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Handbook on mainstreaming gender in digital policies

Geneva: ITU (2023), viii, 67 pp.

"The Handbook is a first-of-its-kind guide that gives insights into how we can best support policy-making processes that advocate gender equality. It illustrates the concrete actions that policy-makers can take and offers an actionable checklist that supports the process of gender-equal policy-makin ... more

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Digital policy in an age of global systemic rivalry: Challenges for liberal democracies

Ann Cathrin Riedel

Potsdam: Friedrich Naumann Foundation (2023), 30 pp.

"Liberal democracies must continue to consistently stand up for internet freedom, democracy and human rights. Germany and the European Union are regarded as role models. It is imperative therefore that they refrain from presenting legislative initiatives themselves that restrict the human right to p ... more

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Not just words: How reputational attacks harm journalists and undermine press freedom
Deep Insights

Chris Tenove, Ahmed Khalid Al-Rawi, Juan Merchan, Manimugdha Sharma, Gustavo Villela

Vancouver: Global Reporting Centre; University of British Columbia School of Journalism, Writing, and Media (2023), 105 pp.

"Journalists’ reputations are under assault around the world. Among journalists we surveyed, 63% reported at least monthly attacks on their individual reputations — and 19% reported facing them daily. Rates were even higher for attacks on the reputations of their news outlets or the broader news ... more

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Freedom on the Net 2023: The Repressive Power of Artificial Intelligence

Adrian Shahbaz et al.

Washington, DC: Freedomhouse (2023), 45 pp.

"1. Global internet freedom declined for the 13th consecutive year. Digital repression intensified in Iran, home to this year’s worst decline, as authorities shut down internet service, blocked WhatsApp and Instagram, and increased surveillance in a bid to quell antigovernment protests. Myanmar ca ... more

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The state of media development: Global evidence on relevant and effective media support
Deep Insights

Ines Drefs, Rose Kimani, Dennis Reineck, Vera Freitag, Nick Benequista

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2023), 81 pp.

"OECD Principle 1: Do no harm to public interest media– The media development sector is well-equipped when it comes to risk management: more than half of the surveyed organizations have effective risk mitigation strategies and over 40 percent have well-suited risk monitoring tools.– However, ro ... om remains for improvement: a lack of awareness amongst international organizations of cer tain local risks is one specific issue. Another is the risk of donors jeopardizing the editorial independence of media outlets by pursuing an unduly political agenda. Media assistance must be cautious when it comes to navigating geopolitical interests.– Interviewees also highlighted the risk of foreign funding being used to label recipient organizations as foreign agents. Another issue is brain drain to the detriment of media outlets if higher salaries are paid elsewhere, not least in the international development sphere.– When it comes to discrimination, the results suggest that media development organizations have a strong focus on gender-sensitivity and diversity in projects and beyond. However, only 23 percent of organizations have project guidelines for disability mainstreaming. OECD Principle 2: Increase financial and other forms of support– This study underlines how worried media development organizations are about the persistently small share of overall official develop ment assistance (ODA) invested in strengthening media systems and independent media. This is considered especially concerning in light of current democratic challenges and shrinking spaces for independent reporting worldwide.– In wider development co-operation, media are still often seen as tools for strategic communication rather than as a key pillar for democratic development. Such views tend to hinder the media development sector’s integration in other development fields. There is a need for awareness-raising and greater exchange with other development actors.– 23 percent of international media development organizations’ funding is allocated to core funding of public interest media. Acknowledgement of media as a public good and the associated need for core funding is considered key for effective support. OECD Principle 3: Take a whole system perspective– This principle demands a holistic and systemic approach to supporting public interest media. This study finds that the media development sector is quite well-positioned when it comes to underlying analyses of media and information environments.– However, there is a mismatch between the assessments conducted and donor decision-making. Interviewees also criticized funding cycles of one year or less as unsustainable. The average funding cycle of the media development organizations surveyed was 22 months.– A broad range of themes are supported by media development organizations across both traditional and newer media actors. There is nevertheless a need to consider further integration of newer actors into media development support. OECD Principle 4: Strengthen local leadership and ownership– This study finds that, according to international media development organizations’ budget estimates, an average of 40 percent of their funding reaches local and regional actors directly.– 75 percent of local and regional organizations agree that they are meaningfully involved in project implementation. However, only half feel that they are sufficiently involved in priority setting, hinting at room for improvement in this regard. – International organizations in most cases still take the lead role in applications for ODA funding. In some regions, however, local and regional partners have built up sufficient expertise and experience to be lead applicants for ODA funding, and this is working well.– The phenomenon of “parachuting in” external experts into partner countries rather than making use of local expertise is much less prevalent than it used to be but still exists. The results show that organizations focus on skills brought to the table rather than on the origin of the expert. OECD Principle 5: Improve coordination of support– Over 55 percent of respondents from all types of media development organizations agree that they are meaningfully involved in sector coordination. However, representatives from international media development organizations tend to see the degree of co-ordination in a more positive light than respondents from organizations based outside the Global North.– Only 30 percent of local and regional organizations agree that there is swift coordination of support by international media development actors during times of crisis. This is linked to a seeming failure to learn from previous crises. Instead, local and regional organizations in various parts of the world are taking the lead in crisis response in their regions and actively collaborating to ramp up crisis preparedness.– On a day-to-day basis, there is less collaboration than desired among donors, which can skew the market because particular segments are over- or underfunded. Media development organizations are doing a better job of coordinating with each other, even though this is sometimes hindered by competition or by the fact that some key decisions are made at donor level.– As regards administrative requirements, 33 percent of all surveyed media development organizations think that donors or organizations they partner with offer efficient pro cesses for managing funds. There is an urgent need to harmonize reporting requirements as well as to offer more flexibility in requirements depending on context. OECD Principle 6: Invest in knowledge, research and learning– This study finds that almost 60 percent of organizations have access to sector best practices and lessons learned, and precisely 50 percent have internal mechanisms to share their own lessons learned with others.– However, there is also wide consensus in the sector that producing and sharing evidence is not a donor priority, with slightly more than 30 percent of organizations indicating that they have sufficient funding for these types of activities.– There is considerable demand for annual reports from organiza tions such as Reporters Without Borders or Freedom House, but also for more actionable research on approaches that work. A mix between face-to-face conferences, newsletters and more in-depth webinar-type dives into specific topics emerged as the optimal way of keeping the sector informed." (Key findings, pages 8-9) more

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Perspectives from the Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2023–2027: Resetting expectations, refocusing inward and recharging growth

Werner Ballhaus, Wilson Chow, Emmanuelle Rivet et al.

PwC (2023), 29 pp.

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2023 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report

Edelman (2023), 71 slides

"Four Forces That Lead To Polarization: 1. Economic Anxieties: Economic optimism is collapsing around the world, with 24 of 28 countries seeing all-time lows in the number of people who think their families will be better off in five years. 2. Institutional Imbalance: Business is now the sole instit ... more

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Responsible Journalism in Conflicted Societies: Trust and Public Service Across New and Old Divides

Jake Lynch, Charis Rice (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2023), xii, 216 pp.

"Applying an inclusive concept of ‘conflicted societies’ that goes beyond those affected by violent conflict to include traditionally ‘stable’ but increasingly polarised democracies, such as the UK and the USA, contributors engage with longstanding questions and new challenges surrounding co ... more

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Digital 2024: Global Overview Report
Deep Insights

Simon Kemp (ed.)

We Are Social; Meltwater (2023), 561 slides

"Overall digital growth has slowed over recent years, but this is to be expected as internet users reach “supermajority” status. However, while almost two thirds of the world’s total population is now online, 2.7 billion people remain “unconnected” at the start of 2024, and adoption rates ... more

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The Media Manipulation Casebook

Cambridge, MA: Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy (2023)

"The Media Manipulation Casebook is a research platform [launched in 2019] that advances knowledge of misinformation and disinformation and their threats to democracy, public health, and security. The Casebook is a resource for building the field of Critical Internet Studies by equipping researchers ... more

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Digital 2023: Global Overview Report

Simon Kemp (ed.)

We Are Social; Meltwater (2023), 465 slides

"Over the past twelve months, the world’s digital behaviours have shown some of the most profound changes we’ve seen in years, even compared with “the pandemic years”. And in fact, our top story in this year’s report doesn’t relate to digital growth, but to an overall decline in the amou ... more

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Rethinking Film Festivals in the Pandemic Era and After

Marijke de Valck, Antoine Damiens (eds.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2023), xix, 342 pp.

"This edited collection aims to document the effects of Covid-19 on film festivals and to theorize film festivals in the age of social distancing. To some extent, this crisis begs us to consider what happens when festivals can't happen; while films have found new (temporary) channels of distribution ... more

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Weaponising the Law: Attacks on Media Freedom
Deep Insights

Joel Simon, Carlos Lauría, Ona Flores

Thomson Reuters Foundation; Tow Center for Digital Journalism (2023), 50 pp.

"The purpose of this report is to provide the first step towards a global overview of the weaponization of the law as a prominent threat to media freedom. In doing so, we offer a resource that can be used to empower those seeking to navigate the shifting legal environment and support those working t ... more

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Migrants, Refugees, and Societies

Washington, DC: World Bank (2023), xviii, 315 pp.

"Migration is a development challenge. About 184 million people—2.3 percent of the world’s population—live outside of their country of nationality. Almost half of them are in low- and middle-income countries. But what lies ahead? As the world struggles to cope with global economic imbalances, ... more

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The Federal Government’s Third Report on the Global Status of Freedom of Religion or Belief. Reporting period 2020–2022
Deep Insights

Frank Schwabe et al.

Bonn; Berlin: Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); Federal Government Commissioner for Freedom of Religion or Belief (2023), 207 pp.

"Freedom of religion or belief is an essential human right. Not a superordinate right, but not a marginal right either. It is closely intertwined with other rights such as freedom of opinion or assembly, or the right to be protected against discrimination. And that is the objective of my efforts: to ... embed this right firmly at the centre of the human rights agenda. There is still a long way to go to achieve this [...] This report is about advancing the debate and it also enters new territory. It builds on the work done by my predecessor, Markus Grübel, but there are also some aspects where the report has been developed further. This is also reflected in the number of focus countries, which has been increased from 30 to 41. The German Parliament, the Bundestag, had asked for the country section to be expanded, and we were happy to comply with that request. Enlarging the range of countries covered by the report provides an opportunity to do two things at once: offer a regular report on developments in individual regions, and expand the focus in the light of new challenges. Among the focus countries that have been added this year are Armenia, Belarus, Guatemala, the Central African Republic, Lebanon, the Maldives and Syria. For some of them, the decision to add them was taken in the light of recent developments. With these aims in mind, the report will continue to be submitted at regular intervals as intended by the Bundestag, building on a solid basis of data and information. The report explores new ground above all with its thematic focus on the freedom of religion or belief of Indigenous peoples. There are about 5,000 such groups of people worldwide, with an estimated total population of more than 470 million. With this focus our report ties in with a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, developing the topic further. In the process of drafting the report, I realised that we are doing pioneering work, because there was and still is the belief that Indigenous spirituality has nothing to do with freedom of religion or belief. The report provides an opportunity to look in a different way at conflicts over land and infrastructure that involve Indigenous communities. And to develop an understanding that often such conflicts are not just about resources but in fact have to do with Indigenous peoples’ belief that all natural things have a spirit or soul. My personal learning curve on this topic is closely connected with Indigenous communities in Guatemala and my experiences with conflictual infrastructure projects. When I visited Guatemala many years ago, I had difficulty understanding why people staged fierce and violent protests against small-scale hydropower plants that were actually environmentally friendly. Today I know that the areas surrounding a small river were regarded as important spiritual places, with Indigenous communities believing that the forest had a soul, and that interfering with nature there without giving any thought to the spiritual implications was not acceptable." (Preface, page 2) more

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Informing Effectively on the Ecological Emergency

Mediation: Biannual Publication of Fondation Hirondelle, issue 10 (2023), 6 pp.

"The ecological emergency, a global phenomenon with local consequences, has become a major media issue in the countries where Fondation Hirondelle works: floods in the Central African Republic and in the Sahel this autumn, drought in the Sahelian region, pollution of urban centres full of outdated t ... more

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Google Scholar (91)

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Reflections on the International Association for Media and Communication Research: Many Voices, One Forum

Jörg Becker, Robin Mansell (eds.)

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2023), xxxvii, 558 pp.

"Established in 1957, the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) has facilitated international exchanges and research collaborations among academics, journalists, and other practitioners, addressing media and communication problems and influencing theory and practice ... more

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Google Scholar (75)

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The Right to Memory: History, Media, Law, and Ethics

Noam Tirosh, Anna Reading (eds.)

New York; Oxford: Berghahn (2023), x, 168 pp.

"The field of memory studies has typically focused on everyday memory and commemoration practices through which we construct meaning and identities. The Right to Memory looks beyond these everyday practices, focusing instead on how memory relates to human rights and socio-legal constructs in order t ... more

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Humanitarian Journalists: Covering Crises from a Boundary Zone

Martin Scott, Kate Wright, Mel Bunce

London; New York: Routledge (2023), xvi, 127 pp.

"Based on a 5-year study, involving over 150 in-depth interviews, this book examines the political, economic and social forces that sustain and influence humanitarian journalists. The authors argue that – by amplifying marginalised voices and providing critical, in-depth explanations of neglected ... more

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The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023
Deep Insights

Nadia Jeffrie et al.

London: GSMA; Ipsos (2023), 70 pp.

"1. More women in low- and middle-income countries are using mobile internet than ever before, but their rate of adoption has slowed for the second year in a row. While 61% of women across these countries now use mobile internet, only 60 million women started using mobile internet in 2022 compared t ... o 75 million in 2021. Men’s rate of adoption also slowed in 2022, highlighting that progress on digital inclusion for all has stalled across low- and middle-income countries. 2. The gender gap in mobile internet remains relatively unchanged – women in low- and middle-income countries are 19% less likely than men to use it, which translates into around 310 million fewer women than men. This year there have been no significant changes in the mobile internet gender gap in any region, including South Asia where there have been notable changes in the past few years. 3. To close the mobile internet gender gap by 2030 across low- and middle-income countries, an estimated 810 million women need to adopt it. This is equivalent to 100 million women a year, on average. However, if the gender gap remains unchanged, forecasts suggest that only 360 million more women will adopt mobile internet by 2030. 4. There are 900 million women in low- and middle-income countries who are still not using mobile internet, almost two-thirds of whom live in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Women in these regions remain the least likely to use mobile internet compared to men, with gender gaps of 41% and 36%, respectively. 5. Women were more likely than men to report they had reduced their use of mobile internet in 2022, especially those who live in rural areas and are less educated. Across all survey countries, women also tend to use their mobile phones for a narrower range of activities and use mobile internet less regularly than men. 6. The gender gap in smartphone ownership has stalled for the second year in a row, and women in low- and middle-income countries are 17% less likely than men to own a smartphone. This translates into around 250 million fewer women than men. While more men and women own a smartphone than ever before, the rate of adoption for both has slowed down slightly. 55% of women now own a smartphone compared to 67% of men. However, once women own a smartphone, their awareness and use of mobile internet is almost on par with men." (Key findings) more

Not just words: How reputational attacks harm journalists and undermine press freedom Deep Insights

The state of media development: Global evidence on relevant and effective media support Deep Insights

Digital 2024: Global Overview Report Deep Insights

Weaponising the Law: Attacks on Media Freedom Deep Insights

The Federal Government’s Third Report on the Global Status of Freedom of Religion or Belief. Reporting period 2020–2022 Deep Insights

The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023 Deep Insights

Not just words: How reputational attacks harm journalists and undermine press freedom
Deep Insights

The state of media development: Global evidence on relevant and effective media support
Deep Insights

Digital 2024: Global Overview Report
Deep Insights

Weaponising the Law: Attacks on Media Freedom
Deep Insights

The Federal Government’s Third Report on the Global Status of Freedom of Religion or Belief. Reporting period 2020–2022
Deep Insights

The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023
Deep Insights