"The integration of traditionally isolated Central/ Eastern Europe into larger, worldwide trends has fundamentally changed the way we look at the media in this region. This volume proposes to address the transition of the media and communication industries in the contemporary period. The contributio
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ns discuss, among other things, the obstacles that still remain for the media to play an effective watchdog role in the new democracies, and whether the advent of the Internet and social media has helped or hindered the transformation to a powerful, independent media. The discussion further examines whether advertising agencies have targeted postcommunist citizens differently than those in Western European countries and if the media markets in the post- communist region are fundamentally different than in Western Europe and North America. A second focus of the volume is the media coverage of social issues like domestic violence, which is intended to draw attention to these issues and influence policy in a more aware and open society. This establishes the trend of post- communist media following the example of western media practice." (Publisher description)
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"This book constitutes a milestone in journalism for both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot editors and journalists across the island as it offers alternatives to the dominant “war journalism” approach that Cyprus journalism (as part of a global pattern of contemporary journalism), has become ha
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bituated to. “Peace Journalism: A Practical Handbook for Journalists in Cyprus” offers an opportunity to journalists who want to escape the blame game, open up opportunities for the resolution to ongoing conflict through serious reporting, and transcend the “them/us” and “we’re right/they’re wrong” dichotomy that has become the hallmark of contemporary journalistic framing." (Foreword, page 6)
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"In diesem Sammelband werden konkrete Probleme der Medienethik in der Republik Moldau, der Ukraine und Russland erörtert. Allerdings können diese Beiträge keine erschöpfenden Antworten geben, sondern sollen vielmehr den Blick für Aspekte und Fragen der Medienethik in den drei Ländern schärfen
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und dem Leser Beispiele an die Hand zu geben, um diese Problematik genauer zu analysieren und eigenverantwortlich Lösungen zu finden." (Seite 8)
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"The monitoring and the analysis carried out for the purpose of this study found out that the media and the institutional channels of mass communication of religious communities have behaved correctly while carrying out their duties, and have established a climate of communication that emits and fos
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ters mutual respect among the faithful, tolerance and harmony that have prevailed the Albanian religious tradition. On the other hand, alongside media institutions of religious communities or organizations operating in the country, the Albanian online world has been infiltrated by a relatively large number of websites which appear to have been created and operated by Islamic religious organizations based in Turkey or other countries in the Middle East. Some of these websites promote schools of Islam that do not match the tradition of the Albanian Islam, and provide a more radical interpretation of the Islamic doctrine. Especially problematic are some websites that promote in Albanian the schools of Salafism and Wahhabism as well as other extremist schools or sects. Meanwhile, the monitoring of the mainstream print and broadcast media in Albania, revealed that they report on religion and activities of religious background mainly during religious festivities, on cases of religiously-motivated clashes or conflicts, on controversial statements regarding religion, its history and religious cohabitation in Albania, as well as cases of scandal and controversy among the ranks of religious authorities." (Page 3)
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"With Kosovo as its case, this article explores the context and challenges of journalism education in transition societies. Journalists in Kosovo have lived through constant changes from authoritarian to democracy. In this struggle, journalism education has never been stable and steady. The past con
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flict events of the destruction of Yugoslavia haunts present day journalism in challenging human rights, ethics and even business model of Kosovar media. The traumatic past, conflict and ethic animosity is still present in the public discourse among Kosovar journalists due to political resistance of the leadership of the entire region to take steps towards recognizing conflicting past and the atrocities that happened. Over the last decade, new journalism schools have been founded both in public and private sector which reflects significant increase in quality reporting. By utilizing previous research, including data from the Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS) in Kosovo, the article discusses the aspect of transitional journalism in Kosovo, which focuses on transitional justice and looks at the problems from a human rights approach, including the education of journalists in the field of human rights but instead of learning from top down approach. The data in the article show journalistic roles shifting from traditional watchdog to activist role which challenges journalistic professionalism at a time when journalism education in higher education is in its infancy. The article exposes the need for practical, tailored training about the realities of political pressure, history and the transition. As one of the significant gaps in the teaching journalism in Kosovo is in relation to dealing with the past, a lack of taught courses for journalists entering the media market is seen as a weakness of the education system in Kosovo along with other structural problems in the media. Technology, globalization, rapid development of social media leave much to be desired in the journalism education in Kosovo." (Abstract)
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"The study confirms that after the fall of communism and the establishment of pluralistic democracy in the country, the conditions were created for the emergence and development of free, independent and pluralistic media. This led to a multiplication of the capacities and space also for internationa
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l reporting. A large number of channels of international media information existed in Albania during the past 25 years after the fall of communism. Nevertheless, during the last decade, due to the crisis in the media and because of the emergence of new channels of online information, a decline has been noticed in international news in the press and television. These media outlets do not have a special editorial structure for international news and it is mainly covered by the news department or newsroom. Meanwhile, human resources for this field have been shrinking in about 40% of the media outlets. Because of economic difficulties, Albanian media also lack or have a very limited number of correspondents abroad. Thus, none of the newspapers has correspondents in other countries." (Conclusions, page 58-59)
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"Political and business elites in the countries that are the subject of this report have acquired control over a large number of public and private media, mostly through non-transparent privatization, advertising and/or budgetary support to loyal media. Consequently, media freedoms and freedom of ex
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pression in these countries are seriously impaired, as evidenced by the declining trend in the indexes of media sustainability and press freedom [...] Following the withdrawal of Western donors, some of the media known for professional reporting in the public interest are now under the direct control of ruling elites and large businesses. This also applies, unfortunately, for part of the legacy media from the 1990s. The role that Serbian B92 or BH Dani once played in these countries—offering research, independent analysis and a plurality of views—can now be found only in small alternative NGO media, Web portals, and investigative journalism centers. These are often under pressure from the government and rely mainly on foreign donors, primarily from the European Union and the United States [...] to reduce the influence of political elites, it is important to institutionalize a legal and transparent system of awarding funds to media from state budgets, establish clear rules of advertising by state institutions, and ensure transparency of media ownership. Since all these countries have EU membership aspirations, it would be of fundamental importance for the EU to insist on reforming the legal framework and on implementation of such reforms as key pre-conditions for creating the enabling climate for free and independent media." (Conclusions and recommendations)
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"El presente volumen recoge diferentes enfoques teóricos y metodológicos sobre las memorias, transiciones políticas e identidades en Alemania, Argentina y España, buscando establecer comparaciones y puntos de convergencia en sociedades signadas durante el siglo XX por regímenes políticos autor
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itarios y procesos de democratización paradigmáticos. Privilegia la reflexión a partir de fuentes orales, indagación en archivos, sitios de memoria y otros documentos como representaciones literarias y cinematográficas." (Descripción de la casa editorial)
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"The independence and pluralism of Bulgaria’s media has eroded steadily over the past decade. The downward spiral in media freedom that threatens to drown public debate on important policy issues is unrestrained since 2006, when the country was ranked 35th on the Reporters Without Borders Index. N
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ine years later, Bulgaria has fallen to 106th place [...] Bulgarian authorities are increasingly employing tools of “soft censorship” to dominate the country’s media and narrow public access to information and informed policy debate. This analysis defines official “soft censorship” or indirect censorship as any of an array of official actions intended to influence media output, short of legal or extra-legal bans, direct censorship of specific content, or physical attacks on media outlets or media practitioners. These indirect forms of censorship include selective media subsidies and partisan allocation of advertising, as well as biased application of regulatory and licensing powers that can influence editorial content and affect media outlets’ viability." (Executive summary)
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"Russian speakers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania rank Kremlin-backed media as the least trustworthy among international, Russian Federation and domestic news sources, according to research presented by the Broadcasting Board of Governors. In addition, only those survey respondents who considered R
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ussian-backed media to be credible showed a majority support for President Vladimir Putin’s domestic and international policies. In the three Baltic nations and Moldova, consuming Russian-backed media did not correlate with support for Russia’s policies. The BBG data found that domestic media ranked first in trustworthiness in Estonia (80 percent) and Latvia (79 percent). International media took first in Lithuania (74 percent) and in Moldova there was a statistical tie between international media (45 percent), Russian-backed media (42 percent) and domestic media (42 percent)." (BBG website)
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"This book has presented a critical, historically grounded analysis of the role of the war correspondent. It has highlighted the risks, the problems and the failures that have defined the role but it has also given credit where that is due and acknowledged the inspirational example of correspondents
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such as William Howard Russell, Morgan Philips Price, Martha Gellhorn, Wilfred Burchett, John Pilger and Robert Fisk. Their work seems to bear testament to the ideal beloved of all journalists and writers, of ‘telling truth to power’. But as Arundhati Roy has argued, ‘Power owns the truth [and] knows the truth just as well if not better than the powerless know the truth’ (2004, page 68). In view of everything that has gone before in this book, I think she is right. Telling truth to power does not change or lessen the risks and dangers that accompany the journalist in the war zone. And as we have seen, the risks are not equal; the level of special training, protection and institutional support journalists receive depends on the size and wealth of their media employer." (Conclusion, page 214)
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"Journalists in Croatia primarily see their roles in the classical (western) "watchdog" function of providing analysis of current affairs, monitoring and scrutinizing political leaders, and business. These values are followed by public-forum roles of the media through letting people express their vi
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ews and provide information people need for making political decision. Several of the values that reach high means (4.0 and higher) might be related to the (relatively) recent democratization and the view that the media should assist in this change. This particularly relates to the belief that journalists should advocate social change, motivate people to participate in political activity, and support national development. A large number of respondents (between close to 50% to almost 70%) think that it is somewhat important that journalists influence public opinion, set the political agenda, and provide orientation and direction in daily life to their audiences. As we go down the list with the least supported statements and shares of supporters, the homogeneity of the answers also decreases, while the most highly placed values having smaller standard deviations. The minority of journalists thinks that their work entails a support of government policy or to convey a positive image of political leadership (12 and 13.2 %, respectively), and a similarly small number thinks they should take an adversarial role to the government." (Journalistic roles, pages 1-2)
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"This study explored, by comparative thematic analysis, the conceptualization of trust in news media in Serbia, Macedonia, and Croatia - three countries of Eastern Europe where past oppressive regimes might have left a heritage of distrust in all institutions. The analysis of 61 in-depth interviews
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showed the coexistence of three connotations of trust: trust as faith in news media as expert systems, trust in journalistic selectivity (found in all three countries), and trust as confidence in news media (found only in the Serbian sample). The analysis of the interviews also indicated a possible new dimension of journalistic selectivity and showed that, when looking for the truth in media messages, Serbians, Macedonians, and Croatians relied more on themselves than on the trustworthiness of their news media systems. The implications of these results on the measurement of trust in news media and on the relationship of Eastern Europeans toward their news media systems are discussed in light of sociological theories of trust, as well as specific historical, social, and cultural circumstances in the region." (Abstract)
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"International trade in creative industries showed sustained growth in the last decade. The global market for traded creative goods and services totaled a record $547billion in 2012, as compared to $302 billion in 2003. Exports from developing countries, led by Asian countries, were growing faster t
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han exports from developed countries. Among developed country regions, Europe is the largest exporter of creative goods. In 2012, the top 5 creative goods exporters included Germany, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium. Exports of creative goods from developed economies grew during the period 2003 to 2012, with export earnings rising from $134 billion to $197 billion. Among developing countries, China is the largest exporter of creative goods. In 2012, the top 5 exporters were China, Hong Kong, China, India, Turkey and South Korea. Exports of creative goods from developing economies grew during the period 2003 to 2012, with export earnings rising from $87 billion to $272 billion. Developing countries are playing an increasingly important role in international trade in creative industries." (Executive summary)
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"With regards to professional role orientations, Kosovan journalists found it most important to report things as they are, to be a detached observer, to provide analysis of current affairs, and to promote tolerance and cultural diversity. The relevance of these “classic” roles was fairly undispu
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ted among the interviewed journalists as the relatively low standard deviations indicate. Likewise, there was a strong consensus among the respondents over the little importance of supporting government policy and conveying a positive image of political leadership. Still, a majority of journalists in Kosovo found it important to provide advice, orientation and direction for daily life, to educate the audience, to tell stories about the world, and to provide information people need to make political decisions. Politically more assertive roles, on the other hand, were supported by only a minority of respondents. Following traits belong to these roles: setting the political agenda, motivate people to participate in political activity, convey a positive image of political leadership, and support government policy." (Journalistic roles, page 2)
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"The three countries that this year experienced a decrease in overall score—Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan—were ones last year that had showed small but unexpected increases. Last year’s Executive Summary indicated that such increases were unlikely to be part of a larger upward trend; pan
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elists’ scores this year for all three ended up placing the three more or less where they stood in 2014. A similar phenomenon occurred this year with Tajikistan. Panelists there gave scores that increase the overall score in the country by 0.18 despite the fact that many serious threats to the media sector exist, including government pressure and harassment of critical voices, concentration of media control, poor quality reporting, and difficulty for independent media in raising revenue. Except for Objective 3, Plurality of News, all objectives received higher scores. Reading the chapter text, however, one does not get the impression that much positive is happening to improve the ability of Tajik media to serve as the Fourth Estate." (Executive summary)
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