The central role of media in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has led to restrictive precautions from the government. Restrictive legislation due to the genocide has for long limited media freedoms and been target for domestic and international critique. In light of the new media reform adopted in 2013 this essay seek to examine the experienced impact of the reform on the journalistic role as watchdog, setting the agenda, nation builder, agent of empowerment and government partner. The empirical material is based on qualitative interviews performed in Rwanda with journalists, bloggers, reform implementers and international collaborators. The analysis constitutes a discussion regarding to what extent the new reform seems to reinforce these roles. Here I will use my theoretical framework, namely Development Journalism, and the answers from the respondents in order to understand and examine this particular problem. The final part of the essay deals with my specific case, which is Rwanda’s media landscape after the newly adopted media reform. Here I will analyze the experienced change introduced by the new media reform. My essay finds that an official narrative, which is enforced by the Rwandan constitution, restricts the impact of the reform on the role of media

This paper aims to study the importance of media accessibility, as it is conceptually defined by current research, for the relationship between free media and corruption. Previous studies have determined that a free, independent media plays a vital role in not only curbing corruption but also in sustaining and monitoring a healthy democracy. They have also confirmed that there is a significant correlation between the degree of press freedom and the degree of corruption, in which a freer press has a negative impact on the conditions for corruption. Nevertheless, press freedom and independent media, as said studies have established, cannot be seen as an easy solution or a “quick fix” when fighting corruption. More recent studies have concluded that accessibility is a dimension that could possibly determine how effective the free, independent media is for fighting and preventing corruption. This paper aims to dig deeper into this theory.   The purpose of the study is to distinguish what kind of role media accessibility plays in maximising the free medias effectiveness in the role as a watchdog towards public power. This study hopes to achieve it’s purpose by analysing what the direct effects and consequences of media revelations surrounding corruption cases has resulted in for different countries in relation to the degree of accessibility. The study will also take into account the distinction between rule-based versus relationship-based cultures and how corruption can be perceived and viewed differently between the two. This perspective is to be seen as a complementary outlook and possible explanation when determining if the potential dissimilarities in the effects of media revelations amongst countries are due to differences in accessibility or due to inherent cross-cultural differences. Our work has shown clear differences in the resulted effects of media revelations. However, it is impossible to identify whether the variations among countries in regard to actual effects depend on the degree of accessibility or due to inherent cross-cultural differences between nations.

The world of journalism is becoming increasingly dangerous, as figures published by international media organisations demonstrate. But the Western news media suggests, that particularly Western foreign correspondents are facing incredibly high risks and cases of abducted, tortured and murdered foreign correspondents are reported regularly. The question arises “Have they become targets?” Foreign correspondence has been a dangerous occupation since it first emerged during the Crimean War, when the first consistent war reporting was established. Ever since then, foreign correspondents have had to face opposition, criticism and harsh realities. However, they have also always been highly valued journalists and well-respected for their courage to travel overseas, often into conflict-riddled areas, to report important news to their audiences back home. Sometimes they have even lost their lives in the pursuit of truth. Daniel Pearl, Christian Struwe and Karen Fischer or Trent Keegan are just a few examples of the many correspondents and journalists who have died as martyrs for their profession. As the actual data published by international media organisations, such as Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists or Freedom House, suggests, it has rapidly become worse for all journalists in the last 20 years and there is worse to come. It appears as if the factors leading to their deaths are increasing and will be contributing to even higher death tolls in the future. The thesis will consider such questions as: Who is there to protect journalists and foreign correspondents? Independent media organisations are trying their best. The international press is bemoaning the many deaths and governments have promulgated laws to protect their reporters, but does that actually help? Will those attempts make it better in future? And can the Western news media apparatus itself be held partly responsible for some of the deaths?

The world of journalism is becoming increasingly dangerous, as figures published by international media organisations demonstrate. But the Western news media suggests, that particularly Western foreign correspondents are facing incredibly high risks and cases of abducted, tortured and murdered foreign correspondents are reported regularly. The question arises “Have they become targets?” Foreign correspondence has been a dangerous occupation since it first emerged during the Crimean War, when the first consistent war reporting was established. Ever since then, foreign correspondents have had to face opposition, criticism and harsh realities. However, they have also always been highly valued journalists and well-respected for their courage to travel overseas, often into conflict-riddled areas, to report important news to their audiences back home. Sometimes they have even lost their lives in the pursuit of truth. Daniel Pearl, Christian Struwe and Karen Fischer or Trent Keegan are just a few examples of the many correspondents and journalists who have died as martyrs for their profession. As the actual data published by international media organisations, such as Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists or Freedom House, suggests, it has rapidly become worse for all journalists in the last 20 years and there is worse to come. It appears as if the factors leading to their deaths are increasing and will be contributing to even higher death tolls in the future. The thesis will consider such questions as: Who is there to protect journalists and foreign correspondents? Independent media organisations are trying their best. The international press is bemoaning the many deaths and governments have promulgated laws to protect their reporters, but does that actually help? Will those attempts make it better in future? And can the Western news media apparatus itself be held partly responsible for some of the deaths?

Research into mainstream (AAA) video games reveals a popularized form of militarized masculine entertainment that is synonymous with violence toward other men and sexualized violence toward women. The means of successful AAA game production are limited to those who have access to sophisticated game engines, advanced programming skills, and substantial financial backing. Consequently, a robust independent “indie” game industry has emerged to promote a greater range of game creation excluded from the AAA model. Drawing on political economic, feminist, and cultural studies approaches, this study seeks to trace the emergent trends and dynamics in the indie industry and analyzes common practices, strategies, and discursive themes of the Independent Games Festival (IGF), their hosting event, GDC, and their parent company UBM. This thesis contributes to media industry studies, game studies, and critical theory and highlights how economic logics shape social relations and influences processes of cultural change.

This study examines the role of non-governmental organizations contributing to sustainable development by addressing the violence during periods of an election in West Africa. More specifically, it highlights the role non-governmental organizations have as service-providers and facilitators in between journalists and the police in West Africa. The project aims to explain how the operations of non-governmental organizations that work for ensuring peace and security through independent media contribute to the fulfillment of the sustainable development goals to ensure peaceful societies. The study answers the research questions How can an NGO become an enabling actor for sustainable development? And What are the factors that determine how successful such efforts can be? Using a mixed method of a literature review and semi-structured interviews with people working on non-governmental organizations, the results show how non-governmental organizations are trustworthy due to their neutral role. The identified factors of success have mainly to do with the amount of legitimacy and resources of NGOs. The challenges are mainly to gain trust, both when it comes to the public and institutions. Further, this study shows that NGOs have a political actor with some challenges that they can overcome through legitimacy.  Keywords: West Africa, independent media, non-governmental organizations, sustainable development

A qualitative research approach and the reliance to a large extent on existing literature are used in this study to demonstrate Zambia's stagnant position in becoming a true democracy. While the country is seen as a beacon of peace in Africa, reflected in the peaceful transfer of power after elections, police brutality is rampant. Those with divergent views are not spared and suffer at the hands of police using the Public Order Act in instances of ‘breach of peace' and as an excuse for maintaining ‘public order'. Zambia continues to have a poor human rights record, reflected in the perpetration of violence against its citizenry with impunity by government officials and the political elites. Alleged cases of corruption rarely end in convictions despite overwhelming evidence of illegal practices. The Electoral Commission of Zambia and the judiciary are often accused of being biased towards the political establishment. A failure to appear autonomous has not only negatively affected their operations but has created negative perceptions and a loss of public confidence in these critical institutions. This, in turn, has resulted in the further undermining of democracy, as these important agencies are seemingly ineffective in ensuring that Zambia becomes a true democracy.

No description available.

No / This book examines how political communication and the mass media have played a central role in the consolidation of emerging democracies around the world. Covering a broad range of political and cultural contexts, including Eastern and Southern Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa, this new volume investigates the problems and conflicts arising in the process of establishing an independent media and competitive politics in post-autocratic societies. Considering the changing dynamic in the relationship between political actors, the media and their audience, the authors of this volume address the following issues: Changing journalistic role perceptions and journalistic quality The reasons and consequences of persisting instrumentalization of the media by political actors The role of the media in election campaigns The way in which the citizens interpret political messages and the extent to which the media influence political attitudes and electoral behaviour The role of the Internet in building a democratic public sphere.

Submitted by Adriana Alves Rodrigues (aalves@espm.br) on 2017-11-08T13:42:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 OMAR ALEJANDRO SANCHEZ RICO.pdf: 2169791 bytes, checksum: 0511fa8066f2b3711fc561c372e44756 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Alves Rodrigues (aalves@espm.br) on 2017-11-08T13:42:34Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 OMAR ALEJANDRO SANCHEZ RICO.pdf: 2169791 bytes, checksum: 0511fa8066f2b3711fc561c372e44756 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Cristina Ropero (ana@espm.br) on 2017-11-10T12:15:39Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 OMAR ALEJANDRO SANCHEZ RICO.pdf: 2169791 bytes, checksum: 0511fa8066f2b3711fc561c372e44756 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-10T12:15:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 OMAR ALEJANDRO SANCHEZ RICO.pdf: 2169791 bytes, checksum: 0511fa8066f2b3711fc561c372e44756 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-31 / The understanding of a journalistic narrative does not obey only rules strictly rational or logical. It is a product of the affections that the reader experiences from the stimuli that the imago-textual message provides. On the assumption that companies are organized in sharing of sensibilities in flux, we organize our theoretical object under the three-pronged perspective: that of the affections mobilized in the consumers of media narratives independent; the narrative of a social event through the enunciative action of the media independent; and the processes of subjectivation of individuals and collectivities in the state of social protest. To answer these questions, we use as theoretical apparatus a between the understanding of Marilena Chaui, Vladimir Safatle and Muniz Sodré about affections in the information media; the notion of narrative proposed by Michel de Certeau; and narrative identity of Paul Ricoeur; the double concept of politics and police proposed by Jacques Rancière; with the authors Oscar Aguilera and Rose de Melo Rocha We discuss concepts related to the political and aesthetic function within the informative narratives of violence during acts of social mobilization. We work with the empirical object of representations produced during demonstrations against the School Reorganization of the state of São Paulo, in the year 2015. From this social In particular, it is important to discuss the narrative identity of scenes of violence among students and the military police of the State of São Paulo, when independent online media. In this way, we inquire about the emotional basis of communication, from which the idea of ​​a self-reflective subject emerges. / O entendimento de uma narrativa jornalística não obedece unicamente a regras estritamente racionais ou lógicas. É produto das afecções que o leitor experimenta a partir dos estímulos que a mensagem imago-textual fornece. Partindo do pressuposto de que as sociedades se organizam em partilhas de sensibilidades em fluxo, organizamos nosso objeto teórico sob a ótica de três vertentes: a dos afetos mobilizados nos consumidores de narrativas de mídias independentes; a narrativa de um acontecimento social por via da ação enunciativa das mídias independentes; e os processos de subjetivação de indivíduos e coletividades em estado de protesto social. Para responder a estas vertentes, utilizamos como aparato teórico um entrecruzamento entre o entendimento de Marilena Chaui, Vladimir Safatle e Muniz Sodré acerca das afecções nas mídias informativas; a noção de narrativa proposta por Michel de Certeau; e de identidade narrativa de Paul Ricoeur; o duplo conceito de política e polícia proposto por Jacques Rancière; com os autores Oscar Aguilera e Rose de Melo Rocha discutimos noções referentes à função política e estética dentro das narrativas informativas de violência durante atos de mobilização social. Trabalhamos com o objeto empírico das representações imagéticas produzidas durante as manifestações contra a proposta de Reorganização Escolar do estado de São Paulo, no ano de 2015. Desta manifestação social nos interessa, especialmente, discutir sobre a identidade narrativa das cenas de violência entre os estudantes e a polícia militar do Estado de São Paulo, quando agenciadas pelo jornalismo da mídia independente online. Desse modo, indagamos sobre a base emocional da comunicação, da qual emerge a ideia de um sujeito auto-reflexivo.