An Uneven Resistance

2021 ◽  
pp. 355-402
Author(s):  
Christophe Jaffrelot ◽  
Pratinav Anil
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Opposition ◽  
Political Class ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Many

This chapter deals with the regime’s few opponents. The resistance came from sections of the press, judiciary, political class and civil society—albeit in a feeble manner. The deficient performance of the media, in particular, was highlighted by Advani’s phrase: ‘When you were merely asked to bend, you chose to crawl.’ The political opposition was comprised of socialists, Hindu nationalists, Akali Dal and CPI(M) cadres, and revolutionaries were among the many who went underground and resisted the regime. The chapter describes the resistance as uneven and unimpressive, plagued by factionalism and tokenistic gestures. The chapter goes on to characterise the Emergency as a dictatorship by consent.

The Press and the Emergent Political Class in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
pp. 606-618
Author(s):  
Ibitayo Samuel Popoola
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Media Access ◽  
Media Ownership ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media

This probing thesis in this study is on how the political class in colonial and post-colonial Nigeria established, maintained, improved and controls the machinery of the state through the press. While establishing media ownership and unequal media access as key factors responsible for the emergence of the political class, the study similarly discovered that the political class emerged because they were read, advertised or packaged by the press. Robert C. North (1967:301) says “politics could not exist without communication, nor could wars be fought.” The media are also the playing field on which politics occurs” (Perloff 2014:37). They are also the strategic routes through which aspiring politicians must travel during elections. Through a case study method of analysis, this study discovered that the political class emerged because they were read, advertised, and publicized by the press. For this reason, the political class regarded the press as partners in progress.

The Press and the Emergent Political Class in Nigeria

2016 ◽  
pp. 45-58
Author(s):  
Ibitayo Samuel Popoola
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Media Access ◽  
Media Ownership ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media

This probing thesis in this study is on how the political class in colonial and post-colonial Nigeria established, maintained, improved and controls the machinery of the state through the press. While establishing media ownership and unequal media access as key factors responsible for the emergence of the political class, the study similarly discovered that the political class emerged because they were read, advertised or packaged by the press. Robert C. North (1967:301) says “politics could not exist without communication, nor could wars be fought.” The media are also the playing field on which politics occurs” (Perloff 2014:37). They are also the strategic routes through which aspiring politicians must travel during elections. Through a case study method of analysis, this study discovered that the political class emerged because they were read, advertised, and publicized by the press. For this reason, the political class regarded the press as partners in progress.

scholarly journals EKONOMI POLITIK MEDIA: PADA PEMBERITAAN MENJELANG PEMILIHAN GUBERNUR BANTEN 2017 OLEH RADAR BANTEN DAN BARAYA TV

INFORMASI ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Achmad Nashrudin P
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
The Political ◽  
Media Relations ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Political Economy Of Media ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Depth Interview ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media

Research on Political Economy of Media: At the news ahead of elections for the governor of Banten in 2017 by Radar Banten and Baraya TV, phenomenon triggered by the loosening of the values of objectivity and independence of the mass media in carrying out its functions as set in the Press Law and the Broadcasting Law. At the time of the campaign, the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor are competing to get the “place ‘and is known well as sell to prospective election promise to get sympathy. At the time, the media seemed to forget the function and position. This study aims to determine the phenomenon of media relations with the candidates and how the phenomenon of the political economy of media in both institutions (Radar Banten and Baraya Pos) at the time before the election for governor of Banten in 2017. This study uses this study used a qualitative approach, with the constructivist paradigm and using the method of data collection through the depth-interview, the informant was elected. The results of the study illustrate that media relations (relations between) media with prospective relatively loose, drawn from observations and interviews show that the two media are “very affectionate” with the candidates, and the media policy in lifting more headlines have suggested the economic interests vis a vis political interests.

Indymedia in Belgium: the delicate balance between media activism and political activism

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1031-1038
Author(s):  
Robin Van Leeckwyck ◽  
Pieter Maeseele ◽  
Maud Peeters ◽  
David Domingo
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The Political ◽  
Media Activism ◽  
The Media ◽  
Original Website

Belgium was one of the first European countries to establish a local ‘national’ branch of the global Indymedia network. The diversity of those involved in this ‘national movement’ ultimately turned out to be both the strength of the original website and the cause of its decline. Indeed, due to political and organizational disagreement, many activists decided to create their own ‘local’ Independent Media Centre (IMC). This article distinguishes two perspectives on the role of Indymedia: the political activists saw Indymedia as a means to an end, as an instrument to discuss strategies and tactics, and to coordinate social movements and grassroots movements. The media activists, on the contrary, saw Indymedia as an end in itself, as a platform for civil society organizations to make their voices heard and facilitate democratic debate – in this vein, the experience of Indymedia.be was transformed into the alternative news site DeWereldMorgen.be.

Ideology, metaphor and persuasion in times of elections: a corpus-based study of British and Spanish economic reports

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 223-246
Author(s):  
María Muelas Gil
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Metaphor Analysis ◽  
The Press ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Critical Metaphor Analysis ◽  
The Media ◽  
Spanish Press ◽  
The Guardian

Metaphor has been studied as a pervasive and intrinsic discourse tool over the last decades in many different types of discourse (Lakoff and Johnson 1980, Semino 2008, Kövecses 2010, etc.). Considering the strong effect it has on the discourse participants and how it can persuade them towards one side, action, or thought (Charteris-Black 2004, Silaski 2012), it is necessary to study it when the timeframe and the discourse where it is used are ideologically loaded. Based on recent studies on metaphor in economics (Alejo 2010, Herrera-Soler and White 2012, Soares da Silva et al. 2017), metaphor in the press (Koller 2004/2008) and metaphor and ideology (Goatly 2007, Silaski 2012), this article presents a corpus-based study of metaphor in reports of economic affairs in the English and Spanish press during the pre-election week of 2015. The corpus (about 160,000 words) consists of reports published by six newspapers that support different political spheres (left, centre and right): The Guardian, The Independent and The Telegraph in English, and Público, El País and ABC in Spanish. From a Critical Metaphor Analysis perspective (Charteris-Black 2004), the study starts from the hypothesis that the political stand of each newspaper might condition the metaphors. Indeed, metaphors pointing at certain side of political spheres appear in all the sub-corpora of the study, but in distinctive ways, as will be shown. In any case, critical factors such as cognitive and cultural reasons beyond the political stand of the media in question need to be acknowledged as well, which conveys further and more comprehensive analyses.

Media and Democracy from a European Perspective

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannu Nieminen
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political System ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Public Authority ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Religious Intolerance ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Right

There is no immediate or absolute relationship between the media and democracy in the sense that, without media, there could be no democracy. Similarly, it does not follow that with the (modern) media comes democracy. Autocracies exist wherein the media supports a political system, and likewise, democracies exist wherein the media works to undermine a political system. However, most often the media and democracy are viewed as supporting each other. This connection is the product of a long historical development, one peculiar to European (and North American) societies, involving not only institutions and practices directly linked to the media-based and democratic processes, but numerous other institutions (such as education, the political system, religion, etc.) as well. The media are not the only institutions that promote (or do not promote) democratic legitimacy. Other major institutions of such influence include education, religion, public authority, cultural institutions, and political systems, among others. From a wider societal viewpoint, the role of the media is rather reduced in influence. If, for example, an education system is based on ethnic or other forms of segregation, or if there is widespread religious intolerance, or if public authority suffers from corruption, it is obvious that the media has only so many resources to encourage systemic legitimacy. The fundamental interrelatedness of different social institutions makes it difficult, or even impossible, to study the media as a phenomenon isolated from the rest of society. For this reason, we should be careful when making comparisons between the media in different countries, even the media outlets within liberal democracies. In addition, there is no consensus as to the right balance of media and other social institutions in a democracy. Throughout the history of democracy, the relations between institutions (the political system, economy, media, and civil society) have undergone renegotiations and adjustments during times of crisis. Over the past few decades, this relationship appears to have reached a new crisis, one that continues to this day and still lacks a clear solution. In many countries, civil society–based media reform movements have been established with clear goals to further democratize media systems. One of the key arguments of these movements has centered on the contradiction between the constitutional obligations of democratic countries and the reality that, in practice, these rights do not apply equally to all. There remain major differences today between different social groups in terms of open access to and the unrestricted availability of information, the ability to utilize information according to one’s needs, having a voice represented by decision-makers, and respect for privacy and personal integrity.

The Rise of “Peaceocracy” in Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabrielle Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Regime Type ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Space ◽  
Hybrid Regimes ◽  
Counter Narratives ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Media ◽  
Present Possibility

The term “peaceocracy” refers to a situation in which an emphasis on peace is used to prioritize stability and order to the detriment of democracy. As such, the term can be used to refer to a short-lived or longer-term strategy whereby an emphasis on peace by an incumbent elite is used to close the political space through the delegitimization and suppression of activity that could arguably foster division or conflict. At the heart of peaceocracy lies an insistence that certain actions—including those that are generally regarded as constituting important political and civil rights, such as freedom of speech and association, freedom of the press, and freedom to engage in peaceful protest and strike action—can spill over into violence and foster division and must therefore be avoided to guard against disorder. Recent history suggests that incumbents can effectively establish a peaceocracy in contexts where many believe that widespread violence is an ever-present possibility; incumbents have, or are widely believed to have, helped to establish an existing peace; and the level of democracy is already low. In such contexts, a fragile peace helps to justify a prioritization of peace; the idea that incumbents have “brought peace” strengthens their self-portrait as the unrivaled guardians of the same; and semi-authoritarianism provides a context in which incumbents are motivated to use every means available to maintain power and are well placed—given, for example, their control over the media and civil society—to manipulate an emphasis on peace to suppress opposition activities. Key characteristics of peaceocracy include: an incumbent’s effective portrait of an existing peace as fragile and themselves as the unrivaled guardians of order and stability; a normative notion of citizenship that requires “good citizens” to actively protect peace and avoid activities that might foster division and conflict; and the use of these narratives of guardianship and disciplined citizenship to justify a range of repressive laws and actions. Peaceocracy is thus a strategy, rather than a discreet regime type, which incumbents can use in hybrid regimes as part of their “menu of manipulation,” and which can be said to be “successful” when counter-narratives are in fact marginalized and the political space is effectively squeezed.

Political crisis threatens Brazil's tentative recovery

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Construction Company ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government

Significance The requests are based on plea bargains from former executives of construction company Odebrecht. While the names in ‘Janot’s list’ have not been disclosed, several of them have leaked to the media. They include six ministers in the government of President Michel Temer, two former presidents, ten state governors, and the heads of both houses of Congress. If confirmed, this would make the list a potent bombshell for the Brazilian political class. Impacts The corruption scandal looks set to disrupt next year’s presidential election. Politicians’ disdain for accountability will fuel outrage with the political class. The ground could be fertile for a candidate claiming to be an ‘outsider’.

scholarly journals Covering Post-Conflict Elections: Challenges for the Media in Central Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Soleil Frère
Keyword(s):  
Central Africa ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
The Past ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
The Press ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Many ◽  
Congo Brazzaville

In the past ten years, elections were held in six countries of Central Africa experiencing “post-conflict” situations. The polls that took place in Burundi (2005), the Central African Republic (2005), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2006), Congo-Brazzaville (2002, 2007), Chad (1996, 2001, 2006) and Rwanda (2003) were crucial for peace-building. In some cases, they were widely supported and supervised by the international community, being considered the last step of a peace process and the first step toward establishing a truly representative “post-conflict” regime. The media were expected to play a large part in supporting these elections, both to inform the citizens, so they could make an educated choice, and to supervise the way the electoral administration was organizing the polls. This paper attempts to show the many challenges faced by the media while covering these post-conflict electoral processes. In a context of great political tension, in which candidates are often former belligerents who have just put down their guns to go to the polls, the media operate in an unsafe and economically damaged environment, suffering from a lack of infrastructure, inadequate equipment and untrained staff. Given those constraints, one might wonder if the media should be considered actual democratic tools in Central Africa or just gimmicks in a “peace-building kit” (including “free and fair” elections, multipartism and freedom of the press) with no real impact on the democratic commitment of the elite or the political participation of the population.

Technological Illusions and Educational Resistances

2016 ◽  
pp. 428-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Villanueva-Mansilla
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Class ◽  
The Public ◽  
One Laptop Per Child ◽  
Counter Narrative ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The One

OLPC, the One Laptop Per Child initiative, was accepted by just a few countries, including Peru. The largest acquisition of computers has produced a fairly low impact in education and is now being quietly phased-out. Peru's government decision to adopt the computers, back in 2007, was not contested or questioned by the political class, the media or even teachers, with just a rather small number of specialists arguing against it. This chapters discussed the political and argumentative processes that brought OLPC into the public sphere, through the use of a specific narrative, that of hackerism, i.e., the hacker attitude towards computers, and how social and political validation resulted in adoption. An assessment of the process of framing OLPC as a hacker product and the perils of such reasoning lead to discuss the need for a counter-narrative about the role of computers in society.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document