"This report provides an overview of the discussions and conclusions from the International Partnership Meeting in New York on 26 January 2010 organised by the Open Society Institute and International Media Support. At the meeting, 30 media support and press freedom organisations from across the wor
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ld met to discuss partnerships and countries in which the partnership process might be pursued in 2010. Nine target countries in 2010 were selected for partnership action in 2010." (IMS website)
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"This study provides an overview of the broadcasting environment in the ten countries covered, with a focus on regulatory systems. It outlines the constitutional framework in each country, as well as the status of international law. This is followed by a brief outline of the broadcasting sector in e
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ach country, to provide some background context to help with understanding the regulatory regime. The bulk of the study focuses on the legal framework governing public broadcasting, and the broadcast regulator and its powers and role. The study also touches on new media, particularly the internet, in each country, assessing the extent to which new media are able to serve as an alternative to more traditional broadcasters." (Introduction, page 6)
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"The 52-page report summarised here is the result of the three-year partnership between UNDP Oslo Governance Centre and the Communication for Social Change Consortium in piloting the C4E approach in five least-developed countries: Mozambique, Madagascar, Ghana, Lao PDR, and Nepal. The report present
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s key learning from the information and communication needs assessments conducted in these five countries, funded by a grant from the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF). The implementation of the C4E approach consisted of: (i) information and communication assessments to identify the information and communication needs and identify gaps in meeting those needs; (ii) review of the media context based on the existing research at the national level; (iii) programme interventions informed by the findings of the assessment to ensure economically poor and marginalised groups' participation in decision-making processes. Experiences and lessons from testing the C4E approach in Madagascar and Mozambique in 2007-2008 enabled further refining of the C4E approach and informed the information and communication assessments carried out in Ghana, Lao PDR, and Nepal. As a result, the concept of C4E also widened: from an initial conception as part of UNDP's Access to Information work primarily geared to meeting the information and communication needs of the people through specific media strategies - to an approach that promotes inclusive participation, empowerment of economically poor and marginalised people, and accountability of the state to its citizens. These aspects of C4E, thus, make it an integral part of broader democratic governance and development work." (Summary at the "Communication Initiative" website)
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"Mit geschätzten 400 Millionen Internetnutzern (Juni 2010) ist die VR China vor den USA der größte nationale Internetmarkt. Nach den USA und Japan bildet China den weltweit drittgrößten Markt fur Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien. Die drei an der US-amerikanischen Nasdaq-Borse gehand
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elten chinesischen Web-Portale Sina.com, Souhu.com, Netease.com, das Web-Portal Tom.com, das zu mehr als 50 Prozent dem reichsten Mann Asiens, dem Hongkonger Tycoon Li Ka-shing, gehört und Chinas führender B2BPortalbetreiber Alibaba.com unter Leitung von Jack Ma, sind die wichtigsten Akteure des chinesischen Internet. Im Jahr 2018 will China 70 Prozent seines gesamten innerchinesischen Handels uber E-Commerce abwickeln. Der chinesische Internetnutzer ist jung, wohnt in der Stadt, verfügt als Student über eine gute formale Ausbildung, aber nur ein kleines Einkommen. Das ländliche China, das nach wie vor zwei Drittel der Bevölkerung umfasst, ist bislang vom Internet so gut wie ausgeschlossen. Kulturelle Besonderheiten des chinesischen Internet sind die weit verbreitete Online-Spielsucht, die intensive Nutzung des Netzes fur Poesie und virtuelle Friedhöfe." (Zusammenfassende Thesen, Seite 27)
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"Media coverage of REDD+ in Indonesia indicates that the issue has captured the attention of a broad cross-section of society. However, opinions are evidently polarised and some voices are clearly louder than others. Moreover, while the engagement of all levels of society has been constructive for m
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oving the policy debate forward, equally it has raised financial expectations and created conflict over resource control. Consequently, the need to balance conflicting and competing interests is likely to have significant implications for creating a REDD+ strategy that is effective, efficient and equitable." (Page 1)
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"Internet censorship and surveillance becomes more sophisticated. The first-generation controls like China's "Great Firewall" are being replaced by techniques that include strategically timed distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, targeted malware, take-down notices and stringent terms-of-usa
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ge policies. Their aim is to shape and limit the national information environment. This publication reports on these new trends and their implications for the global internet commons. In addition, it offers 32 detailed country profiles on internet surveillance from the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia and Europe." (CAMECO Update 2-2010)
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"This booklet documents the participatory video methodology as an affordable and easy-to-use video tool enabling community members to record their experience and strengthen their own knowledge on disaster risks and climate change, as well as to increase their capacity to act on that knowledge and se
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cure change." (commbox)
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"The Anthropology of News and Journalism is the first book to explore the role of news and journalism in contemporary culture from an anthropological perspective—as a form of cultural meaning-making in its creation, content, and dissemination. Anthropology's global, comparative perspective and eth
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nographic methods provide powerful insights for analyzing case studies from around the world. Essays by leading scholars explore communities of professional and nonprofessional journalists. They describe news-making processes ranging from the local to the global digital environment, as well as how news is disseminated and received in a variety of cultural settings." (Publisher description)
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"This article aims at understanding the popularity and cultural and social significance of the highly prominent Chinese television show Super Girls’ Voice (the 2005 season), a talent contest largely modeled upon “reality shows” such as American Idol in the United States and Pop Idol in the Uni
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ted Kingdom. We focus particularly on whether the show, as some critics have claimed, has altered the power relationship between the media and the audience. Theoretically, we follow Couldry’s (2000) framework and consider the media’s construction of the symbolic boundary separating the “media world” and the “ordinary world” as crucial to the legitimization of media power. Based on an analysis of media discourses, review of publicized materials about the show’s organization, and a focus group study on young female audience members, we contend that the Super Girls’ Voice has involved a temporary suspension of the media/ordinary boundary. Yet the boundary was re-established toward the end of the show, thus relegitimizing media power. The audience members, meanwhile, were largely complicit throughout the process: they both enjoyed the temporary suspension and the ultimate re-establishment of the media/ordinary boundary." (Abstract)
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"This book highlights the importance of the news media as watchdogs, agenda setters and gatekeepers for the quality of democratic deliberation in the public sphere. At the same time, it theorizes that the capacity of journalists and media systems to fulfill these roles depends on the broader context
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determined by the profession, the market and the state. Media systems' performance often falls far short of the ideals, as succesive case studies from different world regions demonstrate. Finally, the book asks what policy interventions work effectively to close the gap between the democratic promise and perfomance of the news media as an institution. The final chapter, "Policy recommendations", concludes (page 406): "Interventions include reforms directed at strengthening the journalistic profession, notably institutional capacity building, through bodies such as press councils, press freedom advocacy NGOs, and organizations concerned with journalistic training and accreditation. Other important reforms seek to overcome market failures, including developing a regulatory framework for media systems to ensure pluralism of ownership and diversity of contents. Finally, policies also address the role of the state, including deregulation to shift state-run broadcasting to public service broadcasting, overseen by independent broadcasting regulatory bodies, and the protection of constitutional principles of freedom of the press, speech, and expression." (commbox)
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