"Based on an extensive ethnographic study of television and audiences in class-divided Philippines, this is the first book to take a bottom-up approach in considering how people respond to images and narratives of suffering and poverty on television. Arguing for an anthropological ethics of media, t
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his book challenges existing work in media studies and sociology that focuses solely on textual analysis and philosophical approaches to the question of representing vulnerable others. Current questions in media ethics, such as whether to portray sufferers as humane and empowered individuals or show them ‘at their worst’ have so far used textual and visual analyses to convey the researcher’s own moral position on the matter. In contrast, this book, inspired by the anthropology of moralities, accounts for the different interpretations and moral positions of audiences, who are positioned in various degrees of social and moral proximity to those they see and hear on television. Winner of the 2016 Philippine Social Science Council Excellence in Research Award." (Publisher description)
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"Despite being a heavily-censored society, China has over 560 million active internet users, more than double that of the USA. In this book, social media expert and China-watcher Liz Carter tells the story of how the internet in China is leading to a coming together of activists, ordinary people and
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cultural trendsetters on a scale unknown in modern history. News about protests and natural disasters, or gossip and satirical jokes, are practically uncensorable and spread quickly through Weibo – the Chinese Twitter - and the Chinese internet underground. More than that, a grassroots, foundational shift of assumptions and expectations is taking place, as Chinese men and women cast off the communist era ‘stability at all costs’ mantra and find new forms of selfexpression, creativity and communication with the world." (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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"The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and analyse the role of community-based media in information distribution in the Riverside community, Chanthaburi province, Eastern Thailand. Recently, this strong community has been identified as a cultural tourism destination. The community has started
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to produce its own media, and to use social networks to promote itself and its attractions to the nation. This project advances knowledge of the role of community-based media in a community environment in the Thai public sphere. Furthermore, it strengthens knowledge of the role of community-based media in its broadest sense as an important form of cultural production. By using ethnographic action research, this research gains strength through a rich understanding of the community by following an ongoing research cycle of planning, doing, observing and reflecting. Beyond that, this study reflects the idea of "hyperlocal" media. With approximately a hundred households on which to focus, it is much easier for hyperlocal media to reach local people by providing local news, covering local politics and engaging local people in the affairs relevant to their area. As a result, the findings of this paper will reinforce the idea that "hyperlocal" communication has played a much more proactive role in the community context." (Abstract)
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"This case study examines the current state of community journalism in the Philippines. This paper builds from previous studies, especially those by Filipino community journalism scholar Crispin Maslog, on the community press in the Philippines. The focus of this paper is the community newspaper and
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online community news websites. This case study includes interviews with leading stakeholders in the community press sector of the country. Pertinent documents surrounding the community press were collected and analysed." (Abstract)
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"We see the smartphone more clearly as the defining device for digital news with a disruptive impact on consumption, formats, and business models. Our data suggest it provides an environment dominated by a few successful brands, with others struggling to reach a wider audience, both via apps and bro
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wsers. The move to online video, new visual formats, and social media coincides in many countries with a fall in audiences for traditional TV bulletins. The trend is most pronounced amongst the under 35s. We see a strengthening in the role played by Facebook in finding, discussing and sharing news. Facebook-owned Instagram and WhatsApp are playing a big role amongst younger groups." (Executive summary)
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"Das Material für die nordkoreanische Literatur schöpft sich zum allergrößten Teil aus Kim Il Sungs bewaffnetem Revolutionskampf gegen Japan. Schriftsteller und Künstler lassen die Schauplätze der antijapanischen Revolution wiederauferstehen und deren Geist wiederaufleben [...] Dabei hat der I
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nhalt der Literatur - wie auch der Musik und der Kunst - stets Priorität. Die künstlerische Gestaltung ist sekundär. Abstraktion, Phantasie oder Imagination sind nicht möglich. Literatur wird nur dann geschätzt, wenn sie einen gesellschaftlichen Beitrag leistet und im Einklang mit der Parteipolitik steht." (Fazit, Seite 619)
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"Tatsächlich erfreuen sich koreanische Fernsehserien und Filme sowie die koreanische Popmusik (K-pop) im Ausland, insbesondere in Ost- und Südostasien, ganz unerwartet großer Beliebtheit. In Südkorea selbst ist man stolz darauf, es - zumindest in der eigenen Wahrnehmung - endlich geschafft zu ha
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ben, in der Welt als "Kulturnation" zu gelten. Die öffentliche Hallyu-Debatte ist dabei allerdings stark von nationalistisch inspirierten Selbstbehauptungsdiskursen geprägt. Ein Strang der südkoreanischen Debatte kreist um Hallyu als Wirtschaftsfaktor. Dieser stützt sich weniger auf reale Effekte, sondern auf Erwartungen und Hoffnungen, die mit besseren Exportchancen, vor allem mit der Aufwertung des internationalen Images Südkoreas verbunden sind." (Fazit, Seite 401)
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"A Moving Faith captures the dynamic shift of Christianity to the South and portrays a global movement that promises prosperity, healing, empowerment, and gender equality by invoking neo-Pentecostal and Charismatic resources. It postulates that neither North America nor Europe is the current center
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of the Christian faith. The book provides a detailed overview of how migration of Christians from the South enriches the North, for instance, Pope Francis brings newness, freshness, and the vigor characteristic of the South. While describing Christianity’s growth in the South, it suggests that, in fact, there is no center for this global faith. It explores this great move of Christianity by focusing on representative mega churches in South Korea, Brazil, Peru, Ghana, Nigeria, Australia, India, and the Philippines." (Publisher description)
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"Through a case study of Kiva.org, the world's first person-to-person microlending website, and other microfinance organizations, the book argues that international development efforts have an affective dimension. This is fostered through narrative and visual representations, through the performance
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of development rituals and through bonds of fellowship between Northern donors and Southern recipients. These practices constitute people in the global North as everyday humanitarians and mobilize their affective investments, which are financial, social and emotional investments in distant others to alleviate their poverty. This book draws on ethnographic material from the US, India and Indonesia and the anthropological and development studies literature on humanitarianism, affect and the public faces of development. It opens up novel avenues of research into the formation of new development subjects in the global North." (Publisher description)
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"Modernisation becomes a hegemonic ideology in Chinese society, while China faces enormous environmental problems. Investigative Journalism, Environmental Problems and Modernisation in China argues that investigative journalism has constructed a discourse of environmental risk that is in contrast wi
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th the discourse of modernisation encouraged by Chinese governments for over half a century. By constructing the discourse of environmental risk, investigative journalism exposes the true nature of modernisation on the one hand, and on the other hand, it reveals the connection between social and environmental injustice and inequality. The bifurcation between the two discourses reflects the rift between environment and modernisation as well as the divergence between people and the state. Investigative journalism demonstrates a counter-hegemonic force against the hegemonic discourse of modernisation to a certain extent. The book starts with an overview of the relationship between the emergence of environmental problems and China's modernisation and focuses on the agendas and practices of environmental investigative journalism, the discourse of environmental risk and the challenges and chances offered by the Internet." (Publisher description)
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"This report, which has been produced by a group of distinguished journalists and their supporters, examines the broad scope of the crisis. It covers countries where media are on the frontline of tough political battles, such as Egypt and Turkey. In Ukraine, for instance, the practice of paid-for jo
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urnalism is a tool routinely used by politicians at election time. The same is true in India. In other countries, including Nigeria, Philippines, and Colombia the precarious working conditions of news staff provide fertile conditions for corruption and “brown envelopes” or under-the-table cash payments to reporters and editors which are a routine feature of journalistic work. The struggles facing journalists in settled democracies, such as the United Kingdom and Denmark, are less brazen, but no less challenging and in a range of countries across the Western Balkans with a shared and painful history, media corruption hinders aspirations to break free from the legacy of war, censorship and political control during decades of communist rule. The story is of an uphill struggle. Everywhere there is a crisis of confidence inside newsrooms caused by crumbling levels of commitment to ethics, a lowering of the status of journalistic work and a pervasive lack of transparency over advertising, ownership and corporate and political affiliations. Government control over lucrative state advertising, which is often allocated to media according to their political bias, remains widespread. At the same time, the elimination in most countries of the invisible wall separating editorial and advertising has created a surge of so-called “native advertising,” hidden advertorials and paid-for journalism. It was this conflict of interest that plunged the crisis-prone UK press into a new bout of handwringing in February 2015 when Peter Oborne, a leading political journalist, quit his job at the Daily Telegraph accusing the management of censoring stories about HSBC bank, a leading advertiser caught up in a tax scandal. These reports tell essentially the same story of deep cuts in editorial investment, undue pressure on newsrooms, and media increasingly dependent upon atypical models of ownership in which media have become the trophy possessions of powerful figures and institutions in pursuit of wider corporate and political objectives." (Introduction, page iii-iv)
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"We asked writers and researchers to examine the quality of coverage and to highlight reporting problems as well as good work. The conclusions from many different parts of the world are remarkably similar: journalism under pressure from a weakening media economy; political bias and opportunism that
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drives the news agenda; the dangers of hate-speech, stereotyping and social exclusion of refugees and migrants. But at the same time there have been inspiring examples of careful, sensitive and ethical journalism that have shown empathy for the victims. In most countries the story has been dominated by two themes – numbers and emotions. Most of the time coverage is politically led with media often following an agenda dominated by loose language and talk of invasion and swarms. At other moments the story has been laced with humanity, empathy and a focus on the suffering of those involved." (Introduction, page 5-6)
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