"Trust is a societal value that is difficult to gain and easy to lose. This article deals with the levels of trust that journalists working in eight post-authoritarian and post-totalitarian countries (Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Latvia, South Africa and Tanzania) have i
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n various social institutions using data from the present Worlds of Journalism Study. In each country, results showed the level of trust in journalists’ own institution—the media—is higher than the level of trust in both political and regulative institutions. The expression of low trust, particularly in regulative institutions, in the sampled countries represents significantly different results from previous studies about journalists’ trust in countries with longer democratic traditions." (Abstract)
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"This year we have evidence of the growth of distributed (offsite) news consumption, a sharpening move to mobile and we can reveal the full extent of ad-blocking worldwide. These three trends in combination are putting further severe pressure on the business models of both traditional publishers and
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new digital-born players – as well as changing the way in which news is packaged and distributed." (Overview & key findings)
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"In Tschechien ist die Qualitätspresse in einer schwierigen Lage. Der Markt ist klein, die Kosten sind hoch und die Erträge bescheiden. Zeitungen und Nachrichtenmagazine werden ihrem Anspruch, seriöse Berichterstattung zu bieten, oft nicht gerecht. Die Verantwortung für die Boulevardisierung war
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lange den ausländischen, überwiegend deutschen Medienhäusern zugeschrieben worden, die in den 1990er Jahren in Tschechien investiert und den Pressemarkt dominiert hatten. Seit der Weltwirtschaftskrise 2008 haben sich diese Investoren zurückgezogen, die neuen Eigentümer sind meist tschechische Großunternehmer. Doch die Qualität der Berichterstattung ist nicht zwangsläufig besser geworden. Die Frage, wie frei die Presse ist, stellt sich vielmehr noch dringlicher. Dies gilt insbesondere für die Erzeugnisse aus dem Hause MAFRA, das dem Agrofert-Konzern des Großunternehmers und Finanzministers Andrej Babiš gehört." (Abstract)
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"Of the 939 identified main media literacy stakeholders, over a third were categorised as “civil society” (305), followed by “public authorities” (175) and “academia” (161). Over two-thirds of them do not have a statutory responsibility in this area and base their involvement on a differ
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ent motivation. 189 networks were identified and the vast majority of them (135) are operating at national level. Since the level of activity differs a lot between countries, of the maximum of 580 projects (20 possible projects for each of the 29 respondents, but not all of them were able to detect 20), only 547 were identified. The most common project type is “resources” (173); the second is “end-user engagement” (107). These two together account for more than half of all analysed projects, showing that providing frontline support to citizens is a priority. As to the a ddressed media literacy skills, “critical thinking” was the clear winner, being dealt with by 403 of the 547 projects, followed by “media use” (385). This trend is also confirmed by the case study analysis of the most significant 145 projects, which also feature projects on “intercultural dialogue” (46 of 145), including skills around challenging radicalisation and hate speech online." (Executive summary, page 3-4)
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"In this issue we discuss some of the arguments and debates related to the highly charged and topical issue of Russia’s strategic narrative and how it is disseminated. Propaganda, in numerous forms, creates a barrier to more constructive engagement and dialogue. This issue’s contributors find th
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at Russia’s narrative is based on notions of encirclement by the West as part of a deliberate containment strategy that Russia feels duty bound to resist if it is to remain a great power. The West, for its part, acknowledges Russia’s power status and its legitimate right to seek such status, but questions the means it uses to that end. Propaganda constructs an artificial information reality and sows doubt by questioning the very existence of objective, reliable and credible facts. It can mobilize popular support against an external threat, as well as toward a positive goal. Propaganda thrives when notions of journalistic objectivity are sacrificed. The notion that there must be two sides to any given issue or event can undermine rational conclusions when one side relies on the power of implausible denials and direct lies. “You have your truth, and I have mine” is the mantra and motto of contemporary Russian information warfare." (Director's letter, page 4)
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"The differences between the most and least important roles according to Czech journalists are very big. While almost 100 percent of journalists viewed their role to “report things as they are” as very or even the most important, only 1.4 percent of interviewed journalists perceived “support o
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f government policy” to be very important. The second most important perceived journalistic role to “be a detached observer” falls in accordance with the liberal Western tradition of journalism implemented in the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution as the normative ideal. Still, there was quite a strong tendency to educate the audience among the sampled Czech journalists. On the other hand, journalists did not consider it important to be an adversary of the government or to motivate others to participate in political activity. In general, we can say that Czech journalists convey a normative view of media as a place where non-distorted events are presented and information necessary for political decisions as well as for everyday life management can be exchanged." (Journalistic roles, page 2)
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"This report gives forecasts for online video spend and consumption, where available, for 40 markets in which online video is at varying stages of development. From markets such as Singapore, where 85% of the population claims to access online video (according to GlobalWebIndex, 2014), to countries
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where online video is still in its early stages of growth, what we see is that online video consumption has risen sharply over the past few years and has begun to attract budget-switching from TV advertising. TV remains, of course, the world’s most popular advertising channel, and will be so for some years yet. Nevertheless, networks and studios are having to adapt to the new importance of digital." (Introduction, page 1)
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"The report examines what role the internet plays in trafficking in human beings for labour exploitation. It considers in particular methods of online job recruitment and looks at cases studies from several EU Member States – Czech Republic, UK, Ireland, and Romania – and discusses to what exten
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t the internet plays a role and if so, how significant the role of the internet is in facilitating human trafficking. The report provides examples of potential solutions." (Introduction)
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"This report surveys the changing patterns of media consumption in 65 countries across the world, and forecasts how the amount of time people allocate to different media will change between 2014 and 2017. It measures the amount of time spent reading newspapers and magazines, watching television, lis
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tening to the radio, visiting the cinema, using the internet, and viewing outdoor advertising while out of the home. Note that the extent of information available varies considerably from market to market. For some countries we have a full breakdown of consumption figures across all media, with separate figures for desktop and mobile internet, with historical figures back to 2010 and forecasts to 2014, plus monthly breakdowns for consumption across the year, and hourly breakdowns for consumption across the day. For a few countries there is very little research on media consumption trends, so we are able to present only a limited set of figures. We expect the scope of the report to expand in future editions, both by adding new countries and by providing more details for countries where information is currently sparse." (Introduction)
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"This volume explores the way governments endeavoured to build and maintain public support for the war in Afghanistan, combining new insights on the effects of strategic narratives with an exhaustive series of case studies. In contemporary wars, with public opinion impacting heavily on outcomes, str
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ategic narratives provide a grid for interpreting the why, what and how of the conflict. This book asks how public support for the deployment of military troops to Afghanistan was garnered, sustained or lost in thirteen contributing nations. Public attitudes in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe towards the use of military force were greatly shaped by the cohesiveness and content of the strategic narratives employed by national policy-makers. Assessing the ability of countries to craft a successful strategic narrative, the book addresses the following key areas: 1) how governments employ strategic narratives to gain public support; 2) how strategic narratives develop during the course of the conflict; 3) how these narratives are disseminated, framed and perceived through various media outlets; 4) how domestic audiences respond to strategic narratives; 5) how this interplay is conditioned by both events on the ground, in Afghanistan, and by structural elements of the domestic political systems." (Publisher description)
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"Video games have become a global industry, and their history spans dozens of national industries where foreign imports compete with domestic productions, legitimate industry contends with piracy, and national identity faces the global marketplace. This volume describes video game history and cultur
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e across every continent, with essays covering areas as disparate and far-flung as Argentina and Thailand, Hungary and Indonesia, Iran and Ireland. Most of the essays are written by natives of the countries they discuss, many of them game designers and founders of game companies, offering distinctively firsthand perspectives. Some of these national histories appear for the first time in English, and some for the first time in any language." (Back cover)
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"In many ways what is identified today as "cultural globalization" in Eastern Europe has its roots in the Cold War phenomena of samizdat ("do-it-yourself" underground publishing) and tamizdat (publishing abroad). This volume offers a new understanding of how information flowed between East and West
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during the Cold War, as well as the much broader circulation of cultural products instigated and sustained by these practices. By expanding the definitions of samizdat and tamizdat from explicitly political, print publications to include other forms and genres, this volume investigates the wider cultural sphere of alternative and semi-official texts, broadcast media, reproductions of visual art and music, and, in the post-1989 period, new media. The underground circulation of uncensored texts in the Cold War era serves as a useful foundation for comparison when looking at current examples of censorship, independent media and the use of new media in countries like China, Iran, and the former Yugoslavia." (Book cover)
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"International radio broadcasters took on a centrally important role during the Cold War. Founded at the beginning of the 1950s, Radio Free Europe (RFE) was to become both a political instrument for influencing public opinion and one of the few alternative sources of information for many people livi
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ng to the east of the Iron Curtain. The contributions in this publication illustrate the political, social, and cultural context within which RFE operated at the time; they explore the journalistic practices used in RFE; and they analyze the content of the broadcasts and the responses of RFE’s listeners." (Back cover)
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"Through the methodological framework of the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), the report measures the extent to which 144 economies, from both the developed and developing worlds, take advantage of ICTs and other new technologies to increase their growth and well-being. The NRI identifies the most r
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elevant factors driving ICT readiness and impacts, providing policymakers, business leaders, and civil society at large with a useful tool for designing national strategies for increased networked readiness and for benchmarking their country’s performance against other relevant comparators. The Global Information Technology Report 2013 features the latest computation and rankings of the NRI, and in referring to this year’s theme, dives deeper into the connection between ICTs and economic growth and job creation. As in previous years, it also showcases a number of ICT development stories of particular interest. In addition, the report includes detailed profiles for the 144 economies covered this year together with data tables for each of the 54 indicators used in the computation of the NRI." (Back cover)
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"Premiering in 2006, Ugly Betty, the award-winning US hit show about unglamorous but kind-hearted Betty Suarez (America Ferrera), is the latest incarnation of a worldwide phenomenon that started life as a Colombian telenovela, Yo soy Betty, la fea, back in 1999. The tale of the ugly duckling has sin
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ce taken an extraordinary global journey and become the most successful telenovela to date. This groundbreaking book asks what the Yo soy Betty, la fea / Ugly Betty phenomenon can tell us about the international circulation of locally produced TV fictions as the Latin American telenovela is sold to, and/or re-made-officially and unofficially-for different national contexts. The contributors explore what Betty has to say about the tensions between the commercial demands of multimedia conglomerates and the regulatory forces of national broadcasters as well as the international ambitions of national TV industries and their struggle in competitive markets. They also investigate what this international trade tells us about cultural storytelling and audience experience, as well as ideologies of feminine beauty and myths of female desire and aspiration. TV's Betty Goes Global features original interviews with buyers and schedulers, writers, story editors and directors, including the creator of Yo soy Betty, la fea, Fernando Gaitan." (Publisher description)
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