"This paper has demonstrated that the benefits for the general Afghan and Iraqi public derived from the ‘promotion of independent media’ by institutions like the NED are questionable, especially for parties interested in encouraging more deliberative or participatory forms of democracy. Instead,
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the promotion of ‘independent’ media in Afghanistan and Iraq seems to be playing a key role in the promotion of low-intensity democracy or polyarchy. Additionally, it also appears that countries of greater geostrategic value need more ‘democratization’, for example, both countries have roughly the same population but ‘oil rich Iraq received 20 times more American media development assistance per year than war-ravaged Afghanistan, one of the poorest nations on earth’ (Rohde, 2005: 29). With such large amounts of money being wielded by ‘democracy promoters’, their short term influences may impact heavily on both countries, yet perhaps the most significant effects of these media interventions will be felt in the long term. Previous case studies have shown that groups or individuals supported by ‘democracy promoters’ are expected to move on to fill leading roles within their societies." (Conclusion, page 124)
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"The examination of the ethical and moral issues surrounding the reporting of war crimes signals one of the outstanding problems facing journalism in the contemporary era. As the nature of war has changed, so has the nature of the journalism mandated to cover it, and the selection of war crimes tria
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ls, tribunals and truth commissions are key places in which to analyse these changes. Journalists and news organizations are divided over the merits of testifying at international war crimes tribunals. To some degree, the debate about appearing before war crimes courts has split along European and US lines. A number of European journalists and documentary film makers willingly testified before the war crimes tribunal in The Hague whilst US journalists tend to see the subpoena power of the tribunals as a threat to First Amendment freedoms. Based on interviews conducted with journalists, editors, lawyers and humanitarian aid workers, this article explores questions of journalistic objectivity and impartiality; the verification of journalists' stories; the safety repercussions for journalists participating in international trials; and the implications for the erosion of confidentiality of journalists' sources." (Abstract)
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"A reporter for the Los Angeles Times once noted that “I Love Lucy is said to be on the air somewhere in the world 24 hours a day.” That Lucy’s madcap antics can be watched anywhere at any time is thanks to television syndication, a booming global marketplace that imports and exports TV shows.
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Programs from different countries are packaged, bought, and sold all over the world, under the watch of an industry that is extraordinarily lucrative for major studios and production companies. In Global TV, Denise D. Bielb and C. Lee Harrington seek to understand the machinery of this marketplace, its origins and history, its inner workings, and its product management. In so doing, they are led to explore the cultural significance of this global trade, and to ask how it is so remarkably successful despite the inherent cultural differences between shows and local audiences. How do culture-specific genres like American soap operas and Latin telenovelas so easily cross borders and adapt to new cultural surroundings? Why is The Nanny, whose gum-chewing star is from Queens, New York, a smash in Italy? Importantly, Bielby and Harrington also ask which kinds of shows fail. What is lost in translation? Considering such factors as censorship and other such state-specific policies, what are the inevitable constraints of crossing over? Highly experienced in the field, Bielby and Harrington provide a unique and richly textured look at global television through a cultural lens, one that has an undeniable and complex effect on what shows succeed and which do not on an international scale." (Publisher description)
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"Whether discussing Maori cinema in New Zealand or activist community radio in Colombia, the contributors describe how native peoples use both traditional and new media to combat discrimination, advocate for resources and rights, and preserve their cultures, languages, and aesthetic traditions. By r
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epresenting themselves in a variety of media, Indigenous peoples are also challenging misleading mainstream and official state narratives, forging international solidarity movements, and bringing human rights violations to international attention. Global Indigenous Media addresses Indigenous self-representation across many media forms, including feature film, documentary, animation, video art, television and radio, the Internet, digital archiving, and journalism. The volume's sixteen essays reflect the dynamism of Indigenous media-making around the world. One contributor examines animated films for children produced by Indigenous-owned companies in the United States and Canada. Another explains how Indigenous media producers in Burma (Myanmar) work with NGOs and outsiders against the country's brutal regime. Still another considers how the Ticuna Indians of Brazil are positioning themselves in relation to the international community as they collaborate in creating a CD-ROM about Ticuna knowledge and rituals. In the volume's closing essay, Faye Ginsburg points out some of the problematic assumptions about globalization, media, and culture underlying the term "digital age" and claims that the age has arrived. Together the essays reveal the crucial role of Indigenous media in contemporary media at every level: local, regional, national, and international." (Back cover)
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"Media democracy is a concept as well as an advocacy movement aiming at making the mainstream media more plural, and reflective of a broad set of ideas and opinions than churning out and propagating just routine socio-politico-economic news stories and articles in the name of news, information and e
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ntertainment." (Page 2)
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"By examining recent developments in the world system of television as well as several theories of culture, industry, genre, and audience, author Joseph D. Straubhaar offers new insights into the topic. He argues that television is being simultaneously globalized, regionalized, nationalized, and eve
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n localized, with audiences engaging it at multiple levels of identity and interest; therefore the book looks at all these levels of operation." (Publisher description)
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"Die deutsche Soziologin Kristina Isabel Schwarte zeichnet nach, wie US-Regierung und -Militär die Rahmenbedingungen für die Berichterstattung über den Vietnamkrieg und Interventionen im Irak seit 1991 beeinflussten. Schwarte beleuchtet die Informationspolitik und Propaganda-Strategien der Konfli
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ktparteien sowie die Veränderungen der Wahrnehmung von Kriegen in der Öffentlichkeit aufgrund der Möglichkeit von Live-Berichterstattung vom Kriegsschauplatz und Information über das Internet. Sie arbeitet heraus, wie das Militär über die Einbettung von JournalistInnen in Kampfverbände einen Solidarisierungseffekt zu erreichen sucht und mit ausgeklügelten Reglements die Kriegsberichterstattung manipuliert." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Bestsellers: A Very Short Introduction shows that bestseller lists monitor one of the strongest pulses in modern literature and are therefore worthy of serious study. It lifts the lid on the bestseller industry, examines what makes a book into a bestseller, and asks what separates bestsellers from
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canonical fiction. Exploring the relationship between bestsellers and the fashions, ideologies, and cultural concerns of the day, this Very Short Introduction includes short case-studies and lively summaries of bestsellers through the years, including both classic and contemporary novels, alongside some surprising titles and long-forgotten names." (Publisher description)
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