"This book, compiled by South African experts in community broadcasting with the assistance of many key figures in the sector, traces the two-decade campaign for local-level television in South Africa. It highlights the development of policy, reviews existing international models and spells out the
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technical, financial and managerial challenges that face this nascent sector. Policy-makers, community television station managers and staff, development analysts and funders, media academics and students, press officers, organisations wishing to access local TV together with anyone interested in community media in the developing world generally, and community television specifically, will find this book important reading." (HSRC website)
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"This book analyzes the different ways in which media are being used for community building and it also critically interrogates the concept of community itself. The authors do that from a variety of different perspectives, ranging from fundamental philosophical questions regarding community, to the
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role of journalism, the possibilities of community building on a local, national and global level, online media communities as means of empowerment for marginalized groups, the representation of communities in the media, and the formation of learning communities. Although there is a clear dominance in focusing on the chances and possibilities opened up by the Internet, the role of more traditional media like magazines, radio and television is being examined as well. Both sides, the media representations with the identity positions they offer as well as the interpretations and meaning productions that take place by the users of the media, are taken into account to cover the full range of media as cultural tools of connectivity." (Publisher description)
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"From all that has come before it should be all too clear that starting up and developing a small independent community newspaper takes considerable tenacity. There is a general perception in this sector that the value of these publications often goes unacknowledged. Shirley Govender of the Southern
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and Soweto News summarises how many of independents in this research appear to feel: “No one takes you seriously as an independent publisher…[we] feel that disadvantage is running through our veins.” In every single newspaper’s case study at least one person says they are in the industry for the love of it. Most are stoic regarding challenges they face. Some are more independent than others. Many form good and often interesting symbiotic partnerships to share resources and people-power. Some report on contentious issues, most do not. The majority use their newspapers in ways that work towards building a better life for themselves and the communities they serve. But few have the time and know-how to access and engage with media development agencies. And fewer still have the time and expertise to represent the voice of small community publications in the battle against unfair competition, inequitable practices and marginalisation." (Conclusion, page 114)
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"The focus in this article is on two different modes of 'giving a voice to the voiceless' in Southern African new democracies, namely South African community radio and its support apparatus, Democracy Radio, and the Namibian People's Parliament. South African community radio operates within a sphere
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of its own, it is supposed to be closely linked to the grassroots, while the Namibian contact programmes fall under the auspices of the Namibian Broadcasting Company. There are differences in administrative form, but both models have come up against very similar problems in the design of the content. It is easy to talk about community and grassroots orientation, but to implement such policies is difficult, especially when the basic task is to promote democracy and citizenship." (Abstract)
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"A narrative of publishing in Kenya from the time of the Berlin Conference of 1884 through to the Lancaster House Conference in 1963, spanning the entire colonial period of Kenyan history. It documents publishing activities during the period, from the earliest information bulletins of the colonial s
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ettler state to the Mau Mau liberation movement publications in the 1950s and 1960s during the struggle for independence, and examines how this struggle was reflected in the communications field. Durrani offers a fresh interpretation on an important aspect of Kenyan colonial history from a working class point of view, and aims to provide a new perspective on how communications can be a powerful weapon for social justice in the hand of liberation forces. In terms of its coverage of publishing, the book is primarily concerned with newspaper publishing and magazines, the activities of small printing presses, and those of a wide variety of associations, organizations, trade unions, and nationalist movements that were part of the liberation struggle. It charts the history of these publications chronologically, and gives the full political context of each period. The book, which contains an introduction by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, is a well-documented history of the struggle of Kenyan people against British colonialism and the battle for press freedom and free expression." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 600)
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"Increasingly, Pentecostal, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and indigenous movements all over the world make use of a great variety of modern mass media, both print and electronic. Through religious booklets, radio broadcasts, cassette tapes, television talk-shows, soap operas, and documentary film
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these movements address multiple publics and offer alternative forms of belonging, often in competition with the postcolonial nation-state. How have new practices of religious mediation transformed the public sphere? How has the adoption of new media impinged on religious experiences and notions of religious authority? Has neo-liberalism engendered a blurring of the boundaries between religion and entertainment? The vivid essays in this interdisciplinary volume combine rich empirical detail with theoretical reflection, offering new perspectives on a variety of media, genres, and religions." (Publisher description)
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"A collection of 22 papers on the indigenous language press (and other media) in Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zimbabwe, primarily devoted to the activities of African language newspapers and periodicals. Some papers examine the significant and pioneering role religious publications
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– both Christian and Islamic – have played in the development of indigenous languages presses in Africa, while others examine some of the socio-political and economic changes that have greatly affected indigenous language media over the years, and have lead to its demise to some extent. Also included as an Appendix is a paper in Dutch by Honoré Vinck, “Het belang van de periodieke koloniale pers in Afrikaanse talen”, which examines the role of the African language press during colonial days in the Belgian Congo." (Hans M. Zell, Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa, 3d ed. 2008, nr. 2135)
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"Bua Fela is a tool for broadcasters who create radio for children and with children. According to the authors, Bua Fela offers the following: techniques for involving children in media production; sound advice for starting youth programmes at a community radio station; tips on how to get children t
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alking; skills to give children in your community a voice of their own, to enable them to create their own media and develop their own stories; ways of reporting on, and ethically representing, children in the media; guidance for children to work with other children as a broadcasting team; case studies from the 'Speak Free' project as practical examples." (commbox)
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"Community radio is best understood against the background of the other forms of broadcasting, namely public service, and commercial or private broadcasting. Unlike these, community broadcasting is not state-owned, but rather community-owned and managed. Neither is it aimed at profit-making, but at
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facilitating communication in communities not specifically served by the mass media broadcasters. From simple death announcements to community mobilization to clean up market places or prevent crime, to promoting cross-gender dialogue, to civic education, community radio gives voice to rural and urban oft marginalized communities. This book traces the development of community radio in Europe and the Americas, and eventual rooting in Africa, all the wile noting its great contributions to development in communities. The author presents a continental overview, and an in-depth analysis of the broadcasting in Ghana, South Africa and Zambia, each with its specific legal, politico-historical milieus and community radio case studies." (Back cover)
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"Die Beiträge dieses Bandes thematisieren Fragen der HIV/Aids-Prävention in Afrika - dem nach wie vor am stärksten von der Pandemie betroffenen Kontinent. Im Zentrum jeglicher Präventionsarbeit steht die Wissensvermittlung mit dem Ziel, Menschen durch Aufklärung und entsprechende Informationen
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zu einer Verhaltensänderung und damit zu einer Aufgabe des gesundheitsgefährdenden Verhaltens zu bewegen. (Wissens-) Kommunikation wird damit zur wichtigsten Säule der Prävention. Hier liegen die Anknüpfungspunkte für die sprach- und kommunikationswissenschaftlichen Untersuchungen dieses Bandes, die Prävention in unterschiedlichen medialen Kontexten analysieren. Demgegenüber heben die sozialwissenschaftlichen Arbeiten stärker auf kulturelle und soziale Aspekte der Prävention und deren kritische Analyse ab. In den meisten Beiträgen des Bandes gerät dabei auch das Aufeinandertreffen lokaler und globaler Einflüsse im subsaharischen Afrika in den Blick." (Klappentext)
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