"A clustered randomized trial in two states of India examines alternate strategies to reduce child marriage, increase girls' education and change gender attitudes. GPs were randomized into four treatment and one control group in a 1:1:1:2:2 ratio. The GP level intervention from November 2012 deliver
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ed to treatment groups i) A Full Package, comprising mass-media, training and community mobilization programs; ii) a Training Package comprising a combination of mass media and a training program at the block level; iii) a Community Mobilization Package comprising a combination of mass-media and a community mobilization program; iv) and an only Mass Media program. Data from 2,542 households seven years after the start of the program shows that the intervention made significant improvements in impact indicators on girls' education and incidence and age at marriage. As compared to the control GPs, the Full Package intervention increased the age at marriage for girls aged 13-25 on an average by 6.5 months and their education by 9 months. The Full Package also increased the percentage of girls enrolled in school by an additional 9% over the level that control group achieved (92% in Full Package vs 83% in Control Group). The program impacts were similar after controlling for stratification and other household and GP level characteristics.
We found that the intervention made an outcome indicator - gender attitudes - more progressive; GP with Full Package had a 0.407 standard deviation (equivalent to approximately 16%) higher gender attitude index than control GPs (p < 0.01). The measure of attitudes is an index of aggregated indices on gender equality, education, marriage, mobility and knowledge. Attitude change was larger for education and mobility indices. For example, the households in the Full Package had 0.26 and 0.33 standard deviations more positive attitude towards girls’ education and mobility than control GPs. We did not find any significant effect on attitudes pertaining to marriage and girl’s work and responsibility. There is little change in norms related to gender roles within the home and education has mostly been perceived as a vehicle for better management of the home, rather than for empowering women to work and be independent." (Summary)
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"The fifth edition [...] cuts across print, TV, film, music, radio and digital media. In the process, the book takes you through the current trends, history, business dynamics and regulation in media, and provides a glimpse into the future of each of these segments." (Back cover)
"Definitions of impunity regarding crimes against journalists have thus far been too narrow. Therefore, we propose a new approach to understanding impunity as also being grounded in journalists’ lived reality and perceptions to better understand the complexity and breadth of impunity. It is based
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on the findings obtained through a set of semi-structured interviews with 40 editors and senior journalists in five countries and expressed in a new typology of impunity. We argue that what we call the ‘Politics of Impunity’ is a policy of governance whereby impunity is used as a political tool by the state and state-sponsored actors to achieve journalistic self-censorship. This is done through the deliberate deprivation of private autonomy brought about by the enforced exile of journalists into a ‘space of exception’ where they are both within and beyond the law. The exercise of the ‘Politics of Impunity’ in an increasing number of states creates an environment that only allows for politically compliant journalism." (Abstract)
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"This paper relates to my introduction to Brian Shoesmith and my involvement in his research project on satellite television and the audience reception of the Australian Television International channel in Surabaya, Indonesia in 1993 and 1995. It also discusses the impact of Brian and his research o
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n the development of the Department of Communication in Airlangga University in Surabaya and to the transformation of television audience studies in the Indonesian context. I will examine Brian’s publications on satellite television in Asia and the account of the Australian Television International channel’s failure in Asia in the early 1990s. Taking my cue from Brian’s writings about the challenge of the Australian Television International channel in Asia, I will discuss the situation of national audiences in Indonesia and their attitude towards the persistence of imported/foreign programmes, including Australian television programmes. In fact, the consumption of Australian cultural productions in Indonesia continues to be problematic and less widespread compared to the more dominant Western (US) and Asian (Korean) productions." (Abstract)
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"Father Jerry Martinson (1942-2017) was a Jesuit missionary priest serving in Taiwan, well-known for his TV productions, documentaries, talks and workshops throughout Asia. His popular TV series on learning English made "Uncle Jerry" a household name. Living and working at Taipei's Kuangchi Program
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Service for over 40 years, Fr. Jerry's life was remarkable active and productive. But he also had a deep, contemplative side. 'Joy in Solitude' is the story of his interior life, showing the growth in spirit of a joyful and generous priest, always in search of what more he could do for God and his people, especially those most in need." (Back cover)
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"This study revealed that more than 40% of news stories on child sexual abuse (CSA) cases did not follow the ethical standard of reporting. Episodic CSA cases were more unethically reported in newspapers, compared to the thematic stories (42.8% vs. 11.6%). Approximately 37% of news stories disclosed
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at least one identifying information of victims (i.e., name, parents’ name, family member’s name, or school name), and 23% of stories included sensual and/or excessive description of the event. Our adjusted model showed that victim identifiers were most likely to be reported in news stories when the victim was 13–17 years old, the alleged perpetrator held influential social status, the victim was familiar to the perpetrator, and when public reaction against the CSA incident was reported. In addition, if there was a public reaction to any CSA occurrence, the chances of unnecessary extensive coverage increased by 1.82 times. In conclusion, Bangladeshi newspapers often publish CSA stories without maintaining the ethical standard of reporting and thus ignore child rights." (Abstract)
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"In 2017, following the #MeToo movement stirred by the public outing of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, the safety of women at the workplace became a prime agenda for international news media. Although far from being truly inclusive, the #MeToo movement rapidly spread to other parts of the worl
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d. Women of different nationalities, backgrounds, and race shared their stories of abuse and survival using the #MeToo hashtag and its variants. In 2018, women within the news media industry in India joined the movement and called out prominent editors, filmmakers, and artists on social media for perpetrating and abetting acts of sexual harassment and abuse against them. As an immediate result, several accused were made to resign from their organizations and dropped from prestigious public posts. However, a backlash to the movement followed soon after, most evidently in the form of victim-shaming and defamation lawsuits against women. Based on the theory of epistemic advantage, the study explores the perception of sexual harassment among journalists in India using in-depth interviews." (Abstract)
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"Giga, a joint collaboration between ITU and UNICEF, is an initiative to connect every young person in the world to information, opportunity and choice. Devised before the onslaught on COVID-19, the project addresses the underlying inequities in access to the Internet. However, it is also a platform
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for creating the infrastructure necessary to provide digital connectivity to an entire country, for every community and for every citizen. With schools as a focal point, Giga seeks to build robust digital ecosystems, so communities everywhere can cope with shocks such as COVID-19 and ensure that no one is left behind. To achieve this goal, Giga builds on four pillars: map, finance, connect, empower.
Map. Mapping of schools helps identify the connectivity problems and gauge the magnitude of the challenge in each country. Top-down and bottom-up approaches to mapping school connectivity support this endeavour [...]
Connect. There are various infrastructure and technology solutions available that could bring affordable connectivity to the unconnected schools identified by the mapping exercise, including established technologies such as Wi-Fi, satellite, and fibre [...]
Finance. The selection of appropriate financing mechanisms depends on the magnitude of the challenge. The costing analysis can only take place after mapping connectivity gaps and determining fit-for-purpose connectivity solutions. Government budgets or universal service funds (USFs) could address small- to medium-sized connectivity gaps [...]
Empower. Bringing connectivity to schools will have a limited impact if e-learning solutions are not in place and if educators do not have the digital skills to empower learners. There are many case studies from Asia and the Pacific of initiatives that aim to empower digital learning [...]
Giga has made significant progress since its launch. It is already active in 17 countries in three regions. Countries in Asia and the Pacific are next to join the Giga initiative. Several countries have expressed interest, including Bhutan, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Fiji. Each country has its own opportunities and challenges in terms of extending connectivity. The review of policies, regulatory environment, school connectivity initiatives and availability of connectivity data in potential Giga countries and the assessment of use cases strongly indicate that there is significant promise for the expansion of Giga in the region." (Executive summary, pages vi-vii)
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"This article focuses on a work published in 1883 by a German Christian press associated with a missionary society. The book provides a visual panorama of all the world’s cultures in 1,690 engravings. Most images were reproductions of material that had initially appeared in a variety of other cont
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exts, ranging from missionary periodicals to secular travel magazines and British colonial literature. This study examines the message that the volume’s editors wanted to convey: the extra-European world was portrayed as devoid of historical agency, non-Christian religions as false, and the presence of western agents – in particular, missionaries – as providential. Retracing the life story of a few images, I show that some of them communicated these notions better than others. For example, engravings based on photographs were often not as polemical as those based on drawings, simply because of the characteristics of photography as a medium. Complicating the critical reading of the images as simply missionary propaganda, I argue that a volume like the one examined here is best understood when placed within a transnational (or connected) history of visual practices." (Abstract)
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"1. The findings reveal the disproportionate impact fake news has on minority communities in Indonesia, including psychological stress, economic damage, sexual and physical violence and harm. 2. It sheds light on how fake news has been weaponized by hegemonic groups in society to both amass various
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forms of political and religious capital, as well as to socially control and discipline minority groups. 3. Furthermore, it shows how the state is implicated in the problem through biased and politicized policing of fake news. 4. Given that the proliferation of fake news is facilitated through modern social media platforms, increased state regulation towards these platforms has the potential to curb the worst effects of disinformation and create a healthier public sphere. 5. More than delegating the resolution of the problem to the government however, it is also important that ground-up solutions – especially educational efforts to both raise awareness of fake news, as well as the phenomenon of how fake new is being instrumentalized politically – are advanced." (Key findings)
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"Russia recycled previous narratives and exacerbated tensions in Western society while attempting some propaganda about Russian scientific prowess. Russia’s approach evolved little; it recycled previous narratives, spreading a broad range of COVID-19 disinformation. Evidence supports the theory th
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at Russia seeks to strengthen itself in relative terms by weakening the West, while China seeks to strengthen itself in absolute terms. The Kremlin and the CCP learned from each other. While limited evidence exists of explicit cooperation, instances of narrative overlap and circular amplification of disinformation show that China is following a Russian playbook with Chinese characteristics. Russia is simultaneously learning from the Chinese approach. The largest difference between China and Russia’s information warfare tactics remains China’s insistence on narrative consistency, compared with Russia’s “firehose of falsehoods” strategy. Even with substantially greater resources, this largely prevents Chinese narratives from swaying public opinion or polarizing societies." (Executive summary)
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"This book explores how religion manifests itself in television. It focuses on how religious traditions, practices, and discourses have been incorporated into non-religious television programmes and how they bring both the community and the media into the fold of religion. The volume traces the cult
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ural and institutional history of television in the state of Sikkim, India, to investigate how it became part of the cultural life of the communities. The author analyses three televised shows that captured the community’s imagination and became ceremonial and religious engagement. Through these case studies, he highlights how rituals and myths function in mass media, how traditional institutions and religious practices redefine themselves through their association with the visual mass medium, and how identities based on religion, cultural tradition, and politics are reinforced, transformed, and amplified through television. The book further analyses the engagement of televised religion with audiences, its reach, relevance, and contents and its relationship with urbanity, tradition, and identity." (Publisher description)
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"This report summarizes powerful research on the Philippines’ human rights sector in “survival mode” under Rodrigo Duterte’s violent regime. Historically known as the most active civil society in Asia, the Philippines human rights movement has faced an unprecedented crisis of legitimacy whil
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e burdened with the responsibility to advocate for the many victims of abuses. Drawing on interviews with human rights workers and their allies in journalism and the academe, this study captures diverse interpretations as to how human rights has become “broken,” “tarnished,” and “a bad word” within a short span of four years. It also describes sectoral, organizational, and generational conflicts in how seasoned veterans and younger activists have been strategizing differently in their efforts to win back public trust. This study identifies the long- and short-term trade-offs behind organizational strategies of frontlining and speaking out on the human rights abuses of the Duterte regime versus more under-the-radar backchanneling work focused on service delivery and grassroots organization. Taking a strategic communication perspective and worker-centered approach, our study specifically places the voices of the communication and technology workers in the human rights sector at the heart of our analysis. What our research uncovers is that despite their many creative experiments to connect with diverse constituencies, human rights organizations have still failed to invest material resources in sustainable communication infrastructures and empower their communication personnel. Almost half of the organizations we interviewed still had no staff member dedicated to communication or branding; communication workers continued to play peripheral roles in their organizations." (Executive summary, page 8)
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"The internet brought new opportunities for Pakistan to develop into a progressive society and a more democratic country, and it opened doors for more forms of criminal activity (like fraud, child pornography, etc.), more intimidation and the spreading extremism, and more information gathering on ci
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tizens by business and state agents. It will be highly important to Pakistan to more actively and more successfully develop the positive sides of IT technology, internet services, and the social media, while at the same time check its excesses, problems and abuses. FES Pakistan is delighted to present the report “Internet Landscape 2020” It is providing an excellent overview of internet usage, and on its dangers and opportunities. We hope, the report will facilitate a broad discussion about the use and further development of the internet in Pakistan, to fully tun it into another means for Pakistan to utilize its full potential and develop into a more progressive, citizen-oriented country." (Preface, page 4)
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"In this book, Patrick Colm Hogan sets out through close analysis and explication of culturally particular information about Indian history, Hindu metaphysics, Islamic spirituality, Sanskrit aesthetics, and other Indian traditions to provide necessary cultural contexts for understanding Indian films
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. Hogan analyzes eleven important films, using them as the focus to explore the topics of plot, theme, emotion, sound, and visual style in Indian cinema. These films draw on a wide range of South Asian cultural traditions and are representative of the greater whole of Indian cinema. By learning to interpret these examples with the tools Hogan provides, the reader will be able to take these skills and apply them to other Indian films. But this study is not simply culturalist. Hogan also takes up key principles from cognitive neuroscience to illustrate that all cultures share perceptual, cognitive, and emotional elements that, when properly interpreted, can help to bridge gaps between seemingly disparate societies. Hogan locates the specificity of Indian culture in relation to human universals, and illustrates this cultural-cognitive synthesis through his detailed interpretations of these films." (Publisher description)
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