, remain well below the “near sustainability” range." (Executive summary, page ix)
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"Western donor interventions to establish and develop an independent media landscape in Ukraine have been successful overall. Multiple Western donors have helped to support the development of civil society in Ukraine and the development of its independent media system. The political landscape, speci
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fically the fact that that between 2005 and 2010 the Ukrainian Government did not interfere with independent media development and the fact that journalists and the editors enjoyed relative freedom encouraged the further development of the media. Some claim that the pro-democratic political regime was instrumental in ensuring that independent media flourished after the Orange revolution. However, this development would not have been possible without Western donor investment in the independent media and in journalism training that have been made in Ukraine from the early 1990s until the present. Most importantly, over the last six years, because of a pro-democratic leadership and indirect political pressure from the European Union on Ukraine, which wants to join the European Union, Ukrainian media and NGOs have been able to develop and flourish and are having a clear, visible impact as government watchdogs and as a barometer for the development of civil society. However, after 2010, since the beginning of the Yanukovich presidency, these watchdog functions started to diminish. Civil society in Ukraine, although still fragile, has made significant progress in recent years, and media outlets and NGOs have played a central role in its development. Donor support has been influential in the establishment and the development of the vast majority of media monitoring organizations, media and journalist training organizations, media NGOs and to a lesser extent, independent media outlets in Ukraine. Many independent media in Ukraine today exist because of the grant aid they received over the years." (Executive summary, page 4)
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"The analysis is based on interviews with 35 media experts and news producers at major Ukrainian broadcasting organizations, as well as from print and online media. The interviewees (editors-in-chief, heads of international news’ departments, foreign correspondents) were asked about the process of
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international news production in their editorial offices, the human and technical resources allocated for foreign news coverage, the professional standards of international journalism, as well as the main sources of foreign news and criteria of their selection involved in the news making process. An important finding of the presented research is the conclusion about indirect, or circuitous movement of foreign news from international news agencies to the Ukrainian media. Because of the peculiarities of Ukrainian news production described in the paper, news from Reuters or Associated Press regularly reaches Ukrainian editorial offices after it has been processed by Russian newsmakers." (Abstract)
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"This paper presents the results of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) pilot survey on media statistics conducted in 28 countries in 2011. The survey instruments were designed to provide an initial set of quantitative indicators identified by UNESCO’s Media Development Indicators project. G
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iven the limitations of this sample survey, this report is intended to highlight the scope of the questionnaire items while describing initial results. Further analysis of the indicators and trends will be made in the future as the data collection is expanded to include a greater number of countries. Chapter 1 focuses on indicators related to the regulatory environment in which media operate across countries. Chapter 2 presents data on the supply of different types of media (radio, television, newspapers) before discussing distribution by ownership and geographic coverage, as well as the availability of radio and television equipment and related issues on the penetration of broadcast media channels within each country." (Introduction)
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"This report is the third in a series of comprehensive studies of internet freedom around the globe and covers developments in 47 countries that occurred between January 2011 and May 2012. Over 50 researchers, nearly all based in the countries they analyzed, contributed to the project by researching
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laws and practices relevant to the internet, testing the accessibility of select websites, and interviewing a wide range of sources. This year's findings indicate that restrictions on internet freedom in many countries have continued to grow, though the methods of control are slowly evolving, becoming more sophisticated and less visible. Brutal attacks against bloggers, politically motivated surveillance, proactive manipulation of web content, and restrictive laws regulating speech online are among the diverse threats to internet freedom emerging over the past two years. Nevertheless, several notable victories have also occurred as a result of greater activism by civil society, technology companies, and independent courts, illustrating that efforts to advance internet freedom can yield results." (www.freedomhouse.org, January 14, 2013)
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"With three notable exceptions—Belarus, Russia, and Uzbekistan—the media sector in the countries included in the first edition of the MSI in 2001 have over time either improved overall or stayed more or less the same. But, a review of overall MSI scores is just one way to use the MSI to see how
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the media situation has changed [...] Another is to compare the qualitative characterizations made by panelists in 2001 to those they are making today. In a similar vein, IREX includes a summary of how the Internet was viewed in 2001 and how it is described today as a way to look at the impact of new media on dissemination of information, public dialogue, and citizen access to timely news and information. IREX this year employed an updated methodology to prepare the reports [...] IREX added two new indicators. One assesses a media sector’s ability to report on local, regional, national, and international news in a way that meets the needs of citizens in all corners of a country." (Executive summary, page 9)
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