"Conspiracy theories are a ubiquitous feature of our times. The Handbook of Conspiracy Theories and Contemporary Religion is the first reference work to offer a comprehensive, transnational overview of this phenomenon along with in-depth discussions of how conspiracy theories relate to religion(s).
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Bringing together experts from a wide range of disciplines, from psychology and philosophy to political science and the history of religions, the book sets the standard for the interdisciplinary study of religion and conspiracy theories." (Publisher description)
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"Macedonia and Montenegro saw the largest overall score increases this year, in comparison to 2017. The improvement across all objectives this year for Macedonia’s media sector can be attributed to political changes that prioritize media in democratic reforms. Although Montenegro’s score improve
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ment shows promising progress and puts it in the Near Sustainability category, weaknesses in the country’s media sector include low revenue generation, declining professional development opportunities, political biases, and low adherence to professional standards. Kyrgyzstan and Serbia saw the largest overall decreases in their scores. While Kyrgyzstan’s MSI score for the business management objective increased slightly, all other objective scores experienced a decline, moving Kyrgyzstan from Near Sustainability in 2017 to Unsustainable Mixed System in 2018. Serbia’s scores in all MSI objectives are indicative of a downward trend in the country’s media space. Among the factors feeding this spiral are: media content is more polarized now than at any time in almost 20 years; an increase in fake news; editorial pressure on media; and a poor overall economic operating environment." (Executive summary)
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"The integration of traditionally isolated Central/ Eastern Europe into larger, worldwide trends has fundamentally changed the way we look at the media in this region. This volume proposes to address the transition of the media and communication industries in the contemporary period. The contributio
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ns discuss, among other things, the obstacles that still remain for the media to play an effective watchdog role in the new democracies, and whether the advent of the Internet and social media has helped or hindered the transformation to a powerful, independent media. The discussion further examines whether advertising agencies have targeted postcommunist citizens differently than those in Western European countries and if the media markets in the post- communist region are fundamentally different than in Western Europe and North America. A second focus of the volume is the media coverage of social issues like domestic violence, which is intended to draw attention to these issues and influence policy in a more aware and open society. This establishes the trend of post- communist media following the example of western media practice." (Publisher description)
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"This study examines the existence of criminal defamation and insult laws in the territory of the 57 participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In doing so, it offers a broad, comparative overview of the compliance of OSCE participating States’ legislat
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ion with international standards and best practices in the field of defamation law and freedom of expression. The primary purpose of the study is to identify relevant provisions in law. Although the study does include examples of the usage of these provisions, it is not an analysis of legal practice [...] The study is divided into two sections. The first section offers conclusions according to each of the principal categories researched and in reference to international standards on freedom of expression. The second section provides the detailed research findings for each country, including relevant examples. As the study’s title suggests, the primary research category is general criminal laws on defamation and insult. However, this study also covers special laws protecting the reputation or honour of particular persons or groups of people (e.g., presidents, public officials, deceased persons); special laws protecting the ‘honour’ of the state and state symbols; and blasphemy and religious insult laws." (About this study, page 2)
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"Struggling to cope with structural societal changes, digitalized news production, and the modified habits of fragmented media publics, public service broadcasters are expected to redefine the logic of their operations in order to regain the trust of citizens and engage them. This paper looks at how
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public service broadcasters in seven countries of the Western Balkans have embraced new approaches, technologies, and online channels to foster interaction with their audiences. This includes the analysis of their structures, the popularity of offline programmes, and the use of online channels to reach the public, on the basis of evidence, experiences and specific findings collected during the period 2014-2016, as part of the project implemented by the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and the Centre for Social Research Analitika (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina)." (Abstract)
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"The monitoring and the analysis carried out for the purpose of this study found out that the media and the institutional channels of mass communication of religious communities have behaved correctly while carrying out their duties, and have established a climate of communication that emits and fos
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ters mutual respect among the faithful, tolerance and harmony that have prevailed the Albanian religious tradition. On the other hand, alongside media institutions of religious communities or organizations operating in the country, the Albanian online world has been infiltrated by a relatively large number of websites which appear to have been created and operated by Islamic religious organizations based in Turkey or other countries in the Middle East. Some of these websites promote schools of Islam that do not match the tradition of the Albanian Islam, and provide a more radical interpretation of the Islamic doctrine. Especially problematic are some websites that promote in Albanian the schools of Salafism and Wahhabism as well as other extremist schools or sects. Meanwhile, the monitoring of the mainstream print and broadcast media in Albania, revealed that they report on religion and activities of religious background mainly during religious festivities, on cases of religiously-motivated clashes or conflicts, on controversial statements regarding religion, its history and religious cohabitation in Albania, as well as cases of scandal and controversy among the ranks of religious authorities." (Page 3)
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"During the transition years, Albania saw the establishment of a relatively complete legal framework for the protection and development of media freedom and independence. However, in many cases, the legal framework was delayed or a mechanical transplant of western legislation. Enforcement of legisla
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tion remains a problem. In the framework of relations between the media and politics, both in the early transition phases and during recent years, there have been frequent efforts of political formations to ensure in a way control Relations between media and politics in Albania over the media through law as in the case of the Press Law or the case of legislation establishing the regulations for the election of the Steering Council of RTSH and AMA, which gives the opportunity to the political majority to decide on the composition of the steering bodies of these two institutions. In terms of transparency over media ownership, Albania has made progress, but the concern is raised regarding the possibility of hidden ownership. Besides the ownership factor, their funding also has played a considerable role in the degree of dependence or independence of the media. In this regard, for many domestic analysts or international rapporteurs, the situation remains alarming. The EU Progress Report on Albania notes that media financing remains very problematic. There is almost no transparency and funding sources are manipulated or hidden. Similar to countries of the polarized pluralistic media model, in Albania too, professional organizations and the trade unions of journalists are generally weak. An indicator of the lack of organization of the media and the journalists’ community is also the fact that Albania, for a long period during the transition years, has not managed to have a Media Council, which exists in the majority of the region’s countries. The inexistence or poor role of journalists’ associations has led to a poor level of self-regulation of media in the country." (Executive summary)
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"This article analyzes how journalists in the Western Balkans consider the roles of journalism in times of transitions in the region. Findings from the Worlds of Journalism (WJS) study reveal that journalists and editors in the Western Balkans perceive their roles to be broader than those in traditi
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onally western societies. They subscribe to traditional journalism values but also argue that the media has a broad responsibility to contribute to enhance transitions of societies after longer periods of conflict. At the same time, journalists have little trust in the institutions of society entrusted with the task of leading the countries through many issues of transitional justice. The article draws on empirical material from the WJS survey in 2014 and 2015 in Albania, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia." (Abstract)
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"While a few much-needed improvements can be reported for the 2017 Europe & Eurasia Media Sustainability Index (MSI), overall there are signs of continued and worsening challenges facing those who wish to create and support a vibrant information system in the 21 countries studied in this volume [...
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] Apart from Belarus, there is not much in the way of positive news in this year’s MSI. Taken together, only nine objective scores, scattered among six countries, showed any meaningful improvement: Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine experienced improvement in two objective scores while Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Uzbekistan each had one objective show improvement. Belarus was the only country whose overall score improved by a tenth of a point or more. Five other countries showed only marginal overall improvement." (Executive summary)
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"This research project focuses on media reporting of and in crisis situations, with case studies of examples mostly from 2016. Political and social crises have been recurring in recent years, aggravated by unstable political environments, underdeveloped economies, ethno-national divisions and unreso
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lved legacies of war. They ranged from political clashes, government crises, through crisis involving citizen protests or pertaining to response to natural disasters, to refugee crises. As indicated by the national reports from five successor states of the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia) and Albania, in the analysed cases of crises, the media largely failed to fulfil their public service role and to an extent did just the opposite, providing sensationalistic stories, favouring particular sources (mainly official ones, from one political faction or one ethno-national group), sometimes accentuating security threats and possible conflicts, or simply by failing to provide relevant information or in-depth analysis necessary for substantive understanding of related public interest issues. In this research we start from the assumption that weaknesses of the media sector manifest themselves with particular severity in crisis situations. We also recognize the pivotal role of media in what the dominant framing of the crises is, by which they can contribute to, or thwart, democratic communication. The experience of media in former Yugoslavia in the 1990 is a reminder of how devastating the consequences can be." (Pages 2-3)
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"In the recent years, we have witnessed several protests, initiatives and social uprisings in the SEE region, through which the citizens demanded for government accountability, suggested better policy solutions and promoted better citizen participation. Regional research “Communicating citizens' p
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rotests, requiring public accountability: Case study from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia” examines the communication practices during these social movements/ initiatives that took place in period 2011–2015, ranging in focus from environmental issues, through education reforms, to wide socio-economic issues. The aim of the research is to understand how the government officials responded to the calls to accountability, what were the practices of citizens/activist in terms of promotion of the movement and its goals, and which role did the mainstream media took when reporting on the protests and social mobilization. Study volume contains an overview of the major results of the research in three countries, and three separate country reports. The study finds that response to protests by both media and the government was rather systemic, with both failing to act in the public interest and to promote government accountability. Protests that included less criticism of the government structures received fairer media treatment, while the more anti-government ones attracted more controversial media converge (ranging from pro-government, more balanced, to supportive of protests) and framing that involved strategies of delegitimization of protests (mainly in BiH and Macedonia). But importantly, even when particular media provided fair representation of protesters (mainly case of dismantling chemical weapons in Albania), the media reports were superficial, lacking in-depth insights and analyses and substantial demands for government accountability." (Publisher description)
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"Independent media institutions are crucial for genuine democracies. The most important institutions are national and regional public service media and regulatory bodies that are responsible for the allocation of frequencies and licenses to private media, media market regulation, and protection of m
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edia independence. For this reason, it is essential to ensure the political and economic independence of public service media and of new regulatory bodies for the audio-visual sector. A key factor is the composition and function of the governing bodies and the procedures for the selection of chairpersons and general directors. In a worst-case scenario, the government is mandated to appoint members of the boards of regulatory bodies and the public service media. This jeopardises media independence and limits media’s ability to hold the government accountable towards the public. It is slightly better when members of the Parliament choose the members of these ruling bodies, because opposition parties at least will have a minority influence in the decisions. However, this type of procedure makes independent regulatory bodies and public service media accountable to political parties rather than to the public. A third procedure for choosing members to the governing bodies is used in the Western Balkans. As part of their decade-long preparation for membership of the European Union and their compliance with EU standards, the six potential candidates in Western Balkan have implemented improved media legislation and regulatory measures with regards to the ele ction of board members for public service media and regulatory bodies. The measures to protect the political independence of these institutions constitute a promising step forward but do not fully prevent undesirable politicisation. Characteristically, the potential Western Balkan EU-members (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia) explicitly define what public or civil society organisations are eligible as nominators of candidates for the governing body. In most cases, a parliamentary committee invites these nominating organisations to nominate candidates. In one country, the nominating organisations may propose four times as many candidates as the number of available seats in the governing body, whereas only the required number of candidates are nominated in other places." (Page 1)
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"The world wars, genocides and extremist ideologies of the 20th century are remembered very differently across Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, resulting sometimes in fierce memory disputes. This book investigates the complexity and contention of the layers of memory of the troubled 20th ce
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ntury in the region. Written by an international group of scholars from a diversity of disciplines, the chapters approach memory disputes in methodologically innovative ways, studying representations and negotiations of disputed pasts in different media, including monuments, museum exhibitions, individual and political discourse and electronic social media. Analyzing memory disputes in various local, national and transnational contexts, the chapters demonstrate the political power and social impact of painful and disputed memories." (Publisher description)
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"The study confirms that after the fall of communism and the establishment of pluralistic democracy in the country, the conditions were created for the emergence and development of free, independent and pluralistic media. This led to a multiplication of the capacities and space also for internationa
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l reporting. A large number of channels of international media information existed in Albania during the past 25 years after the fall of communism. Nevertheless, during the last decade, due to the crisis in the media and because of the emergence of new channels of online information, a decline has been noticed in international news in the press and television. These media outlets do not have a special editorial structure for international news and it is mainly covered by the news department or newsroom. Meanwhile, human resources for this field have been shrinking in about 40% of the media outlets. Because of economic difficulties, Albanian media also lack or have a very limited number of correspondents abroad. Thus, none of the newspapers has correspondents in other countries." (Conclusions, page 58-59)
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"The KAS Task Force on Journalism Education in South East Europe has conducted a survey among journalism undergraduates and graduates in five countries – a first-time initiative in the region. Their response can be seen as a testimonial of a media sector in turmoil. In the Western Balkans and othe
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r countries in South East Europe, such as Romania, the general challenges for media outlets precipitated by the internet revolution are compounded by specific deficiencies of the media landscape. In many cases, media outlets in South East Europe operate at a loss. National media markets are too small to accommodate the relatively high number of media outlets. Citizens are largely reluctant to pay for a high standard of journalism – one of the reasons why employment conditions are volatile and often unattractive. Fewer journalists are expected to deliver a greater news output in the cross-media era. Moreover, media are often owned by business moguls with inclinations to use media ownership as an instrument for gaining political influence for whom journalist entrepreneurship is not a primary concern. Despite these daunting challenges in the broader environment, many still consider journalism a dream job. On the other hand, the study shows that half of media students envisage working in other fields following graduation." (Foreword)
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"The 45 country reports gathered here illustrate the link between the internet and economic, social and cultural rights (ESCRs). Some of the topics will be familiar to information and communications technology for development (ICT4D) activists: the right to health, education and culture; the socioec
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onomic empowerment of women using the internet; the inclusion of rural and indigenous communities in the information society; and the use of ICT to combat the marginalisation of local languages. Others deal with relatively new areas of exploration, such as using 3D printing technology to preserve cultural heritage, creating participatory community networks to capture an “inventory of things” that enables socioeconomic rights, crowdfunding rights, or the negative impact of algorithms on calculating social benefits. Workers’ rights receive some attention, as does the use of the internet during natural disasters. Ten thematic reports frame the country reports. These deal both with overarching concerns when it comes to ESCRs and the internet – such as institutional frameworks and policy considerations – as well as more specific issues that impact on our rights: the legal justification for online education resources, the plight of migrant domestic workers, the use of digital databases to protect traditional knowledge from biopiracy, digital archiving, and the impact of multilateral trade deals on the international human rights framework. The reports highlight the institutional and country-level possibilities and challenges that civil society faces in using the internet to enable ESCRs. They also suggest that in a number of instances, individuals, groups and communities are using the internet to enact their socioeconomic and cultural rights in the face of disinterest, inaction or censure by the state." (Back cover)
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"The three countries that this year experienced a decrease in overall score—Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan—were ones last year that had showed small but unexpected increases. Last year’s Executive Summary indicated that such increases were unlikely to be part of a larger upward trend; pan
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elists’ scores this year for all three ended up placing the three more or less where they stood in 2014. A similar phenomenon occurred this year with Tajikistan. Panelists there gave scores that increase the overall score in the country by 0.18 despite the fact that many serious threats to the media sector exist, including government pressure and harassment of critical voices, concentration of media control, poor quality reporting, and difficulty for independent media in raising revenue. Except for Objective 3, Plurality of News, all objectives received higher scores. Reading the chapter text, however, one does not get the impression that much positive is happening to improve the ability of Tajik media to serve as the Fourth Estate." (Executive summary)
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"Albanian journalists believe their most important professional role is reporting things as they are, being detached observers and providing the kind of news that attracts the largest audience. These functions contrast with the dominant perceived role of journalists in the early 1990s as missionarie
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s and educators of the audience (see Table 1). Journalists in Albania tend to be audience-oriented, report uninvolved according to the audience’s taste and demand and attempt to educate them remotely through entertainment and recreation. Journalists’ other attributes as “advocates for social change”, “educators of the audience” and “promoters of tolerance and cultural diversity” find broad support as well. As for critical journalism, only a few journalists think it is important to set the political agenda, to monitor and scrutinize business and political leaders." (Journalistic roles, page 2)
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"Das Fazit der Beiträge in diesem Heft bringt Snežana Milivojevic nüchtern auf den Punkt: „Der Glaube, dass ein freier Markt gleichbedeutend mit freien Medien ist, hat sich in den Transformationsländern als Illusion erwiesen.“ Die größte Gefahr für unabhängigen Journalismus liegt dort ni
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cht vor allem darin – wie es derzeit laut Olga Tokariuk in der Ukraine der Fall ist –, Gewalt, Entführung und Morddrohungen ausgesetzt zu sein, sondern vor allem in der Abhängigkeit von Finanzquellen: Zwar entsprechen die gesetzlichen Rahmenbedingungen für Medien mittlerweile internationalen Standards, doch als viel schädlicher, so schreibt Sanela Hodžic im Fall Bosnien-Herzegowinas, gilt der Zugriff geschäftlicher Netzwerke und politischer Interessengruppen auf die Medien. Besonders deutlich wird das auch in den Beiträgen zu Bulgarien, Serbien, Albanien und Ungarn. Zudem stellen Péter Techet in Ungarn wie auch Remzi Lani in Albanien fest, dass Journalisten meist schreiben können, was sie wollen, aber niemand darauf regiert: „Gleichgültigkeit gegenüber Kritik führt zur Abwertung des freien Wortes.“ Deshalb warnt auch Christian Mihr von „Reporter ohne Grenzen“: „Freiheit, um die nicht gerungen wird, stirbt.“ Es gibt aber auch Lichtblicke: In der Ukraine legen mehrere unabhängige Sender Wert auf professionellen Journalismus und finanzieren sich durch Crowdfunding. Die Slowakei findet sich auf der Rangliste von „Reporter ohne Grenzen“ auf Platz 14 (Deutschland steht auf Platz 12, die Schweiz auf Platz 20). Nicht zuletzt zeugen auch die Autoren und Autorinnen dieser Ausgabe von den bestehenden Oasen für qualitätsbewussten Journalismus in Osteuropa." (Editorial)
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"A crowded and rather poor media market, unable to secure the sustainability of media operations, a high level of job insecurity making the journalists vulnerable to political and economic pressures and – more often than not – leading to self-censorship – are some of the conclusions [...] The
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report reveals that across the region, journalists are making less than the national average salary, which indicates an erosion of the social respect for the profession. Paradoxically, the public media – still unreformed and subject to state influence – offer more stable and better paid jobs. This creates an opportunity for these media, as more and more journalists are seeking these jobs. It also reveals the need for a stronger associative effort on the part of journalists, to protect their rights." (http://www.seenpm.org)
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