Empowering Media That Matters

Documents

The War Tapes

Questions

Where are the publics? Are there particular "home front" publics?

To what extent does The War Tapes organize publics different from those of other Iraq war or war on terror films?

Do the issues raised by The War Tapes organize distinctive publics? Are the publics organized into pro-war and anti-war clusters, or does the film begin another discussion related to the war in Iraq and the war on terror?

Does the film festival change or amplify the conversation about the issues raised in the film?

Global Voices

Questions

Whose voices, which globe? Is there a particular geography of voice? Are the global voices (known as bridge blogs) substantively bridging familiar global boundaries or redrawing them?

What is the substance of the global voices conversations? Are there particular subject matters that are discussed globally or regionally?

Who are the publics for global voices? Do the commentators on global voices postings form a distinctive geography?

Conclusions

The War Tapes

The War Tapes has missing publics. War front and home front bloggers do not discuss the film significantly. The film also is discussed less significantly than other Iraq war and war on terror films. The conversation that arises from The War Tapes relates most significantly to the "citizen soldier" as well as "real war," as opposed to anti-war or pro-war discussions. Read more...

Breaking New Ground: A Framework for Measuring the Social Impact of Canadian Documentaries

This report examines seven Canadian documentaries, providing reflective guidelines for the future of documentary-making in the country and the world. The report aims to measure the social impact of documentaries and provide a "baseline" on which to build new strategies for future activities. 

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Global Voices: Creating Multiple Global Publics

Creating Multiple Global Publics: How Global Voices Engages Journalists and Bloggers around the World

Since its inception in 2004, Global Voices has developed as a major hub for a worldwide network of people speaking about their local situations to a global audience using the tools of citizen-generated media. The site features a central blog that offers aggregation of and commentary on outside blog content, available by region, country, and language, on such topics as politics, governance, and human rights. It also hosts several additional blogs, including advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org, as well as blogs for each language the editors translate content into. In addition to providing content, Global Voices has become a voice for freedom of speech in the international blogosphere and a source of technical information about how to avoid political restraints on net-based free speech—central concerns for the health of a growing international public sphere. 
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21st Century News: Challenges and Opportunities for Public-Minded Media in the New-Media Age [2006]

By Jane Hall
This fall, a remarkable group of key decision-makers and innovators in news and information came together at American University in Washington, D.C. Read how leaders in the field are working to ensure the future of serious, credible news and information and public-minded media in the 21st Century media and journalism landscape.

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Big Dreams, Small Screens: Online Video for Public Knowledge and Action

Learn how popular commercial online digital video platforms, such as YouTube, GoogleVideo and MySpace, are being used to create, exchange, and comment upon information for public knowledge and action—and what their limitations are!

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Public Media in the Arab World: Exploring the Gap between Reality and Ideals

The Center for Social Media collaborated with the Arab Media and Public Life (AMPLE) project at American University for a year-long conference series on public media in the Arab world and focused on changes in the media environment, the role of the state, and what "public media" means in the Arab world. The Center's latest report highlights the proceedings of the project.

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Public Radio's Social Media Experiments: Risk, Opportunity, Challenge

This report analyzes the results of a survey of public radio stations and highlights the successes and challenges of integrating new social media tools into the mission of public radio.

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Research Protocol

This Govcom.org research protocol explains the methods used to produce the maps featured below.

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