"Mobile value-added services (MVAS) represent a growing collaboration between the private sector and the development community. In this paper, we examine one such MVAS, the Nokia Usaha Wanita service running on the Nokia Life+ platform in Indonesia, and we assess its impact as an innovative means fo
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r the economic empowerment of businesswomen. Data were gathered through 282 telephone interviews with a nationwide random sample of women who subscribed to Usaha Wanita. Our research found evidence that subscribers derived economic benefit from using the service. Subscribers reported that their business profits were greater, because of what they had learned from reading Usaha Wanita content. Women who were subscribers also had higher "good month's" profits as well. Increased profits were positively correlated with frequent reading of the tips and information provided by Usaha Wanita and subscriber perception that the service was useful for business. Women who exhibited entrepreneurial optimism also had greater business profits. Findings suggest that entrepreneurial optimism amplified the effect of mobile phone use on profits." (Abstract)
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"This article explores obstacles and conditions that environmental nongovernmental organizations face in interacting with media outlets in Kyrgyzstan. It also examines the limited scope of environmental journalism and the resulting limited ability of news outlets and eco-NGOs to help set the public
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agenda for discussion of policy and issues in the country. Even if such public relations interaction occurs, it is rarely effective and rarely generates influential eco/environmental articles in the media. The study is based on a content analysis of the news agency 24.kg and the newspaper Vecherniy Bishkek. It includes results of a survey and interviews with eco-NGOs representatives." (Abstract)
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"Voice—understood as the ability to give an account of oneself and participate in social processes—is increasingly recognized as significant for humanitarian action and disaster recovery. Giving disaster-affected people the opportunity to make their voices heard has the potential to democratize
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humanitarianism and correct the power asymmetries on which it is based. Humanitarian agencies have embraced interactive communication technologies as tools for voice and participation. Drawing on a yearlong ethnography with communities affected by super-Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, this article assesses the potential of new communication technologies for voice. Our findings highlight a disconnect between assumptions about technology present in humanitarian policies and the actual uses of technology by affected populations. The article traces the factors that facilitate, or hinder, participation and finds that communication technologies enable voice only if other parameters, such as a strong civil society, are present. Further, we observe that opportunities for voice are stratified, mapping onto existing social inequalities." (Abstract)
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"Vietnam thrives on a rich tapestry of stories across generations; personal and collective stories that form precious threads in the fabric of a diverse nation of more than 90 million people. There are valuable stories waiting to be told by Cham fisherwomen and men living in An Giang; by Hanoi stree
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t cleaners living with disabilities; by farmers growing cassava in the Quang Tri highlands. Such stories not only help us understand the diversity of this dynamic country, but can also inform important development decisions that impact the people whose stories most need to be heard [...] CARE believes that a vibrant, diverse society becomes stronger when everyone can equally contribute their voice to decisions that impact them. This is why CARE is using Community Digital Storytelling (CDST); an innovative participatory development approach that enables people to gain knowledge, build their confidence and share their concerns with others who can address them. CDST builds on the full potential of people often unheard; strengthening the wider society in the process. Through Community Digital Storytelling, community members collectively create and share stories in their own language using audio, photos and music. The resulting photo-videos are often 3-5 minutes long and in the local language. These stories are driven by the community members themselves who develop the content and decide what photos best represent the narratives they want to tell." (Page 3)
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"1. The DAME project has contributed to its overall objective of ‘strengthening the democratization process in Timor-Leste’ and to its specific objective of ‘enhanced engagement between NSAs, State authorities and their constituencies’ in the development process. 2. Most effective were the a
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ctivities strengthening youth leadership (Youth Forums and Civic Leadership trainings). Some 2500 youth all over Timor-Leste learned about the very skills needed for democracy. This is a promising contribution to strengthening the democratic process. 3. Core elements of the DAME approach - inclusiveness, NSA-SA collaboration, conflict prevention, and a consistent focus on youth and women - are highly relevant in view of the social, political and postconflict context in Timor-Leste, in particular by contributing to (and complementing) current government approaches. 4. However, the Action was over-ambitious in terms of objectives, partners with mixed capacities, activities, and target groups, covering all districts, and as a consequence some Action components suffered from insufficient in-depth development of quality, follow-up, coherence and cross-fertilization." (Executive summary)
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"Training and educating of journalists around the world with the aim of enhancing free and independent media has been a major field of media development cooperation for decades. Nevertheless, the state of scientific research in this area remains limited, specifically with regard to the status quo of
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journalism education in developing countries. The academic research project on International Journalism Education Standards (IJES) was initiated by Deutsche Welle Akademie’s International Media Studies program with the goal to help close this gap. This publication contains the research results of the IJES research poject´s comparative study about the standards of journalism education in four developing countries: Colombia, Kenya, Myanmar and Egypt." (Publisher description)
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"Ethnographische Methoden haben heute in alle kultur- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Disziplinen Eingang gefunden. Auch in der Medienforschung spielen sie eine zentrale Rolle. Dieses Handbuch trägt die Methodendiskussion in der Medienethnologie zusammen und entwickelt sie am Beispiel konkreter Feldfo
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rschungsberichte weiter: Die dichte Beschreibung von Medienpraktiken, eine kritische Verortung der Subjektivität im Feld und der Fokus auch auf die Methoden der Beforschten sind zentrale Elemente der Beiträge." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"Based on an extensive ethnographic study of television and audiences in class-divided Philippines, this is the first book to take a bottom-up approach in considering how people respond to images and narratives of suffering and poverty on television. Arguing for an anthropological ethics of media, t
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his book challenges existing work in media studies and sociology that focuses solely on textual analysis and philosophical approaches to the question of representing vulnerable others. Current questions in media ethics, such as whether to portray sufferers as humane and empowered individuals or show them ‘at their worst’ have so far used textual and visual analyses to convey the researcher’s own moral position on the matter. In contrast, this book, inspired by the anthropology of moralities, accounts for the different interpretations and moral positions of audiences, who are positioned in various degrees of social and moral proximity to those they see and hear on television. Winner of the 2016 Philippine Social Science Council Excellence in Research Award." (Publisher description)
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