"This publication gives an account of Britons who feel themselves to be the target of antagonism. A joint enterprise of the British Council and a number of Muslim organisations, the book is written in the belief that much hostility and negativity is founded in, and fostered by, misunderstanding. It
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is neither paranoid nor rose-tinted. It does not presume that agreement in all things is possible; but it does work on the basis that disagreement – as long as it is shaped by sound knowledge rather than prejudice – can be useful, constructive, civilised and civilising for the whole of our society. Those in Britain and around the world who write about this country and its people sometimes need reminding that ‘we’ include almost two million Muslims. This is the basis of a new sense of ourselves – even perhaps a much-debated new sense of ‘Britishness’ – and it is important to ensure that it includes all of us." (Introduction)
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"The author describes how the function of Lithuanian media has changed in different historical phases - due to changing political, economic and cultural conditions. The aim is to show how innovations, e.g. technological innovations, new media structures or cultural patterns, entered Lithuanian media
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and at the same time linked them to the changes that took place on the international level. It will be shown how Lithuanian journalism has formed its specifics to meet numerous changes in the national environment. The contemporary Lithuanian media situation is measured against the normative ideal of democratization and a journalistic culture is described that has survived in the historical development of media as institutions within specific social millieus. The overview follows a comparative approach based on the idea that a national perspective is too narrow. Therefore, the development of Lithuanian media is partly compared, partly contrasted with the changes that have occurred in relations with neighboring countries, especially Latvia and Estonia. The main task is to describe the peculiarities - with the aim not to comment on them, but to understand them." (Publisher description)
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"The fact that people are not well-informed about the EU is well documented. In the new member states taken as a whole, a Eurobarometer survey showed that at the time of the referenda (Autumn 2003) 60% of the population felt not very well or not at all informed about the enlargement process, while 5
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6% said the same for their own country’s accession process. In the pre-existing member states (EU15), on the eve of enlargement 69% of the population said they were not very well or not at all informed about enlargement. Eurobarometer also found that less than a third of people in the EU as a whole (EU25) knew in 2003 that the Convention on the Future of Europe was producing a draft Constitutional Treaty, and in 2004 - as preparations for national ratifi cation were under way - that only a similarly low proportion could say they felt well or rather well informed about the draft Constitution. These proportions are very close to the proportion of people who say they feel informed about the EU. In Spring 2005 Eurobarometer asked “how much do you feel you know about the EU, its policies, its institutions?” with each respondent giving a self assessment on a scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high). Th e average was 4.4, with only 29% claiming to be at least fairly well informed (scale 6 to 10)." (Summary, page 5)
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"Written by both leading academic authorities and by Muslim media practitioners, 'Muslims and the Media' is designed as a comprehensive and critical textbook and is set in both the British and international contexts. The book clearly establishes the links between context, content, production and aud
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iences thus reflecting the entire cycle of the communication process and revealing the ways in which meaning is produced and reproduced in the news media. Looking closely at the circumstances and politics surrounding the representation of Muslims across a wide range of journalistic genres, at the presence and influence of Muslims in the processes of news production, and the ways in which audiences, both Muslim and non-Muslim, consume this media, the book brings together coherently a wide range of perspectives to provide crucial insights into the representation - and misrepresentation - of Islam and Muslims today." (Publisher description)
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"This chapter recalls and evaluates international intervention in Macedonia's media landscape immediately after the violent conflict in the country in 2001. It focuses in particular on the media component of the Confidence Building Initiative (CBI), funded by USAID's Office for Transition Initiative
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and implemented by the International Organization of Migration (IOM), and the chapter draws on my own experience in this field. I headed IOM's media office during that period and worked with other international organizations in Macedonia before and after the conflict. Having had this extensive in-Country engagement allows me to reflect on the long-term effectiveness and impact of CBI by looking at the same media environment some years later. I conclude by arguing that two key changes to the program's approach - greater attention to market forces and greater flexibility in working with public or "state" media - would have ensured more long-term positive impact and would have assisted in furthering overall media development." (Page 125)
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"This book aims to provide a descriptive and analytical account of subsidy policies for periodical publications in Western Europe in 2006. It sets out the position of the policymakers who design and implement such policies, of sector industrial federations and of academics specialised in media polic
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ies and economics, as presented at the First International Symposium Press Subsidies in Europe: Development, Pluralism and Transparency, held in Barcelona on 19 and 20 June, 2006, and promoted and organised by the Catalan Government (Generalitat de Catalunya via the Communication Secretariat, the Catalan Institute for the Cultural Industries and Patronat Català Pro Europa) and by the Institute of Communication of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona." (Back cover)
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"This report records and analyzes the results of a study in which partners of the Justice Initiative in 14 countries filed a total of 1,926 requests for information. In each country, seven different requesters twice submitted up to 70 questions to 18 public institutions. Requesters included NGOs, jo
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urnalists, business persons, non-affiliated persons, and members of excluded groups, such as illiterate or disabled persons or those from vulnerable minorities. The requests were for the types of information that public bodies hold—or should hold." (Summary of findings, page 11)
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"Das Heidelberger Institut Sinus Sociovision hat im Auftrag der Medien-Dienstleistung GmbH (MDG) "Religiöse und kirchliche Orientierungen in den Sinus-Milieus 2005" erforscht und die Ergebnisse in einem "Milieuhandbuch" zusammengefasst. Qualitative Studien wie diese haben hauptsächlich heuristisch
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e Funktion. Die nachfolgenden Beiträge versuchen, ihr Inspirationspotential auszuloten. Zunächst stellt Helmut Haimerl, Projektleiter der MDG, Fragestellung, Konzeption, methodische Durchführung und Hauptergebnisse der Studie vor. Diese steht in der Tradition anderer Sinus-Erhebungen, mit denen seit mehr als zwei Jahrzehnten die Lebenswelten ("Milieus") der deutschen Bevölkerung untersucht werden. Die zehn Milieus, die die Studie herauspräpariert, sind hauptsächlich durch ähnliche Lebensziele, Wertprioritäten, Lebensstile und ästhetische Präferenzen bestimmt. Die Untersuchung arbeitet mit bewährten Methoden der qualitativen Sozialforschung (Einzelexplorationen und Gruppendiskussionen); ein Anspruch auf Repräsentativität im quantitativen Sinne wird dabei nicht erhoben. Die Resultate zeigen, dass die katholische Kirche im traditionellen Wertesegment verankert ist, während sie in den moderneren Segmenten nur klischeehaft wahrgenommen oder sogar ignoriert wird. Allerdings gibt es in diversen Milieus durchaus Anknüpfungspunkte für eine zielgruppenorientierte Kommunikation, die im Einzelnen benannt werden. Der Religionssoziologe Michael N. Ebertz unternimmt den Versuch, den Milieu-Ansatz des Sinus-Instituts im Rückgriff auf Kategorien Karl Mannheims wissenssoziologisch zu verorten. Die Ergebnisse der Studie prüft er gemäß der bewährten Lebensregel Sehen- Urteilen- Handeln. Dabei konstatiert er eine Milieuverengung bei einem Großteil der kirchlichen Medienprodukte und plädiert für eine milieusensible Kommunikationsstrategie. Die folgenden Beiträge, verfasst von Medienpraktikern und Medienexperten, durchmustern die Feststellungen und Empfehlungen des "Milieuhandbuchs" im Hinblick auf Erkenntnis- und Entwicklungspotenziale für einzelne Medienbereiche." (Seiten 226-227)
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