"This book explores marketing as a genuine component of religious traditions. It investigates the theme across a large historical and geographical area, and in a variety of expressions, ranging from 3rd BCE Maya stucco friezes, early Christian writings, and 9th CE Cambodian inscriptions, right down
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to modern-day propaganda and recruitment strategies adopted by the ISIS jihadi movement, Falun Gong, Muslim Varkaris, spirit mediums in India and Thailand, Thai Buddhist monasteries, and the Vatican. The book is unique in its theme and scope. The chapters were written without a single controlling agenda, but all emphasize the need to view our modern consumer society as only one among many historical conditions that have shaped religious marketing. In fact, it will become clear from reading through the chapters that marketing and propaganda are inherent in religions and their teachings. The broad scope of the book shows religious marketing as embedded in and responding to diverse cultural settings, rather than as an isolated component of utility maximization. It allows us to understand religious marketing as a large window into the mental and cultural landscapes of the studied communities. This will have an eye-opening methodological impact on an area of studies that often limits itself to a narrow view of interactions between two opposing fields: spirituality and the market." (Publisher description)
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"Despite rising scholarly interest in online violence as an “occupational hazard” for journalists, we know little about the dynamics that shape the often-limited support given by media organizations to media workers affected by online violence. In this study, I explore how the working environmen
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t of journalists constrains opportunities for addressing gendered online violence. Through a total of 27 interviews with experts and media workers in the United Kingdom and India, I find that these structural barriers play out through three main dynamics: stratified access to support resources, workplace norms that punish reporting online violence as signs of “weakness,” and precarious conditions that leave journalists with little control over their work. Adverse press freedom conditions also appear to exacerbate the impact of these dynamics. Relating these findings to broader inequality regimes in the contemporary working world, I argue that online violence both reinforces and is reinforced by inequality regimes within media organizations. In the same way that organizations often fail to adequately address other forms of workplace harassment, structural barriers complicate newsroom responses to online violence." (Abstract)
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"While community media audiences and broadcasters have themselves been the subject of research, how a sense of community identity is created through content production is less understood. This article details a critical discourse analysis of programming from ten different community radio stations wi
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thin the same geographic location. The findings of this research reveal the very different approaches that stations take to developing a mediatized community identity. Several stations approach identity expression by engaging in overt performances of ‘localness’, while the growing influence of commercialization was also observed among many stations. What this research highlights is that the performance of community identity on community radio is integral in shaping the listening communities, as well as delineating community radio from its commercial and state-run counterparts." (Abstract)
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"This article provides an overview of Internet shutdowns in Pakistan, which have become an increasingly common phenomenon, with 41 occurring between 2012 and 2017. It argues that to understand how shutdowns became normalized in Pakistan, it is necessary to look at the specific dynamics of how the sh
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utdowns take place. In doing so, the concept of communicative ruptures develops to better understand intentional government shutdowns of communications. The article argues that strategic prevention of mobilization is key for short-term shutdowns, whereas long-term shutdowns can be better explained by looking at disciplinary mechanisms and denying the existence of “others.” The article then discusses Internet shutdowns in the wider context of authoritarian practices before concluding with the urgent need for further research on this topic, both in Pakistan and beyond." (Abstract)
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"The book offers a critical map to navigate the field of media governance. A thread of cosmopolitan critique connects the fourteen chapters to enhance media governance literature beyond the West and regional foci. The first part addresses the epistemological and ontological flaws in the use and adap
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tation of media governance. The second part opens pathways for critique and provides a thorough understanding of the ambivalences that scholars encounter when addressing media governance as a field of study. The third part highlights shortcomings like geographical narrowness and tensions in the use of media governance concepts. The scholarly contributions show that media governance as a field of study is far from being established: its conceptualizations are in flux and need scholarly self-reflection, and ongoing discussions need to leave behind universalist conceptualizations and methods of analysis. The chapters reflect on hegemony, power, sovereignty, and identity as conceptual center points in media governance research. The book uniquely breaks with self-referential Western academia and is part of ongoing collaborative scholarly efforts towards epistemic transformation through dialogue." (Publisher description)
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"This book is a fascinating look at how the United States waged the Cold War through the international broadcasting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Mark G. Pomar served in senior positions at VOA and RFE/RL from 1982 to 1993, during which time the Reagan and B
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ush administrations made VOA and RFE/RL an important part of their foreign policy. VOA is America's "national voice," broadcasting in more than forty languages, and is charged with explaining U.S. government policies and telling America's story with the aim of gaining the respect and goodwill of its target audience. During the Cold War, the VOA Russian Service broadcast twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. RFE/RL is a private corporation, funded until 1971 by the CIA and afterward through open congressional appropriations. It broadcast in more than twenty languages of Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia and functioned as a "home service" located abroad. Its Russian Service broadcast news, feature programming, and op-eds that would have been part of daily political discourse if Russia had free media. Pomar takes readers inside the two radio stations to show how the broadcasts were conceived and developed and the impact they had on international broadcasting, U.S.-Soviet relations, Russian political and cultural history, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Pomar provides nuanced analysis of the broadcasts and sheds light on the multifaceted role the radios played during the Cold War, ranging from instruments of U.S. Cold War policy to repositories of independent Russian culture, literature, philosophy, religion, and the arts. The volume breaks new ground as Pomar integrates his analysis of Cold War radio programming with the long-term aims of U.S. foreign policy, illuminating the role of radio in the peaceful end of the Cold War." (Publisher description)
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"Against the backdrop of a highly precarious situation for journalists, a severe economic crisis is unfolding within Afghan media houses, according to a survey on the current state of the media sector in Afghanistan conducted by DW Akademie and partner organizations. Data were collected in February
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2022. 175 Afghan media professionals responded anonymously to an online survey. The results cast new light on the far-reaching changes within the sector. Half a year after the Taliban took power, most Afghan media houses are facing collapse." (Introduction)
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"Este relatório fornece transcrições resumidas de consultas nacionais sobre a viabilidade da mídia com as partes interessadas no setor dos meios de comunicação. As consultas nacionais são baseadas nas trocas de conhecimento e pesquisas proporcionadas pela UNESCO e pela The Economist Intellige
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nce Unit (EIU) e visam explorar a viabilidade de possíveis soluções para preservar a viabilidade da mídia sem comprometer a independência editorial e a integridade do jornalismo. As consultas nacionais foram organizadas e resumidas pela Free Press Unlimited (FPU)." (Introdução)
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"I spoke to 14 journalists with disabilities in India who painted a vivid picture of the barriers they face to joining the industry, finding employment, and thriving in the workplace. And what affects these journalists translates into media products that reflect a lack of accessibility for our audie
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nces, too. But all hope is not lost: there are clear and replicable steps and strategies that can be adopted to cut the curb in Indian newsrooms. When I set out on this project, I was disturbed by a lack of inclusion of the disability community in COVID-19 coverage. I wondered whether disabled reporters on staff in Indian newsrooms could advocate for better coverage. But when I went looking for them, I couldn’t find more than a handful who were full-time employees. The absence of a thriving community for disabled journalists surprised me. There are myriad support groups for journalists, and myriad disability groups – but nothing connecting the two." (Conclusion)
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"Geo-strategically, Pakistan is placed in the region that has been frayed by wars conflict since the USSR’s (1979) invasion of Afghanistan. Since, Pakistan is sharing one of the longest borders with Afghanistan, hence could not remain impervious. The region, specially, Pakistan had not yet fully r
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ecovered from horrors of the stated war when unfortunately, the episode of the September 11, 2001, provoked another war in the area, framed as “war against terrorism”. The said war prompted a wave of religious extremism and radicalism in the region. Tactically, the killing of Osama Bin Laden in 2011brought the war on terror to its ultimate end but its after effects is still seriously hurting Pakistan. This state of affairs paved way for the emergence of war reporting in Pakistan. By now, dozens of journalists have been killed during performing their professional duties. This paper is an effort to explore the issues of religious extremism and radicalism in Pakistan and associated threats for the journalists engaged in reporting the same. The study is quantitative in nature and makes use of a questionnaire for data collection. The study found that lack of safety protocol such as deficient safety gadgets; training deficiency; and rush to break news endanger war reporter’s lives." (Abstract)
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"New data sources related to socio-economic development should improve journalistic reporting. However, in the absence of a centralized open data repository in Tajikistan, journalists may face delays in getting quick access to important datasets. To address this challenge, Zerkalo conducted a mappin
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g study, identifying the open data sources in Tajikistan and putting together a comprehensive database accessible on Airtable and Google Spreadsheets. By mapping most of the open data, the current study facilitates the access to development-related information for journalists working on socio-economic issues. Relying on a two-stage desk research approach, Zerkalo constructed a database containing most of the open data sources in Tajikistan. The data collection phase for the mapping study was implemented from February 14 to March 10, 2022. Overall, the research team examined 1032 hyperlinks to 68 websites, holding relevant datasets. As a result, Zerkalo identified 294 datasets on socio-economic themes and included them in the database." (Executive summary, page 4)
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"Community radio plays an important role in the communication of a certain community and is a form of public-service broadcasting. It upholds the principles of participatory communication. The present study was conduct to know about the role of Radio Dhadkan, a community radio, in sensitizing and em
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powering the Sahariya tribe of Shivpuri district in Madhya Pradesh of India. Here mainly secondary sources of data have been used. There are some development gaps in meeting the needs of Sahariyas and other marginalized communities living in villages and urban slums of Shivpuri district. To fill these gaps, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in association with Sambhav Social Service Organization, has set up a community radio station – Radio Dhadkan. The present study reveals that Radio Dhadkan has been successful in promoting collective action through radio programs and has been instrumental in creating awareness and empowering the target communities. It has shown an extraordinary dynamism due to its diverse endeavors. It has really helped in connecting, entertaining and educating the Sahariyas in a way that was not possible through any other medium. It has also provided opportunity for employment generation and community capacity building. Thus, the Radio Dhadkan approach has potential applicability in achieving developmental goals." (Abstract)
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"[...] Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban has imposed a new media control regime, which has three key features: restriction, gender-discrimination, and repression with impunity. First, the Taliban has passed several media policies, imposing extreme constraints on press freedom and
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media rights. Any sort of critical reporting on topics related to the government or the public is banned. The Taliban regulate the content of publications and broadcasts, imposing broad, vaguely worded prohibitions. For example, under the new regulations, media content that contradicts “Islamic values,” “Afghan values,” and “public interest” is prohibited. No operational definitions have been provided for these terms, nor an objective standard for assessing and determining breach. This has caused uncertainty and confusion about what the media can and cannot publish and broadcast, often resulting in precautionary media self-censorship. The new rules also give the Taliban sweeping powers to directly control the media and news output, barring broadcast and publication of matters and content that has not been officially sanctioned by Taliban official/s. These restrictions and interferences limit the right and ability of the Afghan media to seek, receive and impart information freely and independently.
Second, the Taliban has passed policies specifically targeting Afghan women in the media. These restrictions give the Taliban control over women’s attire and the nature and scope of their involvement in the media, restraining their freedom of expression and movement, as well as their ability to perform their tasks effectively. The general travel restrictions on women and girls make it almost impossible for women to work, in particular, limiting the ability of female journalists from gathering information or contributing to field reporting. The Taliban’s antiwomen media policies and practices are aimed towards excluding Afghan women from the media and public life.
Third, the Taliban treats the Afghan media and media-related affairs as a security threat. The Taliban security and intelligence agencies are increasingly involved in controlling media affairs. Taliban operatives use repressive measures against members of the Afghan media in claiming to enforce the new regulations. Afghan journalists and other members of the media have been subjected to heavy surveillance, intimidation, and arbitrary arrest and detention. Cases of beatings, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings have also taken place." (Executive summary, pages 1-2)
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"There are two highlights to this year’s findings, firstly, the same three platforms that scored the first point for Fair Pay last year scored a point this year too. No other platform publicly committed, or provided sufficient evidence, to ensure that workers earn at least the hourly local minimum
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wage after work-related costs. Even with workers and worker groups repeatedly emphasising the importance of a stable income for platform workers, platforms have been reluctant to publicly commit to, and operationalise, a minimum wage policy. Secondly, while workers have engaged in various forms of collective action to voice their concerns in the platform economy, platforms have been uncompromisingly unwilling to recognise or negotiate with any collective body representing workers." (Key findings, page 4)
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