"This Research Paper examines the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Unit’s (PMU) messaging on the organisation’s website and social media platforms through early January 2017 to develop a more nuanced understanding of the PMU’s outlook, both present and future. After providing an overview of the PMU
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s media presence online, the paper discusses how the organisation promotes its core narrative: that it is a cross-confessional and patriotic force for the defence of all Iraqis against a brutal and evil IS. The paper then addresses the PMU’s use of messaging to refute the sectarian portrayal of the organisation in some quarters before turning to the way the PMU approaches regional and international states in its media. Finally, the paper summarises the PMU’s messaging strategy and discusses how this strategy implies a less threatening future for the organisation than is often anticipated." (Abstract)
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"As in much of the Arab World, satellite TV is almost ubiquitous in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, present in 97.9% of households (versus 31.5% with radio and 60.1% with the internet). Ethnic Kurds and those with a college degree are much more likely than other Iraqis to have internet access at home. Mor
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e than nine in 10 Iraqis (92.2%) have their own mobile phone, and 35% have accessed the internet via mobile device in the past week. The ongoing conflict has displaced many r esidents and has hindered their access to TV, radio, and the internet. More than one-third (36.0%) of Iraqis say that they have been “displaced” in the past 12 months due to instability. Despite the disruptions, Iraqis and Iraqi Kurds remain frequent news consumers. Almost 40% (37.6%) access news several times a day, while an additional 27.5% access it at least once a day. More than half (55.3%) share news with family, relatives, or other people at least daily. Weekly users of international news media are even more likely to access and share news daily." (Page 2)
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"Junge Frauen machen in Irakisch-Kurdistan ein Radioprogramm für Flüchtlinge. Tabuthemen kennen sie keine - Tratsch und Klatsch kommen auch nicht zu kurz." (Seite 56)
"This book has presented a critical, historically grounded analysis of the role of the war correspondent. It has highlighted the risks, the problems and the failures that have defined the role but it has also given credit where that is due and acknowledged the inspirational example of correspondents
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such as William Howard Russell, Morgan Philips Price, Martha Gellhorn, Wilfred Burchett, John Pilger and Robert Fisk. Their work seems to bear testament to the ideal beloved of all journalists and writers, of ‘telling truth to power’. But as Arundhati Roy has argued, ‘Power owns the truth [and] knows the truth just as well if not better than the powerless know the truth’ (2004, page 68). In view of everything that has gone before in this book, I think she is right. Telling truth to power does not change or lessen the risks and dangers that accompany the journalist in the war zone. And as we have seen, the risks are not equal; the level of special training, protection and institutional support journalists receive depends on the size and wealth of their media employer." (Conclusion, page 214)
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"Key takeaways: Internet use is increasing rapidly, but not replacing TV; Increases vary significantly by province; Internet trends will change as Iraqi government and ISIS vie for control of media." (Slide 32)
"Kurds live in a different media environment and rely primarily on Kurdish language TV; D
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ifferences in substantive interests; Historical differences in media access between Iraqi Kurdistan and rest of Iraq have disappeared; Facebook and other forms of social-media based news sharing are increasingly important." (Slide 46)
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"Vor dem Hintergrund der Flüchtlingsdebatte in Deutschland 2015 wird in diesem Beitrag danach gefragt, welche (Massen-)Kommunikationskanäle Flüchtlinge vor, während und nach der Flucht nutzen, um sich über migrationsrelevante Themen zu informieren und sich darüber mit anderen Migrationswillige
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n auszutauschen. Dabei wird nicht nur die Frage nach der subjektiven Bewertung der genutzten Quellen gestellt, sondern auch untersucht, ob die Flüchtlinge eine informierte Entscheidung in den verschiedenen Phasen der Migration treffen. Auf Basis des Uses-and-Gratifications-Ansatzes und der Handlungstheorie (symbolischer Interaktionismus) wurden zwischen November 2015 und Februar 2016 vier Fokusgruppen und 36 Tiefeninterviews mit syrischen und irakischen Flüchtlingen durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen, dass sich die befragten Flüchtlinge vor und während der Flucht gut informiert fühlten, da persönliche Kontakte und soziale Medien die Informationsbedürfnisse weitgehend befriedigen konnten. Informationsdefizite zeigten sich vor allem nach der Ankunft in Deutschland." (Abstract)
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"Das Thema Medien und Krieg wird in diesem Buch aus einer vierfachen Perspektive heraus behandelt. Es geht zum einen um die Frage nach der Berichterstattung über Kriege, zum zweiten um die Rolle von Medien im Krieg, drittens geht es darum, welche strukturellen Bedingungen von Krieg und Gesellschaft
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die Inhalte der Medien wie prägen und viertens um eine friedensstiftende Sicht auf diese Zusammenhänge. Das Fazit: Definitorisch gibt es kaum noch einen Unterschied zwischen medialer Kommunikation und Krieg." (Publisher description)
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"This Research Paper aims to analyse in depth the global propaganda strategy of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) by looking at the methods through which this grand strategy is carried out as well as the objectives that IS wants to achieve through it. The authors first discuss IS’ growth mode
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l, explaining why global expansion and recruitment of foreign fighters are pivotal to IS success. Having in mind this critical role, the authors then explore the narratives and themes used by the group to mobilise foreign fighters and jihadists groups. Third, the paper analyses how IS deploys its narratives in those territories where it has established a foothold. Fourth, it outlines IS’ direct engagement strategy and how it is used to facilitate allegiance of other jihadist groups. The final section of the paper offers a menu of policy options that stakeholders can implement to counter IS’ global propaganda efforts." (Abstract)
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"From September through December 2014, we estimate that at least 46,000 Twitter accounts were used by ISIS supporters, although not all of them were active at the same time [...] Typical ISIS supporters were located within the organization’s territories in Syria and Iraq, as well as in regions con
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tested by ISIS. Hundreds of ISIS-supporting accounts sent tweets with location metadata embedded. Almost one in five ISIS supporters selected English as their primary language when using Twitter. Three quarters selected Arabic. ISIS-supporting accounts had an average of about 1,000 followers each, considerably higher than an ordinary Twitter user. ISIS-supporting accounts were also considerably more active than non-supporting users. Much of ISIS’s social media success can be attributed to a relatively small group of hyperactive users, numbering between 500 and 2,000 accounts, which tweet in concentrated bursts of high volume. A minimum of 1,000 ISIS-supporting accounts were suspended between September and December 2014, and we saw evidence of potentially thousands more. Accounts that tweeted most often and had the most followers were most likely to be suspended. At the time our data collection launched in September 2014, Twitter began to suspend large numbers of ISIS-supporting accounts [...] Account suspensions do have concrete effects in limiting the reach and scope of ISIS activities on social media. They do not, at the current level of implementation, eliminate those activities, and cannot be expected to do this." (Executive summary)
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"As in much of the Arab World, satellite TV is almost ubiquitous in Iraq, present in 97.3% of households (versus 35.1% with radio and 50.4% with the Internet). Ethnic Kurds and those with a college degree are much more likely t han other Iraqis to have Internet access at home; those living in Anbar
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province are less likely than average to have it (21.9%), as are Iraqis with only some intermediate education or less (37.7%). More than nine in 10 Iraqis (92.2%) have their own mobile phone, and 35% have accessed the Internet via mobile device in the past week. The ongoing conflict has displaced many residents and has hindered their access to TV, radio, and the Internet. More than one-quarter (27.0%) of Iraqis say that they have been “displaced” in the past 12 months." (Page 1)
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"Key Takeaways: Iraq is divided and in transition. You cannot have an actionable understanding of media habits without analyzing specific "target" audiences. All media platforms matter, depending on the audience." (Slide 33)
"The assessment concludes that there is not ‘one magic answer’ to the question of which media channel is the most effective – rather a variety of channels must be used to reach as many people as possible. While TV scores high among both refugees and host population as a preferred media channel
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it will be challenging to reach out to the refugees through TV, as it seems they mainly watch international, Syrian and Pan-Arabic TV channels, whereas the host population primarily watches local Kurdish/Iraqi TV channels. Other communication channels such as the internet and telephones are being used by refugees and the host population but direct communication and dialogue with aid providers is valued by refugees. The assessment underscores that the information needs among refugees – residing in camps or in urban settings – do not differ much."
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"During the years of Ba'athist dictator Saddam Hussein, media personnel were under tight control and tortured or executed when they strayed from the government line. In the decade following the fall of the Ba'athist regime, thousands of Iraqi journalists were trained in liberal democratic profession
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al norms, and hundreds of news outlets opened even as some of the old patronage practices and violence continued. This study utilized Shoemaker and Reese's hierarchy of influences model to examine factors influencing a proxy indicator for professional ethics, the value of conflict of interest avoidance among a purposive sample of Iraqi journalists (N = 588). We found that the news media routines and ideological levels, though not strong, had the greatest influences on this conflict of interest avoidance perception criterion indicator, the proxy for professional ethics. The findings suggest a tension between liberal democratic journalism training at the routines level and ideological aspects, in some cases, such as ethnic identity and political ideology. Strong influences on perceptions of conflict of interest avoidance were the type of media platform/Western journalism training, Arab ethnicity over Kurdish ethnicity, ideology of "democrat" over Kurdish nationalist or Islamist. No influence was apparent for Internet use frequency or state versus nonstate media." (Abstract)
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"Die Medienstrategen des IS wissen, was das Publikum von ihnen erwartet. Ihr hämmernder Text, der Statements, Tweets, Videos, Bilder übertönt, wie hermetisch abgeriegelt ihr Reich ist. Sie bestimmen unser Bild vom "Islamischen Staat". Dafür etikettieren sie ihre Opfer um, leihen sich Tote und l
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gen sich ein Image zurecht." (Seite 230)
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"Since the group calling itself “the Islamic State” (or “Islamic State of Iraq and AlSham”, ISIS) took control of Mosul in June 2014, this Iraqi city turned into a death trap for journalists, especially after the jihadist militant group seized all local media, getting hold of the full lists
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of reporters’ names and addresses. Soon after that, ISIS launched a major persecution campaign targeting all types of media workers, following a decision of its Sharia court accusing reporters of violating its instructions and leaking information to local and foreign media from within the city. By these practices, ISIS seeks sowing terror among media workers, intimidating journalists and preventing them from doing their job, thus forcing them to self-censorship. In this report, compiled over three months, Journalistic Freedoms Observatory (JFO) and Reporters Without Borders (RWB) shed light on the crimes committed by ISIS against journalists and their assistants in northern Iraq. Between 10 June 2014 and the date of publication of this report, JFO – RWB’s partner organization in Iraq – registered 48 kidnappings committed by ISIS against journalists, media assistants and students in journalism since the extremist organization took control of the city. Among those kidnapped, 13 were executed in different brutal ways after being accused of «treason and espionage»." (Page 3)
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"Im Fokus des ersten Teils stehen transnationale Phänomene wie die Bedeutung des Satellitenfernsehens und der Sozialen Medien sowie die Rolle von Minderheiten, Gender und Islamisten in den Medien. Diese Beiträge geben den aktuellen Stand der Forschung wieder und reflektieren diesen. Im zweiten Tei
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l des Buches werden in 18 Länderstudien – von Marokko bis zum Irak – die nationalen Besonderheiten der Medien betrachtet, die aus unterschiedlichen politischen Systemen, rechtlichen Beschränkungen, ökonomischen Voraussetzungen und der jeweiligen Soziodemographie resultieren." (Klappentext)
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"During the last decade, the image of war correspondents in the news has shifted dramatically. Reports are no longer full of cheerleading stories of embedded journalists. Instead, stories of war reporters being attacked, kidnapped or injured prevail. Sadly, the former heroic witnesses to war have be
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come victims of their own story. In this book, Nina Burri provides the first comprehensive analysis on how international law protects professional and citizen journalists, photographers, cameramen and their support staff during times of war. Using examples from recent armed conflicts in Iraq, Libya, Gaza and Syria, Burri explores the means, methods and risks of contemporary war coverage and examines the protection of news providers by international humanitarian law, international criminal law and human rights law." (Abstract)
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"Anhand von drei Beispielen, den Kopten in Ägypten, den Imazighen in Marokko und den Kurden im Irak dokumentieren die Autoren dieses Kapitels exemplarisch, wie unterschiedliche Bevölkerungsgruppen versuchen, durch eigene Medien ihre kulturelle, gesellschaftliche und politische Identität zu wahren
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, diese zu festigen oder, im Falle der irakischen Kurden, durch die Medien politische Autonomie und territoriale Ansprüche zu verteidigen." (Seite 100)
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"This collection of essays and interviews offers perspectives on traumatic experience from the social and public side of the equation. Like other books in the Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies Series, it is concerned with redressing the balance of public memory through a focus on what has been negle
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cted or excluded, but traumatic memory poses special problems in this regard. Andrew Hoskins and John Sutton, the series editors, suggest that the question of how we remember has become central to historical enquiry, but the question itself is fraught with complexity. Generational change and new technologies of memory are reshaping the ways in which memory works, and the influence of trauma narratives is a factor in this. They pose another question: ‘What is “memory” under such conditions?’ Here, we focus on the distance between traumatic narratives in the public domain, and the experience of traumatic recall in the mind of a person who has been directly affected by extreme events." (Introduction, page 1)
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