"This paper is the first attempt to look at the problem of community media in Central and Eastern Europe in general and present the specific problems of community media development in this region from an Eastern perspective. According to the Mapping Project of Community Media completed by the Commun
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ity Media Forum Europe in 2012, the community media sector is legally recognized in only four countries from this region." (Abstract)
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"Community media studies have often neglected how community media can contribute in areas ridden with conflict to more peaceful ways of cohabitation. This article aims to look in detail at how the Cyprus Community Media Centre (CCMC) has developed conflict resolution strategies to reduce the antagon
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ism in the Cypriot society, an island divided since 1974. Then it looks at the problems and complexities that this organization has to face when trying to realize its remit, caused by the fallacies in the community media model and by the Cypriot context of conflictuality. Despite the difficulties, the CCMC illustrates that community media can play a role in conflict resolution, creating more opportunities for mutual understanding and for the humanization of the other." (Abstract)
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"Throughout 2014 the IFJ and EFJ have been working hand in hand with affiliates, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine and the Russian Union of Journalists to support their members in the field, condemn the intimidation of journalists and manipula
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tion of media and to maintain a professional co-operation between journalists across the conflict. The unions have shown great courage and leadership and we can be very proud of their responses. We are also grateful to the support of Dunja Mijatovic, Representative on Freedom of the Media for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe for initiating a dialogue between the journalists unions in the spring of 2014. Since then six meetings have taken place that have been vital in building the climate of trust and co-operation. The process has not been easy, there have been tensions and sometimes serious disagreements, but there has been a remarkably broad areas of agreement, both on the principles that underline our profession and on areas of practical action to support and protect our members. This handbook was one initiative from this process and attempts to document the conflict through the eyes of the journalists and the unions. It draws on the joint monitoring and reporting that was conducted by the unions to record the major incidents against journalists in Ukraine and in Russia when related to the conflict. Through a series of interviews with journalists who have been in the war zone it provides an occasionally rough but authentic voice of the reporters and their experiences. The value of proper safety training and preparation for any correspondent is a major theme with interviews packed with advice to journalists contemplating heading to the front line." (Preface)
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"This article utilizes new institutional theory and its principle – coercive isomorphism – to examine explicit and implicit pressures exerted on news organizations by a regional government in Russia in 2009 and 2010. The study found that while empowering regional reporters by the myth of helping
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underprivileged citizens, the authorities divert the media from scrutinizing the government. The political officials outsource media relations to media themselves, turning them into public relations agents. This mission seems to homogenize the content of regional newspapers since the government becomes the main source of information." (Abstract)
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"Digital Russia provides a comprehensive analysis of the ways in which new media technologies have shaped language and communication in contemporary Russia. It traces the development of the Russian-language internet, explores the evolution of web-based communication practices, showing how they have
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both shaped and been shaped by social, political, linguistic and literary realities, and examines online features and trends that are characteristic of, and in some cases specific to, the Russian-language internet." (Publisher description)
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"This paper compares and contrasts four centers: The Center for Investigative Reporting in Bosnia-Herzegovina (CIN), The Journalism Training and Research Initiative in Bangladesh (JATRI), the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism in Jordan (ARIJ), and The Caucasus Media Investigations Center (
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CMIC) in Azerbaijan. No officials or funders ever announce failures or label projects like these failures. But this paper posits that those centers designed and run by journalists to actively report are more effective in fulfilling their role as watch-dogs, as well as more sustainable. They perform better at developing future practitioners and instilling an investigative reporting tradition in new places. This examination suggests that donors hoping to implant successful centers increase their chances when they match ambitions to the political and legal climate of host countries, commit to multi-year involvement, and select passionate leaders with clout in the eyes of other journalists in their host regions. This study suggest that centers designed by outsiders and run by non-journalists tend to evolve into generalized research, resource and training centers." (Introduction)
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"This is the first collection to de-Westernize the scholarship on women, politics and media by: 1) highlighting the latest research on countries and regions that have not been ‘the usual suspects’; 2) featuring a diverse group of scholars, many of non-Western origin; 3) giving voice through pers
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onal interviews to politically active women, thus providing the reader with a rare insight into women's agency in the political structures of emerging democracies. Each chapter examines the complex women, politics and media dynamic in a particular nation-state, taking into consideration the specific political, historic and social context. With 23 case studies and interviews from Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Russia and the former Soviet republics, this volume will be of interest to students, media scholars and policy makers from developed and emerging democracies." (Publisher description)
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"Do existing structures of media accountability - such as press councils, codes of ethics, and ombudspersons - suffice, or do we urgently need new instruments and initiatives in today's converging media world? These questions were tackled in an international survey of 1,800 journalists in twelve Eur
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opean and two Arab states conducted by the EU-funded research project, «Media Accountability and Transparency in Europe» (MediaAcT). The results provide a solid empirical basis for the discussions taking place. This book advances research on media accountability and transparency, and also offers innovative perspectives for newsrooms, media policy-makers, and journalism educators." (Back cover)
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"Television is the dominant news medium in Ukraine. Almost all Ukrainians (96.8%) watch TV for news at least weekly, including 95.7% of Crimeans. The Internet has overtaken radio and print media as the second most dominant news source in the country, with about half (48.3%) going online for news at
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least weekly. Radio and newspapers are each used weekly for news by close to one-third of the population (36.5% and 33.8%, respectively). In Crimea and Ukraine’s southern and eastern regions, pro-Russian sentiment is strongest and some Ukrainian analogue broadcasts have been blocked and replaced by Russian broadcasts. In these regions, most residents use either a satellite dish for TV reception (19.8%), or an Internet connection directly to the TV or through another device (38.5%). Only about one in five Crimeans (18.7%) say the cessation of some Ukrainian TV channels in Crimea has changed their news-gathering habits. Most of those whose habits have changed (71.1%) say they are using Russian sources more often; just 5.8% are using other foreign sources more." (Page 1)
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"Through a paired comparison of two moments of mass mobilization, in Ukraine and Argentina, focusing on the role of different actors involved, this text maps out a multi-layered sequence of events leading up to mass mobilization." (Publisher description)
"Russians are keen news consumers. Most (79.0%) access some type of news at least daily, and nearly all (95.4%) do this at least weekly. Nearly all Russians (95.5%) are turning to television – which continues to dominate the media market in 2013 – for their news each week. However, as more Russi
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ans get Internet access – seven in 10 have access at home in 2013 – more of them are getting their news online. A majority of Russians (56.4%) now say they get their news from the Internet at least once a week, up slightly from 50.4% in 2012. The Internet outdistances traditional media such as newspapers and magazines (49.8%) and radio (43.8%) as sources for weekly news. Still, more Russians are getting their weekly news fix from a less technological source – word of mouth. More than seven in 10 say they get their news each week from family members and friends. Young Russians between the ages of 15 and 24 rely on new media for their news more than any other age group. Nine in 10 Russians aged 15 to 24 (90.0%) say they go online for news at least once a week, versus about three in four of those aged 25 to 44 (75.6%) and 30.4% of those aged 45 and older. Young Russians are also far more likely than their older counterparts to say they get news from social networking services (62.3%), SMS/text messages (52.0%), and from mobile apps (34.4%) that frequently." (Page 1)
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"The European Union's dedication to freedom the media is articulated in different parts of its acquis and the European Union supports media freedom by funding member counties and enlargement countries. This study underlines the freedom of expression as a fundamental human right before the European U
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nion and will reveals the close relationship between freedom of expression and free media. In addition, the challenges against freedom of expression in media throughout enlargement countries of the European Union will be outlined and also the European Union supports to media freedom as an instrument to solve problems in front of freedom of expression will be analyzed. Throughout this study, Turkey among the enlargement countries will be attached particular attention." (Abstract)
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"Der Autor porträtiert 23 Länder aus sechs Weltregionen. Anschließend bildet er mittels des pragmatischen Differenz-Ansatzes sechs Modelle heraus: Das liberale Modell, das Public-Service-Modell, das Klientel-Modell, das Schock-Modell, das Patrioten-Modell und das Kommando-Modell. Dabei zeigt sich
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: In Ländern wie China, Syrien, dem Iran oder auch Weißrussland fungieren die Medien als Lautsprecher der Herrschenden. In den USA, Brasilien oder auch Deutschland und Frankreich sind sie eher Widersprecher. Doch auch dazwischen gibt es ein breites Feld von Ländern wie Russland, Libanon oder Italien, in denen eine Ambivalenz zwischen Lautsprechern und Widersprechern besteht, deren Kräfteverhältnis sich immer wieder verschieben kann." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"The transformation of state media to public service media (PSM) is one of the most ambitious endeavors in the field of media development. Not many efforts to free the national media from government control have succeeded in the past decades. In this paper the comparatively promising cases of Kyrgyz
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stan, Mongolia, Moldova and Serbia are discussed. The PSM in these countries all have a new legal basis, including a public service remit and a relatively independent governing body in which civil society is represented. The services delivered to the public by these media are analyzed according to a number of societal functions which are assembled under two general headings: “creating a public sphere” and “supporting integration”. Based on this analysis, a differentiation between “PSM in initial transformation” and “PSM in advanced transformation” is suggested. In all cases studied, different actors successfully used windows of opportunity: general political agendas to reform the media, a specific engagement from the management as well as support from the population and civil society. Media development actors here helped to advance the processes of change in different ways. Recommendations for future media development include strategic planning, inclusion of local actors, the pooling of legal expertise as well as structured processes of organizational development and capacity building." (Abstract)
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"Based on the case study of the cyber war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008, this paper is a theoretical deliberation in an attempt to illustrate connection between the Digital Divide and cyber security. Through a qualitative study of cyber warfare between the two countries, one on the devel
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oped and one on the underdeveloped side of Digital Divide, it shows that disadvantaged states are subject to cyber insecurity. As a result, even though relatively low dependence of their vital systems on online networks supposedly makes them less vulnerable to cyber offensives, disruptions to communication infrastructures cause these states turn dysfunctional. To test the dependence of cyber security on Digital Divide, this paper also reviews other instances of coordinated cyber-attacks between countries, but in these cases, with both parties digitally advanced (Russia vs. Estonia, China vs. USA). These cases show that differences in states’ capabilities and available resources allowed them to withstand and relatively quickly repel cyber offensives without outside support and great harm. The general conclusion is that country’s position along Digital Divide translates into the level of that country’s cyber security, which serves as a litmus test for the level of its cyber power that, in turn, is indicative of the country’s strategic political standing among other states." (Abstract)
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"The author argues that differences in media freedom and in the politicization of the news media are rooted in differences in party structures between old and new democracies, and, notably, the fact that young parties in the new members of the European Union are short of resources, which makes them
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more likely to take control of and to exploit media resources. The book takes a closer look at five former communist countries (Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia) to explain variations in media freedom and the politicization of the news media in and across countries. It offers general country descriptions as well as detailed case studies of the media policies and party backgrounds of two governments in each country." (Publisher website)
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"Internet freedom around the world has declined for the fourth consecutive year, with a growing number of countries introducing online censorship and monitoring practices that are simultaneously more aggressive and more sophisticated in their targeting of individual users. In a departure from the pa
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st, when most governments preferred a behind-the-scenes approach to internet control, countries are rapidly adopting new laws that legitimize existing repression and effectively criminalize online dissent." (Page 1)
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"This Global Information Society Watch tracks the state of communications surveillance in 57 countries across the world – countries as diverse as Hungary, India, Argentina, The Gambia, Lebanon and the United Kingdom. Each country report approaches the issue from a different perspective. Some analy
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se legal frameworks that allow surveillance, others the role of businesses in collecting data (including marketing data on children), the potential of biometrics to violate rights, or the privacy challenges when implementing a centralised universal health system. The perspectives from long-time internet activists on surveillance are also recorded. Using the 13 International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance as a starting point, eight thematic reports frame the key issues at stake. These include discussions on what we mean by digital surveillance, the implications for a human rights agenda on surveillance, the “Five Eyes” inter-government surveillance network led by the US, cyber security, and the role of intermediaries." (GIS website)
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"Mixing religion and public diplomacy can produce volatile results, but in a world in which the dissemination and influence of religious beliefs are enhanced by new communications technologies, religion is a factor in many foreign policy issues and must be addressed. Faith is such a powerful part of
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so many people's lives that it should be incorporated in public diplomacy efforts if they are to have meaningful resonance among the publics they are trying to reach." (Publisher description)
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