"Over five years Facebook has grown from practically no users in Sub-Saharan Africa to become the most widely used social media platform. In the four countries where face-to-face surveys were carried out for this research, between 14% (Tanzania) and 27% (Ghana) of all respondents were using it [...]
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Over the last five years, the number of Africans who own or have access to mobile phones, computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets has grown considerably. These both act as media carriers (a mobile with a radio or TV receiver) or a media in their own right (a mobile accessing the Internet and Social Media). African newspapers face the same dilemma as many developed country newspapers. Their print version generates almost all of their revenues but increasingly their online users are either close to or above their print readership." (Page 8)
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"With essays on audiences in ancient Greece, early modern Germany, Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, Zimbabwe, contemporary Egypt, Bengali India, China, Taiwan, and immigrant diaspora in Belgium, each chapter examines the ways in which audiences are embedded in discourses of power, representation, and
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regulation in different yet overlapping ways according to specific socio-historical contexts." (Publisher description)
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"Der Band gibt eine fundierte, knappe und anschauliche Einführung in die theoretischen Grundlagen, methodischen Zugänge, empirischen Befunde und gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhänge der Wissenskluftforschung. Diese geht von wachsenden Wissensdifferenzen zwischen statushöheren und -niedrigeren Gruppi
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erungen infolge der medialen Informationsverbreitung aus und erfährt aktuell mit der auf das Internet bezogenen Digital-Divide-Forschung eine Ausweitung." (Buchrückseite)
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"The story of Kazakhstani media is of two contrasting dynamics: the increasingly controlled and innovation-shy offline space, and the vibrant, less-restricted digital environment. The rise of digital media has yielded benefits for citizens and democracy, albeit these are limited by the dominance of
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one political party and its leader. Nevertheless, media remain constrained and state interference remains prominent. As opportunities for working directly with policymakers in Kazakhstan are limited, the report calls for civil society organizations to step up their awareness-raising efforts and bring the threats stemming from restrictive legislation and the lack of regulatory independence to public and international attention. It also calls for a debate about the need to reform publicly funded broadcasters so that they serve the public interest." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"Two out of three Malaysians regularly use the internet (even though large areas of the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, where nearly a fifth of the population lives, pose logistical challenges regarding infrastructure) and a third of the population have a 3G mobile subscription. Broadban
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d household penetration in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, is 112 percent because many citizens have both fixed and mobile accounts. Nearly half the population is on Facebook with an average of 233 friends each, the greatest proportion in the world, all on social networks for an average nine hours a week. And they still seem to find enough time to watch television for three and a half hours a day and to listen to the radio for three hours. The outlook is for an expansion of internet and mobile-based platforms for news, comment, social networking, activism, and entertainment. However, a change of government is probably a prerequisite for the kinds of changes that would usher in greater diversity in broadcast and print, such as regulatory independence, repeal of the Printing Presses and Publications Act, and the dismantling of monopolies, rules on cross ownership, and political parties’ ownership of media companies." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"After a significant delay, the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting in Bulgaria is scheduled to be finished in 2013. While cable television appears to have peaked since 2007, satellite television continues to increase its penetration, more often through bundled services. On the other hand
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, Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is also growing, albeit from a low base. Although Bulgarians enjoy some of the fastest internet connections in the world, overall broadband penetration is low. However, except for the ubiquitous popularity of torrent trackers, there is a lack of e-government services and on-demand audiovisual content. Press and radio are declining in revenue, and the press in particular has welcomed investors with hidden sources of financing that use newspapers for their own business interests. Shedding more light on media ownership, prohibiting concentration, and securing sustainable business models for quality news outlets remain key." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"In online journalism, the virtues associated with ethics—accuracy, honesty, truth, impartiality, fairness, balance, respect for autonomy of ordinary people—are barely respected, largely because there is no effective way of policing this, and there are no legal penalties. Concentration of owners
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hip has increased in the last five years and transparency in ownership of media has improved only slightly over the past five years. The government controls media licensing—a process that is shrouded in secrecy, so that it is difficult to establish who owns which media house. The overall framework of policy and law is not yet adequate for digitized media in Kenya. The national ICT policy of 2006 committed the government to support and encourage pluralism and diversity. While this led to a proliferation of channels, it did not do much for content diversity due to the level of concentration of media. A lack of resources to build the digital infrastructure, consumer ignorance of what the switch means and whether the public can afford the end-user devices are some of the challenges faced in Kenya’s digital switchover." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"Estonians have demonstrated a keen appetite for digital media uptake. More than three-quarters of the population accesses the internet regularly, and more than half of those are active on social networking platforms. Recent surveys suggest that nearly a quarter of internet users now connect via sma
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rtphones. As for traditional media, newspaper circulations have experienced a steady rather than dramatic decline over recent years, while television and radio audiences remain relatively stable. The press and news organizations remain in general relatively free of political influence, and although there is significant cross-media ownership and little opportunity for new entrants, digitization does not appear to have exacerbated this situation, and there remains a degree of competition and pluralism within all sectors. This report calls for the development of media policy that will incentivize television service providers to introduce the additional digital television services that were promoted during switch-over. They also call for long-term predictable funding mechanisms to ensure that public service media, Estonian Public Broadcasting (Eesti Rahvusringhääling, ERR) above all, provide quality output." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"Digitization has had profound effects in Brazil. In journalism, information flows faster than ever, and from a greater number of sources; journalists have to adapt to an environment that demands immediate coverage of events, sometimes privileging speed over content. The internet has become the seco
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nd main source of news, and the number of people reading newspapers online has nearly tripled over four years. Brazilians are heavy users of social media and user-generated content platforms, with Facebook and YouTube being the second and fourth most accessed URLs in September 2013. Access to mobile telecommunications is widespread, and there are more SIM cards circulating in Brazil than there are Brazilians. However, serious gaps in internet regulation topics such as net neutrality, ISP liability, privacy, and user rights still have not been addressed by legislation. In an attempt to fill these gaps, the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet (Marco Civil da Internet), a draft bill produced through a process of public online debate carried out by the Ministry of Justice, was sent to the National Congress in 2011. The text faced strong opposition from some quarters, and the bill has not yet been introduced in Congress." (Publisher description)
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"Tendo por objetivo principal investigar as percepções da população brasileira sobre os meios de comunicação, abordou temas como o conhecimento sobre o grau de concentração da mídia e sobre o regime de concessões das TVs e rádios, a penetração da internet, a percepção sobre a neutrali
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dade dos meios e opiniões sobre sua regulamentação, com destaque para como diferentes setores sociais se vêem representados, em interesses e imagens, pelos meios que consomem." (Nota metodológica)
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"This study has looked at the opinions of ordinary citizens (n=2000) as well as a small sample of decision makers at community level (n=200). Chapters 1 and 2 provide a background sketch and methodology for the survey, followed by a detailed overview of the findings for the general public and decisi
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on makers in Chapters 3 and 4. Overall, ordinary citizens and decision makers alike feel the Tanzania's media sector is growing and improving over time, and the sector is serving a news-hungry public that wants the media to keep those in positions of power accountable. However, this study also points to perceptions of shortcomings in the media, both in terms of the content it provides to the public and the quality of the services it provides." (Executive summary)
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