"This study examines the empowerment effects of film and video among participants of various nonformal education programmes. It provides recommendations for changes in the legal system as well as in the use of video in development co-operation." (Cat. IKO 2004)
"This wide-ranging dissertation examines the policies and practices of six sub-Saharan Africa university presses in five African countries (in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe), to investigate how far the presses have adopted, and/or have adapted, their policies to suit the environmen
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t and special needs of Africa. The study examines the extent to which current constraints impede their publishing activities and publishing strategies. The author finds that there is “a serious absence of competition and cooperation between the presses surveyed”, lack of aggressive fund raising strategies, together with weak or non-existent policies for commissioning and list building, and without a clearly defined subject focus. The author also examines the various strategies adopted by the presses to adapt to the rapidly changing scholarly communications environment. In his conclusions he recommends the setting-up of a continent-wide consortium of African university presses, with each press “to operate as a Trust in order to enjoy autonomy as a private company, but be registered as a non-profit organization.” The author calls for more active collaboration among African scholarly presses (including joint publishing ventures, sharing of resources and expertise, reciprocal distribution, etc.); much stronger emphasis on the use of new technology, particularly print-on-demand; makes some suggestions regarding possible sources of funding for the presses, and recommends further research into the effect of ICTs on university press publishing in Africa." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2281)
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"In these two volumes, readers will find comparative, in-depth essays on the press systems of 232 countries and/or territories. World Press Encyclopedia (WPE) is unique and valuable to users because, in addition to essays on each country’s press system, WPE also contains custommade graphs and stat
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istical tables, as well as regional maps, useful appendices, and an extensive index. This comprehensive, authoritative source of information allows for easy comparison between essays with a standard format or set of “rubrics” used whenever possible (see section titled “Essay Components”). Each essay also features basic data information—such as official country name, literacy rate, language(s), and number of daily newspapers—clearly marked with headings at the beginning of each entry. Additionally, WPE’s contributors include scholars, professionals, and educators from across the United States and around the world; each essay has a byline. Although this is the second edition, WPE has been completely reconceptualized and 100 percent revised from the first edition, which was published in 1982." (Introduction)
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"Clearly as important providers of information, the media are more likely to promote better economic performance when they are more likely to satisfy three conditions: the media are independent, provide good-quality information, and have a broad reach. That is, when they reduce the natural asymmetry
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of information, as Joseph Stiglitz puts it in chapter 2, between those who govern and those whom they are supposed to serve, and when they reduce information asymmetries between private agents. Such a media industry can increase the accountability of both businesses and government through monitoring and reputational penalties while also allowing consumers to make more informed decisions.
This book cites many examples that demonstrate the value of information provided by the media. Alexander Dyck and Luigi Zingales (chapter 7) discuss how the media can pressure corporate managers and directors to behave in ways that are socially acceptable, thereby avoiding actions that will result in censure and consumer boycotts. They also report that in Malaysia, a recent survey of institutional investors and equity analysts asked which factors were most important to them in considering corporate governance and the decision to invest in publicly listed corporations. Those surveyed gave more importance to the frequency and nature of public and press comments about companies than to a host of other factors considered key in the academic debate. However, the dissemination of credible information in a timely manner depends critically on how the media business is managed and regulated. The chapters in this book document evidence on media performance and regulations in countries around the world and highlight what type of public policies and economic conditions might hinder the media in supporting economic development in poor countries." (Pages 1-2)
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"A valuable information resource that provides a country-by-country analysis of the “book chain” in 18 English-speaking Africa countries, together with an annotated directory of the major players that make up the book chain within those countries. Four introductory essays provide overviews of bo
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ok and library development in anglophone Africa from different perspectives. These are followed by country surveys, each prepared by a book professional from the country concerned, most of them librarians. The final section, a 170-page Directory of Selected Organizations in the Book Chain in Anglophone Africa, provides listings of the major players in the book chain in each of the countries covered, including professional associations, major publishers, printers, booksellers and libraries; regional and international bodies supporting book development, and training institutions for librarianship and the book industries. Each entry gives full address, telephone and fax numbers, email addresses (and Web sites for some), and many entries include a short description." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 196)
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"Describes the activities and publications of the innovative Community Publishing Process in Zimbabwe in order to train 7,000 village community workers, the majority of whom were women. Through a community based, participatory process of publishing, the project aims to enable marginalized groups to
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use their creative energies to build dynamic leadership, tackle poverty, take charge of their lives, and make the decisions to shape their future. Representatives of the village readership participated in creating the books and civic education manuals, contributed material orally, and tested and distributed it through local book launches. The project also initiated a series of children’s traditional stories and a book about children’s rights, produced with 500 children aged from three to seventeen. A local leadership programme for writers provides training in journalism and editing, and the publication of a monthly journal from a village publishing house equipped with a computer, duplicator and stapler. The author concludes by stating “as women radically questioning autocratic institutions and processes, we have been able to shape a tool that can be used by marginalized groups anywhere to claim their voice in the public life." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 1731)
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"The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF) is in the process of restructuring its media support programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. In November 2000, Frank Priess (KAF, Buenos Aires) and I presented the concept for a revised media support strategy. Based on a critical revision of the political framework an
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d ongoing programmes, this study suggested an integrated regional approach in order to refocus media support work and to transfer its broad basic approach to an advanced concept of specialised training and networking. This study was not commissioned as an academic venture, centred on empiric research and data collection. Its qualitative approach was based on an integrated analysis of the media sector and its political framework in two East African and two Southern African countries. The main source for this analysis - besides visits to media houses, universities and training centres - was a series of roundtables and interviews with almost 100 media professionals, academics, lecturers and politicians in Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa, in July and August 2000, focusing on four main areas: Political framework conditions and the legal status, mission, programme, programme dissemination, staff, infrastructure, finances and economic viability of media houses and institutions; job opportunities for, and working conditions of, media personnel with special emphasis on political, legal, economic and professional difficulties; educational and training background and further training of media professionals; character and performance of professional associations in the media sector." (Editor's note, page 7)
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