"This report [is] the first compilation of the global data on how women in developing countries access and use the Internet. I am convinced this report provides key insights for policy makers, the development community and industry. Based on interviews and surveys of 2,200 women in developing countr
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ies, as well as interviews with experts and a review of existing literature, this report found that, on average, 23 percent fewer women than men are online in developing countries. This represents 200 million fewer women than men who are online today. In some regions, the size of the gap exceeds 40 percent. In addition, in many regions, the Internet gender gap reflects and amplifies existing inequalities between the sexes. We know that many women who use the Internet derive profound benefits through it, including economic and educational opportunities, a community of support, and career prospects. As the report indicates, expanding Internet access for women would also provide a significant boost to national income." (Foreword)
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Examining Uganda’s increasingly fractured media landscape, this report finds that the media is vulnerable to government intimidation and self-censorship.
Offers a policy-focused overview of the state of online political participatory media in Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Uganda.
"Betrachtet man die Beliebtheit und den Hörerzuspruch für Loke Pol, kann man von einem Erfolg des Programmes sprechen. Auch wenn einige Aspekte des Senders Mega FM wie die quasi-Monopolposition die Rezeption des Programmes begünstigen, zählt Loke Pol sowohl in den Augen der Produzenten, angesich
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ts der prominenten Platzierung im Programmplan, und auf der Seite der Hörer durch die hohen Einschaltquoten und hohe Sendungskenntnis zu den populären Formaten. Obwohl insgesamt Nachrichtensendungen häufiger eingeschaltet werden, ist Loke Pol für Informationen zu den beiden Themenkomplexen der Sendung, Reintegration und Rücksiedlung, als Informationsquelle relevanter. Informationen vermittelt über Loke Pol sind für die Hörer zugänglicher und können leichter in Handlungen übersetzt werden, wie sich besonders in den Fokusgruppendiskussionen gezeigt hat.
Daraus lassen sich drei Schlüsse ziehen. Erstens kann Loke Pol erfolgreich sein, dieser Erfolg aber nicht auf das Format EE übertragbar sein. Zweitens kann der spezielle Kontext, in dem das Programm eingesetzt wird, unterstützend wirken, aber ein ähnliches Programm wäre in einem anderen Kontext nicht erfolgreich. Drittens können Evaluationsmethoden nicht sensibel genug gewesen sein, um sämtliche Effekte zu erfassen. Schlussfolgerung Nummer eins kann sicherlich bestätigt werden. Zwar sind die Ergebnisse für Loke Pol ein Hinweis darauf, dass das EE-Format wirken kann. Jedoch ist es kein Hinweis darauf, dass es wirken muss. Effekte können nicht nur dem Format EE direkt zugeordnet werden, sondern ergeben sich erst aus dem Zusammenwirken von Sendungsformat und Kontext. Dies wird deutlich, wenn man die „Extremen“ bei den Hörergruppen, nämlich Frauen, über 45-Jährige und Jugendliche betrachtet. Die zweite Schlussfolgerung trifft im Falle von Loke Pol in dem Sinne zu, dass der Kontext unterstützend auf die Rezeption und Popularität wirkt. Der Kontext, in den die Sendung eingebettet ist, unterstützt in zweierlei Form die Rezeption. Zum einen begünstigt die Ausgestaltung der nordugandischen Medienlandschaft die Loke Pol Einschaltquoten. So spielt die geringe Menge an Lokalnachrichten in den Nachrichtensendungen der Sender Gulus eine Rolle. Die einfachere Zugänglichkeit der Informationen aus Loke Pol hängt sicherlich auch nicht nur mit Formatbedingten Aspekten der Darstellung, sondern auch mit einer größeren inhaltlichen Nähe für das Alltagsleben der Hörer zusammen. Zudem wirken der offizielle Diskurs und das politische Klima fördernd auf die Unterstützung der Botschaft. Regierung und ein Großteil der NROs in Norduganda unterstützen die Rücksiedlungsprozesse." (Fazit, Seiten 75-76)
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"The report presents key findings of the research in six countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Findings were that most people believe public libraries have the potential to contribute to community development in important areas such as health, employment and agriculture.
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However, libraries are small and under-resourced, and most people associate them with traditional book lending and reference services, rather than innovation and technology." (https://www.eifl.net)
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"The handbook includes case studies gathered through interviews with newspapers in Uganda, Kenya and South Africa, including the Observer and Daily Monitor in Uganda, the Standard and the Daily Nation in Kenya, and Grocott’s Mail, the Mail and Guardian, the Sunday Times and the Sowetan in South Af
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rica, as well as News24.com – South Africa’s biggest online news provider [...] In addition to the accounts of successful mobile services, the handbook includes analysis and expert advice covering the key questions media houses should ask themselves when going into mobile. The handbook also provides detailed how-to guides for potential mobile services African media houses could offer." (www.wan-ifra.org, August 9, 2011)
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"Based on CommGAP’s interactions with the global anticorruption community as well as earlier research, we were able to collate 18 representative instances (case studies) from around the world, with real-life examples of citizens coming together to speak up against corruption and social norms vis-
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-vis corruption or to change public services affected by corrupt practices. This report is a “one-step-up” analysis of the collated case studies, which is intended to shed light on practical approaches, tools, and techniques that have been successful in bringing citizens together to stand against the daunting phenomenon of corruption." (Page 1)
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"Conducted in 2009 by a group of five Masters in New Media (humanities) students from the University of Amsterdam under the supervision of Geert Lovink the research examines both the role and implementation of ICTs in Uganda, covering a wide range of subcultures and projects, including internet cafe
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usage, print media, NGOs and communities, software subcultures and civic new media. The book argues that now is the time to look beyond the technology layer and instead focus on the social implications and local consequences of digital media’s widespread use. By recognizing the impact that ICTs have on society and identifying what functions currently and what needs to be improved, we can more effectively understand and develop these technologies in the future." (Back cover)
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"There is abundant evidence of underrepresentation of women as subjects of coverage, but until now there were no reliable, comprehensive data on which to make a clear determination about where women currently fit into the news-making operation or in the decision-making or ownership structure of thei
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r companiesThe IWMF Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media seeks to fill this gap by presenting for the first time sound data on gender positions in news organizations around the world ..The findings presented in this report, conducted over a two-year period, offer the most complete picture to date of women’s status globally in news media ownership, publishing, governance, reporting, editing, photojournalism, broadcast production and other media jobs. More than 150 researchers interviewed executives at more than 500 companies in 59 nations using a 12-page questionnaire." (Introduction)
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"The African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI) was a 42-month action research project implemented by Farm Radio International (FRI) in partnership with World University Service of Canada (WUSC), and with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. An estimated 40 million farmers in five
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different countries were served by the AFRRI partnership with 25 radio stations. Farmers engaged in the design and development of farm radio programming were almost 50 per cent more likely to take up agricultural practices deemed to improve their food security than passive listeners. Those in what AFRRI deemed "active listening communities" (ALCs) were 10 times more likely to adopt the practice than those farmers who had no access to the farm radio programs. Farmers demonstrated increased knowledge of agriculture innovations as a result of listening to AFRRI radio programs, with up to 96% of some radio listeners scoring at least 60% on a follow-up knowledge quiz about the promoted farm practices [.] Farmers participate in selecting the focus – or topic – of the radio campaign, choose the time of broadcast, and are intimately engaged in the ongoing development of the farm radio programming over a set number of weeks; including as central agents of the knowledge-sharing process. Lively and entertaining formats are designed to attract listeners. [.] This report presents and discusses the key findings from an in-depth evaluation of 15 round-two Participatory Radio Campaigns (PRCs) – three PRCs in each of the five countries involved in AFRRI. AFRRI examined a mix of radio stations – community, associative, commercial, and state. Tools used for this evaluation included 4,500 household surveys (300 per radio station) in 90 communities, farm visits and field measurements, key informant interviews, and collection of secondary data (from other sources, such as national agricultural extension services)." (Executive summary, page 5)
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"Farmers require varying marketing information, depending on their location, local market conditions, crops, production activities, and cultural practices. Radio has the capacity to reach a large audience, and can provide an integrated approach to market information, incorporating all these elements
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in its programming. Radio can help farmers link to new markets and buyers, strengthen their ability to negotiate prices and help them adapt crops to meet demand. Private sponsorship that emerged in response to the popularity of MIS radio programs suggests a sustainable funding model is possible. A survey of approximately 1000 household representatives living in listening communities showed that an average of 64.8% of respondents were aware of the MIS radio programs, and 84% of those who listened found the MIS radio programs to be 'very useful." (Executive summary, page 5)
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"Low cost, modern information and communication technologies (ICTs), including mobile phones, multifunction MP3 recorders, and interactive voice response (IVR) can dramatically increase the capacity of rural radio to help farmers improve food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. Weekly SMS alerts sent to
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the phones of listeners 30 minutes prior to a broadcast can boost radio campaign listenership by up to 20%. Two-thirds of partner broadcasters identified the internet as the most important ICT tool in the production of farm radio programs. Farmers who participated in the design and implementation of radio programming with the help of ICTs were four times more likely than those in passive listening communities to adopt agricultural improvements promoted on the radio. 61% of extension agents surveyed said the reach and impact of their extension work was substantially improved because they could be heard on radio programs through call-out programs." (Executive summary, page 5)
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"Radio has been called ‘Africa’s medium’. Its wide accessibility is a result of a number of factors, including the liberalisation policies of the ‘third wave’ of democracy and its ability to transcend the barriers of cost, geographical boundaries, the colonial linguistic heritage and low l
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iteracy levels. This sets it apart from other media platforms in facilitating political debate, shaping identities and assisting listeners as they negotiate the challenges of everyday life on the continent. Radio in Africa breaks new ground by bringing together essays on the multiple roles of radio in the lives of listeners in Anglophone, Lusophone and Francophone Africa. Some essays turn to the history of radio and its part in the culture and politics of countries such as Angola and South Africa. Others – such as the essay on Mali, gender and religion – show how radio throws up new tensions yet endorses social innovation and the making of new publics. A number of essays look to radio’s current role in creating listening communities that radically shift the nature of the public sphere. Essays on the genre of the talk show in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa point to radio’s role in creating a robust public sphere. Radio’s central role in the emergence of informed publics in fragile national spaces is covered in essays on the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia. The book also highlights radio’s links to the new media, its role in resistance to oppressive regimes such as Zimbabwe, and points in several cases – for example in the essay on Uganda – to the importance of African languages in building modern communities that embrace both local and global knowledge." (Publisher description)
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"This article analyses the uses of the ‘community’ and ‘peace media’ labels in northern Uganda. It tries to assess their effect on power configurations and on the practices and the representations of media workers. In order to do so, it analyses how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have
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penetrated the local media and have modified the rules of the game, in terms of access to resources and protection from repression, but also in terms of the definition of professionalism. It shows how a local radio station, Mega FM, has managed to negotiate its dependence on the state and on international NGOs, including how it has succeeded in dominating the local media market, by embracing these media models. Finally, all these dynamics are illustrated and nourished by a shift in the professional values: the media workers now value the ‘responsibility’ of the media understood as a support to the peace process." (Abstract)
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"Journalism training can make an important contribution to the quality of journalism and the ability of journalism to fulfill its basic missions. This study focused on the impact on business and economics reporting, an area where few journalists have adequate training, and where on-the-job training
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is unlikely to suffice. But even in this technical area, journalism training can have general benefits. It can enhance a sense of professionalism, and at least an awareness of professional ethics. It can expose reporters to ideas, concepts, and people that they otherwise would not have access to. Such contacts can be particularly important in ensuring adequate coverage of complex topics. It can help them build contacts more broadly in the journalism community and promote networking which could lead to doing stories together. If properly reinforced by editors and colleagues upon returning to their publication/media outlet it can lead to more sophisticated coverage which touches on subjects they might not have written on before.But such training will have only a piecemeal effect. Most of the problems facing African journalism cannot be addressed by journalism training alone. Journalists may know that they should not receive money from sources, but with limited pay, they may see no alternative. The quality of journalism rests, of course, on the quality of the labor force that they have access to, and that means there needs to be more investment in secondary education. But more than an educated and trained labor force is required: for African media to improve rapidly, more funding—entailing new business models—and a better legal climate are necessary." (Conclusion, page 108-109)
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"Uganda's broadcast media landscape has witnessed tremendous growth in recent years. While the public broadcaster remains the dominant national player - in terms of reach - in both radio and television, commercial broadcasters have introduced a substantial level of diversity in the industry. Public
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broadcasting faces serious competition from the numerous private and independent broadcasters, especially in and around the capital Kampala and major urban centres. In fact, the private/commercial sector clearly dominates the industry in most respects, notably productivity and profitability. The public broadcaster, which enjoys wider geographical coverage, faces the challenge of trying to fulfill a broad mandate with little funding. This makes it difficult for UBC to compete with the more nimble operators in the commercial/private sector. Overall, there appears to be a healthy degree of pluralism and diversity in terms of ownership." (Publisher description)
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