"In assessing attitudes toward the media, one notable finding was a vote of confidence for improved quality of news media reporting between 2011 and 2013 with a majority of adults agreeing that it has improved in six of the eight countries surveyed. This optimism is also reflected in overall percept
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ions of media credibility in such countries as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the UAE, while less so in more volatile states including Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia. Internet use is strongest in the Gulf countries—UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and lowest in the most populous Arab country, Egypt, which appears in question after question to be a media-poor country in spite of its large population. Only in Qatar is the internet regarded as a more important source of news than is television. In all countries respondents are multi-media users, of course. In the midst of great enthusiasm for the internet, the importance of satellite television, notably Al Jazeera, is the most popular source for news and public affairs across the region. While its popularity varies by country depending on local sources of news and other factors, Al Jazeera was mentioned by respondents in every country surveyed as a top source of news. At the same time, social networking is nearly universal among those online and no other social media site comes close to Facebook in popularity. Twitter and Google+ also get high marks in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UAE. Although critics once complained “that the internet only speaks English,” Arabic language use exceeded that of English across the region on most media platforms." (Introduction, page 8)
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"A quarter of a century after the collapse of communism in the former Eastern bloc, a wide range of scholarly projects have been undertaken to compare and theorize processes of media change in the region. One question that scholars have sought to address is: what were the factors that crucially impa
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cted how these media landscapes evolved? This essay aims to contribute to this debate by juxtaposing media change in two selected cases: the Czech Republic (as a best-case scenario in terms of convergence with the Western model) and Russia (as a scenario where convergence has been limited). Based on secondary analysis of a wide range of sources, the essay systematically exposes 11 crucial differences between the two countries and illustrates how these have impacted the processes of media change. The conclusion sets out how these findings could serve as a starting point and source of inspiration for future comparative research." (Abstract)
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"This book sets out to answer essential questions regarding the extent and limits of freedom of expression online. It seeks to shed light on the often obscure landscape of what we are allowed to say online and how our ideas, and the process of imparting and receiving information, are protected. It s
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hows the large ambit of rights protected by freedom of expression – including freedom of the media and the right to access information via the Internet. It also highlights the importance of the standard-setting, monitoring and promotion activities of international and non-governmental organisations, with a chapter on relevant national practices that illustrates how different states deal with the challenge that the Internet has brought to ensuring freedom of expression for all. As the importance of the Internet in our daily lives grows, readers will find this book to be a valuable resource for understanding the rights and obligations of each actor on the Internet, including states, Internet companies and civil society." (Back cover)
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"This book captures a snapshot of the contemporary role of online journalism in rapidly evolving post-Soviet, post-Colour Revolution political environments, exploring the wider journalistic and political context alongside the use and influence of online news sites. In particular, it aims to fill a g
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ap in the literature by undertaking qualitative work in the post-Colour Revolution nations which seeks to assess the views of active journalists on the role of online political journalism in those environments." (Publisher description)
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This is the second of the annual Reuters Institute Digital News surveys published by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) at Oxford University. You Gov online polls commissioned by RISJ were conducted with 11,000 online users in the UK, US, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Bra
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zil and Japan. For instance, the survey shows surprising national differences in the rate of online participation. The Spanish (27%), Italians (26%), and Americans (21%) were more than twice as likely to comment on a news story via a social network as the British (10%). Meanwhile urban Brazilians were five times more likely to comment on a news site than the Germans or Japanese surveyed, and nearly half (44%) shared a news story on a weekly basis via a social network, with around one third (32%) doing so by email. Study author Nic Newman, a Research Associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and digital strategist, said: ‘Our findings suggest that the culture of a country is the main driver for how we engage with online news – playing an even greater part than the technical tools and devices we have to access it. People living in Brazil, Italy and Spain have much higher levels of interaction, both with the news sites and with each other, sharing and commenting about news stories. By contrast, although the Japanese appear to embrace the non traditional news sites, they have the lowest level of online and offline participation, followed by Germany, Denmark and the UK.’
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"The first part, “Fiction in the Ibero-American Space”, presents a comparative synthesis of fiction in the Obitel countries. This comparison is made from a quantitative and qualitative perspective that allows to observe the development of fiction in each country, highlighting their main producti
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ons, as well as the topic of the year, herein, “Social Memory and Television Fiction”. The second part, “Fiction in the Obitel Countries”, is composed by twelve chapters (one for each country), with a structure of fixed sections, though some are more specific than others [...] The third part is an “Appendix”, where are collected the top ten TV fictions in the Obitel countries with basic and necessary information about these productions." (Pages 19-20)
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"International law provides robust general protection for freedom of expression, including freedom of the media, and this has been subject to detailed elaboration by international human rights courts and other official bodies tasked with promoting human rights globally and regionally. For the media,
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some of the key implications of the right to freedom of expression are that the media should only be regulated where this is necessary to serve an overriding social interest and that such regulation should be undertaken only by bodies which are protected against political and commercial interference. Furthermore, an important goal of media regulation should be to foster and promote diversity in the media. International law also places clear limits on restrictions on what may be published or broadcast through the media, while also imposing a positive obligation on States to put in place systems to ensure that individuals can access information held by public bodies. All of the countries in the Arab world are in serious breach of all or most of these standards. While there has been some progress recently, particularly in terms of respect for freedom of expression in practice, the need for comprehensive media law reform in the region remains pressing and very substantial. Unless structural protection for media freedom is provided through law reform efforts, it is extremely unlikely that any gains in respect for freedom of expression will be lasting." (Conclusion, page 64)
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"The goal of this book is to present in a systematic way the results of analysis of content of media in minority languages in four countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), relying on past practice, expertise and research results related to analysis of minority media and
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treatment of minorities in media. The analysis conducted in 2012 by the research team gathered around this project focused, in addition to minority media content, on analysis of the legislative context and socio-economic status of minority communities in these countries." (Introduction, page 14-15)
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"The current UIS Questionnaire on Media Statistics provides information for three UNESCO frameworks, namely the Media and Information Literacy Framework, the Media Development Indicators Framework and the Framework for Cultural Statistics. The questionnaire collects data for reporting global progres
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s on Action Lines C2, C3, C8 and C9 of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in UNESCO’s fields of competencies. In particular, Action Line C9 recommends appropriate policies to foster and sustain media and information development. This document provides country profiles for each of the countries that participated in the two pilot surveys conducted in 2011 and 2012." (Background, page 3)
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"On the one hand, there is the Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ), a self-regulatory structure favoured by the privately owned media players. On the other hand, there is the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) formed under statutory law and whose structure is still not adequate to resolve cases
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brought before it. VMCZ and ZMC are contesting for legitimacy and in various ways they present dialectical positions on the debate on self-regulation. One media house, Alpha Media Holdings, has formed its own Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system that uses the ombudsman. This article uses press reports and interviews of key people in the media and the ADRs in order to ascertain the effectiveness and problems of the evolving processes, making comparisons with the United Kingdom and South African scenarios where similar debates on Press Councils are topical, especially after the publication of the report on the Leveson Enquiry." (Abstract)
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"This report maps the complex legislative frameworks of community broadcasters in more than 30 countries. It examines how the sector can be strengthened in line with international standards and provides analysis and recommendations that may be of interest to donors and policy makers as they set prio
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rities for media development." (Foreword)
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"This article discusses the role of ‘cyberactivism’ or the role played by new media in paving the way for political transformation, in both the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions of 2011. It starts with a discussion of the potentials of cyberactivism in both of these revolutions, especially how t
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hese new types of social media can act as effective tools for supporting the capabilities of the democratic activists by allowing forums for free speech and political networking opportunities; providing a virtual space for assembly; supporting the capability of the protestors to plan, organize and execute peaceful protests, while documenting the protests and governmental reactions to them; and providing forums for collaboration between the Tunisian and the Egyptian activists. It also sheds light on some of the limitations of the role of social media in both of these revolutions and highlights some of the overlaps and divergences between the role of cyberactivism in both of them, through comparing the similarities and differences in contexts, actors and tools." (Abstract)
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"The media sector in West Africa has seen significant region-wide improvements, attributable not just to improvements in isolated cases but to general improvements in all countries. Nevertheless, despite general improvement, aspects of the media sector lag behind others, including: 1) government har
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assment of journalists, 2) weak or lacking media criticism of government, 3) unequal distribution of citizen access to media, and 4) gender imbalance among journalists. Countries where the media sector is faring less well than in other nations are Guinea, Nigeria, and Togo. Detailed analysis of four critical indicators reveals that: government censorship persists even in relatively democratic countries like Benin and Senegal, and remains a major problem in Togo and Guinea; government harassment of journalists is occurring in several countries, particularly Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Benin, and Senegal; media bias has diminished across the region compared to the past, except in Nigeria; media corruption is very significant in most West African countries. The problem may now be the region's largest single threat to democratic rights in this sector." (Executive summary)
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"Out of the twelve countries surveyed, only four have specific access to information laws. These countries are: Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe. However, a significant indication of the shifting tide on the continent is that six of the countries surveyed have some form of specific access to
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information in a Bill or parliamentary process. These countries are: Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia." (Page 5)
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"This case study analyses the intersection between radio, gender and information and communication technologies (ICTs) in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Specifically, it examines whether recent improvements in radio broadcast coverage and the spread of SMS technology are increasing women’s acce
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ss to information and providing them with a platform that adequately meets their needs. The findings show that, despite cultural and socio-economic barriers, women enjoy listening to radio and want to contribute to debates in their local public sphere. For today’s younger women, it has become easier to overcome traditional obstacles to expressing themselves publicly, as well as to embrace the newest communication technologies, such as text messaging, that allow them access to a public platform. However, it is still difficult to get ordinary women of all ages to communicate with their local radio. Community radio is a male-dominated entity that often consigns women’s programming to a narrow interpretation of gender issues, focused on women’s roles as wives, mothers and homemakers, and does not address the listening needs of women as political and economic actors in their own right." (Executive summary)
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"La finalidad de este libro es ofrecer al movimiento indígena del Perú y de América Latina un marco de referencia comparativo regional de las políticas públicas referidas al ejercicio del derecho a la comunicación de los pueblos indígenas que facilite articular propuestas para la agenda indí
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gena en comunicación. En ese camino, la importancia del estudio reside en crear un marco teórico-técnico que permita sostener desde el campo de la comunicación y del derecho; los compromisos asumidos por los Estados de América Latina en la Declaración de las Naciones Unidas (2007) y en la Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos (CADH), sobre la necesidad de democratizar la comunicación y diversificar las informaciones a través de marcos regulatorios de radiodifusión que reconozcan la valía de los medios comunitarios y de políticas públicas de comunicación diferenciales [...] El libro está dividido en cinco acápites; la primera parte ofrece una introducción a la comunicación por el cambio social a través de un conjunto de conceptos y relaciones básicas para entender la trascendencia social y política del derecho a la comunicación y de las políticas públicas (diferenciales). En la segunda parte nos ocupamos del diagnóstico sobre la libertad de expresión e información. Para este fin, se han elaborado síntesis del marco jurídico sobre libertades comunicativas en cada uno de los países estudiados, así como de la evaluación y descripción de los cambios y sucesos más importantes en materia de radiodifusión sucedidos en el periodo 2007-2013. La tercera parte aborda el análisis de los marcos regulatorios sobre radio y televisión comunitarias e indígenas en base a los principios que recomienda la CADH y la Asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias (AMARC). En la cuarta parte se presentan experiencias del ejercicio del derecho a la comunicación de los medios comunitarios e indígenas, así como datos estadísticos acerca de la situación de estos medios en materia de regulación. En la quinta y última parte presentamos los aportes y conclusiones de la investigación." (Introducción, página 9-11)
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