"David Faris looks at the role bloggers played in the campaign to enable Egypt's tiny Baha'i minority to obtain identity cards without identifying themselves as Muslims or Christians. He traces the links between a handful of Baha'i bloggers, a wider circle of sympathetic activist bloggers and some k
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ey people in the mainstream media. He concludes that the sustained online attention which the plight of Baha’is appears to have won in the end made it difficult for the Egyptian government to countenance the continued violation of Baha’i rights." (www.arabmediasociety.com, January 12, 2012)
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"Around the developing world, political leaders face a dilemma: the very information and communication technologies that boost economic fortunes also undermine power structures. Globally, one in ten internet users is a Muslim living in a populous Muslim community. In these countries, young people ar
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e developing their political identities—including a transnational Muslim identity—online. In countries where political parties are illegal, the internet is the only infrastructure for democratic discourse. In others, digital technologies such as mobile phones and the internet have given key actors an information infrastructure that is independent of the state. And in countries with large Muslim communities, mobile phones and the internet are helping civil society build systems of political communication independent of the state and beyond easy manipulation by cultural or religious elites. This book looks at the role that communications technologies play in advancing democratic transitions in Muslim countries. As such, its central question is whether technology holds the potential to substantially enhance democracy. Certainly, no democratic transition has occurred solely because of the internet. But, as the book argues, no democratic transition can occur today without the internet. According to this book, the major (and perhaps only meaningful) forum for civic debate in most Muslim countries today is online. Activists both within diasporic communities and within authoritarian states—including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan—are the drivers of this debate, which centers around issues such as the interpretation of Islamic texts, gender roles, and security issues. Drawing upon material from interviews with telecommunications policy makers and activists in Azerbaijan, Egypt, Tajikistan, and Tanzania and a comparative study of seventy-four countries with large Muslim populations, this book demonstrates that these forums have been the means to organize activist movements that have lead to successful democratic insurgencies." (Publisher description)
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"Internet censorship and surveillance becomes more sophisticated. The first-generation controls like China's "Great Firewall" are being replaced by techniques that include strategically timed distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, targeted malware, take-down notices and stringent terms-of-usa
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ge policies. Their aim is to shape and limit the national information environment. This publication reports on these new trends and their implications for the global internet commons. In addition, it offers 32 detailed country profiles on internet surveillance from the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East and North Africa, Asia and Europe." (CAMECO Update 2-2010)
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"La cultura-comunicación, más que promover la integración de países, debe buscar la integración de ciudadanos, trabajando los denominadores comunes definidos en las Declaraciones Universales de los Derechos Humanos, Pueblos Indígenas y Medio Ambiente. Es éste el capítulo más deficitario de
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nuestra cooperación y el que exige mayores esfuerzos. Cultura y comunicación deben servir para promover el diálogo de los ciudadanos de ambas orillas potenciando su encuentro e intercambiando conocimientos, inquietudes, ideas, ambiciones y folklores; en suma, tejiendo complicidades que superen recelos históricos más allá de querellas políticas, a veces de exclusiva propiedad de los gobiernos. Para ello es necesario establecer un plan en la UE que atienda y coordine líneas multilaterales y bilaterales. Una política común en cultura-comunicación exige financiación comunitaria y coordinación de las políticas bilaterales para generar sinergias, ampliando cualitativa y cuantitativamente las propuestas de EUROMED. Ésta sería la primera propuesta, abrir una línea de financiación en cooperación específica desde la UE para Marruecos, Argelia y Túnez en cultura-comunicación partiendo de la consideración de que muchas de estas medidas deben tener una consecuencia en el conjunto de los seis países y la UE. El cambio necesario debe buscar beneficiar a la ciudadanía más que a los Estados y al capital." (Página 54-55)
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"Since the 1990s journalism education programs have expanded exponentially around the world, but media freedom has not. Globally comparative, this edited volume assesses journalism education and the challenging environment in which it is delivered in countries with a partly free or not free status a
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ccording to global press freedom. The countries covered include China, Singapore, Cambodia, Palestine, Oman, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Brazil, Russia, Romania, and Croatia. Contributors demonstrate through careful analysis that wealthy nations are able to set the terms of their journalism education while less affluent countries are more open to the influence of foreign NGOs. Although this book evidences the disconnection between what is taught and what can be practiced, it also illustrates the degree to which journalism education can be an agent of change." (Publisher description)
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"GISWatch has three interrelated goals: surveying the state of the field of information and communications technology (ICT) policy at local and global levels; encouraging critical debate; strengthening networking and advocacy for a just, inclusive information society. Each year the report focuses on
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one particular theme. GISWatch 2009 focuses on access to online information and knowledge – advancing human rights and democracy. It includes several thematic reports dealing with key issues in the field, as well as an institutional overview and a reflection on indicators that track access to information and knowledge. There is also an innovative section on visual mapping of global rights and political crises. In addition, 48 country reports analyse the status of access to online information and knowledge in countries as diverse as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico, Switzerland and Kazakhstan, while six regional overviews offer a bird’s eye perspective on regional trends." (Back cover)
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"Der vorliegende Aufsatz berichtet erste deskriptive Befunde aus einer multinationalen Studie zum Vergleich von Journalismuskulturen. Im Rahmen des Projekts wurden insgesamt 1700 Journalisten in 17 Ländern zu ihren professionellen Orientierungen befragt. Im Vordergrund standen Fragen nach dem Verst
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ändnis der eigenen gesellschaftlichen Rolle, den erkenntnistheoretischen Grundlagen und ethischen Imperativen im Journalismus. Im Ländervergleich zeigt sich dabei, dass jene Rollenmodelle, die durch Distanz und Nichtinvolviertheit gekennzeichnet sind, durchaus zu den weltweit akzeptierten journalistischen Standards zählen. Darüber hinaus ist den Journalisten global relativ übereinstimmend die Verlässlichkeit und Faktizität von Informationen sowie das strikte Einhalten von Unparteilichkeit bzw. Neutralität sehr wichtig. Umstritten sind hingegen interventionistische Aspekte der Berufsausübung, wobei sich die größten Differenzen zwischen den entwickelten Staaten des Westens und Transformationsgesellschaften zeigen. Große Länderunterschiede lassen sich auch bezüglich der Rolle von Subjektivität sowie der Vermischung von Fakten und Meinung feststellen." (Abstract)
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"Electronic Government (e-Government) is becoming a global phenomenon that is increasingly attracting the attention of community citizens including politicians, economists, decision and policy makers amongst others. Once only regarded as a means for modernizing the public sector and increasing gover
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nment productivity and efficiency, e-Government is presently recognized as a driver and a key enabler of citizen-centric, cooperative, and seamless modern governance implying not only a profound transformation in the way government interacts with the governed but also the reinvention of its internal processes and how organizations carry their business both internally as well as externally while interacting with the other segments of the community. Based on the literature, it is frequently claimed that the availability of an effective e-Government assessment framework is a necessary condition for advancing e-Government proper implementation. The objective of this article is to develop an e-Government appraisal framework encompassing several components such as people, technology, processes, and strategic planning. The article examines the relations and interactions of these components in an emerging e-Government environment using a case study on an agency affiliated to the government of Egypt as a primary step in the process of testing the framework presented." (Abstract)
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"Through case studies of blogs written in English, Chinese, Arab, French, Russian, and Hebrew, this book explores the way blogging is being conceptualized in different cultural contexts. The authors move beyond the most highly trafficked sites to shed light on larger developments taking place online
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, calling into question assumptions that form the foundation of much of what we read on blogging and, by extension, on global amateur or do-it-yourself media. This book suggests a more nuanced approach to understanding how blogospheres serve communication needs, how they exist in relation to one another, where they exist apart as well as where they overlap, and how they interact with other forms of communication in the larger media landscape." (Publisher description)
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"This volume documents from historical and contemporary perspectives, the situations, trends and issues of cartooning in a number of African countries, and profiles the individuals, forms and phenomena that stand out. All types of cartooning are covered, including comic books, comic strips, gag and
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political cartoons, and humour magazines. The contributors are scholars, writers, and practitioners of comic art who are either residents of or research visitors to Africa. Their approaches run the gamut from historical/contemporary overviews, to problem analysis of the profession and cartoonists, to textual analysis." (Publisher description)
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"In Ihren Händen halten Sie die zweite Auflage unserer Publikation „Auslandsmärkte als Chance“. Als wir vor gut zwei Jahren die erste Ausgabe veröffentlichten, florierte die Weltwirtschaft und mit ihr die IT- und Telekommunikationsmärkte. Wer hätte damals gedacht, dass wir im Jahr 2009 die
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schlimmste Wirtschaftskrise der jüngeren Geschichte erleben würden? Inzwischen zeigen glücklicherweise fast alle Wirtschaftsindikatoren wieder nach oben. Gleichwohl werden viele Länder – Deutschland eingeschlossen – einige Jahre brauchen, bis sie das Vorkrisenniveau erreichen. Die Informations- und Kommunikationswirtschaft ist mit vergleichsweise geringen Einbußen durch die Krise gekommen. Es gab zwar herbe Umsatzeinbrüche in einigen Marktsegmenten, daneben aber auch einzelne Bereiche mit anhaltendem Wachstum. Jetzt geht es darum, die sich im Zuge der wirtschaftlichen Erholung bietenden Chancen mit Mut und Kreativität zu nutzen. Ganz wesentlich ist dabei, nicht nur in rein nationalen Kategorien zu denken. Hochtechnologien „made in Germany“ können von dem erwarteten Aufschwung der Weltwirtschaft überproportional profitieren. Das gilt auch und gerade für Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien. Dem interessierten Leser ein Leitfaden, dem Unternehmer eine wertvolle Orientierungshilfe – das ist der Anspruch dieser Broschüre. Transparenz, Kontakte und verläßliche Information sind die Zutaten für ein erfolgreiches Auslandsgeschäft. Diese Publikation möchte dazu einen Beitrag leisten." (Vorwort)
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"kifaya! – „Es reicht!“ Lautstark protestieren Menschen auf Kairos Straßen gegen Präsident Mubarak und seine Regierung. Sie fordern demokratischen Wandel. Arabische Fernsehsender und neue Zeitungen in Ägypten berichten ausführlich über die Kifaya-Bewegung. Sie ist klein, aber nicht zu üb
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ersehen. Dieser öffentliche Protest im Wahljahr 2005 war neu in der arabischen Welt. Eine wesentliche Rolle für den Erfolg der Bewegung spielten ägyptische und andere arabische Medien. Theoretisch fundiert und auf Basis zahlreicher Interviews geht Jan Michael Schäfer am Beispiel Kifayas der Frage nach, welche politische Bedeutung Massenmedien in der arabischen Welt haben können. Können sie zu einer Liberalisierung beitragen? Der Autor zeigt auf, welche Akteure hinter Kifaya stehen und wie die Verbindungen zwischen der Protestbewegung und den Journalisten der neuen privaten Fernseh- und Printmedien ausgestaltet sind." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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