At the beginning of 2024, Media Development took the theme Towards Democratic Governance of Digital Society. Its editorial claimed that a digital era that is genuinely democratic depends on “Societies in which everyone can freely create, access, utilise, share and disseminate information and knowledge, so...
Clemencia Rodriguez (Colombia/USA), Seán Ó Siochrú (Ireland), Parminder Jeet Singh (India) The fictional portrait below of Nelly and her family living in a media and digital world is based on research conducted by the authors as well as secondary sources. The reality of the struggle for...
Anita Gurumurthy and Nandini Chami The Global Digital Compact upholds “gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls and their full, equal and meaningful participation” as a core principle for digital cooperation [para 8(d)]. The extraordinary complexity of our times, which the digital phenomenon...
Daya Thussu As the world marks the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel and its bloody aftermath, it is worth reflecting on the way this ongoing conflict has been covered by the US-dominated international media and compare it with media attitudes towards another contemporary...
Robert Hackett, with Farrukh Chishtie “Pretend you are God.” – Editor’s advice on how to write like The Economist.1 In a confusing and turbulent world, many readers, presumably seeking comprehensive and reasonably objective international news, turn to The Economist (TE). It’s a venerable self-described newspaper, in weekly magazine...
Kiran Hassan The Council of Europe defines the role of media in conflict situations and wars as critical to providing the public with accurate and timely information. It suggests that the supply of trustworthy news and images contributes to the protection of civilians and conflict prevention...
Venice (Italy) 2024 The 13th INTERFILM Award for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue has gone to Quiet Life directed by Alexandros Avranas (France, Germany, Sweden, Greece, Estonia, Finland). Motivation: “Quiet Life” is not always quiet at all. A family is seeking asylum, which is unfortunately denied. The rejection results...
The disastrous outcome of the US presidential election – for global peace, and within the USA for women’s rights, immigration, the environment, gun laws and LGBTQ+ rights – is also disastrous for press freedom. Misinformation and disinformation will become even more overt and officially sanctioned. Writing...
When it comes to generative artificial intelligence, I am a sceptic. Is it just another Big Tech tool for collecting our personal data? Will it just magnify misinformation in a volatile political climate? Will it perpetuate racist, sexist and cultural stereotypes? Will it seem “smarter” only...
In 2001, Jack G. Shaheen published Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People. In an analysis of over 900 films with Arab and Muslim characters from 1896 to 2000, he showed how moviemakers represented Arabs as heartless, uncivilized, religious fanatics akin to the worst...