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Information Flows and Radicalization Leading to Violent Extremism in Central Asia

Search for Common Ground; Internews (2019), 77 pp.

"The study is comprised of three main parts: a desk study of available and accessible material – reports, documents and media material; a qualitative study comprising over 200 interviews with ordinary people, experts, and persons with direct experience with radicalization leading to violent extrem ... ism (RVE); and a quantitative component consisting of national surveys of people’s information consumption habits. For the desk study, the effort was made to gain as broad a picture as possible, that is, to cover all five countries of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. However, predictably and unfortunately, Uzbekistan and especially Turkmenistan proved difficult cases to study in full. For both the qualitative and quantitative field research activities, for several reasons, only the first three countries were included. As a result, this study is able to report most robustly on these three countries and propose observations regarding Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan only to a limited extent. Based on the desk study, the drivers of extremist sympathies as established in existing research have been political grievances (injustice from state structures; identity-based discrimination; oppressive political regimes, etc), economic difficulties (unemployment; indebtedness; poverty; and desire for quick and greater income) and ideological motivations (resentment of false values; striving for the singularly just and true life; for reward in a perceived afterlife). To these push and pull factors are added a range of enabling factors, such as migration, young age, gender (women), and means of communication. All these drivers of RVE need to be treated with caution, as stressed by various authors and suggested by evidence gained in field research. A general observation, gained from the desk research and supported by evidence in both qualitative and quantitative field studies, was the difference among the countries in degree of control over the information space, or the degree of hegemony over public discourse. Of the three most fully studied countries, hegemonic discourse was the strongest in Tajikistan, followed by Kazakhstan, and the least in Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan, analyzed to a limited extent, would be closer to the extreme of Tajikistan, whereas Turkmenistan was too closed to make reasonably robust observations." (Page 3) more

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Contextualizing Hacktivism: The Criminalization of Redhack

Bülay Dogan

Philadelphia: Annenberg School for Communication, Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication (CARGC) (2019), 37 pp.

"Through a meticulous empirical examination of the criminalization of the Turkish hacktivist group Redhack, Dogan explores the critical conflation of hacktivism with cyber-terrorism—by national security organizations and academic researchers alike —that enables states to criminalize non-violent ... more

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Between the White House and the Kremlin: A Comparative Analysis of Afghan and Tajik Media

Wazhmah Osman

International Journal of Communication, volume 13 (2019), pp. 619-641

"In their postwar, postindependence, and post-Soviet moments, why did two neighbors, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, who share cultural, linguistic, and historical similarities, take radically divergent paths in the development of their mass media, public sphere, and democracy? In this article, I argue ... more

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Safety of Journalists Covering Conflict & Sensitive Issues

Kristin Skare Orgeret, Roy Krøvel (eds.)

Conflict & Communication Online, volume 18, issue 1 (2019), 103 pp.

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Media Influence Matrix: Kyrgyzstan. Funding Journalism

Gulnura Toralieva

Budapest: Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS) (2019), 22 pp.

"The media sector in Kyrgyzstan is heavily dominated by the government through both ownership and funding. The government funds a large pool of state-owned media companies, including newspapers, radio broadcasters and the public service operator KTRK. According to our estimates, the government spent ... more

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Digital News Report 2019

Nic Newman, Richard Fletcher, Antonis Kalogeropoulos, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (eds.)

Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2019), 153 pp.

"Despite the efforts of the news industry, we find only a small increase in the numbers paying for any online news – whether by subscription, membership, or donation. Growth is limited to a handful of countries mainly in the Nordic region (Norway 34%, Sweden 27%) while the number paying in the US ... (16%) remains stable after a big jump in 2017. • Even in countries with higher levels of payment, the vast majority only have ONE online subscription – suggesting that ‘winner takes all’ dynamics are likely to be important. One encouraging development though is that most payments are now ‘ongoing’, rather than one-offs. In some countries, subscription fatigue may also be setting in, with the majority preferring to spend their limited budget on entertainment (Netflix/Spotify) rather than news. With many seeing news as a ‘chore’, publishers may struggle to substantially increase the market for high-priced ‘single title’ subscriptions. As more publishers launch pay models, over two-thirds (70%) of our sample in Norway and half (50%) in the United States now come across one or more barriers each week when trying to read online news. In many countries, people are spending less time with Facebook and more time with WhatsApp and Instagram than this time last year. Few users are abandoning Facebook entirely, though, and it remains by far the most important social network for news. Social communication around news is becoming more private as messaging apps continue to grow everywhere. WhatsApp has become a primary network for discussing and sharing news in non-Western countries like Brazil (53%) Malaysia (50%), and South Africa (49%). People in these countries are also far more likely than in the West to be part of large WhatsApp groups with people they don’t know – a trend that reflects how messaging applications can be used to easily share information at scale, potentially encouraging the spread of misinformation. Public and private Facebook Groups discussing news and politics have become popular in Turkey (29%) and Brazil (22%) but are much less used in Western countries such as Canada (7%) or Australia (7%). Concern about misinformation and disinformation remains high despite efforts by platforms and publishers to build public confidence. In Brazil 85% agree with a statement that they are worried about what is real and fake on the internet." (Summary, page 9) more

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Money - Power - Stereotypes: Does Gender Equality in the Media Really Matter? International Comparative Gender Study in Georgia, Moldova and Russia

Kalmar: Fojo Media Institute; Russian Academy of Sciences (ISESP RAS) (2019), 19 pp.

"One interesting trend to follow is the feminisation of the journalism profession. The trend is global but especially prominent in the countries covered by this study: the findings indicate that the gender balance is shifting in Moldova and Georgia, whereas women are now dominating among media profe ... ssionals in general in Russia and Belarus. According to the experts interviewed this is not a result of a growing sector with more women coming in but rather about an outflow of men. It seems like the journalistic profession has become less attractive (to men) due to economic restraints (lower wages) and political pressure that makes it harder to exercise independent journalism. Judging from the gender ratio in enrollment for higher education in journalism and communication (over 70 per cent women in some European countries), this trend is likely to carry on. If the curve of this graph will not change we will (again) end up with a skewed gender balance and need to consider possible implications for diversity of voices and what stories are told. The study also confirms that women are taking on more of decision-making roles, especially in regional and in independent media (in Georgia and Moldova there is no gender asymmetry according to the study). However, there is still a gender gap when it comes to distribution of power in national media with high circulation/audience, likely related to the fact that the most influential media are still most often managed by men. Interestingly enough, female respondents in Moldova had low career expectations, although in practice the study indicates that women have better chances of building a career in the media than men. In Georgia, on the other hand, female media professionals are often overqualified, and show the most dissatisfaction with their jobs. The much-debated issue of sexual harassment at work is also covered by the study. In Russia on average three out of ten of the respondents claimed to have experienced sexual harassment in job related environments. Overall, the results of the survey indicate that the journalistic profession is quite dangerous for women, because they risk being subjected to sexual harassment literally everywhere, by colleagues or superiors at the office, as well as while reporting on the ground." (Preface) more

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Opinion-Formation and Issue-Framing Effects of Russian News in Kyrgyzstan

Hannah S. Chapman, Theodore P. Gerber

International Studies Quarterly, volume 63, issue 3 (2019), pp. 756-769

"Powerful countries use foreign media broadcasts to enhance their soft power, yet there is scant empirical evidence as to whether such efforts actually sway public opinion abroad. Moreover, researchers have not specified conditions that may shape variations in the influence of foreign broadcasts and ... more

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Trust in the Media

Ipsos (2019), 48 pp.

"People across 27 countries are divided on whether they trust traditional media (magazines and newspapers, TV and radio). These sources are equally trusted as they are distrusted. However, levels of trust in media sources vary greatly at the country level. Trust in traditional media is perceived to ... more

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Berichterstattung über öffentliche Proteste in Kasachstan: Medienkontrolle als Quelle politischer Macht

Heiko Pleines

Zentralasien-Analysen, issue 138 (2019), pp. 2-5

"Die Berichterstattung der kasachstanischen Massenmedien über Proteste im Lande folgt einer klaren Linie. Kleinere Proteste werden ignoriert. Wenn über größere Demonstrationen berichtet wird, kommen ihre Vertreter nicht zu Wort und ihre Forderungen werden nicht erwähnt. Stattdessen werden der i ... more

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Media, Freedom of Speech, and Democracy in the EU and Beyond

Angelos Giannakpoulos (ed.)

Tel Aviv University, S. Daniel Abraham Center for International and Regional Studies (2019), 158 pp.

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Turkey: How to deal with threats to journalism?

Bora Ataman, Baris Çoban

In: Transnational Othering – Global Diversities: Media, Extremism and Free Expression

Elisabeth Eide, Kristin Skare Orgeret, Nil Mutluer (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2019), pp. 171-190

"Journalism has always been an unsafe practice in modern Turkey. However, ties between the political system and democracy have been severed by the recent witch-hunt following the most recent failed coup, in 2016, and the subsequent societal collapse triggered by the administration of the state of em ... more

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Media Sustainability Index 2019: The Development of Sustainable Independent Media in Europe and Eurasia

Linda Trail (ed.)

Washington, DC: IREX (2019), xxi, 308 pp.

"The 2019 Europe and Eurasia Media Sustainability Index (MSI) saw another improvement in the combined average score for the 21 countries studied: In 2018, the combined average score was 1.84, and in 2019 this increased to 1.86. In comparison with the previous year’s study, there were modest gains ... more

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Médiations et migrations

Paris: L'Harmattan (2019), 308 pp.

"Le phénomène migratoire, engendré tantôt par les guerres et les crises politiques et tantôt par des situations économiques difficiles, occupe actuellement le devant de la scène médiatique et provoque le débat politique sur les deux rives de la Méditerranée. Une vingtaine d'auteurs se son ... more

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Christen im Nahen Osten: Zwischen Martyrium und Exodus
Deep Insights

Matthias Vogt

Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft (wbg) (2019), 477 pp.

"2018: Irakische Christen kehren in ihre Dörfer zurück, aus denen der „Islamische Staat“ sie vier Jahre vorher vertrieben hatte. Hundert Jahre zuvor hatten Christen in der Region schon einmal alles neu aufbauen müssen. Während des Ersten Weltkriegs waren in Anatolien Hunderttausende vertrieb ... more

Digital security awareness and practices of journalists in Turkey: A descriptive study

Behlül Çaliskan

Conflict & Communication Online, volume 18, issue 1 (2019), pp. 1-16

"This study aims to measure the level of digital security awareness of journalists in Turkey who use digital technology in the course of their work. In the study, research questions are answered using data collected by means of an online survey in relation to the digital security risks faced, the ex ... more

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Supporting Media for Democracy (2013-2019)
Deep Insights

Brussels: European Endowment for Democracy (EED) (2019), 20 pp.

"This publication presents EED’s work in the area of independent media, and reflects on lessons learned in six years of media and democracy support. It offers an analysis of the worrying trends and challenges faced by media today and calls for an urgent re-set in thinking about donor support to me ... more

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Diaspora: Netzwerke globaler Gemeinschaften

Caroline Y. Robertson-von Trotha (ed.)

Karlsruhe: KIT Scientific Publishing; Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) (2019), iv, 212 pp.

"Menschen gemeinsamer Herkunft, die verstreut über verschiedene Staaten leben, sind Inbegriffe gelebter Transnationalität. Als Diasporagemeinschaften bilden sie globale Netzwerke. Interdisziplinäre Beiträge aus Wissenschaft und Kulturarbeit bündeln, fotografisch gestützt, die Inhalte zweier WI ... more

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Transnational Othering – Global Diversities: Media, Extremism and Free Expression
Deep Insights

Elisabeth Eide, Kristin Skare Orgeret, Nil Mutluer (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2019), 332 pp.

Google Scholar (98)

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Communication and Discourse Theory: Collected Works of the Brussels Discourse Theory Group

Leen Van Brussel, Nico Carpentier, Benjamin de Cleen (eds.)

Bristol (UK): Intellect (2019), vi, 312 pp.

"Drawing on a variety of case studies, ranging from the politics of reality TV to the representation of populism, Communication and Discourse Theory highlights both the radical contingent nature and the hegemonic workings of media and communication practices. This volume gathers the work of the Brus ... more

Christen im Nahen Osten: Zwischen Martyrium und Exodus Deep Insights

Supporting Media for Democracy (2013-2019) Deep Insights

Transnational Othering – Global Diversities: Media, Extremism and Free Expression Deep Insights

Christen im Nahen Osten: Zwischen Martyrium und Exodus
Deep Insights

Supporting Media for Democracy (2013-2019)
Deep Insights

Transnational Othering – Global Diversities: Media, Extremism and Free Expression
Deep Insights