"This special volume is devoted to a selection of papers from the many that were presented at the ‘Reporting Zimbabwe: Before and After 2000 Conference’ held on 25th February 2005 at London’s Stanhope Centre, as part of the Africa Media Series organized by the University of Westminster’s Com
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munication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI). The appetite for Zimbabwean news is demonstrated by, for example, evidence presented at the conference which showed that of 48 documentaries shown on BBC from November 2000 to January 2004, Zimbabwe received the second most attention, with 7 documentaries. Zimbabwe came after the Israel/Palestine conflict which was covered by 16 documentaries. Zimbabwe came to dominate headlines in various UK and global media. Zimbabwe had become such major global news story at the start of the new millennium, 1999- 2005. The idea was to critically evaluate and investigate the ways in which local and global mass media were depicting the events in troubled Zimbabwe, a former British colony that obtained independence in 1980. Attended by over 100 delegates from different countries and continents, the conference succeeded in bringing together critical interdisciplinary analyses of the role of the mass media in the ongoing democratic and social- justice struggles in today’s Zimbabwe. The various papers presented at the conference, and those in this volume, dealt with diverse themes ranging from the rise of patriotic journalism in Zimbabwe and media freedom struggles to the definition, character and representation of the ‘land issue’, and more broadly the ‘Zimbabwe crisis’ in African and international media. The participants included British and Zimbabwean politicians, government officials, students, journalists, academics, activists, civic groups and members of the Britain- Zimbabwe Society (BZS)." (Editorial abstract)
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"This book argues that indigenous modes of communication - for example the oral tradition, drama, indigenous entertainment forms, cultural modes and local language radio - are essential to the societies within which they exist and which create them; and that coupled with newer, or modern forms of co
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mmunication technology such as the internet and digitised information, endogenous modes of communication are paramount to the processes of human development in Africa." (Publisher description)
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"This thesis considers the role of the mainstream South African print media in perpetuating discrimination during the years of legalised racial discrimination – commonly known as apartheid – from when the Herenigde Nationale Party took power in May 1948 with an unprecedented 28-seat swing under
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the leadership of 74-year-old Dr Daniel F. Malan until it was replaced by the African National Congress, black-dominated unity government in April, 1994. Against an historical background, it focuses on the agenda and efforts of the mainstream metropolitan print media during the apartheid era, the build-up to the first nonracial elections, and the media’s role in the immediate post-apartheid era." (Abstract, page 5)
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"Impact assessment is one of a variety of monitoring tools available to ensure that a community radio effectively works towards set objectives and aspirations. In Mozambique a ‘bare-foot’ impact assessment methodology has been designed, tested, revised and implemented with eight community-owned
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stations between 2000 and 2005. The present article explores the three separate areas of attention focused upon in this methodology: (1) an internal assessment of the radio's way of functioning as an organism; (2) an assessment of the capacity of the community producers through their programmes to meet the needs and desires of the community; and (3) the overall objective of it all: assessing the extent to which impact can be registered vis-Ã -vis a positive development change within the community, empowerment, mending of the social tissue, etc. resulting from the work of the community radio." (Abstract)
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"The research was informed by desk research, two technical reviews and a stakeholder consultation in four countries – Honduras, South Africa, Tanzania and Ghana. It proved very timely as it contributed significantly to ongoing consultations in South Africa and Tanzania. In South Africa ICASA annou
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nced the availability of a four year community television license and ongoing lobbying for frequencies should result in a number of initiatives happening in the next year or so. In Tanzania, the regulator consulted on community radio licensing, resulting in a lowering in license fees [...] The net conclusion is that community television could play a huge role in empowering local communities. While community radio has such a role now, it is possible that television viewing could over the next ten years erode the role of radio. Uptake of low power televisions could leave communities with national or multi channel broadcasts that are entertaining but do very little to stimulate dialogue about development, empower people as agents of change, protect local language and local culture. Community television could play a strong role in stimulating development dialogue, supporting local economies, be a vehicle for decentralised government egovernance and share local content in local language and local culture – a local voice. Advocates of community television need to be realistic in the development of the institutional framework for the station, and in the influence of the wider environment on the shape of the station. The report ends with a number of general recommendations, and a specific recommendation that some pilot community television stations should be set up in the immediate future to document the parameters required for a successful innovative community television station." (Executive summary, page 3-5)
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"This focus analyses strengths and weaknesses of the media coverage of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign. The authors explain the current media representation of gender-based violence and the changes that need to be made to ensure that gender-based violence issues are covered more substantially and r
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egularly in the media. This focus also critiques the quality of media articles and the degree to which comprehensive analysis of gender-based violence issues are dealt with in the press and whether or not the media coverage adds new information to the debates around gender-based violence." (Abstract)
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