"Anthropological research methods are characteristic of much of the investigation of remote Indigenous media production in Australia and have enabled the voices of some Indigenous audiences to be heard. However, these approaches generally have been concerned with the social organisation of productio
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n in remote communities with audiences seldom, if ever, the focus. This absence was one of the driving forces behind a qualitative study of audiences for Indigenous broadcasting in Australia on which this discussion is based. The article underlines the central place of audiences in media research and the importance of considering methodology as an integral part of the research process. It outlines the range of strategies and techniques used to gather data for the first comprehensive Australian study of audiences for Indigenous radio and television which confirmed the critical cultural role being played by these media in the face of continuing mainstream media stereotyping." (Abstract)
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"This report is an outcome evaluation of the UNDP MCO Samoa’s ICT for Development (ICT4D) project operating in the Cook Islands, Niue and Samoa from 2005-8. The consultant Robert Boase of Canada evaluated the project from November 18 to December 20, 2008 with one week missions to each country and
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writing up the report back in Samoa. General findings in this project are summarized below: ICT is still relatively new in the islands and it faces formidable challenges - ICT4D is both a great challenge and an opportunity; The vulnerability of the Internet hardware in these small island states due to cyclones, power surges and power outages that can damage network hardware such as a server; The limitation of human resources both for developing and servicing the ICT systems on the supply side and for using this technology by public servants and the general public on the other hand; The cost of developing, operating and maintaining these systems on limited government budgets; The sluggishness of the Internet both in connectivity and in data transfer that frustrates more sophisticated users and consumes inordinate amounts of time; The technology has jumped out ahead of many neophytes’ ability to use it. What is needed now is a focus on building computer literacy; It is premature to talk of these projects’ contribution toward the UNDP global objective of poverty reduction. The internet is still the domain of the educated and privileged in these societies; The intended outcomes for these projects are basically irrelevant to the actual situation on the ground; The delays in UNDP quarterly advances has impeded project implementation in all three projects; Project Managers’ accountability in the three projects was lacking. Without accountability projects tend to drift off target and fall behind schedule and this is what happened with all three projects." (Executive summary)
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"Through case studies of blogs written in English, Chinese, Arab, French, Russian, and Hebrew, this book explores the way blogging is being conceptualized in different cultural contexts. The authors move beyond the most highly trafficked sites to shed light on larger developments taking place online
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, calling into question assumptions that form the foundation of much of what we read on blogging and, by extension, on global amateur or do-it-yourself media. This book suggests a more nuanced approach to understanding how blogospheres serve communication needs, how they exist in relation to one another, where they exist apart as well as where they overlap, and how they interact with other forms of communication in the larger media landscape." (Publisher description)
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"A wide range of audiences now accesses Indigenous community radio and television across Australia. This article draws from the first-ever audience study of the sector, ‘Community Media Matters’, completed in 2007. It reveals that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander media offer an essential se
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rvice to communities and play a central organising role in community life. Although previous studies into the Australian Indigenous media sector have suggested this, it is the first time that audiences from the cities to the most remote parts of the continent have had a chance to confirm the importance of locally produced media in their lives. This has revealed new insights into the nature of the relationship between audiences and the producers of Indigenous community radio and television." (Abstract)
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"In Ihren Händen halten Sie die zweite Auflage unserer Publikation „Auslandsmärkte als Chance“. Als wir vor gut zwei Jahren die erste Ausgabe veröffentlichten, florierte die Weltwirtschaft und mit ihr die IT- und Telekommunikationsmärkte. Wer hätte damals gedacht, dass wir im Jahr 2009 die
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schlimmste Wirtschaftskrise der jüngeren Geschichte erleben würden? Inzwischen zeigen glücklicherweise fast alle Wirtschaftsindikatoren wieder nach oben. Gleichwohl werden viele Länder – Deutschland eingeschlossen – einige Jahre brauchen, bis sie das Vorkrisenniveau erreichen. Die Informations- und Kommunikationswirtschaft ist mit vergleichsweise geringen Einbußen durch die Krise gekommen. Es gab zwar herbe Umsatzeinbrüche in einigen Marktsegmenten, daneben aber auch einzelne Bereiche mit anhaltendem Wachstum. Jetzt geht es darum, die sich im Zuge der wirtschaftlichen Erholung bietenden Chancen mit Mut und Kreativität zu nutzen. Ganz wesentlich ist dabei, nicht nur in rein nationalen Kategorien zu denken. Hochtechnologien „made in Germany“ können von dem erwarteten Aufschwung der Weltwirtschaft überproportional profitieren. Das gilt auch und gerade für Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien. Dem interessierten Leser ein Leitfaden, dem Unternehmer eine wertvolle Orientierungshilfe – das ist der Anspruch dieser Broschüre. Transparenz, Kontakte und verläßliche Information sind die Zutaten für ein erfolgreiches Auslandsgeschäft. Diese Publikation möchte dazu einen Beitrag leisten." (Vorwort)
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"This ethnographic study of a participatory video workshop conducted with rural women in Fiji observed how communities engage with processes of production for empowerment, and the implications for dialogue, community building, and representation within Fiji’s fragmented multicultural society. The
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study found that rural women in Fiji integrate local norms and practices in the production of programme content, and use social capital – their relationships and social networks – as a key element in video production to highlight community needs and linkages. The content produced by the women gave significance to women’s work, their abilities, their skills, and their potential as income producers, as well as their empowering networks." (Abstract)
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"Based on the above preliminary research on the current status of the digital divide, latest and emerging technologies, and ICT for development initiatives in Asia and the Pacific, this report concludes that the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS still face numerous difficulties in terms of implementation of ICT
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initiatives, introducing ICT access and assessing the ICT access need of people in the region. This report then recommends holistic and comprehensive ICT implementation approaches among the developing countries of Asia and the Pacific, namely 1) reinforcing regional cooperation initiatives, 2) adopting appropriate technologies and maximizing the benefits of existing infrastructure and initiatives, and 3) raising public awareness." (Conclusion, page 26)
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"The biennial Digital Review of Asia Pacific is a comprehensive guide to the state-of-practice and trends in information and communication technologies for development (ICTD) in Asia Pacific. This fourth edition (2009-2010) features 30 economies and four subregional groupings. The chapters provide u
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pdated information on ICT infrastructure, industries, content and services, key initiatives, enabling policies, regulation, education and capacity building, open source and R&D initiatives, as well as key ICTD challenges in each of the economies covered." (Publisher description)
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"Oral history is inherently about memory, and when oral history interviews are used "in public," they invariably both reflect and shape public memories of the past. Oral History and Public Memories is the only book that explores this relationship, in fourteen case studies of oral history's use in a
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variety of venues and media around the world. Readers will learn, for example, of oral history based efforts to reclaim community memory in post-apartheid Cape Town, South Africa; of the role of personal testimony in changing public understanding of Japanese American history in the American West; of oral history's value in mapping heritage sites important to Australia's Aboriginal population; and of the way an oral history project with homeless people in Cleveland, Ohio became a tool for popular education. Taken together, these original essays link the well established practice of oral history to the burgeoning field of memory studies." (Publisher description)
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