Recent years have seen considerable growth in the media in Africa with increases in the number of newspapers and radio and television stations. At the same time there has been an increase in the number of arrests of journalists and broadcasters and various forms of censorship have been introduced. The essays in this volume examine press censorship, past and present, and bring a fresh perspective to the position of the mass media in the African continent.

The contentious role of social media in recent elections and referendums has brought to the fore once again the fundamental question of media freedom and the extent to which, and the way in which, the media should be regulated in a modern democratic society. This book surveys the history of media in the US, the UK and Europe in order to develop a new theory of media freedom that is capable of resolving current controversies about how best to regulate the media, including the internet and social media. Tambini argues that democratic regulation of the media must build upon – and learn from – the long history of accommodation between the press, broadcasting, the state and corporate power. By attending to this history, we can see that media freedom is not absolute but rather conditional, taking the form of a social contract of privileges and connected duties. Tambini develops this social contract account of media freedom and applies it to different media sectors, from the press and broadcasting to the internet and social media. Above all, he argues for a renewed role for international human rights law standards in media governance, and an end to American exceptionalism. Written for students, scholars, policymakers and media professionals, this wide-ranging book will be of interest to everyone concerned about the role of the media in our societies and about the health of our democracies.

This concise volume presents key concepts and entries from the twelve-volume ICA International Encyclopedia of Communication (2008), condensing leading scholarship into a practical and valuable single volume. Based on the definitive twelve-volume IEC, this new concise edition presents key concepts and the most relevant headwords of communication science in an A-Z format in an up-to-date manner Jointly published with the International Communication Association (ICA), the leading academic association of the discipline in the world Represents the best and most up-to-date international research in this dynamic and interdisciplinary field Contributions come from hundreds of authors who represent excellence in their respective fields An affordable volume available in print or online

Jan Oster develops a coherent theoretical and doctrinal framework for the scope, content and limitations of media freedom.

This publication offers a groundbreaking look at recent evolutions in media freedom, independence, pluralism and journalist safety. These areas are explored in depth in each region and with respect to gender and global media. The overarching trend observed throughout the study is one of disruption brought on by technology and to a lesser extent the global economic crisis, with mixed results for freedom of expression and media development. World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development is a key resource for governments, the media, academia, the private sector and civil society, and is an essential read for anyone interested in the contemporary media environment.

This publication offers a groundbreaking look at recent evolutions in media freedom, independence, pluralism and journalist safety. These areas are explored in depth in each region and with respect to gender and global media. The overarching trend observed throughout the study is one of disruption brought on by technology and to a lesser extent the global economic crisis, with mixed results for freedom of expression and media development. World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development is a key resource for governments, the media, academia, the private sector and civil society, and is an essential read for anyone interested in the contemporary media environment.

Addresses a critical analysis of major media policies in the European Union and Council of Europe at the period of profound changes affecting both media environments and use, as well as the logic of media policy-making and reconfiguration of traditional regulatory models. The analytical problem-related approach seems to better reflect a media policy process as an interrelated part of European integration, formation of European citizenship, and exercise of communication rights within the European communicative space. The question of normative expectations is to be compared in this case with media policy rationales, mechanisms of implementation (transposing rules from EU to national levels), and outcomes.

Remaking Media is a unique and timely reading of the contemporary struggle to democratize communication. With a focus on activism directed towards challenging and changing media content, practices and structures, the book explores the burning question: What is the political significance and potential of democratic media activism in the western world today? Taking an innovative approach, Robert Hackett and William Carroll pay attention to an emerging social movement that appears at the cutting edge of cultural and political contention, and ground their work in three scholarly traditions that provide interpretive resources for the study of democratic media activism: political theories of democracy critical media scholarship the sociology of social movements. Remaking Media examines the democratization of the media and the efforts to transform the machinery of representation. Such an examination will prove invaluable not only to media and communication studies students, but also to students of political science.

Scholars of international relations and international communications view the extent of media freedom from country to country as a key comparative indicator either by itself or in correlation with other indices of national political and economic development. This indicator serves as a bellwether for gauging the health and spread of democracy. Historical Guide to World Media Freedom brings together comprehensive historical data on media freedom since World War II, providing consistent and comparable measures of media freedom in all independent countries for the years 1948 to the present. The work also includes country-by country summaries, analyses of historical and regional trends in media freedom, and extensive reliability analyses of media freedom measures. The book’s detailed information helps researchers connect historical measures of media freedom to Freedom House’s annual Freedom of the Press survey release, enabling them to extend their studies back before the 1980s when Freedom House began compiling global press freedom measures. Key Features: A-to-Z, country-by-country summaries of the ebb and flow of media freedom are paired with national media freedom measures over time. Introductory chapters discuss such topics as the theoretical premises behind the nature and importance of media freedom, historical trends, and the challenges of coding for media freedom in a way that ensures consistency for comparison. Concluding material covers the historical patterns in media freedom, how media freedom tracks with other cross-national indicators, and more. Accessible to students and scholars alike, this groundbreaking reference is essential to collections in political science, international studies, and journalism and communications.