"It may be observed that, first, at the level of public perception, government actions to restrict free speech are often preceded by statements criticizing the media and foreshadowing a penalty or sanction, which are actually directed to the public and not the media, as if to prime the latter on the
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acceptability of the planned restrictions. The president and his personnel routinely come up with fresh allegations, repeated over time, to discredit journalists and the media, which, in a social media environment crowded with ‘trolls’ and which is at the mercy of algorithms, may be deeply reinforced by echo chambers and confirmation bias. Second, to justify the implementation of legal restrictions, law personnel take a very liberal interpretation of laws, which just straggles the line between what is allowable and what is not (the idea of “continuing publication”; vagueness in the terms “public interest,” “spreading panic or fear,” etc.) thereby allowing the interpretation a degree of legitimacy, since it not entirely wrong and is subjective. Third, freedom of expression is not the only battlefront, so to speak, as evinced by government’s reexaminations of corporate registrations, licenses, permits, and franchises of media entities. At their core, media entities are corporations and journalists are mostly employees (if not contributors) and in that context, there is space for government agencies to nitpick on documents submitted to their offices as part of regulatory compliance, and prepare in advance legal arguments based on records under their custody." (Summary and conclusion, page 40)
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"Triangulating several methods including automated framing analysis and assessment of textual elements, this study examines how the elite press from three countries frames the Rohingya refugee crisis in 2017. Results from our framing and textual analysis show differences in how the press from the th
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ree countries portrayed the crisis. Specifically, The Irrawaddy (Myanmar) tends to incorporate a nationalist narrative into news content, playing down the violence used against Rohingyas. The New Nation (Bangladesh) frames the crisis according to the country's priorities, focusing its coverage on the humanitarian aspects of the crisis. The New York Times uses a Western hegemonic discourse. Textual analysis indicates that although the same words are used in the frames of the Rohingya crisis, some represent different meanings. Findings are discussed using the lens of ideological and cultural influence." (Abstract)
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"Justice4Her is a cross-sector, multi-stakeholder project of RNW Media and Qianqian Law Firm that seeks to strengthen the rule of law and reduce gender-based violence (GBV) towards women migrant workers in China. The project launched in 2016 and targets women migrant workers in Beijing, Shanghai and
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Guangdong Province and was scaled further with co-funding from the European Commission in 2018. Justice4Her provides legal support through a digital interactive platform and disseminates information on GBV to millions through online channels (social media platforms, blogs, email, WeChat groups) and integrates this online work with offline activities. The project has increased mainstream media coverage in China of how GBV affects young women migrants and carried out viral online campaigns to raise public awareness and to challenge tolerance and acceptance of GBV. While advocating for the improvement of anti-domestic violence laws in China, Justice4Her provides pro bono legal aid to victims of GBV in partnership with Beijing Qianqian law firm, a local law firm, both in the form of consultations via mail and support in bringing their cases to court and representing them. The project has also trained pro bono lawyers to better represent victims, media professionals to encourage more gender sensitive reporting on cases of GBV and NGOs on how conduct successful anti-GBV media campaigns and effectively counter negative stereotypes and shift public discourse from a victim blaming narrative to a survivor narrative." (Introduction)
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"La tiranía del rating se ha convertido en los últimos años en una expresión muy utilizada por diferentes actores de la industria de los medios de comunicación, que desconfían de la forma en la que las métricas miden el comportamiento de las audiencias. Los compradores, los periodistas, los a
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ctores y los productores ven cada vez más en estas mediciones una moneda de cambio que privilegia la cantidad sobre la calidad. Sin embargo, la investigación comercial de audiencias, y la manera en la que es implementada, ajustada, cuestionada, tolerada o acatada por las industrias mediáticas y publicitarias contemporáneas, es un tema que no ha sido estudiado con suficiente atención. Conscientes de la relevancia y de la urgencia de estos temas, los autores de Contando colombianos cuestionan el funcionamiento de las distintas métricas comerciales; analizan los referentes históricos y conceptuales que motivaron el diseño de estos sistemas de clasificación; indagan acerca de sus consecuencias biopolíticas, filosóficas, sociales y culturales; y plantean modos y soluciones que permitan humanizar y relativizar la influencia, el impacto y el poder de las métricas comerciales. A través del estudio de un amplio rango de medios de comunicación, como el cine, la radio, el internet, la publicidad, la prensa y la televisión, y mediante estudios que abarcan toda América Latina y que se extienden a países como los Estados Unidos, España y China, este libro demuestra que la medición de audiencias no se limita a aspectos económicos y comerciales, sino que incide y define los modos en lo que el ser humano es pensado, gobernado, entendido, estudiado y, en última instancia, valorado y contado." (Sinopsis)
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"Utilising results of an unprecedented global study, this volume explores the ways in which young adults in seven different countries engage with digital and social media in religiously significant ways. Presenting and analysing the findings of the international research project Young Adults and Rel
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igion in a Global Perspective (YARG), an international panel of contributors shed new light on the impact of digital media and its associated technologies on young people's religiosities, worldviews, and values. Case studies from China, Finland, Ghana, Israel, Peru, Poland, and Turkey are used to demonstrate how these developments are progressing, not just in the West, but across the world." (Publisher description)
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"This book provides empirical accounts to understand the situatedness of open data along the following themes: 1) open data practices; 2) the local implementation of global trends; and 3) open data ecosystems. Many chapters in this volume simultaneously address several of these themes. The thematic
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grouping of chapters is an attempt to foreground salient questions for open data research. In addition, the book covers country-specific, localised applications of open data with a few chapters explicitly focusing on how open government data initiatives unfold within different socio-political contexts. The geographical scope of the contributions spans four continents, providing insights on open data practices in Europe (Kosovo, Belgium, United Kingdom), Africa (Nigeria, Tanzania), Asia (Indonesia, the Philippines), and Latin America (Paraguay, Brazil)." (Introduction, page viii)
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"In this study, 30 women journalists from local media organizations based in various cities in Turkey described the problems they experienced in local media and the obstacles standing in the way of women who want to perform better in their career. Interviews with these journalists reveal that, in ce
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rtain aspects, women in local media have similar experiences of working conditions; however, in other issues, their stories are rather different from each other. According to an overall evaluation of the research findings, one of the main conclusions is that women journalists in local news outlets are subjected to gender-based obstacles and discrimination in their work, and the specific working conditions in these organizations effectively result in gender inequality." (Conclusion and recommendations, page 38)
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"As a regional initiative, ComDev Asia has adopted the communication framework for family farming and the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF 2019-2028). The framework emphasizes three main lines of actions directly linked to UNDFF-GAP Outcome 4.4. These are: 1) participatory communicatio
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n, 2) rural communication services, and 3) enhanced communication capacity of POs and other institutions. Likewise, the communication framework adds a fourth element on awareness and outreach for the UNDFF. Family farming organizations, community media, and FAO communication experts discussed and agreed on the communication framework for family farming and UNDFF during the “Inclusive Rural Communication Services for family farming and the UNDFF” held in Rome in December 2019." (Pages 2-3)
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"During the past 50 years, through the various activities organized by the FABC, such as seminars, workshops, colloquia, …. etc. the dream of the Asian bishops to be in greater solidarity has borne immense fruit. Normally, once in every four years, the FABC holds its Plenary Assemblies. By its sta
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tutes, a Plenary Assembly is considered as the body with the highest authority within the FABC structure. Up to date, there had been eleven such Assemblies, the last one being held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2016. Only the bishop delegates from the Conferences have a vote in such Assemblies, and every such Assembly has issued a Final Statement, voted by the participating bishops. As such, these Plenary Assembly Statements can be considered as formal statements that have the authority of the FABC." (Introduction, page v)
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"The Right to Information (RTI) Survey was conducted between January and March of 2019. The survey was split into five segments: a) a survey among 768 Designated Officers (DOs) in 64 districts, b) a survey among 768 Heads of Office covering both government and non-government organizations (NGOs) in
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64 districts, c) a survey among 359 requesters in 21 districts, d) a survey among 340 complainants to the Information Commission (IC), and finally, e) a nationwide survey among 12,800 citizens. The survey results reveal that the contribution of the RIT Act 2009 has overall been positive in the last decade. Especially, notable progress has taken place in making the supply side prepared in implementing the RTI Act. IC’s overall operational approaches have been found very effective for DOs, requesters, complainants, and appellants. In contrast to an increased awareness of the RTI Act on the supply side i.e. the DOs and Heads of Office, the awareness level on the demand side i.e. the citizens has been found to be very low. Only 7.7% of the 12,800 citizens surveyed across the country said they were aware of the law. Meanwhile, about two-third of the 768 government officials surveyed in 64 districts said they did not receive a single application from citizens using RTI Act since they were designated for providing information services. Nonetheless, the survey among 359 requesters in 21 districts revealed that about two-third of them received their desired information, mostly in time." (Abstract)
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"Internal migration within India increased significantly after economic liberalization in 1991. The effect of liberalization really took effect on the ground in India around the year 2000 when the internal migration from the relatively poorer regions of north and east to the more prosperous regions
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of south and west saw a huge spike in numbers. GlobalOriya.com was an early initiative in community media for the internally displaced population of the eastern province of Orissa (now called Odisha) outside of the province. This was a very successful initiative, which spread to have a dedicated and engaged readership of more than 8000 members in little over three years. However, it died a sudden death in early 2007 when different factors combined to lead to its demise. It is an excellent case study of what can go wrong in an otherwise successful community media initiative. This paper details the journey of the initiative from the perspective of one of its founders and disseminates the learnings from this experience aiming to help other community media organizations become much more robust against such sudden failures." (Abstract)
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"This report provides an overview of media consumption from the perspectives of selected media practitioners in Cambodia and highlights some of the key communication tools, products, materials, and platforms they have used to reach their respective target audiences. This report maps trends across bo
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th traditional and digital media platforms. It describes how Cambodian media practitioners use different media platforms to reach and inform their target audiences. It also looks at how different media platforms, tools, and ideas can be used to engage Cambodian citizens, especially youth, on environment-related topics. The aim is to encourage active involvement in environmental issues. The findings reveal that digital platforms, especially Facebook, have become increasingly popular in recent years. According to the Media Mapping Report, in 2019, key digital media usage was as follows: 87 percent of Cambodians own a mobile phone; 12.5 million were active Internet users (out of a population of 16.4 M); 8.4 million were active social media users; 8.3 million were active Facebook users. Video is the top communication tool that the organizations used to reach specific audiences through storytelling and social media. The findings indicate that targeted media campaigns are the most effective communication and outreach initiatives, followed by celebration of special events, in which video is an effective tool. These campaigns and videos are delivered using Facebook, which is the top social media platform used to reach specific audiences, followed by YouTube and Instagram. The report found that news programs still attract large audiences on TV and radio. Hang Meas is the toprated TV station, followed by PNN and CTN, while ABC ranges among the top programs, followed by RFI/WMC and Vayo respectively. Based on this media mapping exercise, the team found that the USAID Cambodia Green Future Activity should employ an inclusive approach that involves target audiences – whether youth or the broader public – in all phases including design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the project reaches its objectives and goal. Development partners should explore multi-stakeholder strategies to implement project or campaign activities by using multi-platform approaches, such as using a mix of social and traditional channels to optimize reach and impact." (Executive summary)
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"The findings from the study represent a mixed bag. There is much to celebrate—improved quality of life, enhanced productivity owing to factors such as reduced commute time, and, at scale, the evident reduction of the pollution load on the planet. Further, it sheds light on the possibility that gi
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ven the right policy and incentive regimes, telecommuting will enable many more to engage in the productive economy—including those who currently do not participate in the workforce owing to caregiving or other such responsibilities. But there are areas of concern. As ‘leaving for work’ morphed into ‘living at work,’ working hours stretched, and lines between worktime and downtime blurred. A matter of great concern was that inequality manifests itself in yet newer forms—the poor fared far worse than middle- and upper-income earners, taking hits not only on incomes, but also in lacking the wherewithal to participate in the online economy." (Foreword)
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"This edited volume gives voice to pluralised avenues from visual communication and cultural studies regarding the Global South and beyond, including examples from China, India, Cambodia, Brazil, Mexico and numerous other countries. Defining visual communication and culture as an umbrella term that
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encompasses imagery studies, the moving image and non-verbal visual communication, the first three chapters of the book describe de-Westernisation discourse as a way to strengthen emic research and the Global South as both a geographical concept and, even more so, a category of diversity and pluralism. The subsequent regional case study-based chapters draw on various emic theories and methodologies and find a complex arrangement of visuality between sociocultural and sociopolitical practices and institutions." (Publisher description)
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"This report analyses a persistent, large-scale influence campaign linked to Chinese state actors on Twitter and Facebook. This activity largely targeted Chinese-speaking audiences outside of the Chinese mainland (where Twitter is blocked) with the intention of influencing perceptions on key issues,
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including the Hong Kong protests, exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui and, to a lesser extent Covid-19 and Taiwan. Extrapolating from the takedown dataset, to which we had advanced access, given to us by Twitter, we have identified that this operation continues and has pivoted to try to weaponise the US Government’s response to current domestic protests and create the perception of a moral equivalence with the suppression of protests in Hong Kong." (https://www.aspi.org.au)
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