"This collection of essays explores the complicated relationship between the messengers bringing news of catastrophic upheaval and the recipients of that message. It concentrates on the journalists, photographers and film-makers, reflecting not only the motivations behind their work, but also the ps
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ychological consequences of witnessing extreme suffering. The audience interpret the news according to their circumstance, be it with anger sympathy or with compassion-fatigued indifference. The book explores that reaction, which is always more nuanced than anticipated. Finally, the modern communication circle is completed by exploring the potential of the media to diminish conflict. This is demonstrated by the media bringing together communities that are either geographically or historically divided." (Publisher description)
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"This paper attempts to analyze the following:(1) How the Sangha, or the Buddhist body of Thailand, has been impacted since it has become part of the state during the reign of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V); (2) How the economic and social development has an impact on Thai Buddhism, especially the anim
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istic beliefs, cults, Hindu Gods, and astrology; and (3) How the Thai mass media and new social media create hypes on Buddhism, animism, and the further commercialization of Buddhism." (Abstract)
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"This book deploys an original comparative framework, as well as archival and pattern-matching research methodologies, to analyze whistleblowing cases from Peru, South Korea, Thailand and the United States of America and to ascertain factors that make for effective whistleblowing. After examining th
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e cases, the study concludes that external whistleblowing, extensive mass media coverage, and strong evidence are essential components of effective whistleblowing. When there is a lack of proper legal protection, whistleblowers experience brutal retaliation, even though their actions are successful in stopping wrongdoing and promoting change in the public sector." (Publisher description)
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"As Chinese politicians hold the power to control the dissemination of political information, beat journalists must guard their relationship with the authorities to expand the boundaries of news reporting; that is, to gain more access to political information and report more sensitive news. What rem
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ains a puzzle is how beat journalists can possibly expand these boundaries. Data from participatory observation and in-depth interviews with journalists reveal that in order to gain more access to political information, they not only serve as political advocates but also seize the opportunity to act as watchdogs. To report more sensitive news without being sanctioned or denounced by the authorities, they coordinate with peers both within and outside the news organization." (Abstract)
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"What is intercultural communication? How does perspective shape a person’s definition of the key tenets of the term and the field? These are the core questions explored by this accessible global introduction to intercultural communication. Each chapter explores the topic from a different geograph
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ic, religious, theoretical, and/or methodological perspective, with an emphasis on non-Western approaches, including Buddhist, South American, Muslim, and Chinese perspectives." (Back cover)
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"By the turn of the 21st century, animation production has grown to thousands of hours a year in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Despite this, and unlike American blockbuster productions and the diverse genres of Japanese anime, much animation from the PRC remains relatively unknown. This book
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is an historical and theoretical study of animation in the PRC. Although the Wan Brothers produced the first feature length animated film in 1941, the industry as we know it today truly began in the 1950s at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio (SAFS), which remained the sole animation studio until the 1980s. Considering animation in China as a convergence of the institutions of education, fine arts, literature, popular culture, and film, the book takes comparative approaches that link SAFS animation to contemporary cultural production including American and Japanese animation, Pop Art, and mass media theory. Through readings of classic films such as Princess Iron Fan, Uproar in Heaven, Princess Peacock, and Nezha Conquers the Dragon King, this study represents a revisionist history of animation in the PRC as a form of "postmodernism with Chinese characteristics." (Publisher description)
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"The markets we do include are a very diverse bunch, from the very closed and politically tightly controlled such as Laos; through a large number of nations on the African continent which have seen a sudden improvement in digital infrastructure thanks to the landing of several new submarine intercon
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tinental fibre optic cables over the past few years; and not forgetting markets like Trinidad & Tobago, which seems to enjoy a large choice of TV channels to serve a relatively modest population; or indeed Iran, fresh from its welcome back into the international fold following the suspension of UN sanctions in January 2016. For each market, we give some economic data sourced from the IMF, as well as our estimates and forecasts for advertising expenditure and growth in its ad market to 2018. We also provide a short commentary setting out an overview of the media market in question." (Page 1)
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"With regards to professional role orientations, South Korean journalists found it most important to report things as they are, to provide analysis of current affairs, and to monitor and scrutinize business and political leaders. The relevance of these roles was fairly undisputed among the interview
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ed journalists as the relatively low standard deviations indicate. Likewise, there was a strong consensus among the respondents over the little importance of supporting government policy and conveying a positive image of political leadership. Still, a majority of journalists in South Korea found it important to be a detached observer, to promote tolerance and cultural diversity, to set the political agenda, to provide information people need to make political decisions, to let people express their views, to advocate for social change, and to motivate people to participate in political activity. To provide entertainment and relaxation, as well as politically more assertive roles like supporting government policy and conveying a positive image of political leadership, were supported by only a minority of respondents." (Journalistic roles, pages 1-2)
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"This book offers an in-depth account of social media, journalism and collective memory through a five-year analysis of Weibo, a leading Chinese micro-blogging platform, and prism of transitional China in a globalizing world. How does society remember public events in the rapidly changing age of soc
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ial media? Eileen Le Han examines how various kinds of public events are shared, debated, and their historical significance and worthiness of remembrance highlighted on Weibo. Journalism plays a significant part in mobilizing collective remembering of these events, in a society with rapidly changing topics on the platform, the tightening state control, and nationalism on the rise. The first five years of Weibo reflect a dramatic change in Chinese society, where journalists, media professionals, and opinion leaders in other fields of expertise, together with ordinary citizens directly affected by these changes in everyday life collaborate to witness the rapid social transition." (Palgrave Macmillan website)
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"The chapter examines the complex relations of communication processes, generations and cultural memory in the socio-cultural setting of North Vietnam. It critically reviews present scholarly work in the flourishing, but scattered, field of memory research in communication and media studies, and dis
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cusses links to Mannheim’s sociological concept of generations. The theoretical concepts of generation and cultural memory demonstrate several commonalities along the lines of time and space, experiences, perceptions and mediation processes as determining dimensions. The chapter presents an exemplary case study of a family in Hanoi and probes a respondent-centred empirical approach to describe these relations in terms of memory-related communication repertoires. The repertoire-oriented analytical framework proved to be an efficient tool to elicit and merge perspectives on memory and communication practices from the research material." (Abstract)
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"Internet freedom has declined for the sixth consecutive year, with more governments than ever before targeting social media and communication apps as a means of halting the rapid dissemination of information, particularly during antigovernment protests. Public-facing social media platforms like Fac
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ebook and Twitter have been subject to growing censorship for several years, but in a new trend, governments increasingly target messaging and voice communication apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram. These services are able to spread information and connect users quickly and securely, making it more difficult for authorities to control the information landscape or conduct surveillance. The increased controls show the importance of social media and online communication for advancing political freedom and social justice. It is no coincidence that the tools at the center of the current crackdown have been widely used to hold governments accountable and facilitate uncensored conversations." (Page 1)
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"This book examines what the diverse roster of celebrity humanitarians are actually doing in and across North and South contexts. Celebrity humanitarianism is an effective lens for viewing the multiple and diverse relationships that constitute the links between North and South. New empirical finding
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s on celebrity humanitarianism on the ground in Thailand, Malawi, Bangladesh, South Africa, China, Haiti, Congo, US, Denmark and Australia illustrate the impact of celebrity humanitarianism in the Global South and celebritization, participation and democratization in the donor North. By investigating one of the most mediatized and distant representations of humanitarianism (the celebrity intervention) from a perspective of contextualization, the book underscores the importance of context in international development." (Publisher description)
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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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"This book explores how personalized content and the inherent networked nature of the mobile media could and do lead to positive externalities in social progress in Asian societies. Empirical studies that examine uses of the mobile phone and apps (voice mailing, SMS, mobile social media, mobile Weib
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o, mobile WeChat, etc.) are featured as a response to calls for theorization of the mobile media's efficacy as a tool for citizen engagement and participation in civic and political affairs, especially in the search for collective solutions to widespread social problems of food safety, pollution, government corruption, and public health risks. Considering the vast cultural diversity of Asian societies that are shaped by different levels of political, social, economic, and religious development, the book offers nuanced studies that provide in-depth analysis of the mobile media and political communication in a variety of communities of leading Asian countries. From the country-specific studies, broad themes and enduring concepts emerge." (Publisher description)
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"This book advances new understandings of how technologies have been harnessed to improve the health of populations; whether the technologies really empower those who use information by providing them with a choice of information; how they shape health policy discourses; how the health information r
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elates to traditional belief systems and local philosophies; the implications for health communicators; how certain forms of silence are produced when media articulates and problematizes only a few health issues and sidelines others; and much more." (Publisher description)
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"While a decade ago much of the discussion of new media in Asia was couched in Occidental notions of Asia as a "default setting" for technology in the future, today we are seeing a much more complex picture of contesting new media practices and production. As "new media" becomes increasingly an ever
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yday reality for young and old across Asia through smartphones and associated devices, boundaries between art, new media, and the everyday are transformed. This Handbook addresses the historical, social, cultural, political, philosophical, artistic and economic dimensions of the region's new media. Through an interdisciplinary revision of both "new media" and "Asia" the contributors provide new insights into the complex and contesting terrains of both notions." (Publisher description)
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"The Chinese government has long kept tight control on both traditional and new media to prevent potential challenges to its authority. But, for better or worse, China has now reached a stage where it is difficult to exercise political hegemony through laws and regulations and the control of the mas
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s media. China has become a global superpower and in 2011 surpassed Japan as the world's second largest economy, second only to the USA. China's entertainment industry is also flourishing, and the market is large enough to attract foreign investors that either view China as an important market or are interested in Chinese capital. Today, more children in China watch television than in any other country in the world, and Internet usage is also increasing, making the implementation of media literacy education an important issue. This book presents the prevailing perspectives on media literacy education in China and describes how the current curriculum reform for implementing media literacy education is being developed. It will not only stimulate debate and further research, but will also influence policy decisions regarding media literacy education in China." (Publisher description)
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"Focusing largely on the period since retired general Thein Sein assumed the presidency in 2011, the report provides an in-depth analysis of the Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Processions Act, the Telecommunications Act, the News Media Law, the Electronic Transactions Act, and various Penal Code pro
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visions, among other laws. It draws from interviews with individuals facing charges, former political prisoners, journalists, students, activists, and members of civil society organizations. The new NLD-led government has taken strong first steps to release political prisoners and repeal abusive laws, but with Burma’s constitution giving the militarycontrol of the police, arrests under these abusive laws continue. Human Rights Watch calls on the government to drop all pending and new charges against peaceful critics and protesters and make it a priorityto dismantle the legal infrastructure of repression in Burma by amending or repealing all laws thatcriminalize peaceful expression and bringing them into line with international human rights standards." (Back cover)
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