"Research on Internet usage in developing regions typically focuses on user demographics or challenges to usage. However, few studies explore the needs and desires of users in developing regions—that is, what users want from the Internet—and even fewer connect those needs with the skills require
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d to meet them. This article addresses that gap by exploring Central Asian Internet users’ expectations of Internet utility and relating those expectations to usage patterns. We found that the users whose expectations were met were those who engaged in a diverse range of online activities. We also investigated the relationship between usage characteristics and diversity of online activities and concluded that frequent and occasional Internet users were equally likely to seek information online, but frequent users engaged in more diverse activities related to interaction with others, entertainment, and financial transactions." (Abstract)
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"In this fourth issue of the report, we focus on exploring the societal and cultural transformations taking place in the Arab region, influenced by the continuing exponential growth of social media. In this edition of the report we provide regional statistics on more social networking platforms, in
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addition to Facebook and Twitter; including for the first time, analysis on LinkedIn. The findings of the regional survey provided here aims to measure emerging perceptions of social media users in the Arab World on identity and culture, a topic that is closely linked with several critical policy questions in the region, and begs for more research on a regional and individual society levels." (Overview, page 1)
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"En promedio, la confianza en los medios es evidente en la región. Sin embargo, muchos ciudadanos siguen distantes. Para explicar los distintos niveles de confianza, este trabajo se concentra en un conjunto de indicadores de conciencia sobre la política. Es interesante notar que existen diferencia
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s sistemáticas en cómo las distintas dimensiones de la conciencia sobre la política se relacionan con la confianza en los medios." (Resumen ejecutivo)
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"Guided by two overarching questions – do people want or need health news, and are they satisfied with the health news available to them – Internews used a mixed methods approach, conducting surveys, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, as well as mining years of project data and rep
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orts. In general, the assessment found that the media is a key factor in improving the lives of Kenyans by providing more, better, and deeper coverage of complex health issues that matter to them." (Internews website)
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"Between June 30th and July 10th, 2012, a team of four trained interviewers conducted interviews with 400 randomly selected adults, representative of the adult population of the town of Zemio and its surroundings, over 1,000 km east of the capital Bangui in the prefecture of Haut Mbomou, near the bo
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rder with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The rapid assessment was conducted to serve as a comparison case to the previously published assessment conducted in Obo, the capital of Haut Mbomou, in July 2012. The Haut-Mbomou, one of the 14 prefectures of the Central African Republic (CAR) is under the threat of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a notoriously violent armed group from northern Uganda. These results suggest that information must first be local. Respondents in Zemio lacked a local source of news that would contribute to a better perceived access and quality of information. However, having a local quality information source may not necessarily have an impact on understanding and reported perception of humanitarian action." (Internews website)
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"Between May 19th-27th, 2012, a team of four trained interviewers conducted interviews with 400 randomly selected adults representative of the adult population in Obo, the capital of Haut-Mbomou, one of the 14 prefectures of the Central African Republic (CAR), and its surroundings [...] Radio is the
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most important source of information, especially the local community radio, Radio Zereda. However, women tended to also rely on friends, family and local authorities as main sources of information. None of the respondents mentioned printed media, television or Internet as a main source of information. Mobile phones are relatively common, one-fifth of the respondents (21%) indicated owning one, but just 9% indicated using text messages and less than 1% accessed Internet with their phone." (Executive summary)
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"Internews' project to integrate local media and ICTs into humanitarian response in CAR takes place in a context of distrust between journalists and humanitarians. According to this report, humanitarians view the media as lacking credibility, depth, independence and fairness, and as monetizing news
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coverage. Journalists say that humanitarians are unwilling to engage in an exchange of information other than a one-way “infomercial.” As one journalist puts it, “they are only interested in their own publicity, but fear critical coverage.” However, both journalists and humanitarians agree on one key factor that undermines the quality of the information: the lack of resources. The use of ICT has the potential to fundamentally alter the relation by constantly bringing new and reliable data to humanitarians, demonstrating the effectiveness and usefulness of journalists. However, Internews' program must also include simple efforts at rebuilding trust between the actors." (Executive summary)
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"About 39 percent started to read regularly at elementary school age, and 44 percent at primary and high school age. As compared to the last five years, 37 percent of respondents stopped reading completely, 43 percent read less, 6 percent read as much as they read before, and only 14 percent said th
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ey read more as compared to the last five years. The more the dynamic of reading decreases, the more the number of male representatives increases (from 34 percent to 51 percent). The more the dynamic of reading increases, the greater the share of young people (18-34 years old) becomes (from 29 percent to 61 percent) The more the dynamics of reading increases, the greater the number of people with higher education becomes (from about 18 percent to 53 percent), while the number of people with a secondary education decreases (from about 42 percent to 16 percent)." (Summary of quantitative research results, page 43)
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"The Nigerian media market is dominated by radio and television, though mobile and Internet technologies are increasing in importance. Almost 9 in 10 Nigerians (87.4%) say they listened to radio in the past week, and nearly three-quarters (72.5%) say they watched TV. Though incidence of radio use is
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similar in urban and rural environments, Nigerians who live in cities are more likely than those in rural areas to have watched TV in the past week —89.9% vs. 67.8%, respectively. Internet use appears to have increased dramatically since the past survey, most likely driven by the sharp increase in access to the Web via mobile phones. The 2012 Gallup/BBG survey finds that one-fifth of the population has accessed the Internet in the past week (20.4%), compared with 6% in December 2010. Mobile phone ownership continues to grow; almost three-fourths of Nigerians (73.1%) now say they have their own mobile phone, compared with 62% in late 2010. Respondents were also asked more specifically about how often they use different forms of media to get news. Hausa-speaking Nigerians are significantly more likely than those who do not speak Hausa to say they listen to news on the radio every day or most days (68.7% vs. 53.3%, respectively). Though non-Hausa speakers make heavy use of radio and television, they are more likely than Hausa speakers to use Internet and mobile technologies, including SMS/text messaging and social networking websites for news. However, these discrepancies between Hausa and non-Hausa speakers are considerably less pronounced than was the case in earlier surveys, suggesting that the media access gap is narrowing." (Page 1)
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"The tabloid news genre has been chastized for depoliticizing its public by causing cynicism about the democratic process and lowering the standards of rational public discourse. Counter-arguments point to the alternative public sphere offered by popular media such as ‘tabloid TV’ which is the f
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ocus of this study. The ‘tabloid TV’ genre is relatively new in Zambia and in the African context in general. This article sets out to examine the rapid rise in popularity of the Zambian private television station, Muvi TV. It examines Muvi TV’s main evening news as an example of the ‘tabloid TV’ news genre vis-à-vis the criticisms levelled against tabloidization. The article presents results from a reception study of viewers in the capital city, Lusaka. A three-stage qualitative study was carried out, consisting of a thematic/content analysis of news bulletins, focus groups and individual, semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that audiences attach greater credibility to Muvi TV’s news broadcasts than those of the public broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC). As such, Muvi TV can be seen to fulfil a political function despite its sensationalized approach." (Abstract)
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"The notion that Zimbabwe is a radio-only market is outdated. With the strong growth in TV and New Media in urban areas, a multi-platform approach is needed to reach different demographics." (Conclusions, page 33)
"Conclusions: Television remains the most important medium by far, both in terms of overall reach and as a news source. Internet access - heavily driven by mobile take-up - has reached critical mass, especially among key demographics. This phenomenon is national in nature and not just confined to mo
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re affluent urban areas. Given the heavy reliance on mobile for Internet access; Internet content needs to work well on mobile platforms. Any communications strategy for Indonesia has to take into account the large and growing role of social media, especially among the young." (Slide 40)
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"Freedom of expression in Kenya has witnessed several phases of development, ranging from the autocratic to a proactive new media regime. This transformation has been enabled by governance reforms, including repeals and amendment of laws, as well as the promulgation of a new Constitution in 2010. Wi
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th respect to media, these reforms are reflected in the diversity of the Kenya media, which includes FM stations covering almost all the 42 ethnic dialects spoken in Kenya, mobile telephones, and the internet. These channels have expanded space for freedom of expression and engagement in public affairs, although many citizens still do not contribute to public issues and debates via these channels. New media, in particular the internet and interactive media, has been a focus of research and debate. However, the findings from this study reveal that the old media, in particular radio, remain the dominant channel for accessing news and expanding space for freedom of expression. This is largely due to the widespread availability and low cost of radio infrastructure compared to other communication channels. Newspapers, which also fall under old media, are minimally used, but are still more accessible than the internet Access to interactive media is now relatively widespread (56 per cent are regular listeners), but actual use and interaction via this channel still seems to be a preserve of a selected few, with only 3 per cent calling in or joining discussions. A unique unexplained aspect is the marginal differences across rural/urban, gender and age groups." (Conclusion)
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"The purpose of the study was to investigate patterns of major local and non-local news suppliers operating across a range of media – broadcast and print – and relationships between Libyan undergraduate students’ consumption of different news media platforms. A survey was administered to a sam
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ple of 400 students at Al-Fateh University using a stratified random sampling approach with sampling strata set by demographic groups. The new TV news services played an important role in attracting young Libyans with information they desire. The spread of new news media sources (TV, radio and print) in Libya has created a new type of news product that transcends national boundaries. The findings indicated that there were distinct news consumption-related population sub-groups defined in part by news platform (TV versus radio versus print) and in part by type of news supplier (local versus international TV news operations). These findings indicated the emergence of new niche markets in news in Libya." (Abstract)
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"En 2010 el Foro desplegó una nueva investigación en la que han participado ocho países: Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, México y Perú. El esfuerzo realizado por los equipos locales del Foro, con el apoyo inestimable de Fundación Telefónica y de Telefónica, ha permiti
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do que más de seiscientos colegios hayan tomado parte en ella, lo que ha supuesto encuestar a más de setenta y ocho mil menores de entre 6 y 18 años. Se ha puesto, además, un énfasis particular en que también los menores de los entornos rurales estuvieran debidamente representados en la muestra de estudio, lo que ha supuesto en muchos casos un trabajo adicional por parte de los profesores y de los equipos locales [...] los menores en los países iberoamericanos están creciendo en un contexto altamente tecnologizado, lo que plantea nuevas oportunidades y nuevos retos desde el punto de vista educativo y de la protección del menor. La importancia de éstos es tal que solo cabe una respuesta activa por parte de todas la instituciones involucradas en su educación: gobiernos, empresas, escuelas y, por supuesto, familias, deben sentirse interpeladas por la necesidad de formar a los menores en el uso responsable de las TIC. Únicamente el esfuerzo conjunto podrá conseguir minimizar los riesgos a los que se enfrentan con su uso y sacar el máximo provecho a las oportunidades que ofrece este nuevo escenario." (Introducción, página 12)
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"This report presents the full findings from a new and unique survey designed and conducted according to rigorous standards by the EU Kids Online network. It was funded by the European Commissions¡¦ Safer Internet Programme in order to strengthen the evidence base for policies regarding online saf
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ety. A random stratified sample of 25,142 children aged 9-16 who use the internet, plus one of their parents, was interviewed during Spring/Summer 2010 in 25 European countries. The survey investigated key online risks: pornography, bullying, receiving sexual messages, contact with people not known face-to-face, offline meetings with online contacts, potentially harmful user-generated content and personal data misuse. In this report, 'children' refers to internet-using children aged 9-16 across Europe." (Page 5)
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