"In Kibera, the biggest slum area in Nairobi and in whole East Africa, the urban slum community radio station Pamoja FM only works for the citizens living within Kibera. We aimed to find out how the youth in Kibera perceive the efficacy of the radio station as a viable source of news and information
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. We wanted to establish how important this radio station is to them as a tool of empowerment and knowledge to the youth. Through semi-structured interviews with the youth in Kibera we carried out a qualitative research study during ten weeks, from October until December in 2011. We walked the field in Kibera to gather as much data as possible, and our findings were very interesting. Key theories used in this study included the participatory communication model, the media dependency model and the uses and gratifications model. The findings indicated that Pamoja FM has a great influence in the community as it is considered the most important source for news and information for the youth in this slum, and provides a platform that meets their needs as active participating audiences to the content supplied by the radio station. The radio is accredited to have changed the citizens´ way of thinking about tribalism since the post-election violence in 2007; the young women have assertively declared their space by playing a more proactive role in the community and audiences are empowered with home-grown problem solving skills that have bettered their lives and in pursuit for peace." (Abstract)
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"This study investigates the role of the diaspora online media as stakeholders in the transnational Ethiopian media landscape. Through content analysis of selected websites and interviews with editors, the research discusses how the sites relate to recognized journalistic ideals and how the editors
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view themselves in regard to journalistic professionalism. It is argued that the journalistic ideals of the diaspora media must be understood towards the particular political conditions in homeland Ethiopia. Highly politicized, the diaspora websites display a marked critical attitude towards the Ethiopian government through an activist journalism approach. The editors differ slightly among themselves in the perception of whether activist journalism is in conflict with ideal-type professional norms, but they justify the practice either because of the less than ideal conditions back home or because they maintain that the combination of activism and professionalism is a forward-looking journalism ideology. The online initiatives of the Ethiopian diaspora are found to prolong media contestations in the homeland as well as reinforcing an ideal-type professional journalism paradigm." (Abstract)
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"In 2006 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST), funded by the UK Department for International Development, conducted research into media in 17 countries across sub-Saharan Africa in order to identify priorities for future media development initiatives. A series of African Media Development Initiativ
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e (AMDI) reports were produced, and this Media Sector Analysis builds on the Somalia component of that work. This analysis has been produced in consultation with media stakeholders and is grounded in a review of previously published material. The report is just one component of a larger media development project being delivered by the BBC WST entitled ‘Strengthening Radio Stations in Somalia to Promote Human Rights, Peace and Governance’ - a two-year project which aims to enhance the reach, levels of audience participation and professional capacity of Somali media. The media, and specifically, radio, is seen as a key local institution well placed to promote individual human and civil rights, freedom of expression and democratic dialogue. The project is informed by a rights perspective, ensuring that actions separately and collectively empower marginalised citizens, in particular, women and young people, to engage in direct dialogue with local authorities and thus have improved access to their civil and political rights. The project comprises two other strands in addition to the Media Sector Analysis: Capacity-building in six Somali radio stations [...]; media-related training for civil society rganisations [...] this report will inform the above project strands, as well as providing a basis for the development of media policy in the Somali region." (Foreword)
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"In 2008, Ethiopian authorities presented a draft policy document which established development journalism as the official reporting style for the state media. The policy prescribes that the media an journalists should play an active role in the country's development scheme. Assigning such a role th
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e the media is controversial-not the least since it is seen to be at odds with media independance and press freedom. The present study discusses the Ethiopian development journalism policy in light of other recognised development journalism models. The study also uses in-depth interviews with journalists in the Ethiopian state media, to consider how the new policy has been received in the newsroom. The overall conclusion is that the journalists are favourable towards development journalism as a professional framework, but they are challenged when they try to convert the framework into actual media practice. The problems are threefold: the ambiguity of development journalism as a concept and practice; the political inclination of the state media; and a lack of participation by the public." (Abstract)
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"Betrachtet man die Beliebtheit und den Hörerzuspruch für Loke Pol, kann man von einem Erfolg des Programmes sprechen. Auch wenn einige Aspekte des Senders Mega FM wie die quasi-Monopolposition die Rezeption des Programmes begünstigen, zählt Loke Pol sowohl in den Augen der Produzenten, angesich
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ts der prominenten Platzierung im Programmplan, und auf der Seite der Hörer durch die hohen Einschaltquoten und hohe Sendungskenntnis zu den populären Formaten. Obwohl insgesamt Nachrichtensendungen häufiger eingeschaltet werden, ist Loke Pol für Informationen zu den beiden Themenkomplexen der Sendung, Reintegration und Rücksiedlung, als Informationsquelle relevanter. Informationen vermittelt über Loke Pol sind für die Hörer zugänglicher und können leichter in Handlungen übersetzt werden, wie sich besonders in den Fokusgruppendiskussionen gezeigt hat.
Daraus lassen sich drei Schlüsse ziehen. Erstens kann Loke Pol erfolgreich sein, dieser Erfolg aber nicht auf das Format EE übertragbar sein. Zweitens kann der spezielle Kontext, in dem das Programm eingesetzt wird, unterstützend wirken, aber ein ähnliches Programm wäre in einem anderen Kontext nicht erfolgreich. Drittens können Evaluationsmethoden nicht sensibel genug gewesen sein, um sämtliche Effekte zu erfassen. Schlussfolgerung Nummer eins kann sicherlich bestätigt werden. Zwar sind die Ergebnisse für Loke Pol ein Hinweis darauf, dass das EE-Format wirken kann. Jedoch ist es kein Hinweis darauf, dass es wirken muss. Effekte können nicht nur dem Format EE direkt zugeordnet werden, sondern ergeben sich erst aus dem Zusammenwirken von Sendungsformat und Kontext. Dies wird deutlich, wenn man die „Extremen“ bei den Hörergruppen, nämlich Frauen, über 45-Jährige und Jugendliche betrachtet. Die zweite Schlussfolgerung trifft im Falle von Loke Pol in dem Sinne zu, dass der Kontext unterstützend auf die Rezeption und Popularität wirkt. Der Kontext, in den die Sendung eingebettet ist, unterstützt in zweierlei Form die Rezeption. Zum einen begünstigt die Ausgestaltung der nordugandischen Medienlandschaft die Loke Pol Einschaltquoten. So spielt die geringe Menge an Lokalnachrichten in den Nachrichtensendungen der Sender Gulus eine Rolle. Die einfachere Zugänglichkeit der Informationen aus Loke Pol hängt sicherlich auch nicht nur mit Formatbedingten Aspekten der Darstellung, sondern auch mit einer größeren inhaltlichen Nähe für das Alltagsleben der Hörer zusammen. Zudem wirken der offizielle Diskurs und das politische Klima fördernd auf die Unterstützung der Botschaft. Regierung und ein Großteil der NROs in Norduganda unterstützen die Rücksiedlungsprozesse." (Fazit, Seiten 75-76)
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"Kenya’s liberalisation of the airwaves since the mind-1990s has resulted in the transformation of broadcasting with numerous stations now serving as a platform for information and public debate. This has promoted a culture of participation in the democratic process, and has impacted positively to
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ward good governance. However, the report, written by Grace Githaiga, does argue the need for media laws and regulations on the statute books to align with the country’s new constitution; top amongst which, is the urgent need for a new Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Act. The report provides evidence showing that KBC is both by law and practice, controlled by government, and is used largely to promote the interest of government alone. This, the report further states, goes against the Declaration of Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa, which espouses for state broadcasters to be transformed into public broadcasters, independent of government and free from political and economic manipulation." (www.afrimap.org)
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"Serious communication gaps between the humanitarian sector and refugees in Dadaab, Kenya, are increasing refugee suffering and putting lives at risk. There are clear indications that these information gaps are hampering the aid response and that despite important efforts from individual agencies, c
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urrent communication strategies for affected communities are not working as effectively as they could, and critical coordination needs to be improved. These are the clear indications from the joint Communications Needs Assessment led by Internews in collaboration with Star FM and Radio Ergo/IMS and with support from NRC. The assessment included an extensive survey of more than 600 refugees in all three of Dadaab’s camps. Overall results from the survey show that large numbers of refugees don’t have the information they need to access basic aid: More than 70% of newly-arrived refugees say they lack information on how to register for aid and similar numbers say they need information on how to locate missing family members. High figures are also recorded for lack of information on how to access health, shelter, how to communicate with family outside the camps and more." (Executive summary, page 4)
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"This report presents the author's experiences regarding the relation of international interventions and local institutions in the (post-)conflict countries of Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, Sudan and Afghanistan. Haselock states that media reforms are most successful where they are the result of partnership
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s with local stakeholders, or where local professionals and the civil society have taken ownership of the peacebuilding process. This approach involves international planners having a high understanding of the social and cultural situation and the conditions of the conflict. Therefore, they need to be part of two-way communication, where they are regarded as learners, following a "you know best", instead of a "we know best" approach. However, Haselock shows that foreign implementers often do not include local stakeholders enough, evoking refusal of international peacebuilding interventions." (commbox)
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"A Media Minefield details how Ugandan authorities have brought charges against over 30 journalists, revoked or suspended the broadcasting licenses of several radio stations, and practiced other forms of partisan repression of the media over the last several years. When violent riots erupted in Kamp
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ala in September 2009, the government closed four radio stations, arrested and abused a prominent talk show moderator, beat and detained journalists attempting to record the unfolding events, and banned the broadcast of open-air public debates indefinitely. The national regulatory body that carried out the radio closures and the broadcast bans is, contrary to international standards, not independent of government interference and takes punitive action against stations without any regard for due process. Authorities in rural districts subsequently echoed the government’s actions in the capital, harassing and threatening journalists with violence, arrest, or closure of their stations for reporting on politics, the opposition, and other sensitive local issues. Self-censorship due to fears of overt or covert state sanction has had a “chilling effect” on political reporting, particularly on stations broadcasting in local languages outside of Kampala." (Back cover)
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"Copyright laws and policies cover many controversial issues that are linked to different disciplines, in science, culture, technology, economics, law and other fields. The concepts and issues in the field are also approached from different perspectives and with different political and economic agen
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das, sometimes in a misleading context, and often in an imprecise manner. For this reason, policymaking in the area of copyright, particularly in developing countries, has at best been guesswork and at worst uninformed. At the international level, debates and rule-making on copyright, as with other IP, are punctuated with propaganda, anecdotes and dogma. This is what Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and others have called ‘faith-based’ policymaking. Evidence to justify particular policies or laws is rare. Evidence of the real world impact of specific copyright or, for that matter, other IP laws or policies, is almost unheard of. The ACA2K project is unique because the work summarised in this book provides evidence both for policymaking and of the impacts of copyright in the real world. But this book, and the work of the ACA2K project, is not pioneering only because of the illuminating findings in all the eight study countries. It is pioneering also because of the replicable research methodology developed, and the interdisciplinary collaboration in an area that is usually seen as a preserve of lawyers. The project is also of immense importance because of its focus on education and learning materials in Africa, where copyright is always associated with the positive aspects of promoting African music and culture. This research tells us that while copyright laws and policies might have positive effects in one sector, the same is not necessarily universally true. Other project outcomes, such as building networked research capacity on the areas of IP, knowledge governance and development, and the exploratory work on examining the gender aspects of copyright and access, are also ground-breaking." (Foreword)
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"This report provides an overview of the discussions and conclusions from the International Partnership Meeting in New York on 26 January 2010 organised by the Open Society Institute and International Media Support. At the meeting, 30 media support and press freedom organisations from across the wor
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ld met to discuss partnerships and countries in which the partnership process might be pursued in 2010. Nine target countries in 2010 were selected for partnership action in 2010." (IMS website)
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