"The survey administered for this issue measures public attitudes and perceptions towards the adoption of social media by Arab governments for the purpose of public service delivery. Respondents were asked about their usage of government social media pages, their perceptions of benefits and risks in
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volve in using social media for service delivery, perceptions towards possible improvements in government’s use of social media, and government and civic social media practices. Overall, our findings show that perceptions about the use of social media were positive – 55% of respondents said they strongly support the use of social media by government for the design and delivery of public services. Respondents had high expectations of the benefits of using social media for citizen engagement for the purpose of improving service delivery. They agreed that social media made government entities and officials more accessible and collaboration more feasible." (Page 7)
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"We are pleased to be sharing with you the second yearbook on media and information literacy and intercultural dialogue. The first MILID Yearbook was published in June 2013 [...] The theme of the 2014 Yearbook is Global Citizenship in a Digital World. Global citizenship assumes ease of participation
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in global spaces in which persons are media and information literate and are equipped with competencies and attitudes to deal with the multi-faceted nature of a mediated world in which information is no longer bound by space or time. The unprecedented access to and use of media and Internet technologies for communication and collaboration especially among youth, suggest that effective strategies must be found to enable active critical inquiry and effective media production." (Foreword, page 7)
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"The phenomenon of academics committed to social justice interrogating social science theory and research, frames the formation of the fields of citizens’ media and citizens’ journalism in the Latin American region. This chapter explains how Chantal Mouffe's ideas and her theory of radical democ
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racy inform citizens’ media and citizens’ journalism. It then describes how these concepts are used in specific research analyses. Belgian political scientist Chantal Mouffe shifts theories of democracy from a liberal perspective based on individual rights and responsibilities to a more nuanced analysis of power and political action. The goal of public journalism is to use media technologies to move dissent – the multiple voices of counter-publics – to the public sphere. Gaining a space among the elites who previously had made decisions without consulting citizens has been one of the greatest achievements that public journalism has had in our society." (Summary)
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"This policy briefing offers an empirical contribution to evolving thinking on governance within the international development landscape. Using the example of media, we argue that interventions designed to foster demand-based accountability may not be as successful in some fragile settings as more d
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iscursive platforms that aim to tackle problem-solving collectively. The paper thus underscores the need for locally embedded approaches to governance support that are both adaptive and reflective." (Conclusions)
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"This research presents a picture of a public in Burma that, to varying degrees, lacks knowledge, confidence, motivation and opportunity to participate in governance processes and make their voices heard. However, the study provides objective evidence that a relationship exists between people’s me
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dia access and their level of citizen engagement. Access to public service oriented media increases the likelihood of being formally engaged rather than disengaged. Even when accounting for those characteristics that can act as barriers for the individual to engage in governance processes – being female, being poor and living in rural areas – the effect of media on engagement is significant." (Key findings)
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"Por su propia naturaleza, trabajar eficazmente por el derecho de las personas a ser escuchadas es una tarea compleja y multidimensional, y requiere acciones a diferentes niveles y sectores, valiéndonos de diversas estrategias. El objetivo de esta guía es orientar nuestro trabajo y hacer hincapié
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en este elemento esencial. Plasma el objetivo de cambio de Oxfam Internacional sobre el derecho de las personas a ser escuchadas y su propósito es ayudarle a analizar detalladamente la complejidad inherente y a tomar decisiones sobre los distintos enfoques que se deben poner en marcha para alcanzar sus objetivos." (Introducción a la guía de aprendizaje, página 3)
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"This article revisits the current interplay between the government, the market, civil society, and the media in contemporary Indonesian political communication. Previous research showed a striking increase in the numbers of both Internet and social media users as well as cases of social media influ
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ence on the democratization process. Some scholars have pointed out the limitations of social media, such as the simplified narratives, larger media systems, and dominant meta-narratives. This includes the ‘many clicks, little sticks’ phenomenon, meaning that only a few of the many clicks resulted in widespread activism in the vast social media environment. This article includes more recent and nuanced interpretations from the various actors. The activists have continued their experiments-providing two-way information, encouraging rapid interaction, creating much participation, and expanding role decentralization. In a ‘network of networks’ spirit they have been doing a lot of clicking, and learning a lot in the process." (Abstract)
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"This report focuses on the role of factual debate and discussion programming, defined for the purposes of this review as “dialogic formats”, on political participation, knowledge and efficacy [...] The review of the existing evidence base is followed by an in-depth look at the relationship betw
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een exposure to one of BBC Media Action’s own debate programme formats and political participation. Factual debate and discussion programme formats have been implemented in a number of countries in which BBC Media Action has worked in recent years. This paper presents data from Nepal, where the political debate programme Sajha Sawal (Common Questions) has been broadcast nationally on radio and television for more than five years. The analysis provides evidence that exposure to a debate programme on the radio – which fulfils a mediated deliberation function – is positively associated with both latent and manifest forms of political participation. While it is not inferred that there is a causal relationship between the media output and political outcomes, the evidence presented goes some way to adding to the body of evidence of the impact dialogic programme formats have on interpersonal political discussion and more manifest types of participation in a developing country context, even when controlling for demographic factors and other personal characteristics." (Executive summary)
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"The book questions whether and how young citizens in Africa engage with media and communications technologies and platforms in a desire to be included in the change processes of their societies. The theme echoes some of the claims made by disenchanted and frustrated youth and other citizens in the
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streets of North Africa’s cities in 2011 and 2012. They were severely critical of the governance structures in their countries, mass social mobilizations took place, governments fell and, in the aftermath, the slow process of transition continued, now with one tyrant less but still with uncertain outcomes and huge challenges for the social and economic development of these countries. Youth in particular engaged massively, visibly, loudly and dramatically around demands to be involved and included in their countries’ development processes. This yearbook taps into the less visible and dramatic, but nevertheless highly dynamic and influential, process of media development and the enlargement of youth-driven, deliberative spaces which sub-Saharan Africa is currently experiencing." (Nordicom website)
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"Fostering a participatory political culture is a crucial part of the on-going transformation processes which we witness across North African and Middle Eastern countries since 2011. This paper considers which role participatory communication plays in these processes, by examining the potential of c
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itizens’ radios to accompany Tunisia’s transition at a grassroots level. Analysing the case of Radio 6 Tunis – a local, non-commercial Internet-radio founded by Tunisian journalists under the rule of Ben Ali in 2007 – citizens’ radios are discussed as sites of political contestation and cultivation of critical consciousness. While they empower citizens to reclaim both their voice and public space, their influence is however limited. The manifold challenges which citizens' radios face in the transitional context of post-autocratic Tunisia, may well impede nascent democratisation dynamics." (Abstract)
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"Blogs have become a communicative alternative for Cuban civil society in recent years. Cuban communities, inside and outside the island, are characterized by substantial ideological differences and economic gaps that highlight the challenges for consensus building and collective action in the count
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ry’s politics. Information and communication technologies (ICTs), however, are gradually facilitating the creation of spaces outside the control of the state for the exchange of ideas about the present and future of the nation. Through content analysis and qualitative interpretation, we undertake a case study of the most renowned Cuban blog, ‘Generación Y’, to evaluate users’ participation, the content they generate for the site, and the nature of debates taking place within it. Our findings show that while this blog opens an unprecedented opportunity for Cubans to engage in relatively unrestricted political dialogue, its users tend to favour expressive participation and antagonistic exchanges over the rational deliberations associated with traditional conceptualizations of the notion of the public sphere." (Abstract)
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"Ferramenta fundamental para fiscalizar e abrir espaço à contribuição social, os conselhos já são instrumentos consolidados em setores como saúde e educação, mas ainda lutam para respirar quando o tema é a garantia do direito à liberdade de expressão, reiteradamente condicionada pelo pod
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er econômico. A obra resgata o papel fundamental dos conselhos que jogam a favor da implementação de políticas públicas e da realização da democracia direta, ao permitir a participação dos atores sociais na elaboração de propostas." (Apresentação, página 7)
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"Panos is working with 20 radio stations across Uganda to give voice to the voiceless through facilitating debate. It isagainst this background that Panos Eastern Africa (PEA) has developed this Guide to help our partner radio stations and journalists improve the quality of their debate and hope it
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will be useful to the media in general. The guide therefore highlights the role of radio producers and moderators in reaching rural communities recognizing that they too can set agenda for news and debate on radio, thereby positively contributing to the country’s development in all spheres. The rural debate methodology has highlighted the potential radio has to create an informed society that can hold leaders at the different levels to account." (Foreword)
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"Despite the enthusiasm for community-owned radio, a movement which has been steadily gaining pace since the implementation of new legislation of 2006, we are yet to find an understanding of who the community is in community radio. Through an extended case study, this analysis shows how “community
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participation” is constantly shifting. It presents three arguments: “community” is not a discrete entity; communities are dynamic; and communities are cognitive constructs." (Introduction)
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"The Community Radio Support Centre (CRSC) at the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) assessed the performance of 15 community radios based on the Community Radio Performance Assessment System (CR-PAS) in 2012. The assessment was a first full-fledged test after a successful piloted the
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system in 2011. The radio stations were provided with organization development (OD) support to address to the findings of the pilot assessment. The OD support provided the stations with advice and mentoring on improving their structures, systems and processes to meet the requirement of community radios [...] None of the 15 stations scored enough to be included in ‘model community radio’ category, three qualified as ‘performing’, four as progressing, two as evolving, and six as ‘endeavoring’. If the previous assessment is taken as the baseline then the overall performance of the stations increased - from 44 to 48 - in six months and after the OD input. There has been an upward movement of the stations in terms of categories, as shown by reduction of number of stations in the endeavoring category and increase in the performing category. This suggests that frequent assessments such as this can encourage the stations to improve performance." (Executive summary)
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"This publication provides readers with fresh insights into the practice of participatory educational communication. The first section explores the educational potential of community media, reaching from participatory radio campaigns in Sub-Saharan Africa to school radios in Brazil. The second secti
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on, "stories of learning", shows the power of experience-based stories through interviews with community stakeholders or through drama and other cultural forms. The third section, "Praxis in Latin America", emphasises the centrality of popular and engaging formats, the importance of blended approaches, and the role of mobile and social media in reinforcing and complementing community-based broadcasting. The fourth section, "Praxis in the Commonwealth", examines strategies for enabling participation, experiences of collaboration at the local level, and the importance of assessing programme outcomes. The final section looks at how broadcasters and other community-based groups can make use of the voice and text functions of mobile telephones across different aspects of educational programming, including content provision, programme logistics and learner support." (CAMECO Update 2-2012)
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"The message matrix facilitates local stakeholder groups and community members to take an active, empowered role in content development for an educational communication programme. The method enables active participation of target audiences and stakeholder groups in the identification, analysis and r
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esolution of problems affecting the community. Use of the matrix underscores the significance of proactively and vigorously involving all stakeholders and leveraging their wealth of knowledge and experience. The message matrix helps to ensure that key messages of the programme — its core learning objectives — originate from people themselves rather than from outside experts or policy makers. Likewise, it helps to ensure that communication programmes are developed within proper cultural frameworks and in ways that engage stakeholders throughout and across the process of programme design, from setting overall objectives to framing key messages. The use of the matrix — for example, in a programme design workshop — anchors a participatory and consultative process that addresses existing and desired knowledge, attitudes and practices. The matrix helps to identify, analyse and classify audience behaviour, making it easier to provide relevant, well-defined and practicable solutions in the form of positive behaviours and demonstrable benefits that will motivate listeners to take action." (Pages 99-100)
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"In Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the rate at which listeners’ clubs are being formed and the fact that the approach is now being reproduced in various settings are indications of the success of this strategy and the extent to which it is proving sustainable. In South Kivu, for
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example, a new formula has been tested with excellent results: the introduction of Farmer Field and Life Schools has been supported by existing community listeners’ clubs. In addition, a process for evaluating the impact of the clubs has revealed an unexpected but promising factor: the improved capacity of club members to engage in more formal rural structures. In this sense, the clubs are paving the way for greater participation of women in producers’ organizations and rural cooperatives. The success of the clubs has led to the setting up of new projects in Burundi, Senegal, Mauritania and the DRC (Oriental Province). At the request of various organizations and agencies, FAO-Dimitra is helping to implement these projects based on gender sensitive participatory methodologies that are flexible and well adapted, with a goal that remains unchanged: the empowerment of men and women in a rural environment." (Editorial, page 2)
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