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71. Media and the Law: An Overview of Legal Issues and Challenges

Author:
Peter Noorlander
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
The legal environment in which a media outlet operates is a crucial factor in its success. Rules and regulations can hinder or enable the growth of media and restrict or promote particular kinds of content. A liberal and empowering legal regime will allow media to publish hard-hitting investigative reports and fulfill their function as watchdog of democratic society without fear of legal sanction, thus helping to make governments more accountable. This is a public good lost to citizens of countries with restrictive legal regimes.
Topic:
Development, Terrorism, Third World, Mass Media, and Law
Political Geography:
United States and United Kingdom

72. Matching the Market and the Model: The Business of Independent News Media

Author:
Michelle J. Foster
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
The audience for, and access to, news media has grown across the globe. Economic development in formerly impoverished countries, the spread of mobile and Internet technologies, and the loosening of censorship have fueled this expansion. However, many media businesses are unable to take full advantage of this growth because of their lack of management skills and inexperience in developing effective business models. Compounding this is a lack of media development assistance targeted to media managers, the expansion of economic constraints on media businesses, and a lack of access to investment capital.
Topic:
Markets, International Affairs, and Mass Media

73. La disputa por la mediación durante el kirchnerismo en Argentina.

Author:
Lucía Vincent
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
CONfines de Relaciones Internacionales y Ciencia Política
Abstract:
Nestor Kirchner, the ex Argentinean President, developed a unique and new way of relating with the press, totally divergent from the method that previous democratic governments used to have. Through the analysis of Kirchner´ speeches, this article will illustrate in which way the president aimed to weaken the media, removing them from their position as the “forth power” and “objective mediators” between the government and the citizens. Those transformations are due to the conditions in which he developed a specific type of leadership. Those changes, also, had consequences in the political representation and in the current characteristics of the democratic system in Argentina.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Politics, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Argentina and Latin America

74. Humanitarian soldiers, colonialised Others and invisible enemies: Visual strategic communication narratives of the Afghan war

Author:
Noora Kotilainen
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Finnish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
This paper examines the current visual strategic communications endeavour of the Afghanistan International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation, which is designed to influence public opinion within the participant coalition nations. The aim is to track down what kind of means, messages and narratives the Western strategic communications machinery topically uses, in order to more effectively convince and address the domestic publics of the desirability of the operation. I concentrate on analysing the communication and image building endeavour taking place in Internet and new media surroundings, and namely bite into visual images constructed for the communication. For material, I use the ISAF media Flickr photostream, which is a large and frequently updated set of online photographs presented by ISAF.
Topic:
Security, Science and Technology, Communications, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Afghanistan

75. Liberia: How Sustainable Is the Recovery?

Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Liberia's October 2011 general and presidential elections, the second since civil war ended in 2003, are an opportunity to consolidate its fragile peace and nascent democracy. Peaceful, free and fair elections depend on how well the National Elections Commission (NEC) handles the challenges of the 23 August referendum on constitutional amendments and opposition perceptions of bias toward the president's Unity Party (UP). The NEC, the government, political parties, presidential candidates, civil society, media and international partners each have roles to play to strengthen trust in the electoral process. They should fight the temptation to treat the elections as not crucial for sustaining the progress made since the civil war. But even after good elections five factors will be critical to lasting peace: a more convincing fight against corruption; deeper commitment to transforming Liberia with a new breed of reform-minded political players; sustained international engagement in supporting this more ambitious transformation; economic development; and regional stability, particularly in Côte d'Ivoire.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Political Economy, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Africa and Liberia

76. News on the Go: How Mobile Devices Are Changing the World's Information Ecosystem

Author:
Dale Peskin
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
The connected society reached a milestone at the end of 2010: More than 4 billion people paid for mobile phone service. That's six of every 10 people on the planet. During a period of unprecedented technological innovation, the spread of a decades-old technology may seem like an obvious achievement. That is until you consider that the hand-held device has become the hub for thousands of innovations that are changing the way the world communicates.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Education, Science and Technology, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Africa, Eurasia, and Asia

77. President of the Republic of Ecuador, Rafael Correa

Author:
Rafael Correa
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
This World Leaders Forum program features an address by Rafael Correa, President of the Republic of Ecuador, titled Vulnerable Societies: Media and Democracy in Latin America, followed by a question and answer session with the audience. Co-sponsored by the Institute of Latin American Studies and the School of International and Public Affairs.
Topic:
Democratization, Political Economy, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Latin America

78. Media Codes of Ethics: The Difficulty of Defining Standards

Author:
Eugene L. Meyer
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
Codes of ethics for journalists have long been established and widespread in Western democracies. In such countries, they are universally voluntary, often issued and adopted by leading organizations of journalists. They incorporate best practices that may go beyond the laws of libel, defamation, and privacy.
Topic:
Corruption, Democratization, Government, Mass Media, and Sociology

79. Continental Shift: New Trends in Private U.S. Funding for Media Development

Author:
Anne Nelson
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
The field of private sector funding of independent media abroad has continued to undergo a massive upheaval over the past two years. Two major factors have driven the change. The first is economic: The 2008 recession sharply reduced the portfolios of most traditional foundations and media philanthropies, many of them by 20-30 percent. They were still recovering when the aftershock of 2011 struck. These institutions, many of them based on the East Coast, had formerly led the way in funding international media development activities, with an emphasis on journalism training and support for freedom of expression. Now they are in a period of retrenchment, struggling to maintain existing commitments and with few resources to pursue new initiatives.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Communications, Mass Media, Foreign Aid, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
United States

80. New social media and conflict in Kyrgyzstan

Author:
Neil Melvin and Tolkun Umaraliev
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Abstract:
During 2010 Kyrgyzstan experienced two periods of conflict that took the country to the brink of civil war: the overthrow of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev in April and the ethnic violence in the south of the country in June. The use of blogs and social network sites as well as mobile and multimedia platforms during the upheaval has led some observers to link developments in Kyrgyzstan to other recent cases of social protest where new media has been prominent. However, these events offer no simple answer to the current social media debate.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Civil War, Science and Technology, Mass Media, and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan