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Imaging and Assessing Mobile Technology for Development

Richard Musabe, John Sören Pettersson (eds.)

Newcastle upon Tyne (UK): Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2024), xvi, 186 pp.

"Several studies have already depicted the development of M4D and of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D), and that will not be repeated here. However, as this collection of chapters have sprung out from one of the M4D conferences – the M4D 2022 in Kigali – some notes ... on what have been salient at different conferences can be made. If we start with the M4D in Senegal 2014, we can see that from that conference stems a book where the chapters “initiate evocative conversations on how mobile technologies can contribute to expanding mobile participation practices” (Wamala-Larsson, Hellström, and Scharff 2015, 12). In Mozambique, in 2016, there were some contributions connecting to radio and TV technology; the M4D 2018 conference in Uganda included some papers on how utilities can be backed by subscription schemes via mobile services, as well as by apps where citizens can report dysfunctions and illicit use. The M4D 2020 did not take place, as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the possibility of running a conference on site and it was postponed to 2022, when Rwanda saw the first blended M4D conference. The Zoom presence for several dozen participants over three days went very well and, via two cameras and two large screens at the venue site, they blended in well at the conference. The IT maturing effect caused by the pandemic was thus noticeable. Among the presentations it was noticeable that the Internet of Things and drones, often blended with machine learning, are now imaginable as “mobile technology”. Of course, drones are always mobile, and IoT sensors often travel with cargo, but it was the realisation of the affordability of these technologies for food chain, livestock, and crop management, combined with their reliance on mobile phone networks to make use of farmers’ photos and senor data, that made such presentations appropriate at a conference that focuses on affordable communication technology. While technology is a prerequisite, in this volume, based on selected contributions to that conference, we will balance some imaginations with some assessments. The focus will not be on the “new” M4D, even though we acknowledge that it is time to set up demonstration farms with IoT and machine learning, as pointed out by Ronald Katamba from Uganda in an interview (Pettersson and Rehema 2022, 145), and books are now published on Applying Drone Technologies and Robotics for Agricultural Sustainability (Raj, Saini, and Pacheco 2023, with examples from India and Zimbabwe; see also FAO and ITU 2022). Instead, the chapters selected for this book adhere to the theme of knowledge dissemination and knowledge development, as mentioned already. One chapter was invited to report from the African Center of Excellence in Internet of Things, hosted by the University of Rwanda in Kigali, to illustrate the efforts to build native technological competence on an advanced level. That chapter simultaneously demonstrates the growing pan-African collaboration in the academic infrastructuring project." (Foreword, pages x-xi) more

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WorldCat (9)

Radio at the Edges: Perspectives on Alternative, Community and Pirate Radio

Matt Mollgaard (ed.)

Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2022), xiii, 210 pp.

"This collection engages with alternatives to mainstream radio systems, histories and concepts. It addresses the impacts and challenges that alternative, community and pirate radio represent." (Publisher description)

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WorldCat (9)

Religious Messages in the Media: Mission Impossible?

Terézia Roncáková

Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2021), x, 249 pp.

"Can religious messages be transmitted through the media? If so, how and why? Taking these questions as its starting point, and focusing on the relationship between media and religion, this book presents an analysis of the relationship between religion and the media. It explores the inherent qualiti ... more

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WorldCat (7)

China and the Global Media Landscape: Remapping and Remapped

Gabriele Balbi, Fei Jiang, Giuseppe Richeri (eds.)

Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2019), vi, 196 pp.

"In the last decade, the Chinese media have imposed themselves in the global arena and have started to become a reference point, in business and cultural terms, for other national media systems. This book explores how the global media landscape was changed by this revolutionary trend, and why and ho ... more

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WorldCat (11)

New Media and the Mediatisation of Religion: An African Perspective

Gabriel Faimau, William O. Lesitaokana (eds.)

Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2018), xi, 173 pp.

Google Scholar (14)

WorldCat (11)

Trends in Radio Research: Diversity, Innovation and Policies

J. Ignacio Gallego, Manuel Fernández Sande, Nieves Limón (eds.)

Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2018), xii, 364 pp.

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WorldCat (11)

Problems and Perspectives of the Relationship Between the Media and Human Rights

Gyan Prakash Pandey, Charu Joshi, Paromita Das (eds.)

Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2017), xx, 190 pp.

"In a democratic political system, the media is often entrusted with the responsibility of guarding the rights of the people. As such, it is essential to critically look at its role and functions in our present socio-political context. This book represents a comprehensive analysis of the following c ... more

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WorldCat (9)

Conflict, Trauma and the Media: A Collection of Essays

Guy Hodgson (ed.)

Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2017), vi, 168 pp.

"This collection of essays explores the complicated relationship between the messengers bringing news of catastrophic upheaval and the recipients of that message. It concentrates on the journalists, photographers and film-makers, reflecting not only the motivations behind their work, but also the ps ... more

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WorldCat (7)

Kurdish Documentary Cinema in Turkey: The Politics and Aesthetics of Identity and Resistance

Can Candan, Suncem Kocer

Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2016), xii, 269 pp.

"Documentary film is proving to be a particularly complex tool for the Kurdish social and political existence, as Kurds lack the official tools of history-writing and cultural preservation that are categorically associated with the capacities of a state. By delving into Kurdish documentary films as ... more

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WorldCat (11)

The Media in Europe's Small Nations

Huw David Jones (ed.)

Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2014), xi, 183 pp.

"What are the particular characteristics of the media in small nations? What challenges do broadcasters and other media institutions in these countries face, how can these be overcome, and are there advantages to operating in a small national context? How are small nations represented on screen, and ... more

Google Scholar (12)

WorldCat (11)

Trauma, Media, Art: New Perspectives

Mick Broderick, Antonio Traverso (eds.)

Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing (2010), vii, 285 pp.

"The essays collected in this book follow a contemporary critical trend in the field of trauma studies that reflects comparatively on artistic and media representations of traumatic histories and experiences from countries around the world. Focusing on a diversity of art and media forms—including ... more