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Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories

Michael Butter, Peter Knight (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2020), xx, 680 pp.

"Taking a global and interdisciplinary approach, the Routledge Handbook of Conspiracy Theories provides a comprehensive overview of conspiracy theories as an important social, cultural and political phenomenon in contemporary life. This handbook provides the most complete analysis of the phenomenon ... more

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A Review on the Safety of Journalists in Turkey: A Victims' Rights Perspective

Bora Ataman, Baris Çoban, Özlem Erkmen

In: Handbook of Research on Combating Threats to Media Freedom and Journalist Safety

Sadia Jamil (ed.)

Hershey, PA: IGI Global (2020), pp. 148-171

"In the neoliberal media autocracy of Turkey, mass media are propaganda tools rather than the public watchdogs. The coup attempt in 2016 gave the government additional power to institutionalise this regime. Critical journalists have become the enemies of the state and suffered from threats from vari ... more

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Women Journalists in Local Media: Major Struggles and Proposals for Solutions

Dilek Içten, Yunus Erduran

Media Research Association (MEDAR) (2020), 45 pp.

"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 ... more

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Supporting Media for Democracy (2013-2019)
Deep Insights

Brussels: European Endowment for Democracy (EED) (2019), 20 pp.

"This publication presents EED’s work in the area of independent media, and reflects on lessons learned in six years of media and democracy support. It offers an analysis of the worrying trends and challenges faced by media today and calls for an urgent re-set in thinking about donor support to me ... more

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Media, Freedom of Speech, and Democracy in the EU and Beyond

Angelos Giannakpoulos (ed.)

Tel Aviv University, S. Daniel Abraham Center for International and Regional Studies (2019), 158 pp.

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Women and Puppetry: Critical and Historical Investigations

Alissa Mello, Claudia Orenstein, Cariad Astles (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2019), 222 pp.

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Media Influence Matrix: Kazakhstan. Funding Journalism

Adil Nussipov

Budapest: Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) (2019), 26 pp.

"Only three of the ten most popular television channels in Kazakhstan are not government-owned. Former President Nursultan Nazarbayev directly or through his family, also owns television channels. For example, KTK, the second most watched television channel in the country is run by the Foundation of ... the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan-Elbasy. Another popular television channel, NTK, is owned directly by a Nazarbayev family member. Nazarbayev resigned in March 2019, but political analysts say that he did so to be able, before he dies, to supervise a smooth transition to a new regime that will continue his policies, ensuring centralization of political control and preventing criticism of authorities as Nazarbayev did during his 29-year tenure. When it comes to online news, the Government owns three of the 10 most visited websites: Kazinform.kz, Bnews.kz and 24.kz. In fact, none of the most popular news portals in Kazakhstan are independent and truly free of government control. For example, TengriNews.kz, one of the most read news websites is owned by the company Alash Media Group, which is known for promoting a strong pro-government narrative. The foreign influence in Kazakhstan’s media landscape is limited as foreigners can own only 20% of a media company. That being said, the Russian influence in the Kazakh media is notable. The most popular television channel in the country, Eurasia, jointly owned by the governments of Kazakhstan and Russia, is known for promoting a heavy pro-Russian agenda on world affairs. Another popular television channel, Channel 31 (31 Kanal) is co-owned by Bulat Utemuratov, a wealthy local businessman, and the Russian-funded STS Media Holding. Kenes Rakishev, another entrepreneur, owner of Channel Seven (Sedmoy Kanal), is also a partner in Fastlane Ventures, a prominent Russian venture fund that usually invests in internet companies. The Government is by far the largest funder in the media, with over €144m spent in cash dished out to media companies in 2017, more than the overall ad spend in Kazakhstan, according to industry estimates. Most of the government funding goes to government-owned media companies or privately held outlets that show support of the Government. For example, in television, the biggest chunk of government cash is spent on financing Khabar and Qazaqstan, two government-owned channels. In such a centralized media environment in which the Government plays a disproportionately big role, there is hardly any space for independent journalism. Owned by a civil society activist and journalist, Vlast.kz is arguably the sole truly independent news website among the 10 most visited websites in the country. There are other independent news media such as Azattyq, the local service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, but their audience is much smaller." (Page 4) more

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Trust in the Media

Ipsos (2019), 48 pp.

"People across 27 countries are divided on whether they trust traditional media (magazines and newspapers, TV and radio). These sources are equally trusted as they are distrusted. However, levels of trust in media sources vary greatly at the country level. Trust in traditional media is perceived to ... more

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Digital News Report 2019

Nic Newman, Richard Fletcher, Antonis Kalogeropoulos, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (eds.)

Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2019), 153 pp.

"Despite the efforts of the news industry, we find only a small increase in the numbers paying for any online news – whether by subscription, membership, or donation. Growth is limited to a handful of countries mainly in the Nordic region (Norway 34%, Sweden 27%) while the number paying in the US ... (16%) remains stable after a big jump in 2017. • Even in countries with higher levels of payment, the vast majority only have ONE online subscription – suggesting that ‘winner takes all’ dynamics are likely to be important. One encouraging development though is that most payments are now ‘ongoing’, rather than one-offs. In some countries, subscription fatigue may also be setting in, with the majority preferring to spend their limited budget on entertainment (Netflix/Spotify) rather than news. With many seeing news as a ‘chore’, publishers may struggle to substantially increase the market for high-priced ‘single title’ subscriptions. As more publishers launch pay models, over two-thirds (70%) of our sample in Norway and half (50%) in the United States now come across one or more barriers each week when trying to read online news. In many countries, people are spending less time with Facebook and more time with WhatsApp and Instagram than this time last year. Few users are abandoning Facebook entirely, though, and it remains by far the most important social network for news. Social communication around news is becoming more private as messaging apps continue to grow everywhere. WhatsApp has become a primary network for discussing and sharing news in non-Western countries like Brazil (53%) Malaysia (50%), and South Africa (49%). People in these countries are also far more likely than in the West to be part of large WhatsApp groups with people they don’t know – a trend that reflects how messaging applications can be used to easily share information at scale, potentially encouraging the spread of misinformation. Public and private Facebook Groups discussing news and politics have become popular in Turkey (29%) and Brazil (22%) but are much less used in Western countries such as Canada (7%) or Australia (7%). Concern about misinformation and disinformation remains high despite efforts by platforms and publishers to build public confidence. In Brazil 85% agree with a statement that they are worried about what is real and fake on the internet." (Summary, page 9) more

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Diaspora: Netzwerke globaler Gemeinschaften

Caroline Y. Robertson-von Trotha (ed.)

Karlsruhe: KIT Scientific Publishing; Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) (2019), iv, 212 pp.

"Menschen gemeinsamer Herkunft, die verstreut über verschiedene Staaten leben, sind Inbegriffe gelebter Transnationalität. Als Diasporagemeinschaften bilden sie globale Netzwerke. Interdisziplinäre Beiträge aus Wissenschaft und Kulturarbeit bündeln, fotografisch gestützt, die Inhalte zweier WI ... more

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Christen im Nahen Osten: Zwischen Martyrium und Exodus
Deep Insights

Matthias Vogt

Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft (wbg) (2019), 477 pp.

"2018: Irakische Christen kehren in ihre Dörfer zurück, aus denen der „Islamische Staat“ sie vier Jahre vorher vertrieben hatte. Hundert Jahre zuvor hatten Christen in der Region schon einmal alles neu aufbauen müssen. Während des Ersten Weltkriegs waren in Anatolien Hunderttausende vertrieb ... more

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Journalism: 'A Peacekeeping Agent' at the Time of Conflict

Yasemin Giritli Inceoglu, Tirse Erbaysal Filibeli (eds.)

Boston: Brill (2019), xxii, 217 pp.

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Information Flows and Radicalization Leading to Violent Extremism in Central Asia

Search for Common Ground; Internews (2019), 77 pp.

"The study is comprised of three main parts: a desk study of available and accessible material – reports, documents and media material; a qualitative study comprising over 200 interviews with ordinary people, experts, and persons with direct experience with radicalization leading to violent extrem ... ism (RVE); and a quantitative component consisting of national surveys of people’s information consumption habits. For the desk study, the effort was made to gain as broad a picture as possible, that is, to cover all five countries of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. However, predictably and unfortunately, Uzbekistan and especially Turkmenistan proved difficult cases to study in full. For both the qualitative and quantitative field research activities, for several reasons, only the first three countries were included. As a result, this study is able to report most robustly on these three countries and propose observations regarding Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan only to a limited extent. Based on the desk study, the drivers of extremist sympathies as established in existing research have been political grievances (injustice from state structures; identity-based discrimination; oppressive political regimes, etc), economic difficulties (unemployment; indebtedness; poverty; and desire for quick and greater income) and ideological motivations (resentment of false values; striving for the singularly just and true life; for reward in a perceived afterlife). To these push and pull factors are added a range of enabling factors, such as migration, young age, gender (women), and means of communication. All these drivers of RVE need to be treated with caution, as stressed by various authors and suggested by evidence gained in field research. A general observation, gained from the desk research and supported by evidence in both qualitative and quantitative field studies, was the difference among the countries in degree of control over the information space, or the degree of hegemony over public discourse. Of the three most fully studied countries, hegemonic discourse was the strongest in Tajikistan, followed by Kazakhstan, and the least in Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan, analyzed to a limited extent, would be closer to the extreme of Tajikistan, whereas Turkmenistan was too closed to make reasonably robust observations." (Page 3) more

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Money - Power - Stereotypes: Does Gender Equality in the Media Really Matter? International Comparative Gender Study in Georgia, Moldova and Russia

Kalmar: Fojo Media Institute; Russian Academy of Sciences (ISESP RAS) (2019), 19 pp.

"One interesting trend to follow is the feminisation of the journalism profession. The trend is global but especially prominent in the countries covered by this study: the findings indicate that the gender balance is shifting in Moldova and Georgia, whereas women are now dominating among media profe ... ssionals in general in Russia and Belarus. According to the experts interviewed this is not a result of a growing sector with more women coming in but rather about an outflow of men. It seems like the journalistic profession has become less attractive (to men) due to economic restraints (lower wages) and political pressure that makes it harder to exercise independent journalism. Judging from the gender ratio in enrollment for higher education in journalism and communication (over 70 per cent women in some European countries), this trend is likely to carry on. If the curve of this graph will not change we will (again) end up with a skewed gender balance and need to consider possible implications for diversity of voices and what stories are told. The study also confirms that women are taking on more of decision-making roles, especially in regional and in independent media (in Georgia and Moldova there is no gender asymmetry according to the study). However, there is still a gender gap when it comes to distribution of power in national media with high circulation/audience, likely related to the fact that the most influential media are still most often managed by men. Interestingly enough, female respondents in Moldova had low career expectations, although in practice the study indicates that women have better chances of building a career in the media than men. In Georgia, on the other hand, female media professionals are often overqualified, and show the most dissatisfaction with their jobs. The much-debated issue of sexual harassment at work is also covered by the study. In Russia on average three out of ten of the respondents claimed to have experienced sexual harassment in job related environments. Overall, the results of the survey indicate that the journalistic profession is quite dangerous for women, because they risk being subjected to sexual harassment literally everywhere, by colleagues or superiors at the office, as well as while reporting on the ground." (Preface) more

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Media Influence Matrix: Kyrgyzstan. Funding Journalism

Gulnura Toralieva

Budapest: Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) (2019), 22 pp.

"The media sector in Kyrgyzstan is heavily dominated by the government through both ownership and funding. The government funds a large pool of state-owned media companies, including newspapers, radio broadcasters and the public service operator KTRK. According to our estimates, the government spent ... more

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Transnational Othering – Global Diversities: Media, Extremism and Free Expression
Deep Insights

Elisabeth Eide, Kristin Skare Orgeret, Nil Mutluer (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2019), 332 pp.

Digital security awareness and practices of journalists in Turkey: A descriptive study

Behlül Çaliskan

Conflict & Communication Online, volume 18, issue 1 (2019), pp. 1-16

"This study aims to measure the level of digital security awareness of journalists in Turkey who use digital technology in the course of their work. In the study, research questions are answered using data collected by means of an online survey in relation to the digital security risks faced, the ex ... more

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Safety of Journalists Covering Conflict & Sensitive Issues

Kristin Skare Orgeret, Roy Krøvel (eds.)

Conflict & Communication Online, volume 18, issue 1 (2019), 103 pp.

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Médiations et migrations

Paris: L'Harmattan (2019), 308 pp.

"Le phénomène migratoire, engendré tantôt par les guerres et les crises politiques et tantôt par des situations économiques difficiles, occupe actuellement le devant de la scène médiatique et provoque le débat politique sur les deux rives de la Méditerranée. Une vingtaine d'auteurs se son ... more

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Global Information Society Watch 2019. Artificial Intelligence: Human Rights, Social Justice and Development
Deep Insights

Association for Progressive Communications (APC); Article 19; Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) (2019), 87 pp.

"Artificial intelligence (AI) is now receiving unprecedented global attention as it finds widespread practical application in multiple spheres of activity. But what are the human rights, social justice and development implications of AI when used in areas such as health, education and social service ... more

Supporting Media for Democracy (2013-2019) Deep Insights

Christen im Nahen Osten: Zwischen Martyrium und Exodus Deep Insights

Transnational Othering – Global Diversities: Media, Extremism and Free Expression Deep Insights

Global Information Society Watch 2019. Artificial Intelligence: Human Rights, Social Justice and Development Deep Insights

Supporting Media for Democracy (2013-2019)
Deep Insights

Christen im Nahen Osten: Zwischen Martyrium und Exodus
Deep Insights

Transnational Othering – Global Diversities: Media, Extremism and Free Expression
Deep Insights

Global Information Society Watch 2019. Artificial Intelligence: Human Rights, Social Justice and Development
Deep Insights