"According to the 2023 World Press Freedom Index rankings by the RSF, India ranks 161 out of 180 countries. One of the important indicators that the index bases the ranking on is the level of violence against the journalists and their overall safety. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian governme
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nt cracked down on the press by reprimanding any form of dissent regarding their policies. This has resulted in journalists from various parts of the country being arrested, detained, and harassed. The much-debated Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 and Disaster Management Act, 2005 were implemented to invoke curbs to contain the spread of coronavirus in India. The paper examines the consequences of the infodemic on the safety of journalists in the context of declining press freedom in the country in the context of the aforementioned acts. The analysis of cases focuses on highlighting how the laws introduced to “contain” the spread of the virus has been used as a tool to gatekeep the truth regarding the implementation of coronavirus policies by way of stifling the voice of journalists. The analysis reveals how various legal, political, and economic factors contribute to the lack of safety of journalists in the country." (Abstract)
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"Due to the increasing number of journalists being killed, kidnapped, and imprisoned across the globe, the safety of journalists seems to be deteriorating. The level of violence against journalists varies over time and from area to area, even within the same country. This article analyzes the violen
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ce faced by journalists in the conflict areas of Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan. The collected data were analyzed thematically using the research question themes, namely threats and challenges affecting journalists; gender-specific risk; the number of affected journalists; types of risk factors involved in conflict reporting; and the recommendations for promoting conflict reporting and peace journalism education. Semi-structured questionnaires were designed, which entailed questions that were best suited in terms of the objectives of the study. Responses from the selected respondents (80) were recorded and then data from 1992 to 2020 were statistically analyzed. In conflict areas (Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan), the highest number of deaths were recorded due to crossfire (45.8%). The findings illustrate that among three countries Iraq had the highest number of male (48.4%) and female (4.2%) journalists in terms of gender-specific risk. Further results show that military officials and political groups are the deepest risk factors causing threats to the lives of journalists. In conclusion, a journalist's geographic location, workplace environment, religion, and culture can influence their moral behavior, sense of judgment, general mindset, and psychological disposition, all of which influence journalists’ overall behavior and attitude. However, adopting safety measures by journalists does not always reduce the challenges of conflict areas." (Abstract)
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"Applying an inclusive concept of ‘conflicted societies’ that goes beyond those affected by violent conflict to include traditionally ‘stable’ but increasingly polarised democracies, such as the UK and the USA, contributors engage with longstanding questions and new challenges surrounding co
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ncepts of responsibility, trust, public service, and public interest in journalism. The unique span of studies offers international scope, including societies often overlooked in media and journalism studies, such as Northern Ireland, Turkey, Cyprus, Pakistan, The Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic. Chapters also feature contemporary case studies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, as a route into understanding the pertinent issue of fake news, and the ‘local turn’ in journalism." (Publisher description)
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"The safety of journalists reporting from conflict zones is a complex issue as they are exposed to a variety of challenges on a daily basis. This research aims to identify those multi-dimensional challenges that make Balochistan one of the world’s riskiest places for journalists. Based on 30 in-de
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pth interviews with journalists working in the area, the authors found that the dynamics of conflict in Balochistan are different from those in other parts of Pakistan. Their findings reveal that different threatening agents – nationalist movements, separatist groups, the international agencies active there and the high level of extremism – all mean that journalists often cannot even identify the exact sources of threats. Moreover, journalists state that they receive no help from their media houses when they are reporting from conflict zones and look to the Pakistani army to protect the interests of the Baloch people while facing such challenges and risks." (Abstract)
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"The incorporation of new media technology into journalistic practices led to online harassment, particularly of female journalists. The researchers investigated the tweets of four prominent Pakistani female journalists through the lens of post-colonial feminism and symbolic violence. The qualitativ
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e analysis of 239 tweets revealed themes that corroborated the dominance of sociocultural and political grounds in undermining the status of women and making them susceptible to online harassment. In culturally traditional communities, the position of women is “gender specific,” and socioeconomic status cannot guarantee women’s safety from cultural behaviors. The harassment themes included “you called for it,” adhering to the limits of a male-dominated society, women’s card, threats, “lifafa,” shamelessness, religious policing, moral policing, and pseudo-intellectual labeling. The study recommends expanding research in sociopolitical, religious, and cultural contexts to comprehend symbolic violence, particularly in relation to women." (Abstract)
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"Central Asian post-independence media and communication industries, professional practices, education, persisting and evolving values, and traditions remain critically understudied with a notable scarcity of research and scholarly publications on the complex and increasingly changing communicative
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ecology landscape of this region. Mapping the Media and Communication Landscape of Central Asia: An Anthology of Emerging and Contemporary Issues addresses this gap in literature by exploring, analyzing, and shedding light to the field, practice, research and critical inquiry of media and mass communication in four countries in Central Asia—Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. This book includes local authors as well as new and emerging researchers from this region to contextualize the issues explored and provide a supportive dialogue between different points of view." (Publisher description)
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"This edited collection brings together voices from the margins in underrepresented regions of the Global South, within the context of scholarship focusing on indigenous languages and development communication. Contributors bring together research from often-overlooked parts of the world to engage i
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n dialogue towards an understanding of the similarities and differences between issues of language and development in the Global South, presenting cases as a starting point for further research and discussions about indigenous language and development communication in Latin America, Africa, and Asia." (Publisher description)
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"This book examines the way in which SDG initiatives have been disseminated by mainstream media, in government discourse and by NGO’s, charitable organisations, and campaign groups. It questions to what extent sustainability narratives are being supported and how they are represented; how saving t
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he environment can be made pertinent to someone who has no access to clean food or running water; and why local initiatives (in which indigenous populations are making a real difference) are overshadowed by multinationals whose attempts to rectify the damage their goods have done gains more credible reportage." (Publisher description)
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"The safety of journalists reporting from conflict zones is a complex issue as they are exposed to a variety of challenges on a daily basis. This research aims to identify those multi-dimensional challenges that make Balochistan one of the world’s riskiest places for journalists. Based on 30 in-de
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pth interviews with journalists working in the area, the authors found that the dynamics of conflict in Balochistan are different from those in other parts of Pakistan. Their findings reveal that different threatening agents – nationalist movements, separatist groups, the international agencies active there and the high level of extremism – all mean that journalists often cannot even identify the exact sources of threats. Moreover, journalists state that they receive no help from their media houses when they are reporting from conflict zones and look to the Pakistani army to protect the interests of the Baloch people while facing such challenges and risks." (Abstract)
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"This study, drawing on alternative journalism theory takes a postcolonial feminist approach to investigating the lived experiences and gender-based safety problems of women journalists working for alternative media in Turkey. It evaluates the impact on their professional and private lives of Islami
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sm, populism, nationalism and authoritarianism which intersect in this patriarchal autocracy. The thematic analysis of the data gathered qualitatively by 15 in-depth interviews reveals that most of the safety threats to alternative women journalists stem from security forces in the field and arbitrary judicial sanctions in the courthouses. According to the interviewees, the authoritarian government that sees critical journalism as the greatest enemy controls and oversees these assaults. Furthermore, women journalists suffer from the unsustainable working conditions of alternative news media. Alternative media theories would expect these institutions to be gender-equal and pro-labor, but the prevalent indifference to women’s labor and gender rights demonstrates that this normative approach is not justified. However, women still feel encouraged to continue journalism, which they consider an important tool for empowerment not only for themselves but also all “otherized” identities. Moreover, women’s solidarity backed by the feminist movement is the primary source of resilience." (Abstract)
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"If a society does not come to terms with horrific atrocities of the past, tensions may fast escalate into new strife. People must know the truth. The causes of violence must be spelt out and the perpetrators must be named. Otherwise, a new sense of mutual trust cannot grow. Such trust is needed for
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competent and reliable institutions of governance. Where, by contrast, the wounds of the past keep festering, a shared understanding of the common good cannot emerge, so a peaceful future stays unlikely." (Page 2)
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"This research explores the significance of local radio in preserving and assisting indigenous communities and languages in the tribal region of Jharkhand, India. The study highlights the involvement and engagements of “Asur Radio,” a community radio in the interest of the tribal community named
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– Asur. This study further explores how a community radio started by a primitive vulnerable tribe has kept the community together. The study employs a qualitative research technique using in-depth interviews and focus-group discussions with people closely connected to Asur Radio, including the Asur community. The findings through focus group discussions and in-depth exploration revealed that this newly launched community radio has a deep impression on community engagement and participation among the tribes benefitting the community and making the community radio more viable and justifiable." (Abstract)
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"This study explores how regional journalists in Pakistan conceptualize journalistic professionalism, how they perceive their journalistic identities, and how local socio-political and economic realities shape their professional identification. Analysis of interviews with 33 journalists working in P
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akistan’s Pakhtunkhwa province indicated a tension between striving for professionalism as defined by Western journalistic standards and meeting the demands of their local conditions. Participants described professionalism as providing clear, accurate, objective, and ethical coverage of issues. However, constraints including unavailability of funding, the need to hold multiple jobs, threats to personal safety, and absence of education and training prevented them from meeting their professional goals. The journalists discursively negotiated and constituted their professional identities in response to the conditions in their respective areas." (Abstract)
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"This article examines the historical roots of the role of successive Turkish governments’ fear of media and Turkish media’s fear of government authority with respect to the development of press freedom over the long run and closely analyzes the historical pressures imposed on journalists throug
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h legal and informal means. We focus particularly on the economic and political pressure on the media in Turkey and offer three arguments regarding the fear in Turkish media: (1) Media fear is historical rather than a rupture that happened during the Justice and Development Party era; (2) out of fear of losing power, the governments use structural, legislative and extra-legal factors to the advantage of the ruling party to support a friendly media-ecology; and (3) the repressed media attempt to come out of this ecology of fear by utilizing new tactics of reporting, such as alternative media and citizen journalism." (Abstract)
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"This study aims to examine how active users of social media in relation to their religious values and commitments evaluate the construction and byproducts of religion online. The results show that there are three main repertoires related to the use of social media and religiosity in Turkey: religio
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sity as religious duties, religiosity as interpreting Islam and religiosity for managing impressions. The results can be evaluated together with the secularization theory, that is, discourses about being religious ‘warn’ individuals about the negative consequences of social media use, while offering an alternative to the positive ones." (Publisher description)
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"Indigenous Language for Social Change Communication in the Global South brings together voices from the margins to engage in dialogue about common social change issues in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. This book argues that resistance and social movements, expressed in music and songs and exchang
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ed via radio, remain fundamental to ensure that the linguistic and cultural diversity of the world progresses despite colonizing pressures. Contributors present cases that explore how indigenous communities use mediums such as the radio to help support their language, identity, and expand their own social change. Highlighting the centrality of music in the development of political discussions and language as a central part of collective identity, contributors analyze how these mediums function as both a vessel and a link for information and cultural cohesion of those engaging in social change." (Publisher description)
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