"The contribution in this book cast a spotlight into dark, often neglected, corners of the "information society" as articulated in the World Summit on the Information Society. Several very different layers are illuminated, from the philosophical underpinnings of the role of information in society, t
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o the context and manner in which the concept has recently emerged into global consciousness, to how it can be deployed in practice to maximize benefits to society. An edited volume is well suited to covering these diverse ways of thinking about the topic as it offers the opportunity to bring together authors with different backgrounds and approaches." (Publisher description)
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"Although it is an issue of immediate interest to reporters and press organizations, antipress violence has not elicited a great deal of scholarly attention. While in the context of developed democracies, studies have concluded that violence against the press has significantly diminished in the twen
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tieth century, the situation is markedly different elsewhere. This gap is not surprising considering that the literature on press and democracy has been largely produced in the West and has largely reflected the absence of antipress violence in Western nations. The persistence of attacks against journalists outside the West, however, makes it necessary to put it at the center to analyze the situation of journalistic labor and the prospects for the press in historically weak democracies. This article analyzes antipress violence by focusing on the Latin American case. The argument is that in postauthoritarian situations, the breakdown of the state accounts for why the press, particularly investigative reporters and publications, is the target of violence. Antipress violence reflects the impossibility of the state’s fulfilling its mission to monopolize the legitimate use of violence and the lack of accountability of those responsible for the attacks. Because it is a central arena in the battle for public expression, the press becomes a prominent target when naked violence replaces the rule of law. The fate of the press is intrinsically linked to the fate of the democratic state. There cannot be a democratic press as long as the state does not secure minimal institutional conditions that democracy demands." (Abstract)
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"De-Westernizing Media Studies brings together leading media critics from around the world to address central questions in the study of the media. How do the media connect to power in society? Who and what influence the media? How is globalization changing both society and the media?" (Publisher des
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cription)
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"Communicating Democracy presents the first comprehensive comparative investigation of the role of the media in the move toward democracy in developing and post-communist countries. Recognizing the central role of an independent press in the formulation of stable democracies, Patrick H. O'Neil and a
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team of area and country specialists explore the particular cultural, economic, and political conditions that have shaped the media in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America. The authors examine how the print and electronic media function in societies that have recently made the move toward democracy--whether successfully or not. They pay particular attention to the role of the media in political life prior to transition; the impact of an authoritarian legacy on media structures after the move toward democracy; the problems in developing an independent media; and issues involving content, objectivity, and bias." (Publisher description)
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