Russia After Communism


Book Description

Russia's transition from communism holds great significance not only for itself but also for the wider world. This collection of essays examines the spectrum of Russia's transition since 1991 - considering not only the pattern of events but also what the changes have meant for Russians themselves.




Russian Media Law and Policy in the Yeltsin Decade:Essays and Documents


Book Description

One of the great transitions as the Soviet Union dissolved involved the transformation of state broadcasting in Russia and the Newly Independent States. This book deals with the turmoil associated with struggles in Post-Soviet Russia: struggles for journalistic editorial autonomy the bloody media wars between the Yeltsin government and the legislature the role of the media in the coup the role of the United States, other governments and non-government organizations in shaping the new media.




Mass Media and Political Communication in New Democracies


Book Description

Using a comparative approach, this book examines how political communication and the mass media have played an important role in the consolidation of democratic institutions.




The Handbook of Journalism Studies


Book Description

This second edition of The Handbook of Journalism Studies explores the current state of research in journalism studies and sets an agenda for future development of the field in an international context. The volume is structured around theoretical and empirical approaches to journalism research and covers scholarship on news production; news content; journalism and society; journalism and culture; and journalism studies in a global context. As journalism studies has become richer and more diverse as a field of study, the second edition reflects both the growing diversity of the field, and the ways in which journalism itself has undergone rapid change in recent years. Emphasizing comparative and global perspectives, this new edition explores: Key elements, thinkers, and texts Historical context Current state of the field Methodological issues Merits and advantages of the approach/area of study Limitations and critical issues of the approach/area of study Directions for future research Offering broad international coverage from world-leading contributors, this volume is a comprehensive resource for theory and scholarship in journalism studies. As such, it is a must-have resource for scholars and graduate students working in journalism, media studies, and communication around the globe.




Communication Yearbook 34


Book Description

Communication Yearbook 34 continues the tradition of publishing rich, state-of-the-discipline literature reviews. This volume offers insightful descriptions of communication research as well as reflections on the implications of those findings for other areas of the discipline. Editor Charles T. Salmon presents a volume with diverse chapters from scholars across the globe. Chapters cover a wide range of topics, including nanotechnology, deception, terror management theory, and the rhetorical aftermath of genocide. Commentaries from senior scholars round out the contents, providing insights on the groundbreaking work presented here. As a whole, this volume will be valuable to scholars and researchers across the communication discipline and around the world.




Television, Democracy and Elections in Russia


Book Description

Sarah Oates gives a detailed examination on a central theme in political science: the relationship between democracy and the mass media. This significant book contains a wealth of information and data, including: public opinion surveys, content analysis of television news, focus groups and in-depth interviews to examine why political parties and the mass media failed so spectacularly to aid in the construction of a democratic system in Russia. The analysis presents compelling evidence that television helped to tune out democracy as it served as a tool for leaders rather than a conduit of information in the service of the electorate or parties. In addition, focus groups and surveys show that the Russian audience are often more comfortable with authority rather than truth in television coverage. Within this framework, this fascinating work presents the colourful history of parties, elections and television during one of the most critical eras in Russian history and captures a particularly significant epoch in contemporary Russian politics.




Global Perspectives on Press Regulation, Volume 1


Book Description

In this ground-breaking two-volume set, world-leading experts produce a rich, authoritative depiction of the world's press, its freedom, and its limits. We want press freedom but we also want freedom from the press. A powerful press may expose a corrupt government or aid it. It may champion citizens or unfairly attack them. A vulnerable press may lack supporters and succumb to conformity. It may resist, and overcome tyranny. According to common belief, press freedom involves social responsibilities to equip public debate and render government transparent. Is this attitude valid given that the press is usually a private, commercial actor? Globally, the health, authority, and viability of the press varies dramatically. These patterns do not conform to traditional divisions between North and South, East and West. Instead, they are much more complex. How do we measure successful press regulation? What concessions can the state and/or society demand from the press? What constitutes the irreducible core of press freedom? The contributions in Volume 1 look at key jurisdictions in Europe; whereas Volume 2 goes beyond Europe to analyse the situation in key jurisdictions in Asia, Africa, the Americas and Oceania. Each volume can be used independently or as part of the complete set. This work will be incredibly valuable to policymakers and academics who seek to capture the global picture for the purposes of effecting change.




Russian 'Hybrid Warfare' and the Annexation of Crimea


Book Description

Western academics, politicians, and military leaders alike have labelled Russia's actions in Crimea and its follow-on operations in Eastern Ukraine as a new form of “Hybrid Warfare.” In this book, Kent DeBenedictis argues that, despite these claims, the 2014 Crimean operation is more accurately to be seen as the Russian Federation's modern application of historic Soviet political warfare practices-the overt and covert informational, political, and military tools used to influence the actions of foreign governments and foreign populations. DeBenedictis links the use of Soviet practices, such as the use of propaganda, disinformation, front organizations, and forged political processes, in the Crimea in 2014 to the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 (the “Prague Spring”) and the earliest stages of the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Through an in-depth case study analysis of these conflicts, featuring original interviews, government documents and Russian and Ukrainian sources, this book demonstrates that the operation, which inspired discussions about Russian “Hybrid Warfare,” is in fact the modern adaptation of Soviet political warfare tools and not the invention of a new type of warfare.




Speech and Society in Turbulent Times


Book Description

This volume explores how societies are addressing challenging questions about the relationship between expression, traditional and societal values, and the transformations introduced by new information communications technologies. It seeks to identify alternative approaches to the role of speech and expression in the organization of societies as well as efforts to shape the broader global information society. How have different societies or communities drawn on the ideas of philosophers, religious leaders or politicians, both historical and contemporary, that addressed questions of speech, government, order or freedoms and applied them, with particular attention to applications in the digital age? The essays include a wide variety of cultural and geographic contexts to identify different modes of thinking. The goal is to both unpack the 'normative' internet and free expression debate and to deepen understanding about why certain internet policies and models are being pursued in very different local or national contexts as well as on a global level.




Globalisation, Freedom and the Media after Communism


Book Description

This book examines the fate of post-Soviet press freedom and media culture in the context of the growing impact of globalisation. To understand the complicated situation that has arisen with respect to these issues in post-Soviet space is impossible without collaboration between political scientists, sociologists, cultural analysts, media studies researchers and media practitioners. The book is one of the first attempts to bridge the gaps between political and cultural studies approaches, between textual analysis and audience research, as well as between practitioner-led and scholarly approaches to the post-Soviet media The cumulative impact of the essays contained in this section is to reinforce the intuition which inspired it: that the post-Soviet media remain a highly heterogeneous, complex and dynamic field for investigation. With contributions from scholars and journalists across Europe (including the former Soviet Union), the collection addresses such issues as censorship and elections, the legacy of the Soviet past, terrorism and the media, the post-Soviet business press, advertising and nation building, official press discourse and entrepreneurship, and global formats on Russian television. This book was originally published as a special issue of Europe-Asia Studies.