"The Initiative for Media Freedom (IMF) is a five-year program implemented by Internews and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with the support of the American people. Internews and its partners work collaboratively to enhance democratic governance that provides
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economic, political, and social inclusion and advances social stability. Objective One: Improve the environment for a free press; Objective Two: Bolster capacity of media and other organizations to address disinformation; Objective Three: Strengthen self-regulation of the media." (Page 2)
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"Global news on anthropogenic climate change is shaped by international politics, scientific reports and voices from transnational protest movements. This timely volume asks how local communities engage with these transnational discourses. The chapters in this volume present a range of compelling ca
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se studies drawn from a broad cross-section of local communities around the world, reflecting diverse cultural and geographical contexts. From Greenland to northern Tanzania, it illuminates how different understandings evolve in diverse cultural and geographical contexts while also revealing some common patterns of how people make sense of climate change. Global Warming in Local Discourses constitutes a significant, new contribution to understanding the multi-perspectivity of our debates on climate change, further highlighting the need for interdisciplinary study within this area." (Publisher description)
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"It may be observed that, first, at the level of public perception, government actions to restrict free speech are often preceded by statements criticizing the media and foreshadowing a penalty or sanction, which are actually directed to the public and not the media, as if to prime the latter on the
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acceptability of the planned restrictions. The president and his personnel routinely come up with fresh allegations, repeated over time, to discredit journalists and the media, which, in a social media environment crowded with ‘trolls’ and which is at the mercy of algorithms, may be deeply reinforced by echo chambers and confirmation bias. Second, to justify the implementation of legal restrictions, law personnel take a very liberal interpretation of laws, which just straggles the line between what is allowable and what is not (the idea of “continuing publication”; vagueness in the terms “public interest,” “spreading panic or fear,” etc.) thereby allowing the interpretation a degree of legitimacy, since it not entirely wrong and is subjective. Third, freedom of expression is not the only battlefront, so to speak, as evinced by government’s reexaminations of corporate registrations, licenses, permits, and franchises of media entities. At their core, media entities are corporations and journalists are mostly employees (if not contributors) and in that context, there is space for government agencies to nitpick on documents submitted to their offices as part of regulatory compliance, and prepare in advance legal arguments based on records under their custody." (Summary and conclusion, page 40)
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"This book provides empirical accounts to understand the situatedness of open data along the following themes: 1) open data practices; 2) the local implementation of global trends; and 3) open data ecosystems. Many chapters in this volume simultaneously address several of these themes. The thematic
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grouping of chapters is an attempt to foreground salient questions for open data research. In addition, the book covers country-specific, localised applications of open data with a few chapters explicitly focusing on how open government data initiatives unfold within different socio-political contexts. The geographical scope of the contributions spans four continents, providing insights on open data practices in Europe (Kosovo, Belgium, United Kingdom), Africa (Nigeria, Tanzania), Asia (Indonesia, the Philippines), and Latin America (Paraguay, Brazil)." (Introduction, page viii)
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"The article explores Christian missionary radio broadcasting as part of a wider sonic colonization of the Philippines under US colonial rule. Specifically, I explore how some post-Second World War faith-based broadcasters shaped the listening practices of Filipino audiences through programming tact
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ics such as blocktiming. Furthermore, I consider how missionary broadcasters cultivated direct relationships with listeners through the imagined ‘shared experiences’ of aural space. As a case study, I explore the activities of the US-based Far East Broadcasting Company (FEBC), which began its operations in the Philippines in 1948. Since then, the organization has used the country as a hub for its expanding domestic and international radio network, which now includes broadcasts to South East Asia, China and other parts of the world. In addition to exploring how FEBC’s localized approach to programming has cultivated specific listening audiences, I explore how programmes have been received by listeners in the Philippines, many of whom continue to tune in via terrestrial radio." (Abstract)
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"In this study, I examine the perilous conditions facing Filipino journalists covering the Mindanao region, focusing on differences in threats and dangers faced by those who are local to the region and those parachuting in from Manila. Using a qualitative approach, I have conducted one group intervi
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ew with two local and two non-local journalists, and five in-depth one-to-one interviews with journalists and expert sources, in 2017. The study additionally draws on interviews with fourteen Filipino journalists and editors from 2014. The journalists perceive that safety differ depending on whether they are local to the conflict they cover or not. Safety issues are significant for the ways in which they operate in the field and decisions they make. Extra-judicial killings and impunity for perpetrators committing crimes against journalists perpetuate dangerous conditions particularly for local journalists, while kidnapping for ransom is among the greatest threats perceived by non-local journalists. In situations which non-local journalists can retreat, their local counterparts stay behind and face reprisals. Ethics is imperative to safety particularly for local journalists. Safety training should be tailored to and differentiate between security challenges. Collaboration between local and non-local journalists may improve their safety altogether, but media organisations must adequately compensate both." (Abstract)
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"The bulk of this report is based on data collected by a survey of more than 80,000 people in 40 markets and reflects media usage in January/February just before the coronavirus hit many of these countries. But the key trends that we document here, including changes in how people access news, low tr
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ust, and rising concern about misinformation have been a backdrop against which journalists, editors, politicians, and public health officials have been battling to reach ordinary people with key messages over the last few months. We know that this crisis has substantially increased the amount and frequency of news consumption as well as influenced attitudes to the news media, at least temporarily. We’ve captured this in a second set of polling data collected in April when the crisis was at its peak in some countries. This has helped us to see the impact of the crisis in terms of sources of news and also reminded us of the critical role that the news media play at times of national crisis, including documenting that people who rely on news media are better informed about the virus than those who do not. While many media companies have been enjoying record audience figures, news fatigue is also setting in, and the short-term and long-term economic impact of the crisis is likely to be profound – advertising budgets are slashed and a recession looms, threatening news media, some of whom are struggling with adapting to a changing world. Against this background, this year’s report also focuses on the shift towards paying for online news in many countries across the world, with detailed analysis of progress in three countries (the UK, USA, and Norway). This year, our report carries important data about the extent to which people value and trust local news, perhaps the sector most vulnerable to the economic shocks that will inevitably follow the health crisis itself. And we also explore the way people access news about climate change as well as attitudes to media coverage for the first time." (Foreword)
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"With e-learning technologies evolving and expanding at high rates, organizations and institutions around the world are integrating massive open online courses (MOOCs) and other open educational resources (OERs). MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South explores the initiatives that are leveragi
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ng these flexible systems to educate, train, and empower populations previously denied access to such opportunities. Featuring contributors leading efforts in rapidly changing nations and regions, this wide-ranging collection grapples with accreditation, credentialing, quality standards, innovative assessment, learner motivation and attrition, and numerous other issues. The provocative narratives curated in this volume demonstrate how MOOCs and OER can be effectively designed and implemented in vastly different ways in particular settings, as detailed by experts from Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific/Oceania, and the Caribbean. This comprehensive text is an essential resource for policy makers, instructional designers, practitioners, administrators, and other MOOC and OER community stakeholders." (Publisher description)
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"In the Philippines, the assault on the press has gone digital. While Filipino journalists continue to face physical, verbal, and legal threats and attacks, cyber-attacks and online harassment/trolling were identified in 2018 as the second worst threat against them, after low wages and poor working
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conditions, according to the International Federation of Journalists and the Southeast Asia Journalist Unions. Websites of news outlets have also been hacked and taken down. These challenges make the press vulnerable to self-censorship and may even lead to fatal outcomes. This chapter seeks to fill the gap in the literature on the digital types of assault on the Philippine alternative press, focusing on the experience of alternative news media outlets—independent media particularly critical of the government. It explores the range of such threats and attacks and the responses, legal frameworks, and remedies in place that are used to combat dangers of this nature." (Abstract)
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"Nora Cruz Quebral's passing on 24 October 2020 came at the heels of a mild frenzy when a Philippine senator said that the discipline attributed to her is “cute and archaic" (Nakpil, 2020 para. 1). This prompted various higher education institutions (HEIs), particularly the University of the Phili
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ppines Los Baños (UPLB) College of Development Communication (CDC), to issue statements that it is alive, thriving, and relevant (Magsambol, 2020). The UPLB CDC statement stressed that development communication (devcom) remains important for three reasons: “First, devcom has a long and established history, which is recognized by thought leaders around the world. Second, devcom is a vibrant academic program being offered by numerous local and international academic institutions. And third, driving positive social change through communication has always been at the heart of devcom. For as long as there are social issues to be addressed, devcom will remain ever relevant" (UPLB Devcom, 2020, para. 2). Quebral, or simply NCQ to her colleagues and students, is recognized for founding the discipline of devcom. In 1971, she delivered the paper “Development Communication in the Agricultural Context" (Quebral, 2006) to honor the outgoing dean of the UPLB College of Agriculture, Dioscoro L. Umali. She coined development communication to mean “the art and science of human communication applied to the speedy transformation of a country and the mass of its people from poverty to a dynamic state of economic growth that makes possible greater social equality and the larger fulfilment of the human potential" (Quebral, 2006, page 101). At this time Quebral was chair of the UPLB Department of Agricultural Communication. In 1973, the department was renamed Department of Development Communication and the degree Bachelor of Science in Development Communication was approved to be offered."
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"The book covers the trajectories and trends in social change communication, engaging the key theoretical debates on communication and social change. Attending to the concepts of communication and social change that emerge from and across the global margins, the book works toward offering theoretica
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l and methodological lessons that de-center the dominant constructions of communication and social change. The chapters in the book delve into the interplays of academic-activist-community negotiations in communication for social change, and the ways in which these negotiations offer entry points into transformative communication processes of social change. Moreover, a number of chapters in the book attend to the ways in which Asian articulations of social change are situated at the intersections of culture, structure, and agency. Chapters in the book are extended versions of research presented at the conference on Communicating Social Change: Intersections of Theory and Praxis held at the National University of Singapore in 2016, organized under the umbrella of the Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE)." (Publisher description)
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"This report describes and analyses how online propaganda against journalists across the world - through hate, harassment, threats and fabricated news – undermines independent reporting, sows doubt among the public and makes journalists, in particular female journalists, open for online attacks an
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d physical abuse to the detriment of freedom of expression and open, democratic societies. To stem the tidal wave of mostly anonymous online propaganda against journalists, in particularly female journalists across the world who are exposed to unacceptable amounts of online sexual abuse, Fojo Media Institute, the publisher of this report, plans to set up #journodefender, a global hub to monitor, investigate and take action against the-ends-justifies-the-means trolling with particular focus on assisting journalism in countries that are particularly badly affected." (Prologue)
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"This report examines how digital-born news media in the Global South have developed innovative reporting and storytelling practices in response to growing disinformation problems. Based on field observation and interviews at Rappler in the Philippines, Daily Maverick in South Africa, and The Quint
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in India, we show that all three organisations combine a clear sense of mission and a commitment to core journalistic values with an active effort to find new ways of identifying and countering disinformation, based on a combination of investigative journalism fact-checking, data and social network analysis, and sometimes strategic collaboration with both audiences and platform companies. In the process, each of these organisations are developing new capacities and skills, sharing them across the newsroom, differentiating themselves from their competitors, and potentially increasing their long-term sustainability, in ways we believe other news media worldwide could learn from. All three case organisations we examine here are digital-born, mobile-first (or in the process of becoming so), and at least in part enabled by social media in terms of audience development and reach. While smaller than their most important legacy media competitors, all have built significant online audiences across their websites and social media channels. They represent a strategic sample of leading digital-born commercial news media operating with limited resources in challenging media, political, and press freedom environments in the Global South." (Publisher description)
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"Surveys conducted in 11 emerging and developing countries across four global regions [Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia; South Africa and Kenya; India, Vietnam and the Philippines; and Tunisia, Jordan and Lebanon] find that the vast majority of adults in these countries own – or have access to – a
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mobile phone of some kind. And these mobile phones are not simply basic devices with little more than voice and texting capacity: A median of 53% across these nations now have access to a smartphone capable of accessing the internet and running apps. In concert with this development, social media platforms and messaging apps – most notably, Facebook and WhatsApp – are widely used. Across the surveyed countries, a median of 64% use at least one of seven different social media sites or messaging apps. Indeed, smartphones and social media have melded so thoroughly that for many they go hand-in-hand. A median of 91% of smartphone users in these countries also use social media, while a median of 81% of social media users say they own or share a smartphone." (Page 4)
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"This volume seeks to analyse the emerging wave of data journalism in the Global South. It does so by examining trends, developments and opportunities for data journalism in the aforementioned contexts. Whilst studies in this specific form of journalism are increasing in numbers and significance, th
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ere remains a dearth of literature on data journalism in less developed regions of the world. By demonstrating an interest in data journalism across countries including Chile, Argentina, the Philippines, South Africa and Iran, among others, this volume contributes to multifaceted transnational debates on journalism, and is a crucial reference text for anyone interested in data journalism in the 'developing' world. Drawing on a range of voices from different fields and nations, sharing empirical and theoretical experiences, the volume aims to initiate a global dialogue among journalism practitioners, researchers and students." (Publisher description)
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"A small, local-level communication initiative aimed to bring about social change and development in communities affected by sustained conflict in Mindanao, Philippines. A realist evaluation involved a secondary analysis of existing data sets that revealed previously undetected mechanisms and 13 out
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comes for improving dialogue, livelihood, and participatory communication. This article describes the method developed for the realist evaluation and constructs Context-Mechanism-Outcome configurations from the existing data sets. The realist evaluation represents what took place in a context characterized by conflict, disadvantage and disempowerment through 2 key mechanisms, community-Centered radio and community radio volunteers. Both mechanisms became voices for the voiceless. The community-Centered radio program supported community volunteers to mobilize communities to participate in radio segments, offering opportunities for their voices to be heard on local issues resulting in discussion, provision of services not previously offered, community leaders more responsive to community needs, and coordinated community action that resolved needs." (Abstract)
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"Through interviews with 100 journalists and editors in seven countries, the authors examine safety as the main challenge for journalists covering war and conflict in both local and international contexts. The article places a particular focus on the situation for Filipino and Norwegian journalists.
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The underreporting of legal aspects of international conflict, combined with less security, means less presence and more journalistic coverage based on second-hand observation. The article argues that reduced access to conflict hotspots owing to the tactical targeting of journalists might distort the coverage of wars and conflicts, and affect the quality of journalism in future." (Abstract)
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"The Philippine media landscape is full of contradictions. On one hand, it joins the global trend of technological disruptions ushering changes in the media economy, profession, and consumption. On the other hand, persistent socio-economic inequalities and the urban/rural gap limit the potential of
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these disruptions, thus maintaining the supremacy of traditional media (except newspapers) as source of information especially in the countryside [...] Community press and radio continue to be preferred means of communication even for armed groups. Radio, in particular, is still seen as the most pervasive media, reaching even the remotest areas. The country is labeled the "social media capital of the world" given the rate of social media usage (Pablo, 2018; Mateo, 2018) and belongs to the top 20 countries with highest Internet penetration rate (Internet World Stats, 2018). However, the telecommunications infrastructure of the Philippines remains underdeveloped in most areas, as the number of cell towers is far less than that of its neighboring countries. Internet speed is slower than in the other countries in Asia-Pacific and is even below the global average (Akamai Technologies, 2017) and mobile signal, even the older generation 2G connectivity, is unavailable in many rural areas." (Overview)
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