"The purpose of this book is to synthesize critical lessons learned about effective HIV/AIDS prevention programs, emphasizing the role of communication strategies. Combating AIDS focuses on communication strategies that could mobilize political action, target high-risk groups, and overcome stigma. T
...
he authors describe and analyze advocacy strategies, culturally-engaging targeted and tailored responses, and the entertainment-education strategy, including the use of television and radio soap operas to engage audiences emotionally and create a forum for public debate and discussion." (Publisher description)
more
"In these two volumes, readers will find comparative, in-depth essays on the press systems of 232 countries and/or territories. World Press Encyclopedia (WPE) is unique and valuable to users because, in addition to essays on each country’s press system, WPE also contains custommade graphs and stat
...
istical tables, as well as regional maps, useful appendices, and an extensive index. This comprehensive, authoritative source of information allows for easy comparison between essays with a standard format or set of “rubrics” used whenever possible (see section titled “Essay Components”). Each essay also features basic data information—such as official country name, literacy rate, language(s), and number of daily newspapers—clearly marked with headings at the beginning of each entry. Additionally, WPE’s contributors include scholars, professionals, and educators from across the United States and around the world; each essay has a byline. Although this is the second edition, WPE has been completely reconceptualized and 100 percent revised from the first edition, which was published in 1982." (Introduction)
more
"Its products may embody the latest in high technology, but labour standards and conditions in computer manufacturing can be appallingly low. Many stages of computer production are carried out by low-skilled, low-paid workers – most of them women – in developing countries. But unlike their count
...
erparts in the clothing and footwear sector, computer companies have thus far escaped scrutiny on labour issues. CAFOD’s interviews with electronics workers in Mexico,Thailand and China reveal a story of unsafe factories, compulsory overtime, wages below the legal minimum, and degrading treatment." (Summary)
more
"Media scholars and political scientists develop a broad comparative framework for analyzing alternative media in Australia, Chile, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Sweden, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Topics include independent media centers, gay online networks and a
...
lternative web discussion forums, feminist film, political journalism and social networks, indigenous communication, and church-sponsored media. This important book will help shape debates on the media's role in current global struggles, such as the anti-globalization movement." (Publisher description)
more
"The overall objective of this study was to provide a starting point for the involvement of development assistance in the promotion of ICTs for development. In the form of country studies we first tried to give insights into the ICT sectors along with stakeholders’ and other ICT-related activities
...
in the selected countries (Peru, Vietnam, Lao P.D.R, Uganda and Tanzania). Based on this assessment, strengths and weaknesses were named and starting points for potential German involvement identified. The following section should point at some general lessons learnt from all countries and, with due caution, sum up the activities and discussions on the German donors’ side, as they emerged in the countries themselves or in discussions while this study was conducted." (Synopsis, page 67)
more
"Clearly as important providers of information, the media are more likely to promote better economic performance when they are more likely to satisfy three conditions: the media are independent, provide good-quality information, and have a broad reach. That is, when they reduce the natural asymmetry
...
of information, as Joseph Stiglitz puts it in chapter 2, between those who govern and those whom they are supposed to serve, and when they reduce information asymmetries between private agents. Such a media industry can increase the accountability of both businesses and government through monitoring and reputational penalties while also allowing consumers to make more informed decisions.
This book cites many examples that demonstrate the value of information provided by the media. Alexander Dyck and Luigi Zingales (chapter 7) discuss how the media can pressure corporate managers and directors to behave in ways that are socially acceptable, thereby avoiding actions that will result in censure and consumer boycotts. They also report that in Malaysia, a recent survey of institutional investors and equity analysts asked which factors were most important to them in considering corporate governance and the decision to invest in publicly listed corporations. Those surveyed gave more importance to the frequency and nature of public and press comments about companies than to a host of other factors considered key in the academic debate. However, the dissemination of credible information in a timely manner depends critically on how the media business is managed and regulated. The chapters in this book document evidence on media performance and regulations in countries around the world and highlight what type of public policies and economic conditions might hinder the media in supporting economic development in poor countries." (Pages 1-2)
more
"Taking 14 radio serial dramas from around the world shows that many aspects of the way they are organised are not replicable: what works in one context would just not work in another. This is because of the very nature of pro-social media projects: they depend so much on the personal contacts of th
...
e producers, and the specific needs and tastes of the target audience. A successful model for one country may well not work in another, simply because there are so many variables. Having presented this caveat, the following is a list of replicable features gleaned from the 14 projects studied. More detail about how these features work in practice can be found in each case-study. The features have been selected because they either show up strongly across all projects, have been singled out by project-holders as the key to their success, or because they seem to have the potential for translating across countries and sectors." (Recommendations, page 21)
more