"The promotion of gender equality among journalists is a key objective of the SAMSN gender project going forward in 2014. The roundtables and the gender networking conference discussed strategies and campaigns that could address the issues faced by women in South Asia. The conference also put forwar
...
d a common Gender Charter, from a charter adopted in Sri Lanka in 2006 that can clearly set out minimum standards, principles and actions needed to underpin gender equity in media and outline a practical program of action to support the achievement of equality in media workplaces, journalist organisations and the media itself." (Conclusion)
more
"The article identifies the drivers of media attention for climate change in three countries: Australia, Germany and India. It calculates the monthly amount of climate change-related coverage in two leading newspapers for each country in relation to all articles published in the respective newspaper
...
s over a 15-year time span (1996–2010). Based on an explanatory model derived from agenda setting theory, punctuated equilibrium theory and multiple streams theory, it uses time series regression analysis to assess the influence of weather and climate characteristics as well as various social events and feedbacks on issue attention. The results show that weather and climate characteristics are no important drivers for issue attention in two of the three countries, and that societal activity, particularly international climate summits and the agenda building efforts from international non-governmental organizations, has stronger impacts on issue attention." (Abstract)
more
"The ICT sector is one of few undeniable success stories in Afghanistan’s development over the past 12 years. In 2002, telecommunications services were virtually non-existent, restricted to a very small number of fixed-line connections and satellite communications were unaffordable to the general
...
public. In 2014, four GSM operators and two fixed-line and code CDMA operators provide affordable access to telecommunications to 88% of the population, and about 3 million Afghans are connected to the Internet. This has been achieved thanks to commitments of national and international investors as well as a good public and private governance of the sector creating an enabling environment, including but not limited to policies, laws, and a transparent licensing regime." (Abstract)
more
"TV is the main information platform by far, but the importance of individual channels varies by region and modes of access. Population is divided between those with access to non-State TV and those without. While most express generic satisfaction with media, actual opinions about specific channels
...
vary. At the national level, the impact of digital media remains modest, and electronic data sharing is still a niche phenomenon. There is a huge gender disparity regarding access to Internet and mobile." (Conclusions, page 43)
more
"Youth in this study treat new media and technologies as one limited component of otherwise rich lives and social experiences. While new technologies promote individualistic mobility, Indian youth of small towns and rural places still live in collective social structures that shape their orientation
...
s. New media are at the periphery of their lives, as these youth have strong interpersonal connections that are rooted in geographic proximity and active school experiences." (Abstract)
more
"Why was there in the year 2000 a significant shift in the representation of families on Indian soap operas, from middle-class nuclear families with independent working women to upper-class joint families with only homemakers; and from milieus in which the religion of the characters was incidental,
...
to milieus in which the Hindu religion and the performance of it was of central importance? I argue that a confluence of three forces enabled these shifts: (1) in marketing, a radical 'bottom-of-the-pyramid' approach; (2) in TV, the industry's attempts to find audiences in large numbers, mediated by the structure of the Indian audience measurement system; and (3) Hindu nationalists' focus on 'middle-class' audiences. In other words, I show how the very structure of the audience marketplace, especially the Indian television audience measurement system and shifts in marketing practices, abets the naturalization of particular political discourses within popular cultural forms, in this case Hindu nationalist discourse within television soap opera." (Abstract)
more
"Farida Nekzad leitet die Nachrichtenagentur Wakht in Afghanistan. Im Message-Interview erklärt sie, unter welchen Gefahr Journalistinnen in ihrem Land arbeiten und welche Medien Warlords bevorzugen." (Einleitung)
"This report analyses the findings of a follow-up survey of child-related news contents, in newspapers with an aim to assess the coverage trend and its ethical standards. The survey monitored 10 national-level mainstream dailies over a year (January 2013 to December 2013). A secondary set of data fr
...
om the arena of general news was analysed in order to explore the impacts of inappropriate news content on children. An introduction to the ethical concerns of news coverage in the context of children is provided. This follow-up content analysis takes into account the findings of previous two studies on the same subject. One was a baseline study monitoring media over three consecutive months in 2009. And the other, a follow-up study, covered six fortnights spread across a year (June 2010 to May 2011). This exercise began on the premise that journalists can play a strong role in ensuring the wellbeing of children and in minimising any potential harm to them from news consumption. The comprehensive trend finds a lack of planned focus and consequently, insufficient news coverage of children and their interests or affairs to be a key problem. Dominance of surface coverage of events and issues, inadequacies of reportorial enterprise and a dearth of in-depth coverage appear to be major problems. Insensitivity to the issues of portrayal and dignity, lack of thought to the safety and security of children in sensitive situations, and inconsideration of potential negative impacts of gruesome depictions on child consumers of news could also be noted in the general trend of coverage. However, between 2009 and 2013, a few positive changes can be traced even if disjointedly and sporadically." (Abstract)
more
"This dissertation is a study about the growth and development of media in Afghanistan and its role and contribution to national and international collective efforts to build a modern, stable and democratic Afghanistan in the last decade. In pursuing my dissertation, I have examined the Afghan media
...
landscape by focusing on the regulatory environment, the type and breadth of broadcast and print media, the role of donors and foreign aid and the extent to which media has a played a role in fostering democracy in the country. The dissertation concludes with analyzing the future of Afghan media and freedom of expression following the departure of foreign forces and international community at the end of 2014 and their impact on sustainability of media in light of support they have received from the outside world. The dissertation concludes that, while there are challenges ahead, Afghan media has benefited from a decade of foreign assistance, has contributed to fostering democracy in Afghanistan and can stand on its own with the decline of foreign aid to Afghanistan in the future." (Abstract)
more
"This publication analyzes the ways in which health services, public health administration, and healthcare policies are managed in developing countries and how intercultural, intergroup, and mass communication practices are weakening those efforts. If developing countries are to reach their developm
...
ent goals, their leaders must have a firm understanding of the impact of infectious diseases on their people and take prompt action to fix socioeconomic issues arising from the problems associated with poor health practices. Drawing on experiences from international health organizations such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), commissioned in poor countries to assist national governments in improving the wellbeing of their citizens, this volume analyzes maternal and child mortality and the spread of infectious diseases, and offers communication strategies for the management of malaria, HIV Aids, Polio, tuberculosis, and others in Somalia, Madagascar, Ghana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and India." (Publisher description)
more