"International donor support for Afghanistan's media has had two primary goal The short-term goal has been to counteract the effects of insurgent communications in order to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. The long-term goal has been to create a free and independent media sector that w
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ill continue to function after donor support has ended. Although millions of dollars have been invested in the development of the Afghan media sector and the growth of private media since 2001 is considered one of Afghanistan's greatest success stories,neither of these donor goals is being met. Donor support for Afghan media has led to the growth of radio and television outlets that are almost entirely dependent on foreign funding - direct and indirect. Recent strategic communications policies have neither diminished nor adequately countered the presence of extremist voices in Afghanistan. Despite some examples to the contrary, Taliban communications continue to affect the lives of ordinary Afghans, whereas many communications by and from Western sources do not. Neither short- nor mid-term analysis of the Afghan economy - ranked the third poorest in the world by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) - foresees the growth of a market able to sustain Afghanistan's domestic media sector without foreign financing. The limited impact of Western communications endeavors, in conjunction with the predicted continued weakness of the Afghan economy, reveals an urgent need for a dramatic shift in the media strategies and goals pursued by the United States and its allies. First and foremost, donors should invest primarily in the Afghan media's production and dissemination of socially constructive contents rather than in building media institutions or infrastructure that the Afghan economy cannot support. For these contents to be received as authentic and credible, they must reflect the vulnerabilities and priorities that Afghans themselves have identified as vital. Donors should make a multiyear funding commitment to the media in Afghanistan. Support should be allocated to both terrestrial and wireless media through a transparent and competitive process developed jointly by donors and Afghan media experts. Aggressively supporting the dissemination of socially constructive contents through new outlets will permit access to both geographic and demographic segments of the population not adequately served by current media outlets." (Summary)
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"This collective report examines the principal dimensions of media policy in 14 European countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey and the UK), probing into the historical forces, national traditions and distinct politi
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cal and socio-economic contexts in which media policies have emerged and developed. The analysis explores the main instruments for media regulation in the countries under study, and assesses the implications of the established media policy strategies for democratic politics. The country chapters follow a similar structure. Following a brief introduction, the analysis focuses on the media landscape of the countries under review, offering an overview of the national media market (the press, broadcast media, online media and news agencies), as well as a discussion of the status of the journalistic profession and media literacy. The third section presents the major actors involved in media policymaking and proceeds with a succinct presentation and explanation of the national regulatory framework for the media, focusing mainly on structural and content regulation. The final section provides a critical assessment of the principal issues and trends that characterise the media policies of the countries under study, together with an assessment of the degree to which they enable the media to feed the democratic process. The report also contains a chapter discussing the media-related initiatives of the European Union and the Council of Europe, focusing on the interventions that are of relevance and importance to the protection and promotion of media freedom and independence." (Introductory note, page 10)
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"This study provides an overview of the broadcasting environment in the ten countries covered, with a focus on regulatory systems. It outlines the constitutional framework in each country, as well as the status of international law. This is followed by a brief outline of the broadcasting sector in e
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ach country, to provide some background context to help with understanding the regulatory regime. The bulk of the study focuses on the legal framework governing public broadcasting, and the broadcast regulator and its powers and role. The study also touches on new media, particularly the internet, in each country, assessing the extent to which new media are able to serve as an alternative to more traditional broadcasters." (Introduction, page 6)
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"The 52-page report summarised here is the result of the three-year partnership between UNDP Oslo Governance Centre and the Communication for Social Change Consortium in piloting the C4E approach in five least-developed countries: Mozambique, Madagascar, Ghana, Lao PDR, and Nepal. The report present
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s key learning from the information and communication needs assessments conducted in these five countries, funded by a grant from the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF). The implementation of the C4E approach consisted of: (i) information and communication assessments to identify the information and communication needs and identify gaps in meeting those needs; (ii) review of the media context based on the existing research at the national level; (iii) programme interventions informed by the findings of the assessment to ensure economically poor and marginalised groups' participation in decision-making processes. Experiences and lessons from testing the C4E approach in Madagascar and Mozambique in 2007-2008 enabled further refining of the C4E approach and informed the information and communication assessments carried out in Ghana, Lao PDR, and Nepal. As a result, the concept of C4E also widened: from an initial conception as part of UNDP's Access to Information work primarily geared to meeting the information and communication needs of the people through specific media strategies - to an approach that promotes inclusive participation, empowerment of economically poor and marginalised people, and accountability of the state to its citizens. These aspects of C4E, thus, make it an integral part of broader democratic governance and development work." (Summary at the "Communication Initiative" website)
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"The aim of this report is to understand the paradox of media freedom in Kurdistan. It first addresses the history of Iraqi Kurdistan’s media. A better understanding of the way these outlets emerged over time is essential in order to grasp the complexity of their current challenges. Originally con
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sidered as instruments of propaganda of various armed groups during an era of secrecy, the region’s media are inseparably connected to its politics, hence the difficulty journalists are running into as they attempt to exert their independence. A description follows of the problems now being faced by the media. Reporters Without Borders has included in this report recommendations to the Iraqi Kurdistan authorities, as well as to the region’s journalists." (Page 2)
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"Este texto está dividido en seis capítulos que indagan, en el tiempo, los campos culturales de los diarios y revistas, los libros, los discos, las películas, la radio y la televisión. Es una obra colectiva que incluye investigaciones, estadísticas y cartografías generadas por el Sistema de In
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formación Cultural de la Argentina (SInCA). Además, los escritos centrales que abordan cada industria cultural están acompañados de opiniones de 18 especialistas." (SInCA website)
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"[...] ist es nicht weiter erstaunlich, dass das Königreich auf der Rangliste zur Medienfreiheit der Reporter ohne Grenzen im vergangenen Jahr Platz 163 von 175 untersuchten Ländern belegte.2 Dass Saudi-Arabien in der arabischen Medienlandschaft aber dennoch ein Spieler der allerersten Liga ist, i
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st überraschend. Kein Land hat es geschafft, die arabischen Medien in einem Maße zu gestalten wie die Golfmonarchie. Saudische Unternehmen setzten sich an die Spitze der arabischsprachigen Medien und stehen auch im internationalen Vergleich den Größen der Medienwelt in nichts nach. Die Erfolgsgeschichte der saudischen Medien war jedoch ein steiniger Weg. Nicht nur konservative Religionsgelehrte, auch die Königsfamilie trat Entwicklungen im Medienbereich mit großer Skepsis gegenüber, erkannte aber zugleich das Potential, das in den Medien steckt. Als der Ölboom der siebziger Jahre dem Königreich enormen Reichtum bescherte, nutzten einzelne Mitglieder der Königsfamilie die Einnahmen als Startkapital und investierten massiv in die Medien. Es entwickelte sich ein Mediensystem, das mit den politischen Entscheidungsträgern eng verstrickt ist und dessen Besitzstrukturen bis auf den heutigen Tag stark von der Königsfamilie geprägt sind. Aus diesem Grund ist die Entwicklung des saudischen Mediensystems ohne die Kenntnis grundlegender innenpolitischer Strukturen Saudi-Arabiens und der Beziehungen innerhalb der Königsfamilie nicht nachvollziehbar." (Seite 107-108)
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"Die Pressefreiheit hat uns beides gebracht, den Sauerstoff der Demokratie genauso wie das Lachgas von Infotainment und Kommerzialisierung.“ Der polnische Medienwissenschaftler Karol Jakubowicz wird sicherlich bei vielen demokratisch gesinnten Kollegen in Mitteleuropa und im Baltikum auf zustimmen
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des Kopfnicken treffen, wenn sie auf die Medienlandschaft in ihren Ländern schauen. Aber allenthalben ist ein deutliches Hüsteln zu vernehmen, weil politische und wirtschaftliche Interessengruppen an den Regelungsmechanismen der Sauerstoffzufuhr drehen. Dagegen leidet der Patient Medienfreiheit in Belarus, Moldova, in Russland, aber auch in der Ukraine unter chronischen Erstickungsanfällen, während es gleichzeitig am Lachgas nicht fehlt. Freilich ist die jeweilige Zusammensetzung dieses ätherischen Gemischs über 20 Jahre nach dem Beginn der revolutionären Umbrüche in Mittel- und Osteuropa von Land zu Land recht unterschiedlich, denn die Medien können nicht getrennt betrachtet werden von allen anderen Determinanten dieser Transformation, die nicht nur das politische Regime erfasste, sondern auch die wirtschaftlichen Strukturen und gesellschaftlichen Mentalitäten einem tiefgreifenden Wandel unterzogen. Da die Medien in vielschichtigen und wechselseitigen Abhängigkeiten von einer Vielzahl von Prozessen und Institutionen stehen – wie etwa dem Staat, politischen Bewegungen, den technologischen Entwicklungen, der Gesetzgebung, wirtschaftlichen Kräften, zivilgesellschaftlichen oder sozio-kulturellen Faktoren –, setzt ein Verständnis der spezifischen Entwicklungen der Medien die Kenntnis der generellen Prozesse der Transformation geradezu voraus." (Seite 97)
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