"The role of religious leaders in countries with very large Muslim populations such as Indonesia continues to attract world attention. However, mainstream media often focus on fundamentalist Muslim clerics. What seems to be missing from these narratives is efforts by moderate Muslim leaders to thwar
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t fundamentalism by improving their communication style and their use of media and technology in order to reach young people as well as the wider community. This article explores the communication approaches and methods favored by Indonesian Islamic leaders—including use of both conventional and cutting-edge technology—to communicate with their followers. Interviews with 10 Muslim leaders were conducted in order to better understand their rich experiences. Findings suggest that Islamic preachers have embraced new technology and new media to communicate with their followers and attract a younger audience." (Abstract)
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"This article essentially shows how the development of commercial television in Indonesia has conflicted with the country’s media democratization, as illustrated by the growth of local media in the past 15 years. Compared to print media and radio, which are decentralized, Indonesia’s television
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industry is dominated by five large media corporations that are all based in the capital city of Jakarta. As a consequence, this fails to leave much growing space to television stations at a local level, which would be needed to strengthen Indonesia’s democratization. Media owners have successfully influenced the government in establishing a set of policies that sustain their dominance of the industry. Players within the television industry have even successfully swayed the direction of the broadcasting decentralization mandated by the Broadcasting Bill during Indonesia’s early political Reform period. The influence of these ‘Jakarta television stations’ stunted the development of television stations outside of Jakarta. Not only it deprives local actors of the economic value of developing their own television industry would bring, it also has resulted in the the loss of television's potential in functioning as a public sphere facilitating social control over democratic processes. Although the Reform era promised a new age of media democratization, the centralization of commercial television actually worsened media monopolies that were thought to have been done away with in post-Suharto Indonesia." (Abstract)
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"Nachdem sich die Osttimoresen 1999 mit großer Mehrheit für die Loslösung von Indonesien in einem von den Vereinten Nationen durchgeführten Referendum entschieden hatten, eskalierte die Gewalt. Einher gingen die Menschenrechtsverletzungen mit einer massiven Einschränkung der Meinungs- und Press
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efreiheit. Journalisten wurden von der indonesischen Polizei am 5. und 6. September 1999 sogar gewaltsam zum Verlassen der Insel gezwungen." (Abstract)
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"Mit Platz 139 beim Press Freedom Index von Reporter ohne Grenzen rangiert Indonesien in Sachen Pressefreiheit im weit unteren Bereich des internationalen Spektrums. Innerhalb Indonesiens ist Papua die Region, aus der am häufigsten über Einschüchterungen und Angriffe gegen Journalisten berichtet
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wird. Weder ausländische Journalisten noch UN-Beobachter dürfen frei in die Konfliktregion einreisen. Der Ruf indigener Papua nach Unabhängigkeit von Indonesien, massive Militärpräsenz in der Öffentlichkeit und fast unkontrollierter Ressourcenabbau machen Papua zu einem Konfliktherd verschiedener Interessen, in dem es regelmäßig zu ernsten Menschenrechtsverletzungen kommt." (Abstract)
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"Indonesische Radiomacher stehen momentan vor zwei großen Herausforderungen: Sie kämpfen zum einen mit dem Bedeutungsverlust des Hörfunks und sehen sich zum anderen mit pressefreiheitlichen Einschränkungen konfrontiert." (Abstract)
"Indonesien richtet sein Augenmerk auf die kommende Präsidentschaftswahl 2014. Ein Faktor, der in diesem Prozess und dessen Ausgang eine große Rolle spielen könnte, ist die Medienlandschaft. Um die Bedeutung der Medien für die Förderung von Demokratie und die Vermittlung von Grundsätzen der Me
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inungsfreiheit verstehen zu können, muss man die Auswirkungen der Reformasi auf die Wahrung der Medienrechte der BürgerInnen verstehen." (Abstract)
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"Dinh Nhat Uy forderte auf Facebook die Freilassung seines inhaftierten Bruders, jetzt wurde er selbst verurteilt. Uys jüngerer Bruder Dich Nguyen Kha hatte im Frühjahr Flugblätter verteilt, in denen die Partei und die Politik der Regierung kritisiert wurden, und erhielt dafür vier Jahre Gefäng
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nis. Das Verteilen von solchen Schriften wird seit Jahren als »Propaganda gegen den Staat« eingestuft und nach Artikel 88 Strafgesetzbuch mit bis zu 20 Jahren Haft bestraft. Nun ist auch Dinh Nhat Uy für seine Beiträge auf Facebook bestraft worden – mit 15 Monaten Haft auf Bewährung. Uys Fall erregte Aufmerksamkeit in der Online-Community, denn es ist das erste Mal, dass einem vietnamesischen Aktivisten wegen seiner Kommentare in einem sozialen Netzwerk der Prozess gemacht wurde." (Abstract)
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"Rezente Berichte über den Zustand von Religionsfreiheit und Pluralismus in Indonesien zeichnen häufig ein wenig schönes Bild. Gleichzeitig findet sich vielfach aber auch die Ansicht, Indonesien als ein Land zu sehen, das erfolgreich einen Demokratisierungsprozess in Gang setzen konnte und daher
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als Modell für einen demokratischen und moderaten Islam dienen kann – trotz all der damit verbundenen religiösen und gesellschaftlichen Probleme in Indonesien." (Abstract)
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"Transversal dissent by communities whose actions and identities are no longer primarily state centric but, rather, have shifted to cross identity boundaries is one of the most important developments for understanding how politics is being transformed today. Burmese media groups, political activists
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, migrants, and refugees, while challenging the state of Myanmar and, at times, the sovereign state power of host states, have not yet been openly challenging the state system itself. In fact, they generally desire to rebuild a community within such a sovereign state system. Yet, the work of activists in exile offers insights into "the intrinsically co-Constitutive relation between the 'informal' and the 'formal' political spaces and how they transform each other" (O'Kane 2006)." (Concluding thoughts, page 158-159)
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"The Puppetry for All Times Seminar held in September of 2013 in Ubud, Bali, was one of the most enchanting of events of its kind held anywhere in recent years. Its success revolved around the fantastic locale, the overwhelming response from performers as well as the paper presenters, and the genero
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us support of Rumah Topeng-the House of Masks and Puppets Setiadarma. In Puppetry for All Times, editor Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof offers a unique collection of papers presented at this weeklong seminar by academicians as well as performers of various traditions of Asian puppetry. The papers cover a wide range of interests and perspectives in puppetry and theater including history and tradition; heritage, preservation, and conversation; tradition and modernity; and digital puppetry and media." (Publisher description)
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"The Cambodian Communications Assistance Project (CCAP) is a sub-national governance project, working with four provincial departments of information (PDI) – Battambang, Kampong Cham, Kampot and Siem Reap. It started in May 2012 and is due to be completed in December 2014. The project, with a budg
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et of $3,554,662 is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and is implemented by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s International Development department (ABC ID) in partnership with the Cambodian Ministry of Information as well as the four provincial departments. The Department of Media and Communications (DMC) at the Royal University of Phnom Penh has also been a partner in the project [...] Overall, CCAP has been very successful in meeting the three objectives and outcomes set for the project and contributing to Australian Aid’s overall objectives. There have been a number of challenges it has had to overcome including the coinciding of the project with a turbulent time in Cambodia’s political environment as well as capacity limitations of counterparts and varying degrees of hesitancy and suspicion on the part of some senior provincial officials." (Executive summary, page 3-5)
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"Using case studies from countries such as Burma, Mexico and Uganda, the study explores whether the use of technology in citizen participation programs amplifies citizen voices and increases government responsiveness and accountability, and whether the use of digital technology increases the politic
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al clout of citizens. The research shows that while more people are using technology—such as social media for mobile organizing, and interactive websites and text messaging systems that enable direct communication between constituents and elected officials or crowdsourcing election day experiences— the type and quality of their political participation, and therefore its impact on democratization, varies. It also suggests that, in order to leverage technology’s potential, there is a need to focus on non-technological areas such as political organizing, leadership skills and political analysis." (NDI website)
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"This study uses the influence of presumed media influence model as the theoretical framework to examine how perceived social norms (i.e., descriptive, subjective, and injunctive norms) will mediate the influence of pro- and antidrinking media messages on adolescents' intention to consume alcohol in
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rural Thailand. Data collected from 1,028 high school students indicate that different mechanisms underlie drinking intentions between nondrinkers and those who have consumed alcohol or currently drink. Among nondrinkers, perceived peer attention to prodrinking messages indirectly influenced adolescents' prodrinking attitudes and intentions to consume alcohol through all three types of perceived social norms. Among drinkers, perceived peer attention to pro- and antidrinking messages indirectly influenced adolescents' prodrinking attitudes and intentions to drink alcohol through perceived subjective norm. The findings provide support for the extended influence of presumed media influence model and have practical implications for how antidrinking campaigns targeted at teenagers in Thailand might be designed." (Abstract)
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"Cambodia is a country on the cusp of rapid media change. TV and radio remain the top media and main sources of news. Apolitical newcomer Hang Meas is top source with tabloid news, entertainment. But new media is gaining, fueled by widespread mobile use: almost all households have a mobile phone; yo
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ung, educated and urban drive new media use. Internet numbers remain in low double digits, but growth is exponential: outside infrastructure investment increasing broadband mobile rapidly; those who use the Internet use it for broadband activities¡Xvideo, audio¡Xeven in the countryside. Facebook dominates social media and is the top online news source." (Key takeaways, slide 37)
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"This thesis explores how the impacts of Australian media assistance on social change and governance can be most effectively evaluated and understood. It is based on a three-stage research design, using predominantly qualitative research methods. In doing so it contributes in-depth insights into the
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politics, theories, and practices of media assistance evaluation, with illustrations of how this knowledge can be directly applied to improve practice in this area. The findings of this research suggest the importance of early investment in participatory planning of evaluation designs, which are then periodically revisited. These evaluation designs should be based on a theoretically sound link between models of change, evaluative questions and methods." (Abstract)
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