"In Türkiye, communication science falls under the category of social sciences and is regarded as an interdisciplinary scientific field focused on empirical research. The field is influenced by communication science developments of the West in terms of developing theories and methodology, and it fa
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ces challenges when it comes to the systematisation of theories and research methods created by different research traditions; their critical evaluation, development, and the failure to put theories to practical use. In order to ascertain the present condition of the field, this article explores the institutionalisation of communication science at universities and its potential tendencies as an academic field of study, its research trends, and the characteristics of communication science studies." (Abstract)
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"This article discusses the emergence of Turkish serial dramas as a site for contestation over the impact of Islamic modernity on Malay women in contemporary Malaysia. Despite its popularity among Malay women, Turkish serial drama has been criticized for misleading and confusing the audience about I
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slamic history, faith, culture and civilization. The controversy over this television genre raises the question of how Malay women, constrained within their position of being female subjects of the state, manage to circumvent the authorities and watch this Turkish serial drama. They are not supposed to challenge social norms, moral propriety, cultural identity and the state vision of modernity. Therefore, this article argues that although Malay women exhibit excitement towards this television genre, they consistently use Islamic knowledge to develop watching skills and become more sceptical as well as competent in interpreting popular Islamic texts. The findings also show that Islam in the Malay world is culturally diverse, progressive and flexible." (Abstract)
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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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"The book Videogames in the Indian Subcontinent. Development, Culture(s) and Representations is the first ever comprehensive presentation and discussion of material spanning over all nations of South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Discussed b
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y the leading expert on the theme, it offers both an overview of as well as numerous detailed examples of both, historical and contemporary developments. Appropriately, this work also situates the regional characteristics in larger global contexts and cultural flows, and contemporary developments in historical contexts." (Review by Xenia Zeiler, CyberOrient, Vol. 17, Iss. 1, 2023, pp. 70-73)
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"By the summer of 2020, when the coronavirus had fully entered our everyday vocabulary and our lives, religious communities and places of worship around the world were already undergoing profound changes. In Asian and Asian diaspora communities, diverse cultural tropes, beliefs, and artifacts were m
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obilized to make sense of Covid, including a repertoire of gods and demons like Coronasur, the virus depicted with the horns and fangs of a traditional Hindu demon. Various kinds of knowledge were invoked: theologies, indigenous medicines, and biomedical narratives, as well as ethical values and nationalist sentiments. CoronAsur: Asian Religions in the Covidian Age follows the documentation and analysis of the abrupt societal shifts triggered by the pandemic to understand current and future pandemic times, while revealing further avenues for research on religion that have opened up in the Covidian age. Developed in tandem with the research blog CoronAsur: Religion and COVID-19, this volume is a “phygital” publication, a work grounded in empirical roots as well as digitally born communication. It comprises thirty-eight essays that examine Asian religious communities—Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Daoist, and Christian as well as popular/folk and new religious movements, or NRMs—in terms of the changes brought on by and the ritual responses to the Covid pandemic." (Publisher description)
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"Throughout the twenty-first century, genocide denial has evolved and adapted with new strategies to augment and complement established modes of denial. In addition to outright negation, denial of genocide encompasses a range of techniques, including disputes over numbers, contestation of legal defi
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nitions, blaming the victim, and various modes of intimidation, such as threats of legal action. Arguably the most effective strategy has been denial through the purposeful creation of misinformation. Denial of Genocides in the Twenty-First Century brings together leading scholars from across disciplines to add to the body of genocide scholarship that is challenged by denialist literature. By concentrating on factors such as the role of communications and news media, global and national social networks, the weaponization of information by authoritarian regimes and political parties, court cases in the United States and Europe, freedom of speech, and postmodernist thought, this volume discusses how genocide denial is becoming a fact of daily life in the twenty-first century." (Publisher description)
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"The book identifies and explains the unequal power relations in place that limit the possibilities of communication justice, the challenges and difficulties faced by activists and communities, the ways in which communities and movements have confronted power structures through discourse and materia
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l action, and their successes and limitations in creating new structures that promote the right to, and facilitate a future for, communicative justice. The volume features contributions based on experiences of resistance and transformation in the Global South—Bolivia, Ecuador, India, Malawi, and collaborations between the continents of Latin America and Africa—as well as notable studies from the Global North—Japan, Spain, and the United Kingdom—that defy hegemonic models." (Publisher description)
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"Journalists in Pakistan are losing their lives during the course of their duty. This study identifies the factors and actors behind the killings of Pakistani journalists and the role of stakeholders and media owners in compromising journalists’ safety, under the lens of social responsibility theo
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ry, by unearthing the case study of slain journalist Arshad Sharif. This study looks into the complete picture of Pakistani journalists’ killings. In order to collect data, in-depth interviews of 15 seasoned journalists are conducted through snowball sampling and 10 recent tweets of Arshad Shairf has been examined by applying the framework of critical discourse analysis (CDA) to uncover the rhetoric. The findings show that the journalists in Pakistan are performing their jobs in grave situation and get exposed to life threats when they blur the line between journalism and politics. State and non-state actors, land mafias and criminal gangs threaten journalists. Stakeholders and media owners use media workers for their interests. The case of Arshad Sharif’s murder has raised questions on the safety of journalists and the journalistic ethics in Pakistan. It is recommended to revisit the freedom of expression and media code of ethics in the light of findings of this research." (Abstract)
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"This report presents a rapid media consumption assessment in Central Asia. It tells the reader what information - and disinformation - Central Asians consume, as well as the reasons why they consume it. How do recent international and regional geo-political events impact their media choices and wha
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t sources do they come from? From the ongoing Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine to controversial domestic events in the region, including violent state response to protests and the unresolved border issues between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, this report examines the critical role of information and disinformation in shaping public awareness and response to such processes." (Abstract)
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"During the six months of the gender-based disinformation study (January 1 – June 30, 2023), the following trends were revealed: A total of 42 cases of gendered disinformation were identified, of which 24 were homophobic and 18 were sexist or attacked women based on moral criteria. In most cases,
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the target of homophobic or gendered disinformation was the West, while false content related to Ukraine was predominantly homophobic. In connection with internal socio-political processes in Georgia, disinformation was directed against politicians, persons associated with them, journalists, and civic activists, who, in addition to disinformation, were targeted in discrediting campaigns." (Key findings, page 8)
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"This topical volume illuminates ethical issues brought to the fore by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on a broad range of case studies from different regions, it provides insights into the multiple and complex ways in which the pandemic has shaped media ethics. Chapters employ a wide range of innova
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tive theoretical and methodological approaches to dissect enduring and emerging ethical questions during the pandemic, providing lucid accounts of axiological dimensions in pandemic discourses, ethics of emotional mood, ethical challenges and dilemmas in news reporting, propaganda, misinformation, disinformation, and Othering. While the case studies in this book are unique, the authors have extrapolated common strands from their analysis of ethical issues applicable to any other country or region during the pandemic, contributing unique perspectives on how media ethics are circumscribed by global health pandemics." (Publisher description)
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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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"BBC Media Action has been using mass media to help audiences recognise risks and keep safe from explosive ordnance (EO), which is widespread across Afghanistan following years of conflict. We conducted a panel study in 10 most affected provinces to evaluate the impact of our programme. We found tha
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t increased exposure to our content, which reached 5.4 million Afghans, was linked to increased ability to identify explosive ordnance risks; improved knowledge of what to do to keep safe; and increased discussion with others." (Introduction)
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"We look at community media in Bhutan from three important perspectives – the concept of community media in general, a modified self-evaluation tool developed by UNESCO Chair on Community Media, Vinod Pavarala, and the Gross National Happiness index where we show in what way community media may co
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ntribute to the growth of rankings within this index and how this index may help to better understand the community media phenomenon in this country. The research is based on desk research and interviews with the key actors in community radio development in Bhutan, in 2019, supported by the first-hand experience gained during conducting research on Bhutan media system gained by one of the authors during visits in this country in the years 2015–2018. In this article we concentrate on local community radio stations located in rural areas: KYD from Khotakpa, Edi from Dechen Pelri and Lhop Community Radio Station from Lotokuche. We highlight the unique context in which community radio in Bhutan functions – the geographical conditions and mountainous terrain, which cause separation from other surrounding indigenous communities, differences in spoken language and the cultivation of their own cultural identity. The over-arching argument in this paper is that local factors are really important to understanding national media systems and that the national government commitment to GNH helps to explain community radio in Bhutan." (Abstract)
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"Impartial news, or news without a partisan slant or overt point-ofview, is overwhelmingly preferred by news audiences worldwide, yet what such preferences mean remains poorly understood. In this study, we examine what people mean when they say they prefer impartial news. We draw on qualitative inte
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rviews and focus groups with 132 individuals in Brazil, India, the UK, and the US, conducted in early 2021. Our results show while the idea of impartial news is widely embraced in abstract, ranging from notions of reporting “just the facts” to more nuanced views about how feasible impartiality is to achieve, there is no shared understanding of impartiality in practice. People’s perceptions of impartiality are rooted in two intertwined folk theories: the notion that news production and editorial decisions are guided largely by (a) partisan political agendas or (b) commercial considerations, determining what stories were chosen, ignored, or crafted in order to deceive and manipulate. There is some country variation around the importance of these folk theories, but their recurrence suggests that demonstrating impartiality to audiences requires convincing them not only that news content is balanced but also that editorial decisions were not driven by ulterior motives." (Abstract)
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"The present study is designed to assess the trend of episodic and thematic media framing on child-abusing news and its relation with the adaptation of The Children Act along with UNICEF's reporting principles. With media framing theory this paper executed a quantitative study through content analys
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is. A total of 1091 news articles were studied from two broadsheets and one tabloid newspaper within a timeline of one year. Results revealed that episodic news has a higher tendency of violating reporting principles than thematic. Incidents of sexual abuse received most of the coverage in Bangladeshi newspapers where girls were found most likely to be the victims of misrepresentation. Finally, the tabloid newspaper was found guiltier of unethical reporting than the broadsheets which established a significant connection between the tendency of principles violation and newspaper type. The paper recommended policymakers, child welfare institutes, and mass media promote children's rights to decrease the rate of abuse cases in Bangladesh." (Abstract)
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"Bringing together 15 journalism scholars from around the world, this book explores and offers solutions to the common issues and inadequacies of reporting on sexual violence in the media. Presenting a range of conceptual, methodological, and empirical chapters, the book tackles issues related to, o
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r missing, from journalism in three parts: Part I acknowledges and surveys the role journalism plays in shining a light on social injustices and critiques research deficits in reporting on sexual violence; Part II employs cutting-edge research linked to an intersectional lens to amplify the voices that have been silenced in the media coverage; Part III explores how advocacy, campaign, and solutions journalism offers frameworks for ethical reporting on the shadow epidemic of sexual violence during these COVID-normal times." (Publisher description)
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