"This edited collection provides a unique survey of the ways in which news media organizations across Latin America and the Caribbean cover global, regional and local environmental issues and challenges. There is growing recognition within academia, governments, industries, NGOs and civil society ab
...
out the importance of strategic communication and the news media in informing current societal and policy discussions about environmental issues. With this in mind, this volume explores the content of reporting as well as the structural and individual contests faced by media organizations and journalists, with a focus on the very unique political, social, cultural and environmental conditions that affect the countries individually. The book provides a survey of the most relevant and current environmental issues that have attracted public attention across the region and within countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in the first part of the 21st century." (Publisher description)
more
"The use of social media for news has started to fall in a number of key markets after years of continuous growth. Usage is down six percentage points in the United States, and is also down in the UK and France. Almost all of this is due to a specific decline in the discovery, posting, and sharing o
...
f news in Facebook. At the same time, we continue to see a rise in the use of messaging apps for news as consumers look for more private (and less confrontational) spaces to communicate. WhatsApp is now used for news by around half of our sample of online users in Malaysia (54%) and Brazil (48%) and by around third in Spain (36%) and Turkey (30%). Across all countries, the average level of trust in the news in general remains relatively stable at 44%, with just over half (51%) agreeing that they trust the news media they themselves use most of the time. By contrast, 34% of respondents say they trust news they find via search and fewer than a quarter (23%) say they trust the news they find in social media. Over half (54%) agree or strongly agree that they are concerned about what is real and fake on the internet. This is highest in countries like Brazil (85%), Spain (69%), and the United States (64%) where polarised political situations combine with high social media use. It is lowest in Germany (37%) and the Netherlands (30%) where recent elections were largely untroubled by concerns over fake content." (Key findings, page 9)
more
"Trust is a societal value that is difficult to gain and easy to lose. This article deals with the levels of trust that journalists working in eight post-authoritarian and post-totalitarian countries (Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Latvia, South Africa and Tanzania) have i
...
n various social institutions using data from the present Worlds of Journalism Study. In each country, results showed the level of trust in journalists’ own institution—the media—is higher than the level of trust in both political and regulative institutions. The expression of low trust, particularly in regulative institutions, in the sampled countries represents significantly different results from previous studies about journalists’ trust in countries with longer democratic traditions." (Abstract)
more
"This e-book was first published in Spanish on April 23, 2017 on the occassion of the 10th Ibero-American Colloquium for Digital Journalism organized by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas at Austin. The book compiles reports from the series “Innovative Jour
...
nalism in Latin America,” published on the Knight Center’s blog between December 2016 and April 2017. It also offers practical advice for digital journalistic innovation on different topics." (Cover)
more
"The main finding of this study is that digital media entrepreneurs are deeply transforming the way that journalism is conducted and consumed in Latin America. They are not just producing news — they are generators of change, promoting better laws, defending human rights, exposing corruption, and
...
fighting abuses of power. They are driven to produce independent news in countries that are highly politically polarized — and some of them are paying a high price for it [...] Nearly half the journalists interviewed for this study reported threats and physical attacks in response to their coverage. More than 20% of the founders and directors we interviewed admitted that they avoided covering certain topics, people, and institutions because of threats and intimidation. Others face punitive lawsuits, cyber-attacks, never-ending audits, and the loss of advertising revenues in retaliation for their coverage. Digital natives in Latin America have an even more important role to play than their counterparts in the over-saturated media markets of the developed world. News ownership is highly concentrated in these countries, and government advertising is frequently used to reward compliant media outlets. Even in the face of these legal, financial, and physical threats, entrepreneurial journalists are building sustainable businesses around quality journalism. The advent of social media and easy-to-use web design tools has made it possible to launch a digital media venture almost entirely on sweat equity. More than 70% of the ventures in this study started with less than $10,000, and more than 10% of those now bring in at least a half million dollars a year in revenues. After analyzing data on traffic, finances, revenue sources, staffing, and years in business, we identified four distinct tiers of business development. Diversified revenue was key to success, especially in the mid tiers, and we found more than 15 distinct revenue sources, including events, training, membership, crowdfunding, and native advertising. More than 65% reported they were earning revenue in at least three ways. In the top tier, where audiences reach more than 20 million visits per month, advertising is the top revenue source, but not the only one. In the mid ranges, there is no dominant business model and diversified revenue sources that combine advertising with audience-driven sources, such as events and crowdfunding, are crucial for sustainability. When we analyzed the lower tiers, we found lots of opportunities for improvement. Despite their dedication to quality journalism, more than 30% brought in less than $10,000 in total revenues in 2016. Broadly speaking, we found two paths to growing these businesses: building audience to drive traffic and advertising, or leveraging the loyalty of the audience to inspire micro-donations and the 15 other ways they are making money." (Executive summary, pages 6-8)
more
"Remembering the Holocaust is a central part of historical awareness and political culture in reunified Germany, Israel, and the United States. But can the same be said for other parts of the world? How have societies that were not affected by occupation and extermination measures under the Nazi reg
...
ime dealt with the legacy of the Holocaust? How have minorities with their own experiences of persecution reacted to specific acts of remembrance? How does demographic change affect memory? In what ways have immigrants come to terms with the central significance of the Holocaust? From a global perspective and in different national and regional contexts, international experts analyse the worldwide transformation of Holocaust remembrance. The fourteen case studies focus on the genesis and functions of remembrance in Europe, North and South America, Israel, North Africa, South Africa and Asia. The volume identifies and discusses contradictions and challenges in a process often referred to as the ‘globalisation’ or ‘universalisation’ of Holocaust remembrance." (Publisher description)
more
"This collection of essays explores the complicated relationship between the messengers bringing news of catastrophic upheaval and the recipients of that message. It concentrates on the journalists, photographers and film-makers, reflecting not only the motivations behind their work, but also the ps
...
ychological consequences of witnessing extreme suffering. The audience interpret the news according to their circumstance, be it with anger sympathy or with compassion-fatigued indifference. The book explores that reaction, which is always more nuanced than anticipated. Finally, the modern communication circle is completed by exploring the potential of the media to diminish conflict. This is demonstrated by the media bringing together communities that are either geographically or historically divided." (Publisher description)
more
"In Latin America, several countries’ laws permit the president to commandeer all radio and television broadcasts. Initially contemplated for use in rare circumstances such as national emergencies, a few leaders in the region, beginning with Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, have taken advantage of thes
...
e laws to create an unprecedented media bully pulpit that has been an essential part of their populist politics. This report explores how these obligatory presidential broadcasts have become a routine occurrence in Venezuela, Argentina, and Ecuador with troubling implications for public debate. The report also surveys the legal and regulatory frameworks across the region for lessons on how presidential communication authority can be restricted to prevent this kind of abuse in the future." (Key findings)
more
"At the forefront in its field, this Handbook examines the theoretical, conceptual, pedagogical and methodological development of media literacy education and research around the world. Building on traditional media literacy frameworks in critical analysis, evaluation, and assessment, it incorporate
...
s new literacies emerging around connective technologies, mobile platforms, and social networks. A global perspective rather than a Western-centric point of view is explicitly highlighted, with contributors from all continents, to show the empirical research being done at the intersection of media, education, and engagement in daily life. Structured around five themes—Educational Interventions; Safeguarding/Data and Online Privacy; Engagement in Civic Life; Media, Creativity and Production; Digital Media Literacy—the volume as a whole emphasizes the competencies needed to engage in meaningful participation in digital culture." (Publisher description)
more
"Este estudio es el primer estudio exhaustivo sobre el impacto que tienen emprendedores de medios digitales, los riesgos a los que se enfrentan, y si ha surgido un modelo de negocio viable para el periodismo digital independiente y de calidad. Para llevar a cabo esta investigación, SembraMedia, con
...
el apoyo de Omidyar Network, conformó un equipo para estudiar 100 medios digitales de Argentina, Brasil, Colombia y México, 25 de cada país. Muchos de los investigadores eran emprendedores periodísticos, por lo que trajeron sus propias conexiones y una comprensión profunda de los medios en sus países. En entrevistas de dos horas a fundadores o directores, hicieron más de 130 preguntas sobre gestión, innovación, desafíos, oportunidades, tamaño y participación de la audiencia, e ingresos y gastos. Esta investigación tiene como objetivo ayudar a los fundadores de empresas de medios digitales a comprender mejor las tendencias, las amenazas y las mejores prácticas que los afectan. A su vez, diseñamos este informe para ayudar a los inversores, fundaciones y organizaciones periodísticas a apreciar el valor, la vulnerabilidad y el impacto de este ecosistema de medios de comunicación de rápido crecimiento. Aunque no compartiremos la información privada de cada medio, en este reporte se podrán ver los principales resultados y hallazgos." (Sumario)
more
"The report is based on a survey of more than 70,000 people in 36 markets, along with additional qualitative research, which together make it the most comprehensive ongoing comparative study of news consumption in the world. A key focus remains in Europe where we have added Slovakia, Croatia, and Ro
...
mania for the first time – but we have also added four markets in Asia (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore) along with three additional Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile, and Mexico) [...] In particular we have focused on two areas: (1) the extent to which people are prepared to pay for news or the different ways journalism might be funded in the future, and (2) understanding more about some of the drivers of low, and in some cases declining, trust in the media. For the first time we’ve attempted to measure and visualise relative levels of media polarisation across countries and identify a link between media polarisation and trust. Another focus has been on the media’s relationship with platforms – in particular how news is discovered and consumed within distributed environments such as social media, search, and online aggregators." (Foreword)
more
"Governments around the world have dramatically increased their efforts to manipulate information on social media over the past year. The Chinese and Russian regimes pioneered the use of surreptitious methods to distort online discussions and suppress dissent more than a decade ago, but the practice
...
has since gone global. Such state-led interventions present a major threat to the notion of the internet as a liberating technology. Online content manipulation contributed to a seventh consecutive year of overall decline in internet freedom, along with a rise in disruptions to mobile internet service and increases in physical and technical attacks on human rights defenders and independent media. Nearly half of the 65 countries assessed in Freedom on the Net 2017 experienced declines during the coverage period, while just 13 made gains, most of them minor. Less than one-quarter of users reside in countries where the internet is designated Free, meaning there are no major obstacles to access, onerous restrictions on content, or serious violations of user rights in the form of unchecked surveillance or unjust repercussions for legitimate speech." (Page 1)
more
"Latin American comics and graphic novels have a unique history of addressing controversial political, cultural, and social issues. This volume presents new perspectives on how comics on and from Latin America both view and express memory formation on major historical events and processes. The contr
...
ibutors, from a variety of disciplines including literary theory, cultural studies, and history, explore topics including national identity construction, narratives of resistance to colonialism and imperialism, the construction of revolutionary traditions, and the legacies of authoritarianism and political violence. The chapters offer a background history of comics and graphic novels in the region, and survey a range of countries and artists such as Joaquín Salvador Lavado (a.k.a Quino), Hector G. Oesterheld, and Juan Acevedo. They also highlight the unique ability of this art and literary form to succinctly render memory. In sum, this volume offers in-depth analysis of an understudied, yet key literary genre in Latin American memory studies and documents the essential role of comics during the transition from dictatorship to democracy." (Publisher description)
more