"Over the years, Pakistan's notorious blasphemy laws have been a central instrument for the persecution of religious minorities. While these laws are colonial in origin, they exist today within the context of a general Islamisation of laws, which combined with the state's inability to hold a monopol
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y over violence have contributed to growing anarchy in the country. This paper traces the evolution of Pakistan's religious nationalism, presents debates around the blasphemy laws and their implementation, and considers the possibilities for reform." (Abstract)
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"This chapter reviews the laws of apostasy and blasphemy in the Muslim world, by looking particularly at Pakistani and Malaysian cases. It strongly argues that the death penalty in the laws of apostasy and blasphemy is untenable in the modern period. The chapter demonstrates that these laws conflict
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with a variety of foundational teachings of Islam and with the current ethos of human rights, in particular the freedom to choose one's religion and the freedom to express oneself." (Abstract)
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"This paper explores the interconnections of Hindutva fascist repertoires in India and quasi-orientalist discourses. History and common sense are re-written through audiovisual communications to appeal to one section of a dangerously split Indian public and a neoliberal-touristic sensibility elsewhe
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re. Enlightenment rhetorics of progress, democracy and technological development are apparently embodied by WhatsApp groups, electronic voting machines and laws to protect cows. Voting—as a marker of democratic citizenship—becomes a masquerade protecting a resurgent far right Hindutva (Hindu fascist) regime under the aegis of Narendra Modi and the BJP. Caste Hinduism’s association of cows with deities, and the proscription on meat-eating in certain versions of religious practice, are used as pretexts for unimaginable violence against Muslims, Christians, Dalits, and working class/lower caste Hindus. Violence against those who dissent is rationalised as patriotic. Hindutva’s banal and spectacular audiovisual discourse overwhelms public communication. Its consequences are a form of vigilante citizenship that is marked on the bodies of dead victims and of vigilante publics ready to be mobilised either in ethno-cultural violence or its defence and disavowal. Meanwhile, attracted to India as an enormous market, Western governments and corporations have colluded with the Hindutva regime’s self-promotion as a bastion of development." (Abstract)
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"This volume explores how societies are addressing challenging questions about the relationship between expression, traditional and societal values, and the transformations introduced by new information communications technologies. It seeks to identify alternative approaches to the role of speech an
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d expression in the organization of societies as well as efforts to shape the broader global information society. How have different societies or communities drawn on the ideas of philosophers, religious leaders or politicians, both historical and contemporary, that addressed questions of speech, government, order or freedoms and applied them, with particular attention to applications in the digital age? The essays include a wide variety of cultural and geographic contexts to identify different modes of thinking. The goal is to both unpack the 'normative' internet and free expression debate and to deepen understanding about why certain internet policies and models are being pursued in very different local or national contexts as well as on a global level." (Publisher description)
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"Gegen Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts begannen indigen-christliche Eliten in Asien und Afrika, sich stärker in der kolonialen Öffentlichkeit ihrer Länder zu artikulieren. Sie gründeten ihre eigenen Journale, kritisierten Missstände in Gesellschaft und Missionskirchen, beteiligten sich an sozialen Be
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wegungen und entwickelten eine nicht-missionarische Sicht auf das Christentum. Der Sammelband stellt die Ergebnisse eines Forschungsprojektes dar, das der Analyse indigen-christlicher Journale als eines bislang weitestgehend vernachlässigten Quellenkorpus gewidmet ist und singuläre neue Einsichten in religiöse Emanzipationsprozesse in Asien und Afrika um die Wende vom 19. zum 20. Jahrhundert erlaubt." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"The television broadcasting culture of Pakistan was changed dramatically in 2002. The President, General Pervez Musharraf, introduced a policy of liberalisation that enabled controversial issues such as honour killings, adultery, stoning to death, domestic violence, marriage after divorce and homos
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exuality to be increasingly depicted on screen. Women and TV Culture in Pakistan is the first in-depth analysis of this change in television content. Munira Cheema focuses on how 'gender issues' are dealt with on TV and examines the impact this has on female viewers. In Pakistan, television is often the only way in which women can access the public sphere (except through male guardians) and this book evaluates how TV content allows them to navigate their intersecting identities as Muslims, women and Pakistanis. At a time when religious conservatism is on the rise in the country, this book investigates why producers choose to focus on gender-based issues and the extent to which religion dictates social behaviour and broadcasting choices. Based on interviews with women viewers in Karachi as well as industry professionals including writers, directors and ratings experts, the research is a much-needed and original contribution to global television studies and gender studies." (Publisher description)
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"While the Internet and multimedia applications have made it easy to produce and spread media, they have also made it possible to distribute fake news to masses. With over 200 million active users in India and growing, WhatsApp's reach and features make it a top choice to spread fake news. This not
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only influences public opinion in India but has also sometimes created panic and incited to violence. This paper looks into how political propaganda is peddled through the WhatsApp in the form of 'news' (fake news). It also explores what makes the WhatsApp such a powerful application in Indian context, how do people use it and how existing laws in India make it difficult to trace the origin of the fake news." (Abstract)
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"Jamal Khashoggi is known for his very sharp critics to Saudi Arabian Governments. He was murdered at the Consulate facility of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul-Turkey. The case has become a concern of international society, put the questions of freedom of expression and press as well the security of journa
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list. This article is a normative legal research that is aimed to analyze the international human rights law’s protection to the journalist's activities and to discuss the case of Khashoggi, specifically on the issue which authorities that have obligations to impose legal sanctions to the alleged perpetrators. The research suggests that there have been international human rights norms and principles that protect journalist activities. In addition, it suggests that Turkey has jurisdiction to launch an investigation and prosecute the perpetrators who involve in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi." (Abstract)
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"Contemporary BRICS Journalism: Non-Western Media in Transition is the first comparative study of professional journalists working in BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). The book presents a range of insider perspectives, offering a valuable insight into the nature of jo
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urnalism in these influential economies. Contributors to this volume have conducted in-depth interviews with more than 700 journalists, from mainstream and online media, between 2012 and 2015. They present and analyse their findings here, revealing how BRICS journalism is envisioned, experienced, and practised in the twenty-first century. Compelling evidence in the form of journalists’ narratives reveals the impact of digital culture on modern reporting and the evolving dynamic between new media technology and traditional journalistic practice. Insightful comparisons are made between BRICS countries, highlighting the similarities and differences between them. Topics covered include professionalism, ethics and ideals, community journalism, technological developments in the newsroom and the reporting of protest movements." (Publisher description)
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"During the last fourteen years, Afghan media has played a significant role in empowering women and they still do. Media has a crucial responsibility in promoting women’s participation in society. It has the power to spread messages and raise awareness for the challenges women face. Most important
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ly, media has given women a voice which has allowed them to actively engage with the Afghan government, interest groups and society at large. This paper is about Afghan women print media, focusing on media representation of Afghan women in the Afghan women’s print media in post-Taliban Afghanistan. The Afghan women’s media has been studied to find out how Afghan women are represented and how it impacts women’s social condition in Afghanistan. A textual analysis of Afghan women’s magazines provided the research material for this study. Feminist theory is used to determine the effect of Afghan women media representation in the post-Taliban period on the perception of women in the Afghan society." (Abstract)
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"This study draws from scholarship in framing theory and mediated collective memories for the analysis of the adoption of official narratives of US President Donald Trump’s Afghanistan policy as ready-made news frames by Afghanistan’s Tolo TV’s popular current affairs program as Tawde Khabare
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(Hot Talks). Collected through purposive sampling technique, a comparative qualitative analysis of selected programs of Tawde Khabare and the text of President Trump’s Afghanistan policy suggests that the post-Taliban US-established Afghan media system has largely adopted and borrowed ready-made news frames and official narratives disseminated by the US government to domestic and global media. The ffindings suggest further that official frames of Donald Trump’s Afghanistan policy received greater acceptability in the Tolo TV coverage of the concerned issue. The study has raised several questions regarding the credibility of the post-Taliban Afghan media system and as do similar systems in other post-conflict societies established though the financial and technical help of the US and allied states after 9/11." (Abstract)
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"Over New Year’s Eve in 2016, a slew of sexual assault cases against women came to light in India’s tech hub of Bengaluru. Four years prior, against the backdrop of a violent rape in the nation’s capital of Delhi, prominent feminists and activists took to the streets as part of mass public pro
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tests calling for legal protections for women in India. The response to the New Year’s Eve allegations, however, differed in two ways. The first was the conspicuous role social media played for the first time in the feminist movement in India. The second was the leadership provided by young feminists in the country. A coalition of various feminist organisations and individuals banded together to form a collective under the hashtag #IWillGoOut. This article discusses feminist activism over a period of two weeks at the start of 2017, when the #IWillGoOut collective rapidly mobilised widespread public support calling for the safety of women and minorities in public spaces in India. The campaign organised and led marches and events in over 30 towns and cities of India with no formal fundraising effort. I draw on my personal experience of organising the campaign to share insights into its success in transforming online support to offline action using social media. This experience provides a useful example that can be used in other social justice movements in the Indian subcontinent." (Abstract)
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"In this sweeping and ambitious intellectual history, Daniel Veidlinger traces the affinity between Buddhist ideas and communications media back to the efflorescence of Buddhism in the Axial Age of the mid-first millennium BCE. He uses both communications theory and the idea of convergent evolution
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to show how Buddhism arose in the largely urban milieu of Axial Age northeastern India and spread rapidly along the transportation and trading nodes of the Silk Road, where it appealed to merchants and traders from a variety of backgrounds. Throughout, he compares early phases of Buddhism with contemporary developments in which rapid changes in patterns of social interaction were also experienced and brought about by large-scale urbanization and growth in communication and transportation. In both cases, such changes supported the expansive consciousness needed to allow Buddhism to germinate. Veidlinger argues that Buddhist ideas tend to fare well in certain media environments; through a careful analysis of communications used in these contexts, he finds persuasive parallels with modern advances in communications technology that amplify the conditions and effects found along ancient trade routes. From Indra’s Net to Internet incorporates historical research as well as data collected using computer-based analysis of user-generated web content to demonstrate that robust communication networks, which allow for relatively easy contact among a variety of people, support a de-centered understanding of the self, greater compassion for others, an appreciation of interdependence, a universal outlook, and a reduction in emphasis on the efficacy of ritual—all of which lie at the heart of the Buddha’s teachings." (Publisher description)
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"While studies on alternative media and community radio stations have primarily focused on the media content and production techniques, scant attention has been paid to audience participation, a crucial aspect of community radio. This paper is based on ethnographic interview with the listeners and p
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rogram producers of RadioJU, the community radio station of Jadavpur University, which was the first community radio station of West Bengal. The radius around RadioJU covers two districts of the state that includes urban areas as well as suburban regions, including a large refugee colony. The paper focuses on the three dimensions of alternativeness: the relationship with social context, nature of the content, and organizational structure. The objective of this study is to explore in what manner community radio continues to be relevant in contrast to the mainstream media and in what way audience participation positions community radio within the alternative–mainstream debate. The paper also points to the challenges and the limitations of audience participation in community radio, and suggests that the notion of supplementary media can be an important move towards opening up the category of the alternative media in an increasingly commercialized broadcast environment." (Abstract)
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"Since August 2017 over 671,000 people (mostly Rohingya) have crossed the border from Myanmar to Bangladesh to escape violence in Rakhine State. There are now more than one million Rohingya refugees staying in campsites along the Bangladeshi side of the border. In September 2017 Internews conducted
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an information ecosystem assessment, which found that 77% of the Rohingya population do not have enough information to make decisions for themselves and their family and 62% reported that they were unable to communicate with aid providers. Additionally, the assessment found that 96% of refugees use Rohingya as their primary language. In the meantime, the funding requirements for Communication with Communities (CwC) went from 4 million USD in the Humanitarian Response Plan (September 2017 – February 2018) to 5,9 million USD in the Joint Response Plan for the period of March until December 2018. This shows at the very least an increased understanding of the importance of CwC among individual agencies, sectors and the wider humanitarian system. Moreover, it highlights that more agencies have integrated CwC in their plans and rolled out CwC-related activities. So, while the first assessment of Internews looked at the demand-side of CwC, this report looks at the supply side of communication and investigates what kind of CwC services are on offer half a year after the initial assessment. The survey, conducted in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh from late February to early March 2018, not only captures different activities but also highlights the gaps in communication activities." (Introduction)
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"Since 2013, Bangladesh authorities have used draconian provisions in the Information and Communication Technology Act (ICT Act) to arrest scores of people for political and social commentary critical of the current Awami League government or its leaders. Those targeted have also included journalist
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s and editors arrested for articles critical of government officials or for writing about corruption or maladministration, as well as numerous individuals arrested for allegedly offending religious sentiment or for defamation. 'No Place for Criticism' details dozens of cases since authorities amended the act in 2013 to add harsher penalties and allow the police to make arrests without warrant. Since the Cyber Tribunal was established in 2013, the police submitted 1271 charge sheets to the Cyber Tribunal in Dhaka, most of them under section 57 of the act, a particularly sweeping provision. Many detainees have been held for months without trial. A significant number of those arrested are linked to Bangladesh opposition parties and were detained following complaints to the police by members of the governing Awami League. The government has pledged to replace the ICT Act with a new law, the Digital Security Act, a draft of which is now being considered by parliament. However, the proposed new law in some respects is broader and more open to abuse than the law it seeks to replace, and it continues to violate Bangladesh’s international obligation to protect freedom of speech." (Back cover)
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"Die kommunikationswissenschaftliche Öffentlichkeitsforschung hat sich in den vergangenen Jahren verstärkt mit transnationalisierten Formen von Öffentlichkeit beschäftigt. Allerdings gehen nur wenige empirische Arbeiten über die (mögliche) Entstehung einer europäischen Öffentlichkeit hinaus.
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Daher analysieren wir anhand der medienöffentlichen Debatten in 15 Ländern über die Klimapolitik – ein Thema, das oft als möglicher Kristallisationspunkt für die Entstehung transnationaler oder gar „globaler“ Öffentlichkeiten dargestellt wird – inwieweit die Akteursensembles in der Berichterstattung von Qualitätstageszeitungen, Regional- und Boulevardzeitungen transnationalisiert sind und welche Reichweite eine etwaige Transnationalisierung aufweist. Die Analyse zeigt eine beträchtliche Transnationalisierung, die teils über eine Europäisierung hinausgeht. Allerdings ist die Berichterstattung je nach Untersuchungsdimension unterschiedlich transnationalisiert: Transnationalisierte Bezüge zeigen sich eher in „schwacher“ als in „starker“ Form: Ausländische oder supranationale Akteure werden häufiger in der Berichterstattung erwähnt, als dass sie selbst zu Wort kommen. Zudem ist die horizontale Transnationalisierung stärker ausgeprägt als die vertikale: Bezüge auf Akteure aus anderen Ländern finden sich häufiger als Bezüge auf supranationale politische Organisationen. Die Analyse zeigt zudem Länder- und Medienunterschiede, die grosso modo die Befunde der Forschung zu Klimawandel-Kommunikation und europäischer Öffentlichkeit bestätigen: In wirtschaftlich von Klimaschutzmaßnahmen betroffenen Ländern ist die Berichterstattung stärker national geprägt. In Qualitätstageszeitungen ist die Berichterstattung stärker transnationalisiert als in Boulevard- und Regionalmedien." (Zusammenfassung)
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"Publics around the world overwhelmingly agree that the news media should be unbiased in their coverage of political issues, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of 38 countries. Yet, when asked how their news media are doing on reporting different political issues fairly, people are far mo
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re mixed in their sentiments, with many saying their media do not deliver. And, in many countries, there are sharp political differences in views of the media – with the largest gap among Americans. To build off Pew Research Center’s earlier findings about U.S. news media habits and attitudes, this new cross-national survey begins to study these dynamics globally. The survey finds that a median of 75% across 38 countries say it is never acceptable for a news organization to favor one political party over others when reporting the news. Just 20% say this is sometimes okay. People in Europe show the greatest opposition to political bias in their news." (Page 3)
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