"Freedom House has conducted a comprehensive study of internet freedom in 60 countries around the world. This report is the fourth in a series and focuses on developments that occurred between May 2012 and April 2013. The previous edition, covering 47 countries, was published in September 2012. 'Fre
...
edom on the Net 2013' assesses a greater variety of political systems than its predecessors, while tracing improvements and declines in the countries examined in the previous editions. Over 70 researchers, nearly all based in the countries they analyzed, contributed to the project examining laws and practices relevant to the internet, testing the accessibility of select websites, and interviewing a wide range of sources. Of the 60 countries assessed, 34 have experienced a negative trajectory since May 2012." (Page 2)
more
"Fostering a participatory political culture is a crucial part of the on-going transformation processes which we witness across North African and Middle Eastern countries since 2011. This paper considers which role participatory communication plays in these processes, by examining the potential of c
...
itizens’ radios to accompany Tunisia’s transition at a grassroots level. Analysing the case of Radio 6 Tunis – a local, non-commercial Internet-radio founded by Tunisian journalists under the rule of Ben Ali in 2007 – citizens’ radios are discussed as sites of political contestation and cultivation of critical consciousness. While they empower citizens to reclaim both their voice and public space, their influence is however limited. The manifold challenges which citizens' radios face in the transitional context of post-autocratic Tunisia, may well impede nascent democratisation dynamics." (Abstract)
more
"Though Facebook’s near-ubiquitous lead might indicate that the global social network landscape is simplifying, it quickly becomes clear this is not the case. This report aims to help marketers assess the social network landscape in 27 countries by briefly examining four key factors: top social ne
...
tworks, usage, social media advertising and mobile social trends." (Executive summary)
more
"This article discusses the role of ‘cyberactivism’ or the role played by new media in paving the way for political transformation, in both the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions of 2011. It starts with a discussion of the potentials of cyberactivism in both of these revolutions, especially how t
...
hese new types of social media can act as effective tools for supporting the capabilities of the democratic activists by allowing forums for free speech and political networking opportunities; providing a virtual space for assembly; supporting the capability of the protestors to plan, organize and execute peaceful protests, while documenting the protests and governmental reactions to them; and providing forums for collaboration between the Tunisian and the Egyptian activists. It also sheds light on some of the limitations of the role of social media in both of these revolutions and highlights some of the overlaps and divergences between the role of cyberactivism in both of them, through comparing the similarities and differences in contexts, actors and tools." (Abstract)
more
"GISWatch 2013 shows that gains in women’s rights made online are not always certain or stable. While access to the internet for women has increased their participation in the social, economic and governance spheres, there is another side to these opportunities: online harassment, cyberstalking, a
...
nd violence against women online all of which are on the increase globally." (www.giswatch.org, July 6, 2014)
more
"Die Studie eines Autorenteams der Universität Erfurt geht der Frage nach, ob der "Arabische Frühling" als großes Medienereignis in der Lage war, eingefahrene journalistische Nachrichtenroutinen der deutschen Presse aufzubrechen und zu verändern. Wurde das Islambild differenziert oder wurde es l
...
ediglich kurzfristig überlagert von dem populären Bild eines scheinbar jugendlichen und nach "westlichen" Werten strebenden Volksaufstandes? Neben einer umfangreichen Inhaltsanalyse wurden Interviews in den Redaktionen der überregionalen deutschen Presse geführt." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
more
"The overall objective of the research is to provide the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and its Libyan Government counterparts with an updated assessment of the Libyan media landscape that measures consumption habits, perceptions of trust towards certain outlets, and attitudes towards government invo
...
lvement in Libyan media, leading to recommendations for improving communication between the Libyan Government and the Libyan people. This report is a collection of the most informative results from this research, which was conducted across Libya’s 22 districts between February and April 2013. Overall, the project involved interviewing 3,196 randomly-selected Libyans with a 65-question questionnaire, together with 26 Paired Interviews and 40 Key Informant Interviews covering most of the influential television, radio and publications outlets." (Executive summary)
more
"The Internet will generate economic growth and social transformation in six sectors in particular: financial services, education, health, retail, agriculture, and government. In financial services, for example, M.Pesa's mobile money solutions have brought millions of Kenyans onto the financial grid
...
for the first time. Remote diagnostics are expanding medical services to rural areas that have few healthcare professionals. Students are beginning to learn with new digital education tools, and e-government initiatives are connecting citizens with services. This report examines the progress and potential of the Internet in 14 economies that together make up 90 percent of Africa's GDP. In addition to measuring the size of their current Internet economies, it evaluates the strength of five fundamental pillars of Internet readiness: national ICT strategy, infrastructure, business environment, access to financial capital, and the development of ICTrelated human capital. By combining these factors, it is possible to map each country's progress on its digital journey. Kenya and Senegal, for instance, are not Africa's largest economies, but they have nevertheless emerged as the continent's leaders in terms of the relative economic contribution of the Internet." (Executive summary)
more
"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
...
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)
more
"Egypt’s revolutionary uprising in 2011 raised important questions about the kind of journalism that would be viable in the country’s changing political dynamics. Suddenly the output of bloggers, online radio and social media news operations, which had all formed part of the groundswell of actio
...
n against dictatorship and repression, posed an explicit challenge to journalists in state-run and commercial media companies who were more directly subject to government controls. As different interest groups struggle over the country’s future, Naomi Sakr considers emerging visions of journalism in Egypt. In this book she charts recent transformations in Egyptian journalism, exploring diverse approaches to converged media and the place of participatory cross-media networks in expanding and developing the country's body of professional journalists. She analyses journalist’ initiatives for restructuring publicly owned media and securing a safe and open environment in which to work." (Publisher description)
more
"This book sheds light on the growing phenomenon of cyberactivism in the Arab world, with a special focus on the Egyptian political blogosphere and its role in paving the way to democratization and socio-political change in Egypt, which culminated in Egypt's historical popular revolution." (Publishe
...
r descripton)
more
"The study samples Al Ahram, Al Wafd, the Freedom and Justice Party paper, Al Masry Al Youm, and Al Shorouk, five major dailies that represent the three categories of ownership prevalent in Egyptian media – government owned, partisan, and independent (or privately owned) papers. Using quantitative
...
content analysis methodology with framing theory as a backdrop, this comparative research study aims to identify the dominant frames used across different outlets in the local press landscape to represent different political actors and issues in Egypt’s post-revolutionary political scene. The sampling period is the first nine months of the term of Egypt’s first-ever democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi. The total sample yielded 290 articles. The results show that the five newspapers employed frames that mirrored their respective affiliations and ownership. Government-run Al Ahram and the Freedom and Justice Party paper employed frames that favored the ruling regime, Al Wafd took a decidedly anti-President Morsi tone, and independent papers Al Shorouk and Al Masry Al Youm exhibited more balanced coverage." (Abstract)
more
"A state-of-the-art analysis of the situation of national television in Arab countries, addressing what Arab national broadcastings today say about public policy and political opening. The essays deal with the reforms of public broadcasting organizations and the evolution, perspectives and issues of
...
national broadcasting." (Publisher description)
more
"The essays explore the role and function of image making to highlight the ways in which the images "speak" and what visual languages mean for the construction of Islamic subjectivities, the distribution of power, and the formation of identity and belonging. Visual Culture in the Modern Middle East
...
addresses aspects of the visual in the Islamic world, including the presentation of Islam on television; on the internet and other digital media; in banners, posters, murals, and graffiti; and in the satirical press, cartoons, and children's books." (Publisher description)
more
"This article investigates the 'discursive notion' of communication technology, as embedded in the discussion of mediatization. Instead of focusing on the technical structure of media and its impact on society, I will alternatively turn my attention to its symbolic dimension. I will look beyond the
...
surface of the symbolic, by questioning how this dimension has been discursively created. As such, I suggest using the term 'discursive notion', as discourse also refers to power relations. The analysis of the discursive notion relating to the internet in Morocco is developed through the critical approach of postcolonial theory. This is done with the aim of dissecting the construction of colonial discourse, and in order to show how specific power relations continue to function to present." (Abstract)
more