"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 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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"Overall, international media assistance has been very important in shaping the current media landscape, though it has by no means been the decisive factor. The complete legal reform in the media and establishment of its main institutions has seen the continuous involvement of international actors.
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International assistance has also been crucial in introducing new principles of journalism with the change of regime, and in improving professional level of journalists. Although self-regulatory bodies have not materialized yet, the professional debate on ethics has become significant part of the profession. Media assistance efforts have been less successful in terms of supporting member-based organizations, hindered by the lack of tradition in this field. Finally, although strengthening the notions of professional journalism has been the main focus of international support, Albanian journalism has ample room for improvement." (Concluding remarks, page 54)
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"This policy brief builds upon the findings of a research report that looked specifically on the ways in which three media institutions - Independent Media Commission (IMC); Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK) and the Press Council of Kosovo (PCK) – established in the aftermath of conflict with consi
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derable foreign media assistance - have evolved. The independence and long-term sustainability of the RTK and IMC are important conditions that Kosovo government must ensure as it moves closer towards the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU. The PCK also remains an important institution for the Kosovo press affairs. As such, these institutions are a cornerstone for a sound media system in Kosovo." (Pages 5-6)
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"The mechanisms of state media funding in Serbia are used as indirect, and usually not easily visible, “soft censorship.” Soft censorship is used to promote positive coverage of - and to punish media outlets that criticize - officials or their actions. State funding of media is unregulated, unmo
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nitored, and not transparent. State funding is estimated to comprise 23 to 40 percent of the real value of Serbia’s overall advertising market. Direct state subsidies made to state-owned media that receive great amounts of state media assistance are drastically undermining free competition in Serbia’s media industry and hindering development of a free, independent, and pluralistic media." (Key findings, page 6)
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"The quantitative content analysis identified the amount and the patterns of media reporting on delicate interethnic and interfaith issues, focusing on respect of different aspects of professional and ethical standards. The method of Critical Discourse Analysis is applied for the qualitative analysi
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s of the media coverage of three events that shacked the fragile interethnic relations in the first half of 2012: the European Championship in handball in 2012, the Carnival of Vevchani, and the Smilkovsko Lake Murders. The synthesized findings clearly “detect” the extent to which basic standards of impartial, accurate and balanced reporting are being observed and the practice of using violent and emotional language through the prism of 'one’s own' ethnic group." (http://mediaobservatory.net)
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"How does media contribute to peacebuilding and reconciliation in a post-conflict environment? This question will be answered in respect to the media produced by the UN and NATO mission in Kosovo (UNMIK and KFOR) from the year 1999 until 2008. The theoretical part of the text will deal with existing
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approaches to peace journalism, effective organizational communication and media effects theories. In the empirical part, the evaluation will first focus on the content of the media produced by UNMIK and KFOR in Kosovo, followed by the assessment of media production processes in both missions. Last, the dissertation will explore the impact of UNMIK's and KFOR's media within the local Kosovar population." (Back cover)
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"Kosovo has marked a number of improvements in the legal provisions pertaining to the media sector with the establishment of the law on access to information, decriminalization of libel and improvement of the criminal code and law on RTK. Considerable work, however, still remains to be done in the p
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roper implementation of the existing legislation and a mechanism to monitor the implementation is necessary. This is particularly important with the Law on Access to Public Documents, as non implementation is limiting journalist’s ability to factually document stories, making them susceptible to mistrusted sources and other pressure. Besides professional pressure, journalists are still subject to physical attacks and threats and more inconspicuous forms of pressure such as financial instability, lack of proper contracts and an inefficient judicial that can’t adequately protect their rights. Due to the economic conditions in the country and its impact on outlets, out of the job professional development for journalists can be unaffordable and lack quality. While some university level academic programs are trying to establish a foothold in the niche, they are still too young. In the meantime, non-academic preparation programs are few and far in between, often delivered by unprofessional trainers. The aforementioned issues are not aided by an overall fragile public broadcaster, who would in other instances be setting the benchmark of professional standards for all media. With financing problems making the RTK potentially susceptible to political and other forms of influence, the medium has lost its initial credibility. Nonetheless, as part of its financing problem has been resolved with a new law, it remains to be seen how well the public broadcaster will perform." (Conclusion, Page 21)
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"At an international level, the media development community should advocate for standards governing media cross-ownership limitations, best practices in media licensing, and the licensing of the broadcast spectrum. States should adopt net neutrality and support increased uncensored access to social
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media and Internet news sources. They should scrutinize media ownership sales and declare non-transparent sales of media companies illegitimate and make their ownership visible. Media owners, governments, and media development funders and practitioners must modify the belief that advertising will always automatically support independent media. It won’t. It is not in any advertiser’s business model to underwrite news reporting; first and foremost, it is their fiduciary duty to build their own customer bases. If that means redirecting marketing strategies to more effective platforms, they will. And they have. The media development community should commit to aggressively accelerating the financial management, business, advertising, and digital media skills of media managers, particularly in transitional countries. When entering transitional markets, media outlets should first conduct audience research to establish a baseline for advertising rates. Cronyism and coercion lack force when advertisers, particularly large international advertisers, are given legitimate choices among alternatives. Media developers should support independent community and investigative reporting, especially local radio, through multiple funding sources, including helping to build local revenue bases, even if they exist outside traditional media business models." (Recommendations, page 31)
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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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