"The current UIS Questionnaire on Media Statistics provides information for three UNESCO frameworks, namely the Media and Information Literacy Framework, the Media Development Indicators Framework and the Framework for Cultural Statistics. The questionnaire collects data for reporting global progres
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s on Action Lines C2, C3, C8 and C9 of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in UNESCO’s fields of competencies. In particular, Action Line C9 recommends appropriate policies to foster and sustain media and information development. This document provides country profiles for each of the countries that participated in the two pilot surveys conducted in 2011 and 2012." (Background, page 3)
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"This book provides an in-depth comparative analysis of inequality and the stratification of the digital sphere. Grounded in classical sociological theories of inequality, as well as empirical evidence, this book defines “the digital divide” as the unequal access and utility of internet communic
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ations technologies and explores how it has the potential to replicate existing social inequalities, as well as create new forms of stratification. The Digital Divide examines how various demographic and socio-economic factors including income, education, age and gender, as well as infrastructure, products and services affect how the internet is used and accessed. Comprised of six parts, the first section examines theories of the digital divide, and then looks in turn at: highly developed nations and regions (including the USA, the EU and Japan); emerging large powers (Brazil, Russia, India, China); Eastern European countries (Estonia, Romania, Serbia); Arab and Middle Eastern nations (Egypt, Iran, Israel); under-studied areas (East and Central Asia, Latin America, and sub-Saharan Africa)." (Publisher description)
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"The discussion of soft power in China can be dated back to 1992, the year Nye's Bound to lead was translated into Chinese and published in Mainland China. Chinese scholars urged that restrictions on civil society be lifted, since China's lack of voluntary associations and NGOs drastically hindered
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the development of citizen diplomacy that could serve as a critical agency in building up China's soft power. In recent years, China's strategic moves in building up soft power in Africa have been well documented, yet it still takes the engagement of Chinese society to eventually exercise that power. In the process of engaging the public, the media play a central role, which is what this article examines. The authors summarise various aspects of China's involvement in Africa since the turn of the century in relation to value sharing and co-identity building, then do a textual analysis of how Chinese media present Africa to their audiences." (Abstract)
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"Investigative Reporter des afrikanischen Netzwerks FAIR decken in transnationalen Teams skandalöse Missstände auf. Trotz ihrer Erfolge gibt es kaum Grund zur Euphorie – auch wegen der Europäer." (Seite 10)
"Quel que soit le pays ou le continent considéré, une interdépendance étroite existe aujourd’hui entre démocratie, liberté des médias et régulation de la communication. Une place cruciale revient en effet aux organes de régulation dans la procédure d’allocation de fréquences d’émis
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sions, dans la promotion de la diversité culturelle des contenus médiatiques, dans l’équitable accès aux ondes des courants politiques et de pensée, ou encore dans l’émergence de véritables médias de service public. Les organes de régulation des médias se sont partout ou presque imposés comme partie intégrante de l’appareillage institutionnel démocratique. En Afrique subsaharienne, les premières instances de régulation des médias ont été créées dans le sillage de la démocratisation, au tournant des années 1980/1990. Le rejet du système des partis uniques et la revendication des libertés civiles et politiques se traduisent notamment alors, dans le domaine de l’information et de la communication, par l’avènement de régulateurs dont la vocation est de couper le cordon ombilical entre pouvoir politique et médias. Le bouillonnement médiaticopolitique né de l’essor sans précédent de nouveaux supports écrits et audiovisuels privés, a, de par sa vigueur et, il faut bien le reconnaître aussi, ses excès, nécessité l’organisation de ces nouvelles libertés d’expression et de communication. Ce besoin d’arbitrage, justifié au nom de l’intérêt supérieur du public et de son droit à une information de qualité, a débouché sur la création d’instances de régulation des médias écrits et/ou audiovisuels. A l’heure où la légitimité de ces nouveaux acteurs indépendants semble globalement acquise, de nouveaux dangers les attendent pourtant : sauront-ils, par exemple, relever les défis que leur posent les nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la communication - notamment Internet – et parviendront-ils à gérer collectivement, en bonne intelligence et complémentarité, les images télévisuelles se déversant sur les Etats africains, en s’affranchissant de toute considération de frontières ?" (Description de la maison d'édition)
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"Cinema and Development in West Africa shows how the film industry in Francophone West African countries played an important role in executing strategies of nation building during the transition from French rule to the early postcolonial period. James E. Genova sees the construction of African ident
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ities and economic development as the major themes in the political literature and cultural production of the time. Focusing on film both as industry and aesthetic genre, he demonstrates its unique place in economic development and provides a comprehensive history of filmmaking in the region during the transition from colonies to sovereign states." (Publisher description)
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"This article attempts to highlight a new perspective on African audiences’ engagement with global media and point to new postulates in audience research. It briefly reviews key reception theories, ranging from the effects tradition to active audience paradigm and encoding-decoding model. It then
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offers a case study on Northern Nigerians’ interactions with international media, particularly the BBC World Service, to unveil the patterns and consequences of such interactions. The mainly Muslim Northern Nigerians were found to be high consumers of western media products, especially the BBC’s, but with high level of selectivity. Although they regard BBC as the most credible broadcaster that aids their understanding of international affairs and influences their everyday lives, they still see it as a western ideological instrument that portrays the West positively and depicts the Islamic world and Africa negatively. The findings reveal patterns and particularities of postcolonial audiences’ consumption of transnational media that suggest new theoretical postulates in reception research. They indicate the audiences’ tendency to exhibit a phenomenon of ‘selective believability’ in their interactions with international media. They also highlight the mediating roles of religion, culture, ideology and other extra-communication factors in such interactions, and identify the dynamics of credibility and believability. Credibility appears to be a necessary but not sufficient condition for believability in audiences’ consumption of dissonant messages." (Abstract)
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"This article explores how Facebook is used by South African youth, with particular reference to their political participation and involvement. Research has shown the declining involvement of young people in political processes, particularly since democratic elections in 1994. This is an internation
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al trend, with a general global rise of political apathy and decreased news consumption among youth. However, Facebook and other new media applications widely used by young people have been seen as a potential vehicle to re-engage youth in political debate. The potential usefulness of such applications for creating networked publics and mobilizing political action was highlighted recently during the Arab Spring; and conversely, Facebook and Twitter have been used (e.g. in the United States) to target potential youth voters. The notion of e-democracy has raised the potential of the Internet to enhance political action and activism. The article draws on a national quantitative survey and Cape Town-based focus groups with South African youth in order to explore the links between Facebook use and political participation. The article argues that youth are engaging with alternative forms of political subactivism that work at the margins of the dominant public sphere." (Abstract)
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"The demands of public diplomacy have shifted with the development of social media technologies. Increasingly, governments are required to gauge and respond to public sentiment over and above the one-way communication of broadcast media. The social media and accompanying elevated public role have co
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mplicated the decision-making process in China to the extent of potentially influencing its outward engagements. On the receiving end of China’s diplomacy is Africa, which is undergoing its own important technological changes. South Africa’s domestic circumstances, however, demonstrate that larger factors can override online sentiment. In two such important regions in the world, it is important to consider whether these domestic changes are likely to strengthen or undermine future China–Africa future relations." (Abstract)
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"There are over 250 radio stations in Mali, and two TV stations that serve a population of 16 million, of whom one of every five own a TV set. The author argues that Mali’s state broadcaster ORTM must use the opportunity of a new political dispensation and usher in urgent reforms if its rich histo
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ry of media proliferation, political pluralism and democracy are to be consolidated. He further makes the case for the urgent need by the new Malian government to revisit state policy on the digital switch over, an eminent process that Mali must undertake. Failing which, all the gains that the country has made could be lost." (www.afrimap.org)
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"Namibia gehört heute zu den beliebtesten Fernreisezielen der Deutschen - vielleicht auch deshalb, weil es einst als "Deutsch-Südwestafrika" Kolonie war. Die Erfahrung von Tourismus und Globalisierung rückte in den vergangenen Jahren den europäischen Kolonialismus, der auch die deutsche Geschich
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te weit stärker als gemeinhin angenommen prägte, ins allgemeine Bewusstsein. Das Buch legt eine Bilanz der Spurensuche nach Erinnerungsorten der oft unrühmlichen deutschen Kolonialgeschichte vor. In 30 leicht verständlich geschriebenen Einzelbeiträgen präsentiert es Personen, Institutionen, Ereignisse und Vorstellungswelten. Albert Schweitzers Hospital Lambaréné, Hagenbecks Tierpark und die "Hunnenrede" Kaiser Wilhelms II. zählen hierzu ebenso wie der Berg Kilimandscharo, den der Deutsche Hans Meyer als erster Europäer bestieg, Bernhard Grzimeks Film "Serengeti darf nicht sterben" oder der "Sarotti-Mohr". (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"It is clear that corruption is considered an important issue by South Africans. It is frequently cited as a critical issue facing the country, and many people believe that there are high levels of corruption in various parts of government. At the same time however, the incidence of bribery appears
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to be relatively low when compared to the perceived corruption figures. This may be because people are reluctant to admit to paying bribes and therefore the incidence of bribery may be under-reported. In addition, people may think of nepotism, procurement fraud, and other misuse of state resources when asked about corruption, rather than considering only petty bribery. This is a second potential explanation for the differences between perceptions and reality appearing from the survey results. Finally, in the fight against corruption, opinions on the performance of government appear to have remained fairly constant over the past ten years, whereas the role of the media is considered more important now than it was a few years ago." (Conclusion, page 7)
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