commbox Central America

Access to Information: Building a Culture of Transparency. Jamaica

Laura Neuman (ed.)

Atlanta: Carter Center (2006), vi, 150 pp.

"In passing and implementing the Access to Information Act 2002, Jamaica has established a new and more open form of governance and accomplished what many other countries are still attempting. The Act, which provides citizens an enforceable right to official documents held by public authorities, is ... more

Auslandsmärkte als Chance: Die deutsche ITK-Wirtschaft

Berlin: Bundesverband Informationswirtschaft, Telekommunikation und neue Medien (BITKOM);Auswärtiges Amt (2006), 498 pp.

Caught in the Web or Lost in the Textbook? Eighth International Conference on Learning and Educational Media

Éric Bruillard, Bente Aamotsbakken, Susanne V. Knudsen, Mike Horsley (eds.)

International Association for Research on Textbooks and Educational Media (IARTEM) (2006), 485 pp.

This volume gathers contributions presented during the 8th IARTEM conference on learning and educational media, held in Caen (France) in October 2005. The conference reader contains a wide range of contributions from industrialised, transitional and developing countries.

Propuesta de indicadores para un periodismo de calidad en México

México, DF: Universidad Iberoamericana (2006), 150 pp.

Innovative Practices of Youth Participation in Media: A Research Study on Twelve Initiatives from Around the Developing and Underdeveloped Regions of the World
Inspiring Practice

Sanjay Asthana

Paris: UNESCO (2006), 76 pp.

"Young people, working with a range of media materials, produce innovative content through dialogue and discussions says this publication. On the basis of case studies in Ghana, Haiti, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Vietnam, and Zambia, the study examines how ... more

Water and Indigenous Peoples

Rutgerd Boelens, Moe Chiba, Douglas Nakashima, Vanessa Retana (eds.)

Paris: UNESCO;Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) (2006), 179 pp.

"Indigenous peoples from all corners of the globe continue to struggle for acknowledgement and recognition of their unique visions of water, both at home and in national, regional and international forums. But almost without exception, their voices remain obscured by a mainstream discourse rooted in ... more

Transparency and Silence: A Survey of Access to Information Laws and Practices in Fourteen Countries
Top Insights

Helen Darbishire, Thomas Carson

New York: Open Society Institute (2006), 188 pp.

"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 ... more

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Native on the Net: Indigenous and Diasporic Peoples in the Virtual Age

Kyra Landzelius (ed.)

London; New York: Routledge (2006), xi, 338 pp.

"From the Taino Indians of the Caribbean, the U’wa of the Amazon rainforest, and the Tunomans and Assyrians of Iraq, to the Tingas and Zapatistas, Native on the Net is a lively and intriguing exploration of how new technologies have enabled these previously isolated peoples to reach new levels of ... more

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Periodistas y magnates: Estructura y concentración de las industrias culturales en América Latina

Guillermo Mastrini, Martín Becerra (dir.)

Buenos Aires: Prometeo Libros;Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS) (2006), 330 pp.

Los teleapóstoles guatemaltecos: Apuntes históricos y propuestas para la investigación

Dennis A. Smith

San Juan, Puerto Rico: Paper presented at the Latin American Studies Association (2006), 9 pp.

"¿Por qué hay tantos teleapóstoles en Guatemala? Me conformo con presentar siete líneas de investigación que nos ayudarán a responder esta pregunta. Para responder adecuadamente, también habría que contrastar la experiencia guatemalteca con otras experiencias latinoamericanas, especialmente ... more

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Promoting Independent Media: Strategies for Democracy Assistance
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Krishna Kumar

Boulder, Colo.; London: Rienner (2006), 189 pp.

"This book represents one step in explaining international efforts to promote independent media. It attempts to examine the nature and significance of media assistance, discussing the evolution of the field, the focus of various programming approaches, and the possible impact of such efforts. It pre ... sents case studies of media assistance programs in different countries. The book concludes with a set of recommendations for expanding and deepening media assistance for the international community. This book project grew out of a multi-country study that I directed in 2002–2004 to examine media assistance programs funded by the US Agency for International Development. The overall purpose of the study was to assess the nature and effectiveness of USAID programs and make policy and programmatic recommendations for the future. In writing this book I have mostly drawn from the massive information collected during two years of research and analysis. The book is based primarily on three sources of information. First are reviews of literature covering scholarly writings, project and program documents, and articles in popular magazines and newspapers on media assistance. Such reviews were country specific as well as global in nature. Because the academic literature is extremely limited and media assistance is hardly covered in magazines and newspapers except in high-profile cases such as Bosnia and Serbia, reviews largely relied on program documentation. I had the unique advantage of perusing thousands of documents that are not available to the public. Although mostly descriptive and often self-serving, they identified critical gaps in our knowledge and illuminated the challenges and achievements of international media endeavors. Second, my colleagues and I undertook extensive fieldwork in seven countries/regions—Afghanistan, Bosnia, Central America, Indonesia, Russia, Serbia, and Sierra Leone. In each of these cases, research teams conducted extensive discussions with international donor agencies, officials of host countries, project staff and contractors, and local media experts and journalists. Every possible effort was made to interview all those experts and managers who had intimate knowledge of the ongoing media assistance programs. Teams also examined locally available documents and reports and used translators to translate documents into English when necessary. In the absence of hard quantitative data, they largely relied on available documentation, indepth interviews, and their own knowledge of the media scene for their findings and conclusions. Finally, I organized a series of meetings in Washington, D.C., to discuss the findings of the country studies and explore new directions for media assistance programs. Such meetings helped to identify many problems and challenges facing media assistance programs and helped in formulating a set of recommendation for policymakers." (Chapter 1, page 10-11) more

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El consumo cultural en América Latina: Construcción teórica y líneas de investigación

Guillermo Sunkel (doord.)

Bogotá: Convenio Andrés Bello, 2a ed. ampliada y revisada (2006), 535 pp.

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Promoting Independent Media in El Salvador

Anne Germain Lefévre

In: Promoting Democracy in Postconflict Societies

Jeroen de Zeeuw; Krishna Kumar (eds.)

Boulder, Colo.; London: Rienner (2006), pp. 237-256

"[...] aid for the media in El Salvador played a role in shaping a more open, tolerant tone for political debate and a more dynamic news media. Although the assistance was relatively modest, it came at a pivotal moment after the signing of the peace accords. To realize the full potential of media as ... more

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Promoting Democracy in Postconflict Societies

Jeroen de Zeeuw, Krishna Kumar (eds.)

Boulder, Colo.; London: Rienner;Clingendael - Netherlands Institute of International Relations (2006), xii, 331 pp.

"This study critically evaluates international democratization assistance in postconflict societies to discern what has worked, what has not, and how aid programs can be designed to have a more positive impact. The authors offer a unique recipient perspective as they explore three dimensions of demo ... more

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Newsroom in Conflict: Journalism and the Democratization of Mexico

Sallie Hughes

Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press (2006), 286 pp.

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The Marketing of Rebellion: Insurgents, Media, and International Activism

Clifford Bob

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2005), xiv, 237 pp.

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