"This book is an attempt to address obstacles to a democratic development of media systems in the countries of South East Europe by mapping patterns of corrupt relations and practices in media policy development, media ownership and financing, public service broadcasting, and journalism as a profess
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ion. It introduces the concept of media integrity to denote the public-service values of media and journalism. In analyzing the current situation of the media, the focus was on the assessment of factors that have been identified as posing a risk to media integrity, with an overview of past developments if relevant for understanding the current situation. Five countries were covered by the research presented in this book: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia." (Introduction)
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"This paper compares and contrasts four centers: The Center for Investigative Reporting in Bosnia-Herzegovina (CIN), The Journalism Training and Research Initiative in Bangladesh (JATRI), the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism in Jordan (ARIJ), and The Caucasus Media Investigations Center (
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CMIC) in Azerbaijan. No officials or funders ever announce failures or label projects like these failures. But this paper posits that those centers designed and run by journalists to actively report are more effective in fulfilling their role as watch-dogs, as well as more sustainable. They perform better at developing future practitioners and instilling an investigative reporting tradition in new places. This examination suggests that donors hoping to implant successful centers increase their chances when they match ambitions to the political and legal climate of host countries, commit to multi-year involvement, and select passionate leaders with clout in the eyes of other journalists in their host regions. This study suggest that centers designed by outsiders and run by non-journalists tend to evolve into generalized research, resource and training centers." (Introduction)
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"This Global Information Society Watch tracks the state of communications surveillance in 57 countries across the world – countries as diverse as Hungary, India, Argentina, The Gambia, Lebanon and the United Kingdom. Each country report approaches the issue from a different perspective. Some analy
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se legal frameworks that allow surveillance, others the role of businesses in collecting data (including marketing data on children), the potential of biometrics to violate rights, or the privacy challenges when implementing a centralised universal health system. The perspectives from long-time internet activists on surveillance are also recorded. Using the 13 International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications Surveillance as a starting point, eight thematic reports frame the key issues at stake. These include discussions on what we mean by digital surveillance, the implications for a human rights agenda on surveillance, the “Five Eyes” inter-government surveillance network led by the US, cyber security, and the role of intermediaries." (GIS website)
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"This study focuses on the institutional practice of international development communication. Through a qualitative study of the Videoletters project, it examines a situated process of intervention in its complexity and analyzes how the specifics of mediation illuminate issues of proximity and dista
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nce in the relationship between bilateral funders, the citizens of the countries that their intervention claims to assist, and the governance structures of the countries intervened. Videoletters was a media-driven intervention aimed at reconnecting ordinary people affected by ethno-political divisions across the former Yugoslavia between 2000 and 2005. Adopted by European bilateral funders for large-scale implementation, the project was categorized as a “tool for reconciliation”. The study explores how this specific intervention was initiated, implemented, circulated and evaluated in practice. Issues of ethics and accountability at stake in the process are analyzed in relation to a framework of global justice. Findings indicate that mediated communication intervention may be embraced by bilateral funders for its potential to make them look good in the eyes of Western audiences beyond discourses about its potential to do good for the citizens of troubled countries. By linking international development communication to a framework of justice, the study contributes to a critical agenda for theorization and research that takes accountability into consideration and puts citizens at the center." (Back cover)
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"The study analyses media freedom and pluralism in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia) in light of the EU enlargement policy. Despite the different stages of their EU accession paths, these countries share si
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milar challenges, even if they are of different intensities. The study analyses the overall legal framework and its unsatisfactory levels of implementation, the role and the independence of PSB, the media market, and the status of journalists. It also outlines country-specific profiles, regarding these categories. The paper outlines and analyses the current EU policies and financial instruments to foster media freedom and media pluralism in the region, including the Stabilisation and Association Process and specific acquis. It also analyses the issues in the context of the EU ‘internal’ and ‘external’ policy on media freedom and media pluralism. The study outlines the complementary roles of the CoE and the OSCE as setting common standards on media freedom in Europe and the EU institutions as being the main engine and guarantor for their implementation. Finally, the recommendations point towards the EU establishing a more long-term, integrated and comprehensive strategy of external help, monitoring and capacity building." (Abstract)
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"Through the methodological framework of the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), the report measures the extent to which 144 economies, from both the developed and developing worlds, take advantage of ICTs and other new technologies to increase their growth and well-being. The NRI identifies the most r
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elevant factors driving ICT readiness and impacts, providing policymakers, business leaders, and civil society at large with a useful tool for designing national strategies for increased networked readiness and for benchmarking their country’s performance against other relevant comparators. The Global Information Technology Report 2013 features the latest computation and rankings of the NRI, and in referring to this year’s theme, dives deeper into the connection between ICTs and economic growth and job creation. As in previous years, it also showcases a number of ICT development stories of particular interest. In addition, the report includes detailed profiles for the 144 economies covered this year together with data tables for each of the 54 indicators used in the computation of the NRI." (Back cover)
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"The case of BiH demonstrates that media reform is a slow, time-consuming process, which is closely related to the consolidation of democratic institutions that foster free media. The four case studies presented here amply demonstrate a deep tension between externally-driven reform initiatives and t
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he democratization agenda on one hand, and the complex set of contextual challenges to the reforms on the other. Our findings support Mcloughlin and Scott who claim that media reforms "can only produce results at the same pace as democratic evolution in a given country, and should be integrated into broader democratic governance reform." (Conclusion, page 57)
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"The goal of this book is to present in a systematic way the results of analysis of content of media in minority languages in four countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia), relying on past practice, expertise and research results related to analysis of minority media and
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treatment of minorities in media. The analysis conducted in 2012 by the research team gathered around this project focused, in addition to minority media content, on analysis of the legislative context and socio-economic status of minority communities in these countries." (Introduction, page 14-15)
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"The first component of this report focuses on the improvement of the performance of public sector broadcasters. Based on evidence that the team gathered during field research, and the preparatory survey of the existing body of knowledge, 23 main problems were identified in this component [...] The
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second component deals with media self-regulation. Although the push to strengthen selfregulation is high on the agenda of the media communities in the region, such institutions have either not been established or the existing ones need to be overhauled and strengthened [...] Component three concentrates on judicial practices in freedom of expression cases and capacity building of the judiciary in this regard [...] Component four assesses the options for the introduction of an EU award for investigative journalism in the Southeast Europe IPA region." (Executive summary, page 9)
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"The cases from B&H and Kosovo show that three straightforward regulatory practices can make a significant impact in a relatively short time. What is needed is an independent and legitimate regulator, a set of laws and guidelines against incendiary media, and an accompanying set of laws in protectio
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n of free speech. Obviously, this three-pronged framework does not constitute an entire regulatory regime for media. It cannot guarantee peace, but it can enable individuals at all levels of society to make better decisions about whether or not to support or participate in a conflict. The scope of regulatory practice in conflict must be seen as a long term process. On one hand, media regulation exists to prevent the escalation of conflict. On the other hand, it exists to maintain a media environment conducive to promotion of a functioning democratic society. Media democratization is a long-lasting process of legal reform and a purview of legal experts, and it usually evolves with the rest of the democratic processes. It requires legal, technical and even engineering expertise. The end goal of the process is to develop a modern regulatory framework for the media which supports and protects general media freedoms. In the short term, the initial phase of the media democratization process must be concerned with the prevention of conflict escalation and protection of media and their rights and freedoms." (Conclusion)
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"Is it possible to introduce, in a sustainable manner, investigative reporting practices and non-profit centers into media contexts that lack the basic preconditions necessary for the development of investigative reporting? The answer seems rather multifaceted and far from obvious or definite. For e
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xample, the effects of investigative journalism training programs and assistance for story production are questionable. The direct results of the numerous donor projects and programs aimed at improving the skills and knowledge of local journalists and the media about high-quality journalism are not readily apparent as the participants of such programs have had to return to media outlets that lack the basic resources to put the skills and knowledge they gained into practice. However, the potential cumulative impact of such initiatives should not be dismissed, as knowledge and skills spread through newsrooms, NGOs, and journalism schools. The long-term impact of such efforts remains a worthy subject for future studies, though it goes beyond the ambitions of this research. Similarly, the effects of the assistance towards the production of investigative content by media and individuals are unclear as the practice rarely continues beyond donor support due to unsupportive newsrooms and lack of funding. When looking into the effects of the two non-profit investigative reporting centers that were the focus of this paper, the situation becomes much clearer. Namely, both centers have a regular output of high-quality stories, featured in the media of their countries and have achieved some significant impact with their stories. It is safe to say that CIN and CINS are functional media organizations, which fulfill a need in media markets with a serious lack of professional investigative reporting and a lack of independent media." (Final remarks, page 49)
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"TThe 2012 MSI study for Europe & Eurasia revealed a mix of positive developments, regression, and stagnation (or resilience, depending on one’s point of view). Nearly half of the 21 countries included in this study showed little change either way, their overall score moving by 0.10 or less. Six c
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ountries showed improvement and five slid backward. The former Yugoslavia accounted for all but one of the countries with lower scores this year. Montenegro improved, Croatia remained roughly unchanged, but the rest of the former Yugoslavia—Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Macedonia—suffered losses (note that Slovenia is the only country of the former Yugoslavia not studied by the MSI) [...] Moldova continued to improve and achieved the highest score among the four countries in “Russia and Western Eurasia.” All objectives except Objective 4, Business Management, received a score in the “near sustainability” range. Armenia maintained its leadership amongst the three countries in the Caucasus. Its overall score remained mostly unchanged, although the score did slip slightly. Georgia continued to slowly regain ground lost in 2008. Russia’s score improved; despite serious lingering challenges, panelists expressed a cautious optimism that the situation will continue to improve in the coming years. Kyrgyzstan returned to the top spot in Central Asia as the political situation there stabilized. However, two objectives, those covering professional journalism and business management, remain well below the “near sustainability” range." (Executive summary, page ix)
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"Seit jeher provozieren Kriege heftige Emotionen. Mit dem Fortschritt militärischer Techniken und Propagandamethoden ging aber auch eine Veränderung der Wahrnehmung von Kriegen durch die Künste einher. Bis heute konstruieren die Literatur, die Fotografie, der Film und das Fernsehen Abbilder von K
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riegsschauplätzen in aller Welt, die ihr Publikum durch die Aufrufung bestimmter ideologischer Rahmungen, Raster oder auch Pathosformeln gezielt zu emotionalisieren versuchen. Namhafte Autorinnen und Autoren aus der internationalen Literatur-, Kultur- und Medienwissenschaft untersuchen verschiedenste Phänomene der historischen und der aktuellen Kriegsinszenierung - in der Literatur seit dem 18. Jahrhundert, im Kino und in den neuen Medien." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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