"This book advances alternative approaches to understanding media, culture and technology in two vibrant regions of the Global South. Bringing together scholars from Africa and the Caribbean, it traverses the domains of communication theory, digital technology strategy, media practice reforms, and c
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orporate and cultural renewal. The first section tackles research and technology with new conceptual thinking from the South. The book then looks at emerging approaches to community digital networks, online diaspora entertainment, and video gaming strategies. The volume then explores reforms in policy and professional practice, including in broadcast television, online newspapers, media philanthropy, and business news reporting. Its final section examines the role of village-based folk media, the power of popular music in political opposition, and new approaches to overcoming neo-colonial propaganda and external corporate hegemony." (Publisher description)
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"Almost half of women respondents had been sexually harassed at work (47%). Women were twice as likely to experience sexual harassment at work than men. For one in two women, the harassment was verbal (56%), and for one in three, it was physical (38%). Only 30% of cases of sexual harassment were eve
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r reported to management. Fear of reprisals is the most common driver behind non-reporting. But lack of faith in the organisation’s management and awareness of reporting systems also plays a part. When they did receive formal complaints, news organisations took action in 42% of cases. Persons in authority are the perpetrators of sexual harassment in four out of ten cases, either as a direct supervisor (21.5%) or person from higher management (19.5%). Sexual harassment is often taking place openly: 46% had witnessed at least one incident, with 16.5% stating they had seen five or more cases. Non-conforming individuals experienced sexual harassment almost as often as women. One in two (50%) had been verbally harassed, and 36% had been physically harassed. Of the 32 managers interviewed, more than half had been sexually harassed. Only three reported this. Some 47% said their organisations had no sexual harassment policy, and then, of those where a policy existed, just 17% knew its contents." (Main findings, page 5)
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"For the first time, a complete mapping of the film and audiovisual industry in 54 States of the African continent is available, including quantitative and qualitative data and an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses at the continental and regional levels. The report proposes strategic recomme
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ndations for the development of the film and audiovisual sectors in Africa and invites policymakers, professional organizations, firms, filmmakers and artists to implement them in a concerted manner. The film and audiovisual industry in Africa has the potential to create over 20 million jobs and generate US$20 billion in revenues per year." (Short summary, page 2)
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"This report is meant to share the experiences and lessons of local media practitioners globally, and to build a community for networking and support. It’s about telling their story in their own voice – and helping all involved learn from one another. By talking to both new digital start-ups and
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traditional media in transition, this report identifies how media builders in different circumstances understand and meet the challenges they face. Comparing and contrasting experiences from different parts of the world provides both lessons that can be copied as well as warnings about the need to understand how different regional and national conditions impact success. From there, the report draws practical recommendations for news media leaders, for media support organizations, and for the IPI global network." (Introduction, page 4)
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"Efforts to establish or improve national identification systems in Africa have coincided with the increasing deployment of mobile technology. This has led to the prioritisation of digital “solutions” for facilitating forms of identification and registration – often via biometric attributes [.
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..] Research ICT Africa (RIA) and the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) partnered in 2020 and 2021 to investigate, map, and report on the state of digital identity ecosystems in 10 African countries. The project looked at local, digitised (in full or partially) foundational ID systems in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The project set out to contribute to the broader question of whether digital identity ecosystems increase choices and opportunities for Africans, or whether they exacerbate the multidimensional aspects of digital inequality on the continent." (Executive summary)
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"Social media technology is having a dramatic impact on social and political dynamics around the world. The contributors to this book document and illustrate this "techtonic" shift on violent conflict and democratic processes. They present vivid examples and case studies from countries in Africa, So
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uth and Southeast Asia, Latin America as well as Northern Ireland. Each author maps an array of peacebuilding solutions to social media threats, including coordinated action by civil society, governments and tech companies to protect human minds, relationships and institutions. Solutions presented include inoculating society with a new digital literacy agenda, designing technology for positive social impacts, and regulating technology to prohibit the worst behaviours." (Publisher description)
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"The study aims to gather information and develop a better understanding of the community radio landscapes in different parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, in order to identify needs, opportunities and potential partners for developing a programme of support for community radio on the continent. The envisa
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ged programme of support should be based on a productive model that takes into account the range of circumstances in Sub-Saharan Africa, its subregions as well as the selected countries. This report presents a descriptive analysis of the community radio landscape in 11 francophone, lusophone and anglophone countries from West, East and Southern Africa." (Purpose of the study, page 12)
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"The handbook is divided into five parts, each taking global developments in the field into account: Theoretical Reflections, Power and Authority Conflict, Radicalization and Populism, Dialogue and Peacebuilding, Trends. Within these sections, central issues, debates and developments are examined, i
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ncluding: Religious and secular press; ethics; globalization; gender; datafication; differentiation; journalistic religious literacy; race, and religious extremism." (Publisher description)
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"Although it is increasingly well-known that mining generates a vast array of gendered impacts, less studied is how women in mining zones have turned to online social media to articulate concerns and mobilise for collective action. This article explores how gendered social media communication has co
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nveyed injustices experienced by women in Zimbabwe’s diamond-mining areas and produced spaces of feminist solidarity in navigating structural violence, offering mutual support, and sharing daily developments and strategic initiatives. While Zimbabwe’s diamond-mining controversies have transformed over the years, communication online has continued to occur under the gaze of online state surveillance, and online spaces are never risk-free spaces. Seeking equitable development and inserting into politically sensitive topics, sensibilities of ‘online’ community-building have been different across a range of contexts and for different people. We explore communication online, bringing together discussions of gender-focused critiques of mining megaprojects, state violence, and feminist research in online spaces." (Abstract)
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"This book brings together fresh evidence and new theoretical frameworks in a unique analysis of the increasing role of social media in political campaigns and electoral processes across Africa. Supported by contemporary and historical cases studies, it engages with the main drives behind the variou
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s appropriations of social media for election campaigns, organization, and voter mobilization. Contributors in this volume delve into changing and complex aspects of social media, offering an appraisal of theoretical perspectives and examining fascinating case studies which social media use is redefining elections across Africa. Contributions show that new media ecologies are resulting in new policy regimes, user behaviors, and communication models that have implications for electoral processes. The book also provides preliminary analysis of emerging forms of algorithm-driven campaigns, fake news, information distortions and other methods that undermine electoral democracy in Africa." (Publisher description)
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"The definition of censorship denotes direct or overt restriction on free expression or freedom of the media. The popular understanding of self-censorship involves a person’s involuntary self-silencing. A journalist’s wilful, personal, intentional self-censorship, at times motivated by selfish m
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otives, is often overlooked especially when there is complicit acceptance of political perspective or financial interest, or normalization/naturalization of unethical practices. Systems and ideologies can condition individuals to self-censor using what Louis Althusser has termed Ideological State Apparatuses and Repressive State Apparatuses, including interpellation. The Zimbabwean Crisis that has resulted in the polarization of Zimbabwean media along political lines demands an evaluation of the notion of self-censorship. Instead of merely focusing on the involuntary nature of self-censorship, there is need to assess instances when journalists self-censor and selfishly comply with political and commercial interests at the expense of serving the lofty ideals of the public good and public interest. Numerous examples exist where Zimbabwean journalists were abused and their rights violated leading to the adoption of self-preservation by such journalists and others when faced with the choice of whether to write or not to write, to tell or not tell. However, journalists are systematically recruited into party and commercial systems, and they have comfortably adopted a cosy demeanour to the extent of collaborating with powerful interest groups and formations. When journalists self-censor not because of fear of violence or threats or other safety concerns, it undermines the transcendental ideal of providing information as a public good and in the public/national interest." (Abstract)
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"This study examines how the 2008 election violence was framed in three mainstream Zimbabwean weekly newspapers – The Sunday Mail, The Independent and The Zimbabwean. It was noted that four frames – the victim, justice and human rights, trivialization and attribution of responsibility frames dom
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inated the coverage of electoral violence in these three newspapers. The dominance of the trivializing frame in The Sunday Mail privileged the ruling party’s (Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front; ZANU PF) interpretation of electoral violence as inconsequential to the electoral process. Simultaneously, the prevalence of the victim, justice and human rights frames in The Independent and The Zimbabwean newspapers signifies the private media’s obsession with ZANU PF’s alleged electoral malpractices and situates these alleged transgressions within a broad global social justice and human rights trajectory to cultivate the West’s sympathy with the ‘victimised’ opposition." (Abstract)
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"Zusammen mit katholischen Journalisten gründeten wir eine Katholische Vereinigung von Medienfachleuten, und ich war Mitglied des freien Medienrates von Simbabwe, einer selbstständigen Organisation, unabhängig vom Staat, die Anleitungen gab, wie die Medien selber ethische Prinzipien durchsetzen k
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önnen. Journalisten und sonstige Medienleute sollten Beschwerden über Veröffentlichungen in den Medien durch Dialog mit den Verantwortlichen in Presse, Rundfunk, Fernsehen und Internet untersuchen und Irrtümer richtigstellen. Ich war froh, dass ich als kirchlicher Vertreter an diesem Prozess beteiligt war. Ich hoffte, dadurch auch die Beziehungen zwischen Kirche und Medien zu verbessern. Die Medien wissen oft nicht viel über die Kirche, und die Kirche ist oft misstrauisch gegenüber Medien. Seriöse Journalisten und die Kirche haben gemeinsam ein leidenschaftliches Interesse an der Wahrheit und verlässlicher Berichterstattung. Zwischen beiden muss es einen echten Dialog über die Ethik im Umgang mit der Rolle der Medien in der Öffentlichkeit geben. Wie geht man mit Nachrichten und ihrer Veröffentlichung um? Wie kann mediale Kommunikation nicht so sehr Gruppeninteressen, sondern dem Gemeinwohl dienen? Wie sollen Journalisten bei ihren Nachforschungen vorangehen? In kirchlichen Kreisen sind die Medien gefürchtet. Die Missbrauchsskandale, besonders der Schutz, den Täter angeblich in der Kirche genießen, erwecken den Eindruck, als ob die Kirche sich nicht strikt an die Wahrheit bei der Verteidigung ihrer eigenen Interessen hält. Aber was ist Sinn und Zweck der Kirche, wenn sie nicht wahrhaftig ist und man ihr nicht trauen kann?" (Seite 125-127)
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"The world is facing an unprecedented climate and environmental emergency. Scientists have identified human activity as primarily responsible for the climate crisis, which together with rampant environmental pollution, and the unbridled activities of the extractive and agricultural industries, pose
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a direct threat to the sustainability of life on this planet. This edition of Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) seeks to understand the constructive role that technology can play in confronting the crises. It disrupts the normative understanding of technology being an easy panacea to the planet’s environmental challenges and suggests that a nuanced and contextual use of technology is necessary for real sustainability to be achieved. A series of thematic reports frame different aspects of the relationship between digital technology and environmental sustainability from a human rights and social justice perspective, while 46 country and regional reports explore the diverse frontiers where technology meets the needs of both the environment and communities and where technology itself becomes a challenge to a sustainable future." (Back cover)
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