"Online harassment is increasingly applied as a form of information control to curb free speech and exert power in online public spheres. In recent years, states have appeared to be particularly invested in weaponizing information against dissidents in an attempt at dominating social and political d
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iscourses. Reports by prominent human rights institutions, as well as anecdotal evidence, indicate that Iran remains among the states with a track record of such actions. The scope of targeted cyber abuse varies by case. This study investigates the size and perpetrators of online violence, harassment, and abuse against critical members of the Iranian diaspora, including journalists, civil society activists, and artists, among many others. This study substantiates findings of qualitative interviews with a quantitative study of Instagram accounts of related individuals and explores the patterns and communities involved in disseminating hate speech in an attempt at manipulating public opinion and suppressing voices of dissidents." (Abstract)
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"The Gender Sensitive Public Communications Project was implemented by Search for Common Ground in Lebanon, together with its local partner Abaad, with an aim to promote women’s participation in politics through the production of gender sensitive television drama and short films. Specifically, the
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project was designed to increase the belief of television audiences in women’s political leadership capacity and to strengthen the capacity of television professionals to produce gender sensitive programs [...] A total of 416.033 viewers have watched two mini series that were aired on the Lebanese TV channel Al Jadeed. With an average minute rating of 5.35%, the performance of the project’s mini series is considered medium as compared to other popular TV series broadcasted on Al Jadeed. Close to 97% of the surveyed participants who have watched the two mini series and/or the four short films, stated that they felt the stories addressed real concerns and issues in the Lebanese society, and that the storylines were realistic. The evaluation findings suggest that the workshops conducted with the students were successful in strengthening the participants’ capacities to produce gender sensitive programs with an aim to promote the participation of women in politics. The workshops were able to increase their knowledge on specific topics, such as gender related legal matters, mapping of ideas and gender sensitive writing. More than half of the students who participated in the workshop, and who were interviewed during the evaluation, confirmed having gained knowledge on gender related topics, and all students who took part in the online survey answered that the workshop had increased their knowledge on producing gender sensitive programs “a lot." (Executive summary, page 5-6)
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"The Arab world was taken by surprise when mass protests erupted in Tunisia in December 2010, followed by mass protests in Egypt in January 2011. Much optimism was expressed towards a new era for journalism freedom in the Arab world, in Egypt specifically with the fall of Hosni Mubarak and the long
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reign of his authoritarian regime. The influx of private media, mainly TV channels, following his demise was remarkable. Seven years on from the Egyptian revolt, the state of journalism in Egypt has transferred from a state of hope to one of despair." (Abstract)
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"This article examines the work of women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on West Bank radio as they represent women, a marginalized community, within a patriarchal, traditional and religious society. It also examines the commercial and societal difficulties faced by radio stations in their
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interactions with NGOs. Using a quantitative and qualitative approach, this article analyses data from six commercial, rather than state-owned or community, radio stations in four West Bank cities and discusses the frustrations of both parties as they work together. Contributing to the limited literature on the role of radio in the West Bank, the article also draws on interviews with representatives from the chosen stations and the NGOs that broadcast material on radio stations. The findings suggest that, for the NGOs and in contrast to other media, radio plays an important, albeit currently limited, role as amplifiers for their campaigns. Yet the radio stations do not contribute substantively, if at all, to encouraging NGO community-building activities and, in fact, restrict themselves to a commercial-based association." (Abstract)
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"The media's coverage of religion is an important question, given the central role which news media play in ensuring that people are up-to-date with religion news developments. The book examines it in different countries. After an introductory section looking at trends in religion news in print, on-
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line journalism, and as a subject of foreign news, the book surveys religion reporting in five key countries: USA, Russia, India, China, & Nigeria. The book then looks at media events through the cases of the election of Pope Francis, and the death of rabbis. The book addresses the question of the influence of religion reporting in politics; the impact of religion reporting upon religious identity; and the role of social media - through looking at case studies in France, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Israel." (Publisher description)
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"Amid civil war, failing states, and terrorism, Arab liberals are growing in numbers and influence. Advocating a culture of equity, tolerance, good governance, and the rule of law, they work through some of the region's largest media outlets to spread their ideals within the culture. Broadcasting Ch
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ange analyzes this trend by portraying the intersection of media and politics in two Arab countries with seismic impact on the region and beyond. Through TV talk shows, drama, and comedy, local liberals play off the government's anti-Islamist agenda to more thoughtfully advocate religious reform." (Back cover)
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"The results of the questionnaire showed that most Palestinian organizations do think about and deal with media work in general. Since ninety-three percent of the organizations surveyed were already dealing with media, while 58% employed at least one person in a specialist position. Only 32% had a s
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pecialized department dedicated to media work. In terms of a specific strategic approach to media, 61% of the organizations who took part in the questionnaire had a strategic plan for dealing with media; 51% had an annual work plan. However, only 42% stated that they allocated an annual budget for media. In other words, they used funds which are not deducted from project grants. Turning to social media usage, we found that 70% of the organizations tried to finance content through their networks at least once, whereas fifty-four percent of the organizations launched digital awareness campaigns on social media platforms; forty-nine percent of these digital campaigns were part of a media plan. Looking at the prevalence of social media platforms and how they are most widely used, we found that all organizations, even the ones with no website, usually had a Facebook account. In fact, 100% of the organizations surveyed had a Facebook account, hence this was not subject to testing in relation to the other influencing factors. YouTube followed with 75% of the organizations having an account. Fifty-one percent of the organizations had a Twitter account, while 27% had an Instagram account and 18% had a LinkedIn account. Two of the organizations used Soundcloud and two others used Flickr. Vimeo and Google+ were only used by a single organization for each one." (Results and conclsions, page 56-7)
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"In times of increasing mediatization and digitalization media play an important role in political and societal transformation processes. The authors of this volume take an actor-centered perspective to shed light on current cases in Arab and Asian countries. They inquire into the ways processes of
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networking and mobilization evolve in the context of restricted media systems and state-dominated public spheres." (Publisher description)
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"The study examines the case of a Shia online news agency, Shafaqna, to argue that Internet news production by different Muslim organizations has not been limited to propagation nor circulation of religiously sanctioned news but has also been utilized as a way of building interactive identity with r
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eligion as a public practice of digital significance. The case of Shafaqna demonstrates an increasingly participatory culture within religious institutions. This inlusion, however, is not so much about radically changing the oragnization of the hazwa, with its long transnational history of seminary education and public services. Rather, it is about integrating network strategies with the employment of new technologies so as to consolidate transnational associational ties within a long tradition of religious networks revolving aorund clerical authority. Such new strategies demand a new perspective and practicing authority that is both participatory and hierarchical." (Summary)
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"Dans ces quatre pays africains (Bénin, Kenya, Sénégal, Tunisie) où l’étude a été réalisée, il apparaît qu’à l’origine des civic tech se trouvent le plus souvent des citoyens et des citoyennes engagés, désireux de traduire leur frustration, et parfois leur colère, devant le déca
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lage observé entre l’affirmation officielle de principes démocratiques et une réalité de terrain assez éloignée des discours. Pour la grande majorité d’entre eux, les initiateurs de ces actions ont suivi des parcours universitaires exigeants et connu des expériences à l’étranger. Les hommes sont très largement majoritaires, à l’exception du Kenya où les femmes sont presque aussi nombreuses que les hommes. Elles considèrent toutefois qu’elles ne se trouvent pas sur un pied d’égalité, notamment lorsqu’il s’agit pour elles de prendre la parole publiquement ou de se lancer dans l’entrepreneuriat. Les difficultés d’une mobilisation à grande échelle Les jeunes adultes (20-25 ans) qui s’investissent dans les civic tech s’engagent généralement pour exprimer une forme d’irritation face aux dérives liées à la corruption ou au manque de prise en compte de l’avis des citoyens dans les décisions politiques. De l’avis général des « doyens » (activistes des civic tech ayant plus de 6 ou 7 ans d’expérience) que nous avons interrogés, la jeune génération est très prometteuse, car mieux formée sur les nouvelles technologies et très mobilisée sur les objectifs de bonne gouvernance et de participation citoyenne. En termes d’audience et de développement, l’étude montre que, dans les quatre pays concernés, les acteurs des civic tech rencontrent le plus souvent des difficultés à mobiliser de larges communautés de citoyens. Ils peinent à faire entendre leur message dans des pays où l’illettrisme au sens littéral et au sens numérique sont importants. Il en résulte des actions qui mobilisent essentiellement un petit nombre de citoyens, à la fois très engagés et très motivés. En général, le système d’organisation des initiatives civic tech varie selon les projets : le degré de structuration est plus ou moins formel et dépend surtout de l’ancienneté des initiatives, de l’ampleur des financements collectés et, in fine, du nombre de participants actifs impliqués à temps plein. Lorsqu’une forme de professionnalisation de l’action est évoquée, beaucoup de nos interlocuteurs mentionnent la difficulté à recruter et à fidéliser des profils combinant sensibilité aux questions de redevabilité et de transparence, savoir-faire en matière de gestion de projet, capacités technologiques et maîtrise des techniques de communication, notamment sur les réseaux sociaux." (Résumé analytique)
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"This Is Not an Atlas gathers more than 40 counter-cartographies from all over the world. This collection shows how maps are created and transformed as a part of political struggle, for critical research or in art and education: from indigenous territories in the Amazon to the anti-eviction movement
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in San Francisco; from defending commons in Mexico to mapping refugee camps with balloons in Lebanon; from slums in Nairobi to squats in Berlin; from supporting communities in the Philippines to reporting sexual harassment in Cairo. This Is Not an Atlas seeks to inspire, to document the underrepresented, and to be a useful companion when becoming a counter-cartographer yourself." (Publisher description)
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"This book explores the complex and contradictory relationships between communication and information technologies and social movements by drawing on different case studies from around the world. The contributions analyse how new communication and information technologies impact the way protests are
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carried out and controlled in the current information age. The authors focus on recent events that date from the Arab Spring onwards and pose questions regarding the future of protests, surveillance and digital landscapes." (Publisher description)
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"Ereignisse wie die ägyptische Revolution von/seit 2011 lassen sich als komplexe Medienereignisse beschreiben, in denen Medien weniger eine Dokumentationsfunktion übernehmen, sondern das Ereignis selbst zu einem wesentlichen Teil konstituieren und seinen Verlauf prägen, und die sich damit sowohl
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im sogenannten Realraum als auch zu großen Teilen im virtuellen Raum des Internets ereignen. Die vorliegende Arbeit schaut zurück auf dieses Ereignis, und versucht—in Theorie und Praxis—die ihm zugrundeliegende Medialität aus medienwissenschaftlicher Perspektive zu erforschen und seine Konsequenzen für eben diese Rückschau, also für eine zeitgemäße Geschichts- und Archivpraxis zu ergründen. In diesem Sinne verfolgt SEEING HISTORY – The Augmented Archive die sich verändernden Medialitäten des Archivs in Zeiten des Übergangs vom Speichermedium hin zum Modus des Übertragens. Hier liegt die wahre Herausforderung für eine zeitgemäße Geschichtsschreibung: "Von den Speichermedien aus kommen die Übertragungsmedien selten in den Blick denn sie hinterlassen kaum Spuren. Weil es von ihnen kein klassisches Archiv, sondern nur Momente der Zwischenspeicherung gibt, fokussiert sie kaum eine Historiographie." (Einleitung, Seite 13)
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"Digital Middle East sheds a critical light on continuing changes that are closely intertwined with the adoption of information and communication technologies in the MENA region. Drawing on case studies from throughout the Middle East, the contributors explore how these digital transformations are p
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laying out in the social, cultural, political, and economic spheres, exposing the various disjunctions and discordances that have marked the advent of the digital Middle East." (Publisher description)
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"Pretty Liar" explores the rise of language and gender politics on Lebanese television to tell the untold story of the co-evolution of Lebanese television and its audiences and how the civil war of 1975-1991 affected that co-evolution. The shift in public interest in television has been widely ackno
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wledged and interpreted within an institutional context as a victory of the neo-liberal entrepreneurship of a new, agile brand over the government inefficiency of Lebanon's national station, Télé Liban. Yet, the role of the Lebanese Civil War in reshaping national television and broadcasting in Arab media following the emergence of the Lebanese Broadcasting Company in 1985 has been unexplored. Based on empirical data and grounded in theory by Arab and global researchers, "Pretty Liar" offers textual analyses of five Lebanese fictional series, three major and several additional periodicals, and nine literary works, and provides context from unscripted interviews with television administrators, anchors, actors, and freelance contributors, print journalists, and audience members. Khazaal seeks to offer new insight into how entertainment television became a site for politics and political resistance, feminism, and the cradle for post-war Lebanon due to the shift in practices and standards of legitimacy." (Publisher description)
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"L’objet de ce livre est de décrire le système médiatique français et sa manière de traiter les conflits libyen et syrien à l’aune du « modèle de propagande » mis sur pied par Edward Hermann et Noam Chomsky dans les années 1980, dans leur ouvrage de référence Manufacturing Consent. A
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insi, à rebours de l’image d’Epinal de médias consciencieux, impartiaux et garants de la vérité que les journalistes aiment renvoyer, cet essai tente de démontrer comment un large consensus structure la présentation qui est faite de l’actualité en matière internationale. De la prédominance des partis pris et de l’instrumentalisation généralisée des informations — entre autres — se dégage une nouvelle manière de voir le discours médiatique et de comprendre sa nature propagandiste." (Dos de couverture)
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"Les médias reflètent-ils les sociétés telles qu’elles sont aujourd’hui ou bien ne reflètent-ils que les tendances majoritaires ? Comment mettre en lumière les différences et les particularismes sans encourager le communautarisme et contribuer aux divisions ? Le rôle des médias est-il d
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e rapporter les faits ou de contribuer activement à une certaine vision de la société ? Les critères professionnels du journalisme sont-ils suffisants pour éviter les discours de haine et les messages exacerbant les tensions communautaires ? Lancé par CFI et le centre SKeyes pour la liberté de la presse et de la culture (de la Fondation Samir Kassir), le projet Naseej – qui signifie « tissage » en arabe – s’appuie sur les médias pour restaurer et maintenir un débat équilibré autour de ces questions. En examinant ce que les médias libanais, syriens et irakiens publient et diffusent, le langage utilisé, les concepts promus, les groupes qui y sont représentés et ceux qui ne le sont pas, Naseej tente de promouvoir une vision inclusive du journalisme. L’objet n’est pas de demander aux journalistes de restaurer la paix ou d’éviter les conflits, mais de contribuer à l’émergence de conditions plus propices au dialogue à travers une meilleure qualité d’information vérifiée et professionnelle, évitant les généralisations et les stéréotypes. Il n’est pas de demander aux médias d’accorder un traitement privilégié aux minorités face à la majorité, mais de mettre en lumière les difficultés auxquelles font face les citoyens, tous les citoyens, quelles que soient leurs appartenances. Ce livret présente la synthèse d’une étude, réalisée en octobre 2017, sur la couverture médiatique de la diversité dans les médias irakiens, libanais et syriens, réalisée par la Fondation Adyan et la Fondation Samir Kassir." (Introduction)
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