"Despite the wide-ranging topics presented in this collection, this volume takes ‘communication’ as the keyword for the various research and reflections on the life and mission of the Catholic Church during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as post-crisis. The reader will readily recognize that what... is referred to as ‘communication’ here is an extremely elastic and multi-dimensional category. Within the context of the Church, particularly as discussed in this book, communication refers to words and images that the Church transmits to the faithful and to the world to help the people cope with issues brought about by the crisis. This communication helps contextualize these dramatic events in sound theological principles which need to again and again be creatively restated and reaffirmed with every human happening, both big and small, that takes place. Second, communication also refers to pastoral and evangelizing actions carried out by the Church and its members to sustain the life of the Church amid the grave situation of imposed isolation, pastors and members of the flock succumbing to COVID-19, shuttered church doors, and unlit altar candles. Third, communication refers to the models and strategies by the Church and its leaders to employ technological means to promote ecclesial communion, nourish the faith life of the people, and to dialogue with individuals and groups to create a truly synodal Church. Finally, communication also refers to ways that the Church discerns and engages with the signs of the times in order to transform raw experiences into valuable lessons, human suffering into salvific grace, and pandemic isolation and division into greater post-pandemic interculturality, interdependence, and collaboration." (Introduction, p.xx-xxi)
more
"Drawing from a range of case studies of news and journalism startups, including Malaysiakini, Hong Kong Free Press, The News Lens of Taiwan, Thailand’s The Standard, Ciwei Gongshe of China, Indonesia’s IDN Media, Sabay of Cambodia and Frontier Myanmar, this book provides tips on how to launch a... news media startup, how to find funding and how to sustain and scale the enterprise. Blending a theoretical approach with core business and newsgathering expertise, the author offers an engaging overview of contemporary entrepreneurial concepts and their vital relationship in finding new markets for journalism today." (Publisher)
more
"Trust in the news has fallen in almost half the countries in our survey, and risen in just seven, partly reversing the gains made at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic. On average, around four in ten of our total sample (42%) say they trust most news most of the time. Finland remains the countr...y with the highest levels of overall trust (69%), while news trust in the USA has fallen by a further three percentage points and remains the lowest (26%) in our survey.• Consumption of traditional media, such as TV and print, declined further in the last year in almost all markets (pre-Ukraine invasion), with online and social consumption not making up the gap. While the majority remain very engaged, others are turning away from the news media and in some cases disconnecting from news altogether. Interest in news has fallen sharply across markets, from 63% in 2017 to 51% in 2022.• Meanwhile, the proportion of news consumers who say they avoid news, often or sometimes, has increased sharply across countries. This type of selective avoidance has doubled in both Brazil (54%) and the UK (46%) over the last five years, with many respondents saying news has a negative effect on their mood. A significant proportion of younger and less educated people say they avoid news because it can be hard to follow or understand – suggesting that the news media could do much more to simplify language and better explain or contextualise complex stories.• In the five countries we surveyed after the war in Ukraine had begun, we find that television news is relied on most heavily – with countries closest to the fighting, such as Germany and Poland, seeing the biggest increases in consumption. Selective news avoidance has, if anything, increased further – likely due to the difficult and depressing nature of the coverage.• Global concerns about false and misleading information remain stable this year, ranging from 72% in Kenya and Nigeria to just 32% in Germany and 31% in Austria. People say they have seen more false information about Coronavirus than about politics in most countries, but the situation is reversed in Turkey, Kenya, and the Philippines, amongst others." (Summary, p.10)
more
"These are the background case notes complied for MEMO 2018.1: Challenging Truth and Trust: A Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation. For details on the methods behind this content analysis please see the methodology section of the report. This document contains data from over 500 s...ources organized by country. The sources include high quality news articles, academic papers, white papers, and a range of other grey literature. As an annotated bibliography, the country cases here make use of significant passages from these secondary sources, and every effort has been made to preserve full citation details for future researchers. The full list of references can be found in our public Zotero folder, with each reference tagged with a country name." (p.3)
more
"Der Autor porträtiert 23 Länder aus sechs Weltregionen. Anschließend bildet er mittels des pragmatischen Differenz-Ansatzes sechs Modelle heraus: Das liberale Modell, das Public-Service-Modell, das Klientel-Modell, das Schock-Modell, das Patrioten-Modell und das Kommando-Modell. Dabei zeigt sich...: In Ländern wie China, Syrien, dem Iran oder auch Weißrussland fungieren die Medien als Lautsprecher der Herrschenden. In den USA, Brasilien oder auch Deutschland und Frankreich sind sie eher Widersprecher. Doch auch dazwischen gibt es ein breites Feld von Ländern wie Russland, Libanon oder Italien, in denen eine Ambivalenz zwischen Lautsprechern und Widersprechern besteht, deren Kräfteverhältnis sich immer wieder verschieben kann." (Verlag)
more
"Losing Control: freedom of the press in Asia takes us right up to the end of this tumultuous century. It deals with the Chinese media cranking up its latest propaganda campaign, this time against the Falun Gong. It discusses how the Indonesian media lost its way in reporting the tragedy in East Tim...or. And it comments on how the Cambodian media-or at least parts of it-surprisingly reported the allegations that the Prime Minister's wife had her husband's movie star girlfriend assassinated. The book adopts a country-by-country approach dealing with all the countries in Northeast and Southeast Asia. It does not attempt to sweep across to the sub-continent. It would not be possible to do justice to any discussion of freedom of the press in that region by sandwiching it in between the pages of a book about East Asia. The methodology is based on an underlying assumption: that journalists are best placed to provide the most up-to-date analysis of their own industry. Where possible, local journalists have contributed the country chapters. In some cases a more useful outcome could be achieved by employing foreign correspondents and commentators. Authors have written their chapters using journalistic research tools, such as first hand interviews, as well as more conventional academic methods." (p.14)
more
"Undoubtedly, politicians have awoken to the political power of social media and it will be increasingly adopted as a mainstream means of information distribution and communications as voters and young people are becoming more politically active in a number of the jurisdictions surveyed in this book.... But it is not a wholehearted embrace. On the side of the voters, the interest in the electoral process derives from personal considerations, such as ethnicity and location, rather than the desire to become politically active. On the side of the candidates, the motivating factor behind their social media efforts is the desire to employ more cost effective communication methods that reach all relevant demographics. Still, the paradigm shift has begun, with varying degrees of impact in the region. A similar survey of voting habits and the impact of social media from years from now would almost certainly tell a different story. Judging by the trends outlined in this book, the same applies to potential electoral impact of social media which could be the major driving force of future elections in the region - along with the youth vote as young people realize the importance of social media to the political machines and, accordingly, flex their own fledgling political muscles across the electoral process." (Introduction, p.10-11)
more
"In the case of contemporary Buddhism, we have seen how fundamentalism and democracy are connected to each other, and also how the public sphere, mediated by the new technology of the internet, has a role to play in these relations. We have seen how groups such as the 'Santi Asoke' are succeeding de...spite the absence of any support from the political authorities, and how this has made the traditional Buddhist establishment feel insecure. According to Marty and Appleby, fundamentalism is understood as an attempt to divide 'us' from 'them' through shared traditions and beliefs. In the case of Thailand, this divisive attitude is a modern phenomenon arising from dissatisfaction with the contemporary economy and with globalisation, which appear threatening to the most conservative members of the Sangha. In this sense, it is ironic that the austere and anti-capitalist Sanrti Asoke is less fundamentalist than the traditional Buddhist establishment." (Conclusion, p.233-234)
more
"The biennial Digital Review of Asia Pacific is a comprehensive guide to the state-of-practice and trends in information and communication technologies for development (ICTD) in Asia Pacific. This fourth edition (2009-2010) features 30 economies and four subregional groupings. The chapters provide u...pdated information on ICT infrastructure, industries, content and services, key initiatives, enabling policies, regulation, education and capacity building, open source and R&D initiatives, as well as key ICTD challenges in each of the economies covered." (Publisher)
more
"This collection of writing on community media describes attempts at local media development and case studies of functioning projects. It presents a range of perspectives on grassroots media originating from community groups; research representing participant observation; hands-on community involvem...ent; service on international boards of directors; content analysis; and ethical inquiries. The book draws on both theoretical and practical examples from Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Ghana, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latin America, Native Americans, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, and includes perspectives ranging from cyberdating to ethics and policy-making. Sections include Aboriginal/Indigenous Experiences, Current Case Studies, and Virtual Community Visions. It intends to appeal to a range of academic disciplines, community media groups, and people who work in their local cable television centres in order to provide an alternative voice to mainstream media." (https://www.comminit.com)
more