commbox Central & South Asia

WorldCat (10)

Women and Media: International Perspectives

Karen Ross, Carolyn M. Byerly (eds.)

Malden; Oxford: Blackwell (2004), x, 219 pp.

Media Violence: Media, Violence and Challenges Facing Modern Societies

Sucharita Eashwar (ed.)

Kuala Lumpur: Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD);UNESCO (2003), 230 pp.

The Globalisation of Corporate Media Hegemony

Lee Artz, Yahya R. Kamalipour (eds.)

Albany, NY: State University of New York Press (2003), 309 pp.

Communication and Natural Resource Management: Experience - Theory
Inspiring Practice

Key Guidance

Rome: FAO (2003), ix, 98 pp.

"This book has been written as a tool for people involved or interested in communication and natural resource management who seek a better understanding of how different theories and strategic change principles relate to actual practise. It is not, however, a book of theory nor is it an argument for ... more

Low Cost Access and Connectivity: Local Solutions

Catherine J. Steele (ed.)

UN ICT Task Force (2003), 103 pp.

Media Assistance Post the Taliban Regime and the Implications for Transforming the Afghan Social System

Noah W. Miller

London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Master Thesis (2003), iii, 45 pp.

"In the case of media assistance in Afghanistan, financial and organizational resources originate almost exclusively from Western donors and INGOs, which largely bypass the Afghan Government. Organizations within the funding chain thus hold a functional form of power arising from the deployment of a ... llocative resources and it enables them to attempt an instigation of social change in Afghanistan. According to the notion of power associated with Talcott Parson, a functional form of power requires coordination and collaboration in order to achieve collective goals within a political process. However, conflicts may arise in Afghanistan if collective goals diverge among the various foreign and domestic participants involved in altering the media space. This could occur if the various participants do not envision the outcome of media assistance objectives as a zero-sum game. Additionally, Giddens asserts that Parson underestimates the contestation of the norms necessary to pursue collective goals in the first place. Even though the Afghan Government and international donors purportedly agree on the installation of a democracy with a free and independent media, they still need to overcome resistance from existing power holders or entrenched structural properties impeding such a development. In the context of Afghanistan, it is very conceivable that media assistance could prompt intentional or even unintentional consequences caused by social actors discontent with the normative values and goals promulgated by media assistance. Such unintentional conditions may render the desired outcomes of media assistance providers impossible and undermine the desired social transformation. It is erroneous, though, to apply a positivist view that judges the success or failure of media assistance according to the outcome of the flux between structure and interaction alluded to in chapter four. In fact, such a view would be contrary to the propositions of structuration theory that imply a lack of definable boundaries in which structure and interaction intermingles. Equally wrong is to evaluate the media assistance effort by funding amounts contributed by donors, even though financial resources are a pre-requisite for rebuilding the media infrastructure. Instead, media assistance can be conceived as a form of empowerment that imbues a target society with a collective consciousness concerning its ability to alter structural properties, which represent forms of power and domination according to Giddens. The success of media assistance therefore is to produce a collective awareness that individuals can influence the structural properties of a social system, regardless of the direction of change emanating from the mediation of structure and action. The process of change requires not only the acquisition of functional power through allocative resources, but also the acquisition of transformative power by means of controlling authoritative resources, which are involved in the coordination of a social system. Afghans need to control the actors or institutions that selectively filter information in order to reflexively “regulate the overall conditions of system reproduction either to keep things as they are or to change them” (Giddens, 1984, page 27). Yet, it remains unresolved to what extent media assistance has provided Afghans with transformative power and whether or not it allows them to influence the underlying forces that mediate the structural properties in society." (Conclusions, page 39-40) more

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Medienwelten - Information und Macht

Der Überblick, issue 4 (2003), 149 pp.

WorldCat (7)

Irak: Les médias en guerre

Olfa Lamloum (ed.)

Alain Gresh (preface)

Paris: Actes Sud;Panos Paris (2003), 238 pp.

"La 'guerre préventive' contre l'Irak, dans le sillage des attentats du 11 septembre 2001, est sans conteste l'un des faits les plus médiatisés de l'histoire de l'humanité. Jamais les préparatifs d'une guerre n'ont été aussi abondamment décrits et jamais son déroulement n'a été ainsi tran ... more

Setting Up Radio Station: Media Manager's Guide to Pakistani Broadcast Law

Muhammad Aftab Alam, Matiullah Jan, Tipu Riaz

Islamabad: Internews Pakistan (2003), 64 pp.

Spreading the Word on the Internet: 16 Answers to 4 Questions. Reflections on Freedom of the Media and the Internet. Amsterdam Conference, June 2003

Christiane Hardy, Christian Möller (eds.)

Vienna: OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (2003), 224 pp.

Google Scholar (10)

WorldCat (11)

Afghanistan: Der Krieg und die Medien

Jörg Becker

Bern: Brot für alle (2003), 76 pp.

Regional Profile of the Information Society in Western Asia: Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

New York: United Nations (2003), xi, 152 pp.

Human Rights in Sri Lanka: Church Endeavours for Peace and Human Dignity

Annette Meuthrath

Aachen: Pontifical Mission Society, Human Rights Office (Missio) (2003), 40 pp.

"This study of Human Rights in Sri Lanka. Church Endeavours for Peace and Human Dignity focuses on two human rights issues, civil war and sex tourism, both of which are characteristic features of life in Sri Lanka and matters of pressing concern to the country. They are also the topics that German r ... more

Media Sustainability Index 2002: Development of Sustainable Independent Media in Europe and Eurasia

Mark Whitehouse, Theo Dolan (eds.)

Washington, DC: IREX (2003), xxi, 232 pp.

Medien in Indien: Organisation, Rezeption und gesellschaftliche Implikationen

Elena Koch

[author] (2003), 28 pp.

Pathways to Critical Media Education and Beyond: Deliberations on Media Reforms and the Manila Initiative

M. Nadarajah (ed.)

Kuala Lumpur; Bangkok: Cahayasuara Communications Centre;Asian Communication Network (ACN);Signis Asia;World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) (2003), xii, 286 pp.

Attacks on the Press in 2002: A Worldwide Survey

Susan Ellingwood (ed.)

New York: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) (2003), xii, 428 pp.

Policy Review of the Georgian Book Sector

Grzegorz Boguta

Council of Europe, Cultural Policy and Action Department, Directorate General IV (2003), 29 pp.