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Contributions from
the Column
Media
Inter-cultural dialogue
Washington Consensus:
New approaches
Hurdles on the path
to world culture
Democracy Report: Media
04/2006 |
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Democracy Report: Media
Konrad Adenauer Foundation (ed.):
Media and Democracy. The KAF Democracy Report 2005.
Bonn, Bouvier Verlag, 2006, 323 pages,
€ 12.90, ISBN 3-416-03077-X
The first “Democracy Report” by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF) is dedicated to freedom of the press.
“Media and Democracy” investigates the situation of the media in fourteen developing countries and transition
countries in Latin America, Africa, the Arab world, the CIS countries and Asia. The KAF plans to publish similar
“Democracy Reports” each year in future. They will also deal with the rule of law and political parties.
According to the 2005 report, the situation of independent media has improved in Cambodia, the Democratic Republic
of Congo, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa compared with matters five years ago. On the other
hand, conditions in Argentina, Bolivia, India, Russia, Tunisia and Belarus remain unchanged or have even deteriorated.
In the case of India, KAS bemoans the dominant role of government-controlled broadcast media, which, to a large extent,
blunts the influence of independent newspapers.
The KAF is endeavouring to promote the role of the media through education and regional cooperation in the countries
investigated. Unlike other studies, the KAF Democracy Report not only reviews the past year, reporting on isolated incidents,
but it analyses the situation of the press in the context of the relevant legal political system.
(orb)
Download:
The country studies can be downloaded free of charge from the KAF website:
http://www.kas.de/publikationen/2006/ 7532_dokument.html
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