"Two out of three Malaysians regularly use the internet (even though large areas of the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, where nearly a fifth of the population lives, pose logistical challenges regarding infrastructure) and a third of the population have a 3G mobile subscription. Broadban
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d household penetration in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, is 112 percent because many citizens have both fixed and mobile accounts. Nearly half the population is on Facebook with an average of 233 friends each, the greatest proportion in the world, all on social networks for an average nine hours a week. And they still seem to find enough time to watch television for three and a half hours a day and to listen to the radio for three hours. The outlook is for an expansion of internet and mobile-based platforms for news, comment, social networking, activism, and entertainment. However, a change of government is probably a prerequisite for the kinds of changes that would usher in greater diversity in broadcast and print, such as regulatory independence, repeal of the Printing Presses and Publications Act, and the dismantling of monopolies, rules on cross ownership, and political parties’ ownership of media companies." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"This article will discuss recent trends in Malaysia’s media surrounding the 2013 general election (GE13). It will argue that the GE13 produced two important trends in the media industry. First, there was increased political-party participation in social media, citizen journalism and blogging. In
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fact, it practically led to a ‘cyberwar’ between political parties, making the realm of the online and social media increasingly polarised and partisan. Second, many mainstream media outlets in Malaysia successfully pursued a platform of more ‘balanced’ coverage, suggesting an increased space of negotiation and contestation amongst the previously muzzled print, television and radio industry. This article will conclude with an assessment of the future trends in the media industry in Malaysia post GE13." (Abstract)
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"In dieser Ausgabe wollen wir die neuen Filmszenen der südostasiatischen Filmproduktion näher betrachten und würdigen. Gleichzeitig wollen wir eine erstmals in deutscher Sprache erscheinende Gesamteinführung in das Thema »Film in Südostasien« anbieten. Den folgenden Fragen wurde dabei eine be
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sondere Relevanz beigemessen: Wie gestaltet sich grundsätzlich das Verhältnis Gesellschaft und Film in Südostasien? Welche Rolle spielte der Film in den großen Auseinandersetzungen des 20. Jahrhunderts: der kolonialen Niederwerfung, der nationalen Befreiung und der langen Kriege der Blockkonfrontationen? Wie versuchten herrschende Eliten mit Filmen ihre hegemoniale Stellung abzusichern? Welche herrschaftskritischen Filme entstanden? Wie beeinflussten Wirtschaftsentwicklung und sozialer Wandel die Themen, die in Filmen aufgegriffen wurden? Wie werden Genderverhältnisse reproduziert oder in Frage gestellt? Welche Filme übten ihrerseits großen Einfluss auf bestimmte Generationen aus?" (Editorial, Seite 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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"Since the early 1990s, Malaysian society has displayed a deepening concern over steady increases in reported cases of child abuse in the country. For many Malaysians, knowledge of this issue comes from the mainstream media. This research analyses media coverage of child abuse in two mainstream Engl
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ish-language daily newspapers throughout 2010. The analysis focuses on how this issue is presented and framed in the media. Through the use of simple episodic framing and a distorted focus on extreme cases of child abuse, media coverage internationally obscures the reality of child abuse as it occurs within the context of contemporary social, cultural, religious or political systems. This hinders any genuine understanding of the problem, leading to flawed solutions. We find these international patterns largely replicated in Malaysia. Furthermore, gendered socialization processes in Malaysia make women and mothers principally responsible for family life and there is a tendency to blame and punish mothers for child abuse even when they are not the perpetrators. Internationally, child welfare experts and academics have advised the media to focus reporting on the underlying causes of abuse so that the issue can be better understood and addressed and this advice is pertinent for Malaysia today." (Abstract)
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"Drawing on a historical approach to Malaysia's political development since independence, this paper argues that the political effects of the rise of Malaysia's new media are best understood as being parallel to those of modernization and socio-economic change from previous decades, which augured im
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portant changes in the political strategies of incumbent and opposition politicians, but did not upset the fundamental logic through which the Barisan Nasional (BN) regime has ruled since the 1970s." (Abstract)
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"ICT Development for Social and Rural Connectedness provides an introduction to the concept of 'connectedness', and explores how this socio-psychological term has evolved during the age of the Internet. The book surveys the principles of ICT for development (ICTD), and closely examines how ICT has p
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layed a pivotal role in the rural community development of various countries. To highlight the continued benefits of ICT in these regions, the book presents an in-depth case study that analyzes the connectedness within the rural internet centers of Malaysia." (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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"The Global Journalist in the 21st Century systematically assesses the demographics, education, socialization, professional attitudes and working conditions of journalists in various countries around the world. This book updates the original Global Journalist (1998) volume with new data, adding more
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than a dozen countries, and provides material on comparative research about journalists that will be useful to those interested in doing their own studies. The editors put together this collection working under the assumption that journalists' backgrounds, working conditions and ideas are related to what is reported (and how it is covered) in the various news media round the world, in spite of societal and organizational constraints, and that this news coverage matters in terms of world public opinion and policies. Outstanding features include:"Coverage of 33 nations located around the globe, based on recent surveys conducted among representative samples of local journalist, comprehensive analyses by well-known media scholars from each country, a section on comparative studies of journalists and an appendix with a collection of survey questions used in various nations to question journalists" (Publisher description)
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"A compilation of 13 articles that discuss social media developments and trends in Asia. For this publication we invited eleven alumni from the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism (ACFJ) at the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines to share their views on social media issues based o
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n their inside knowledge and hands-on experience. The authors from six different countries provide insight into various new media trends and present diversified approaches, ranging from Cambodia, with comparably low Internet penetration, to Indonesia, which is considered the second biggest Facebook “nation” in the world. Topics include: Integration of social media in traditional newsrooms; Issues and challenges of social media; Social media and newsprint advertising; Social media and television networks; Ways to maximise and monetise social media; Investigative journalism and social media; Censorship and social media." (Back cover)
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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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"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 book explores the role of media in democratic societies and specifically that of PSB's in Asia. It presents case studies from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kampuchea, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Macau, Sri Lanka, and Singapore. These studies document the Asian experience in PSB while exploring if there
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is a role that such networks are playing (or can play) in creating a civic conscious society." (Back cover)
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"There seems little evidence that the rise and increasing availability and range of new media have given real reason to expect different political outcomes on grounds of new patterns of mobilization, particularly given a persistent “digital divide.” What has been happening, though, is an increas
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e in politicization broadly, and especially among urban youth, who form a formidable and aggressively-courted portion of the voting public. Those young voters with a partisan preference are more likely now than previously to exercise that preference, not just by voting, but also by finding and engaging with information and likeminded communities online or off. At any time, media are critical to movements for sociopolitical change, beyond elections. The spread of online news sites, blogs, social networking sites, and other new media increases the odds of media coverage of all sorts of engagement going forward, and may shift the locus of framing away from the state. All the while, the quantum of information in circulation—unfiltered and constant—grows accordingly, begging strategies for selecting what to read and what to ignore. The result is unlikely to be revolutionary, and could simply entrench existing patterns of identity politics all the more deeply, but is more likely to make Malaysia more participatory, and hence, more democratic in its politics." (Abstract)
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"This study focuses on digital archive management and will review the current “state of play” in archive management for content creators. It includes both academic and industry research, as well as the results of site visits to nine media organizations located in Thailand, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and
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Malaysia. The purpose of this study is twofold: firstly, to present an introduction to digital archive management for media organizations and content creators, helping to build awareness and greater understanding of the topic as a whole; secondly, to provide guidance and practical advice, in particular for small- to medium-sized media organizations, as well as for those operating with limited resources, or under challenging environmental and political circumstances. The findings of this study can be broadly divided into two areas. The first relates to the safe storage of content and the associated challenges faced by organizations attempting to store large amounts of data. The second is the effective cataloguing and management of digital archives, allowing content within an organization to be described, discovered and re-used." (Executive summary)
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