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Right to memory

Media Development, volume 57, issue 2 (2010), pp. 3-59

"How reliable are the mass media’s stories and images of yesterday let alone of the more remote past? Only by rigorously cross-checking different sources of public or cultural memory might one reach a point that is reasonably balanced and accurate – an exercise in triangulating memory’s ever ... shifting terrain. This, of course, is the essence of positive revisionist history (rather than its negative counterpart, in which one must beware the hidden agendas of politics, ideology, class, gender, and religion.) The notion of a right to memory is, therefore, fraught with difficulty. Whose memories are being sought? How are they to be (re)constructed? How can their veracity, integrity, and credibility be guaranteed? And, in today’s information-sharing societies, what are the relationships between the right to memory, the right to information, and the right to communication? In Cambodia, a cultural unwillingness not to speak ill of the past is confronted by the extreme discomfort of survivors of the Pol Pot regime that killed 1.7 million (one sixth of the population). While the Cambodian government pursues reconciliation based on the political expediency of amnesty, the people’s right to communicate their stories stands precariously on their inability to recover the truth of what happened. In Uruguay a freedom of information law passed in 2008 provides the legal framework for public access to a vast quantity of secret state information pertaining to the country’s military dictatorships. The law clearly stipulates that there can be no restrictions when it comes to investigating violations of human rights. In South Africa, after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had completed its work, the essential question was how to generate the will to form restorative relationships that could tackle resentment, bring economic restitution, and forge new political structures that were just and equitable. Restorative relationships require coming to terms with memories that others might wish to forget. In this respect, a litmus test for a right to memory is how it might be used to transcend traumatic events in ways that overcome hatred, fear, guilt, and revenge. How might a right to memory contribute to a more peaceful and sustainable future? And a litmus test for political, social and cultural responses to the questions at the heart of public memory is how critical and balanced they are when issues of power, privilege, and impunity haunt the present. As Paul Ricoeur has pointed out, ‘The duty of memory is the duty to do justice, through memories, to an other than the self.’" (Editorial, page 2) more

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The Power of Communication: Changes and Challenges in African Media

Kristin Skare Orgeret, Helge Rønning (eds.)

Oslo: Oslo Academic Press (2009), 362 pp.

"This book examines how the media in different parts of Africa plays an important role in the continent's political and social processes of change. The perspective of the book is comparative. It contains overviews of the role of communication, as well as case studies, of the situation in individual ... more

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Internationales Handbuch Medien

Hans-Bredow-Institut

Christiane Matzen; Anja Herzog (eds.)

Baden-Baden: Nomos, 28th ed. (2009), 1308 pp.

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Media Sustainability Index 2008: Development of Sustainable Independent Media in Africa

Leon Morse (ed.)

Washington, DC: IREX (2009), xix, 411 pp.

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Communication for Development: A Glimpse at UNDP's Practice

Elizabeth McCall

Oslo: United Nations; UNDP Oslo Governance Centre (2009), 54 pp.

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Cartooning in Africa
Deep Insights

John A. Lent (ed.)

Cresskill: Hampton Press (2009), xi, 383 pp.

"This volume documents from historical and contemporary perspectives, the situations, trends and issues of cartooning in a number of African countries, and profiles the individuals, forms and phenomena that stand out. All types of cartooning are covered, including comic books, comic strips, gag and ... more

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African Media Barometer: Moçambique 2009

Windhoek: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES); Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) (2009), 56 pp., 64 pp.

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Beyond Broadcasting: The Future of State-Owned Broadcasters in Southern Africa

Guy Berger

Fackson Banda; Jane Duncan; Rashweat Mukundu; Zenaida Machado (contrib.)

Grahamstown: Highway Africa, School of Journalism & Media Studies, Rhodes University; Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) (2009), 65 pp.

"Digital communications technology does many new things. Its spread means that it is no longer a case of a tiny minority of professionals and politicians having a monopoly on mass communication. Implicit in the observations of this report, is the recognition that - amongst other things - digitisatio ... n also disrupts old boundaries between inter-personal and mass communication. What used to be the subject of, or product of, communication between a few individuals, can increasingly be put into the public sphere. Much of this content remains personal in quality, despite it being public in availability. But there is also much that is of public interest. In some ways, this therefore threatens those institutions supposed to be specialising in public interest information. In other ways, it can help them not only reinforce this mission, but to also take a step towards expanding their role into becoming wider public interest content and commun-ications agencies. They can, in short, be the motive force that pulls personal conversations into focussing on journalism that is of common public interest. That image of leading the transformation of mass communication is, however, just one of the scenarios outlined in this report. The others point to lesser roles, even including extinction. It should be noted that scenarios are not predictions of the future, but attempts to highlight a range of possible options. They help guide action in one or other direction. The complication is that digitisation and all that comes with it can deal a surprise to even the best-considered scenario possibilities. Who would have thought that a search engine company (Google) could become such an effective player in the advertising arena? Or that newspaper newsrooms would start hiring video-capable staffers, or that some cell-phone companies would move into distributing content? Could anyone have guessed that a company like Twitter could attract and burn millions of dollars of investment without even a proper business plan about how it intends to make money? The digital revolution, if it is to succeed, needs to have top quality cadres in the newsrooms. In the face of these kinds of developments, it is tempting to throw up one’s hands and take a come-what-may approach. That’s preferable to the illusion of controlling and managing the process. At the same time, between these two extremes of paralysis and over-planning, there is a broad direction that can be identified and pursued. We may not know exactly where we are going, but - as this Report seeks to do - we can look at where we are and what’s immediately ahead. More fundamentally, however, there’s worth in remembering from whence we come. In other words, while looking at the present and near-present, and keeping an eye on what future scenarios we can imagine, we can hold onto our values. In the context of public broadcasting, these values are - in a nutshell - to focus mass communications on deepening democracy and development. These public interest values remain all the more valid in a time when the historical informational “service” model is being expanded to also function as a public interest communicational mode. Keeping these ideals aloft helps state-owned broadcasters steer a course between delivering government-interest and commercial-interest content. They help to define the meaning of universal access in the face of financial pressures and socio-economic divides. They empower people to see the big picture and to bring concerted action to bear on it. In sum, they help us reinvent “public service broadcasting” in a fashion appropriate to its contemporary possibilities. Roll on digitisation in Southern Africa - and the transformation of at least some state-owned broadcasters to become leaders in this process." ("Summing up", page 53-54) more

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Media Sustainability Index 2006/2007: Development of Sustainable Independent Media in Africa

Leon Morse (ed.)

Washington, DC: IREX (2008), xix, 385 pp.

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Mídia, política e mercado na sociedade moçambicana: O setor televisivo aberto

João Miguel

São Leopoldo: Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Doctoral Thesis (2008), 189 pp.

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So This is Democracy? Report on the State of Media Freedom and Freedom of Expression in Southern Africa 2007

Windhoek: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) (2008), vi, 314 pp.

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Communication for Empowerment in Mozambique: An Assessment of Communication and Media Needs at the Community Level

Faruco Sadique Ibraimo, Barry Driscoll

Oslo; South Orange, New Jersey: UNDP Oslo Governance Centre; Communication for Social Change Consortium (2008), 79 pp.

"Communication for Empowerment is an initiative which, in its global context, aims to enable average citizens including those from marginalised strata of society and those living in poverty to take informed decisions on their own lives, have access to channels that allow their voice to be heard and ... more

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Telecentres in Mozambique: Staying On-Line

Michael Daamen, Sarah Groenendijk, Adinda M'Gbra

Wageningen: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) (2008), 36 pp.

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Communicating with Radio: What Do We Know? Findings from a Review of Selected Rural Radio Effectiveness Evaluations
Deep Insights

Linje Manyozo

Ottawa: Farm Radio International, African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI) (2008), 105 pp.

"This study reviews and analyses what has already been documented on the links between radio-based communication strategies and rural development outcomes, particularly with regards to smallholder farming and food security outcomes. The report explores best radio practices, including issues related ... more

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Joint Evaluation of Citizens' Voice & Accountability: Synthesis Report

Alina Rocha Menocal, Bhavna Sharma

London: Department for International Development (DFID) (2008), xxi, 109 pp.

"Citizens’ Voice and Accountability (CV&A) work has emerged as a priority in the international development agenda from the 1990s onwards. In their CV&A work, donors recognise the importance of context: it shapes relation to that context. However, context awareness has not proven sufficient to enab ... more

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Guidebook on Sustainability
Deep Insights

Bill Siemering, Jean Fairbairn

Washington, DC: Developing Radio Partners (2007), 90 pp.

"The authors present six local and independent radio stations from Africa - community radio stations, and commercial and NGO run radio stations with strong community participation - showcasing good practices for sustainability, defined as "ability of a radio station to maintain a good quality develo ... more