"This study examines news production and newsroom culture in radio stations in Ghana’s Northern Region. It explores the dynamics of news production and delivery in indigenous language newsrooms. Through in-depth interviews with eight indigenous language news presenters and journalists, the study c
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ritically explores the intricacies of news production, drawing attention to how news production is contextualized within this society. Through an oral epistemological approach, I argue that news journalists and presenters draw on orature and oral epistemologies to build their news-presenting personas and personalities in a way that positions them as frame sponsors who intentionally set the agenda for news content by unilaterally selecting specific stories to air. This study presents novel ways to conceptualize framing and agenda-setting while demonstrating the usefulness of customizing theory for specific sociocultural contexts. The study presents theoretical and practical implications to bridge the gap between theory and praxis while rethinking news production in Global South contexts such as Ghana." (Abstract)
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"Johanna Rieß untersucht, wie sich Nutzer_innen aus drei verschiedenen Internetcafés in Nairobi/Kenia das Internet aneignen und welche Einsichten sich über dieses Medium ergeben. Erzählt wird außerdem eine ausführliche Digitalisierungsgeschichte Kenias. Dabei zeigt sich, dass gängige Annahmen
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bezüglich einer digitalen Kluft zwischen Ländern des globalen Nordens und des globalen Südens längst nicht mehr zutreffen." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"This article is a sequel, and update, to a two-part article published in Logos. Journal of the World Publishing Community in 2008/09, which analysed the state of the book industries in sub-Saharan Africa thirty-five years after the major conference on ‘Publishing & Book Development in Africa’ t
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hat was held at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria, in 1973 [...] Part One examines the persistent failure of African governments to support their book industries in a tangible and positive fashion, and their lack of support of public libraries. I review the current status of book development councils in Africa, and the unsatisfactory progress that has been made in establishing national book policies; examine the challenges of generating book industry data; and look at the opportunities now available to African publishers by the new digital environment. In Part Two I offer a number of reflections and recommendations on the way forward, particularly as it relates to capacity and skills building, training for book industry personnel, strengthening book professional associations, South-South linkages and knowledge sharing, encouraging international collaboration, the need for ongoing research and documentation, as well as issues as they relate to African books in the global market place, and the important but neglected area of publishing in African indigenous languages.
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"Radio Pacis went on the air in October 2004 and quickly became the most popular radio station in the [Arua] region, in part because the station broadcasts on three frequencies in all six local languages: Acholi, Alur, Madi, Kakwa, Lögbara and English. In turn, Radio Pacis has crossed more than jus
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t national and linguistic borders; the station’s highest listening percentage is in the overwhelmingly Muslim area of Yumbe. Ms. Meyer [the administrator of Radio Pacis] posits that this success across many demographics is because local people of all religious stripes appreciate the station’s commitment to “accuracy, truth, and balance” in a media landscape dominated by propaganda, bribery and superficiality. In addition, Ms. Meyer and Father Pasolini refused early pressure to hire only Catholics; Protestants and Muslims serve in prominent management positions at the station. For Father Pasolini, this inter-religious workforce reflects West Nilers’ general inter-religious harmony. “We live together! We plan together! We stay together! This is the real Uganda!” he says."
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"Spotlight report on the state of public access to information in Canada, Indonesia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Serbia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Ukraine prepared for the 2019 cycle of the Voluntary National Reviews and the 2019 UN High Level Political Forum." (Subtitle)
"The information ecosystem in DRC is fragmented and fragile. It is characterised by a great number of media outlets, however their level of professionalism is low and their vulnerability to partisan capture is high. This fragility is replicated in the online space. The Congolese population rely heav
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ily on informal sources of information such as word of mouth, interpersonal communication with family and friends. The scarcity of reliable information open avenues for the rumours and misinformation to spread. This context presents serious challenges for the promotion of good governance and accountability that requires well informed citizens. To better address those challenges, it is necessary to understand the main sources and dynamics of information flows both offline and online, and through media and non-media channels. A consortium composed of Fondation Hirondelle (FH), Demos, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI) and the Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) was created in order to provide a more holistic view of the Congolese information ecosystem and to identify opportunities for entry. Due to the limited time and resources of the study, and because of the pre-existing networks and capacities of the consortium in this region, its focus is on North Kivu. To identify the voices, networks and themes that dominated this information ecosystem in this region, three levels of analysis were chosen: 1. The sources and level of information of the local populations. This analysis was provided by HHI that implemented household surveys of large samples of populations in Eastern DRC; 2. The sources of information of local journalists. This analysis was provided by FH that surveyed a network of 18 local radios in North Kivu; 3. The network and content analysis of digital and social media provided by DEMOS [...] Findings: Radio is the primary media source of information for the population of Eastern DRC (78% of the sample listens to it occasionally and 43% daily [...] The main sources of information depend on the context and the nature of the information people are seeking [...] The results highlight the lack of reliability of information sources (46% of respondents expressed a moderate to high level of confidence in local radio, and 39% for national radio) ..." (Executive summary)
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"Cette étude menée dans 5 régions différentes du Burkina-Faso a permis de relever quelques caractéristiques générales des modalités d’informations de la jeunesse rurale et de dégager des grandes thématiques d’intérêt liées aux réalités vécues localement. Il faut néanmoins releve
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r que l’enquête aurait pu révéler des résultats bien différents si elle avait concerné l’ensemble des régions du Burkina. Nous aurions vu apparaître bien d’autres spécificités locales et peut-être quelques thèmes d’intérêt nouveaux. C’est pourquoi, au-delà des résultats spécifiques à chaque région, l’une des conclusions majeures de ce travail est l’impérieuse nécessité de prendre en considération les spécificités locales des différentes régions. Ceci non seulement afin de retenir l’attention de ces jeunes ruraux mais aussi afin de ne pas les amener à fuir l’écoute de la radio. Ces spécificités concernent: - D’une part les activités économiques locales (importance donnée à l’agriculture ou à l’élevage, présence d’activités d’orpaillage, proximité avec des grands pôles économiques comme Ouagadougou ou proximité avec des pays à fort dynamisme économique comme la Côte d’Ivoire ou le Ghana, etc.), Et d’autre part la situation sécuritaire. En ce sens, les informations transmises et le mode de communication ne peut pas être totalement uniforme. Enfin, à travers les réponses à nos questions et à travers les analyses ressorties ci-dessus, il est très clairement apparu que les jeunes sont en attente de médias plus proches d’eux, de leurs préoccupations et de leur réalité. Ils ont partagé leur souhait de participer à des émissions de radio et même de recevoir, dans leurs villages, les studios de production pour réaliser de temps en temps des émissions de radio directement chez eux. Se faire entendre et entendre d’autres jeunes qui leur ressemblent est un vœu partagé par les jeunes que nous avons rencontré au cours de cette enquête." (Conclusions, page 41)
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"Social media engagement alone can achieve limited results in promoting public accountability for police misconduct in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda but can and has served as a valuable tool in this endeavour. The percentage of the population in Africa that engages in discussions on social media platfo
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rms about the actions and behaviour of the police is currently small. This number has the potential to grow exponentially over the next decade with advances in mobile connectivity and as the public realise the power of harnessing social media as a tool to promote good governance and demand accountability from government. Social media engagement can facilitate communication between police agencies and the public, allowing for information to flow between these groups. Well-coordinated, strategic social media campaigns by civil society in the countries reviewed can mobilise the public, energise large groups of people and achieve tangible results. Civil society can develop systematic strategies to engage with the police in different ways. These strategies include using positive interactions to build trust and open the lines of communication, and using photographs and videos of specific events and incidents of police misconduct gathered through social media to demand accountability." (Key findings)
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"This dissertation explores audiovisual assistance programs through an examination of the largest such program: the EU’s ACPCultures+, which since 2008 has awarded over 50 million Euros to nearly 60 audiovisual training programs, distribution initiatives, and production projects in sub-Saharan Afr
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ica and the Caribbean. Using textual and policy analyses, in-depth interviews, and both digital ethnography and multi-sited ethnographic research in Brussels, Addis Ababa, and Nairobi, I analyze three case studies of projects funded by ACPCultures+ – a screenwriting course in Kenya, a pan-African video-on-demand platform, and the first Ethiopian film to screen at Cannes film festival – while tracing the circulation of the program’s aims and policies from its headquarters in Brussels to audiovisual professionals in Africa and the Caribbean. These cases show how, as ACPCultures+ grapples with media diversity in an era of globalization, it builds on postwar histories of both international development and EU cultural and audiovisual policies in ways that simultaneously enable and constrain media industries in the Global South. Ultimately, this research demonstrates how audiovisual assistance programs are an underexamined piece of the global media landscape in which Northern policies and Southern practices together can reframe debates about media and cultural hegemony and suggest new ways of conceptualizing the geographies of audiovisual industries and policy." (Abstract)
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"Die iz3w erscheint in einem Land mit einer »guten Situation« für Presseerzeugnisse (globaler Index der Reporter ohne Grenzen). In vielen Ländern ist die Lage infolge von Repressionen »sehr ernst«, zum Beispiel in China, in Iran oder Sudan. Auch in Ländern zwischen diesen Extremen kann freier
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Journalismus lebensgefährlich sein, etwa in Mexiko. Dabei sind die Meinungs- und Pressefreiheit Grundvoraussetzungen für Gesellschaften, die aufgeklärte Zustände und Partizipation an politischen Entscheidungen anstreben. Es geht um demokratische, freiheitliche und soziale Regeln, die einerseits im Bewusstsein, andererseits als verbindliche Rechte verankert sind. Wir lassen Personen zu Wort kommen, die sich für diese Ziele einsetzen, und fragen uns: Wie sehen die Produktionsbedingungen für die Berichterstattung weltweit aus? Wozu braucht es freie Medien? Wo fängt die Repression an und auf welche Weise wirken sich neue Medien auf die Berichterstattung aus?" (https://www.iz3w.org/printausgaben/heft-365)
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"What are the stakes of cultural production in a time of war? How is artistic expression prone to manipulation by the state and international humanitarian organizations? In the charged political terrain of post-genocide Rwanda, post-civil war Uganda, and recent violence in the Democratic Republic of
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Congo, Laura Edmondson explores performance through the lens of empire. Instead of celebrating theatre productions as expression of cultural agency and resilience, Edmondson traces their humanitarian imperatives to a place where global narratives of violence take precedence over local traditions and audiences. Working at the intersection of performance and trauma, Edmondson reveals how artists and cultural workers manipulate narratives in the shadow of empire and how empire, in turn, infiltrates creative capacities." (Publisher description)
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"Recent trends in journalism education in Africa indicate a substantial increase both in scope and specialisation. While this increase is usually attributed to higher education institutions’ response to market trends, certain journalism education programmes are born out of development assistance i
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nitiatives that envision nation-building imperatives of democratisation and development. The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) is notable for its involvement in higher education journalism training at a graduate level in select countries in the Global South. This article assesses the presently discontinued involvement of NORAD in the establishment of a graduate journalism programme at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia between 2004–2007. In doing so, it reviews what has been learned over the lifespan of NORAD's sponsorship of the programme by discussing what worked and what did not work. Findings generated from document analysis, an online survey, and interviews indicate the project fell short of its mission due to its top-down, “magic-bullet” conceptualisation of democratisation that failed to take into account the political and legal-rational conundrums of the Ethiopian state. However, unanticipated yet useful contributions emerged from the project in terms of forging small-scale partnerships that yielded favourable results in the development of journalism education in sub-Saharan Africa." (Abstract)
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"This study assesses linkages between social media and governance dynamics in 49 African countries for the year 2012. The empirical evidence is based on ordinary least squares and quantile regressions. Ten bundled and unbundled governance dynamics are used, notably: (i) political governance (entaili
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ng “voice & accountability” and political stability/no violence); (ii) economic governance (involving regulation quality and government effectiveness); (iii) institutional governance (comprising the rule of law and corruption-control) and (iv) general governance (entailing political, economic and institutional governance). Social media is measured with Facebook penetration. The findings show that Facebook penetration is positively associated with governance dynamics and these positive nexuses differ in terms of significance and magnitude of significance throughout the conditional distribution of the governance dynamics." (Abstract)
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"Journalists' safety as well as media workers has become a subject of discussion on press freedom and the working condition of reporters following dangerous development on the media scene which has become a preoccupation with journalism professional bodies. As such, in order to achieve the objective
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of the study, qualitative research approach was used as the most tenable means of getting valuable data for this study; In-depth Interview (IDI) and focus group discussion (FGD) was selected as the research method for gathering relevant information. A sample size of 16 respondents was drawn using purposive sampling technique. The findings of the study revealed that journalists in Oyo State are aware of their safety. They agreed that journalism safety is the freedom the press has to perform their professional task without fear or intimidation. The study concluded that the issue of safety and protection of journalists in Nigeria must be given due consideration. The way and manner in which journalists lost their lives in trying to serve human needs on what is happening in the society is alarming. Furthermore, there is a need for media houses in Nigeria, especially in Oyo state to have safety policy that may guarantee the smooth operation of journalists. Training and retraining of journalists on safety issues is another measure that will create awareness on safety tips for journalists. The study recommended that media organisations in Nigeria and Oyo state in particular should have safety policy. By so doing, the safety and protection of journalists will be guarantee. There is also a need for training and retraining of journalists on safety issues in the media houses they are working for." (Abstract)
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"The end of apartheid brought South Africa into the global media environment. Outside companies invested in the nation's newspapers while South African conglomerates pursued lucrative tech ventures and communication markets around the world. Many observers viewed the rapid development of South Afric
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an media as a roadmap from authoritarianism to global modernity. Herman Wasserman analyzes the debates surrounding South Africa's new media presence against the backdrop of rapidly changing geopolitics. His exploration reveals how South African disputes regarding access to, and representation in, the media reflect the domination and inequality in the global communication sphere. Optimists see post-apartheid media as providing a vital space that encourages exchanges of opinion in a young democracy. Critics argue the public sphere mirrors South Africa's past divisions and privileges the viewpoints of the elite. Wasserman delves into the ways these simplistic narratives obscure the country's internal tensions, conflicts, and paradoxes even as he charts the diverse nature of South African entry into the global arena." (Publisher description)
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"Innovative Entrepreneurship is one of the key drivers behind Africa’s digital transformation. For many young people, entrepreneurship is often the best way to achieve sustainable livelihoods. Innovative entrepreneurs know their local markets and understand the social context. This gives them a co
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mpetitive advantage that helps them develop “Digital Innovation Made in Africa” and to assert themselves on the market globally. This book presents a selection of these innovations. They represent numerous new developments that convey a completely new image of Africa: dynamic, modern, innovative, technical, and at the same time human – because behind every digital innovation there is a team of founders who are keen to combine socially responsible entrepreneurship with digital modernization." (Foreword)
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