Showing papers in "Asian Journal of Communication in 2008"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors highlight the need for research focusing on the context(s) of m-banking/m-payments use and argue that contextual research is a critical input to effective adoption or impact research.
Abstract: Around the globe, various initiatives use the mobile phone to provide financial services to those without access to traditional banks. Relatively little scholarly research explores the use of these m-banking/m-payments systems. This paper calls attention to this gap in the research literature, emphasizing the need for research focusing on the context(s) of m-banking/m-payments use. Presenting illustrative data from exploratory work with small enterprises in urban India, it argues that contextual research is a critical input to effective ‘adoption’ or ‘impact’ research. Further, it suggests that the challenges of linking studies of use to those of adoption and impact reflect established dynamics within the Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD) research community. The paper identifies three cross-cutting themes from the broader literature (amplification vs. change, simultaneous causality, and a multi-dimensional definition of trust), each of which can offer increased theoretical ...
472 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the benefits of, and barriers to, the effective use of ICTs within the healthcare system, specifically in Aceh Besar, Indonesia.
Abstract: The role of ICTs in providing improved healthcare to poor populations in the developing world has been the subject of considerable interest to the development community. However, despite a substantial literature, little published research has modelled both the value-added aspects of ICTs for social and economic development and those simultaneous challenges that often deter the effective utilisation of ICTs. This study investigates the benefits of, and barriers to, the effective use of ICTs within the healthcare system, specifically in Aceh Besar, Indonesia. We advance and evaluate a theoretical model which extends the so-called value-of-ICTs-to-education framework of Banuri, Zaidi, and Spanger-Siegfried (United Nations Development Programme, 2005). The effect of ICTs on maternal and infant healthcare is examined in the context of the Aceh Besar Midwives Mobile-Phone Project. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews (N=86) were conducted over three phases. Analysis of transcripts showed ICT-utilisat...
109 citations
TL;DR: The authors empirically examined how US movies of various genres, presumably with content of varying levels of cultural specificity, perform in seven East Asian countries and the world market at large, and whether audiences in East Asia exhibit similar patterns of reception for Hollywood movies of different genres.
Abstract: Cultural differences are likely to affect the extent to which and the ways in which audiences appreciate foreign media products. Not all media products travel across cultural and national boundaries equally successfully. When media contents are highly culturally specific, a high level of relative cultural discount and a loss in cross-culture performance predictability are likely to result. Based on these arguments, this study empirically examines: (1) how US movies of various genres, presumably with content of varying levels of cultural specificity, perform in seven East Asian countries and the world market at large, and (2) whether audiences in East Asia exhibit similar patterns of reception for Hollywood movies of different genres. With a data set of 489 US movies between 2002 and 2006, the analysis shows that there are indeed commonalities both among the East Asian countries and between East Asia and the world at large in terms of how certain movie genres are received at the box office. The theoretical...
62 citations
TL;DR: This article analyzed news content and journalism practices of several English and Hindi 24-hour news channels in India and found that Indian journalists seek accountability from the government, and have given audiences a broadcast voice.
Abstract: This paper shows that globalization of the Indian broadcast landscape, despite market pressures, has allowed Indian journalists to seek accountability from the government, and has given audiences a broadcast voice. While increasing pro-market focus of news content diminishes emphasis on public service and democratic debates, in many instances, broadcast journalists give voice to the voiceless and seek accountability from the police and political actors. By analyzing news content and journalism practices of several English and Hindi 24-hour news channels, this paper addresses the question as to what extent television journalism's watchdog function continues to strengthen the democratic system and increase democratic participation in India.
38 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined factors that motivated Kuwaitis to watch or avoid watching the Al-Jazeera satellite channel and their relationships with political interest and trust in government, and found that those who were very interested in politics were more likely to watch AlJazeera for its opinion leadership and surveillance functions.
Abstract: Employing the uses and gratifications perspective, this study examined factors that motivated Kuwaitis to watch or avoid watching the Al-Jazeera satellite channel and their relationships with political interest and trust in government. Viewers obtained several gratifications that included opinion leadership, free marketplace of information, and surveillance. Those who avoided watching Al-Jazeera did so for partisanship, biased coverage and political apathy. The relationships between gratifications derived from watching Al-Jazeera with political interest and trust in government revealed that those who were very interested in politics were more likely to watch Al-Jazeera for its opinion leadership and surveillance functions. Importantly, the results of this study showed that trust in government was negatively associated with Al-Jazeera's role as a free marketplace of information, its credibility in news presentation, and Kuwait's image in the Arab world. The results of this study support and reinforce our u...
33 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined balance and framing in election coverage in the Straits Times, Singapore's dominant English newspaper, over 16 days before the 2006 Singapore General Election, and found coverage of the competing parties lacked balance, as indicated by more coverage with a more favorable tone for the ruling People's Action Party.
Abstract: This study sought to determine if Singapore's press model has evolved beyond the development model to take on characteristics of other press models. It examined balance and framing in election coverage in the Straits Times, Singapore's dominant English newspaper, over 16 days before the 2006 Singapore General Election. As expected under the development model, and contrary to expectations under the social responsibility model, we found coverage of the competing parties lacked balance, as indicated by more coverage with a more favorable tone for the ruling People's Action Party. In framing, we found game frames predominated over issue frames, as predicted by media intrusion theory, in which commercial media favor competitive aspects of campaigns as a result of following commercial journalistic values. This finding contradicts the expectation that development journalism would likely have more issue frames, since it emphasizes issues and policies, and suggests that some commercial journalistic imperatives out...
31 citations
TL;DR: The authors explored how and if working-class information and communication technologies (ICTs) lead to the empowerment of the information have-less and the subsequent empowerment or disempowerment consequences of this process.
Abstract: This article explores how and if working-class information and communication technologies (ICTs) lead to the empowerment of the information have-less. It examines the ways in which have-less migrants, an important segment of have-less users, adopt and appropriate working-class ICTs and the subsequent empowerment or disempowerment consequences of this process. By using a new data collection method called ‘survey group,’ this study provides a combination of quantitative and qualitative evidence, collected in 2002 and 2006 in urban South China through a participatory empowerment design. Findings from the study suggest that working-class ICTs have diffused widely among migrants and that migrants’ socio-economic status significantly affects ICT connectivity. This impact creates openings for empowerment as well as disempowerment under a variety of social settings. The research design and its preliminary results have wider implications for ICTs for development (ICT4D) research in China, Asia, and globally.
30 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report on the localization of information and communication technology (ICTs), including how Internet cafes discern survival niches and how they often serve as reasonably priced initiation nodes for first-time users.
Abstract: Telecenter initiatives run by non-profit agents are widely believed to be critical access points for digital inclusion. By contrast, Internet or cyber cafes are viewed generally merely as commercial sites, thus falling outside the purview of non-profit initiatives promoting e-literacy. From a contextual study of Internet cafes in urban and suburban Mumbai and in peri-urban small towns of Maharashtra state, India, we report on the localization of information and communication technology (ICTs), including how Internet cafes discern survival niches and how they often serve as reasonably-priced initiation nodes for first-time users. This article discusses a variety of context-specific and commercial instances of ICT services as manifest in everyday commerce. We argue that for-profit spaces like Internet cafes make a major contribution to digital immersion in information-poor contexts and that these so-called ‘non-developmental’ (read commercial) spaces successfully use ICTs to sustain businesses, to generate ...
28 citations
TL;DR: The transition of systems theory from the age of equilibrium to entropy during the middle of the twentieth century, and then to the emergence at the end of the century, has been examined in this article.
Abstract: What we call systems theory is more a metatheory than a monolithic theory. It has provided a set of common signposts for all systems theorists to follow. This paper, written from the perspective of communications scholarship, examines the transition of systems theory from the age of equilibrium to the age of entropy during the middle of the twentieth century, and then to the age of emergence at the end of the century. It distinguishes between the old equilibrium-based systems theory and the entropy-based systems theory, as well as the ‘new’ emergence-centered social systems theory. It asserts the existence of close similarities between the fundamental concepts of systems theory and Asian philosophies, despite the cynical dismissal of these similarities by a Luhmann disciple. It documents how media sociology has applied chaos theory to justify market-driven journalism and claim the emergence of a global public sphere; and it looks at the potential of network analysis, an offshoot of systems theory.
25 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored the politics of differential engagement with Korean drama, particularly with relation to the formation of gender and class identities, and explored how women inhabit different discourses of femininity which in turn position them hierarchically in the social domain.
Abstract: This paper attempts to explore the politics of differential engagements with Korean drama, particularly with relation to the formation of gender and class identities. As social identities are mediated through the cultural, discourse becomes a significant site for understanding the relationships between structures and the formation of subjectivities. The imported Korean drama falls mostly into two genres – trendy drama and family drama. Both of them deal with family and love, and both of them aim at women audiences. As such, discourses of femininity provide a productive avenue for understanding: on the one hand, their place in social formation, that is, how women inhabit different discourses of femininity which in turn position them hierarchically in the social domain; on the other hand, how social processes, including globalization and nation formation, play a central role in constituting the different meanings and hierarchy of discourses of femininity. However, discourses of femininity also intersect wit...
25 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors deal with the public relations function in a prominent though controversial Arab media organization: Al Jazeera Satellite Channel and explore how Al Jazeera has been dealing with internal and external communication issues impelled initially by its role as a satellite broadcaster spearheading changes in a vibrant Arab mediascape.
Abstract: Over the past few decades, public relations has developed significantly in the West into a sophisticated management function which is recognized as an integral part of any organization's attempt to communicate with various persons, both within and outside the organization, in order to achieve its goals and objectives. However, this is not the case in the Arab world where public relations remains underdeveloped and, even when practised, is relatively unsophisticated. This paper deals with the public relations function in a prominent though controversial Arab media organization: Al Jazeera Satellite Channel. It explores how Al Jazeera has been dealing with internal and external communication issues impelled initially by its role as a satellite broadcaster spearheading changes in a vibrant Arab mediascape and subsequently by its expansion into a global broadcaster. Drawing on James Grunig's four models of communication to analyze Al Jazeera's public relations practices, the case study at hand outlines some o...
TL;DR: The case for reorienting the current paradigm of development communication to place greater reliance on new theoretical perspectives about the network society and to bring those theories to bear on studies of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially mobile phones, in the relatively under-examined research setting of urban entrepreneurial activity is presented in this paper.
Abstract: The case is presented for reorienting the current paradigm of development communication to place greater reliance on new theoretical perspectives about the network society and to bring those theories to bear on studies of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially mobile phones, in the relatively under-examined research setting of urban entrepreneurial activity. Support for this argument is made by reviewing the current and near-future state of information and communication technologies and services, by examining the implications for development of increased urbanization in the global South, and by considering promising new scholarly theorizing relevant to ICTs for economic development. Research questions are offered regarding the use and impact of ICTs in urban micro- and small enterprises.
TL;DR: The authors found a positive association between postmaterialist values and being a Chinese environmentalist, and Chinese environmentalists tend to be more skeptical of the media and the government than non-environmentalists.
Abstract: Using the Chinese part (N=1000) of the fourth-wave (2001) World Values Survey data, this research finds a positive association between news media use and willingness to be a Chinese environmentalist. However, this association disappears when political interest, a stronger and more consistent moderator of being a Chinese environmentalist, is put together in one model. The study also finds a positive association between postmaterialist values and being a Chinese environmentalist, and Chinese environmentalists tend to be more skeptical of the media and the government than non-environmentalists. While Chinese environmentalists prefer a triumph of environmental protection over economic development, they have no preference between statements of human beings mastering nature and human beings coexisting with nature, compared with non-environmentalist respondents.
TL;DR: This paper explored the motivations, symbolic rewards, and experiences of Filipinos involved in the creation of a magazine catering to the Filipino migrant workers' community in Israel and found that empowerment is derived from pleasure; it is grounded in recreational gratifications and a sense of mission that have no political dimensions.
Abstract: This study delves into the motivations, symbolic rewards, and experiences of Filipinos involved in the creation of a magazine catering to the Filipino migrant workers’ community in Israel. Although practices of resistance are the prevailing framework within research about diasporic media, this paper offers another perspective of the construction of a subjugated minority's sphericule. Power (or lack thereof) is not necessarily a basic force of motivation. Participation in cultural production is not perceived as a journalistic endeavor by Filipinos, but a rare and crucial opportunity to be heard, to have a voice, to win over coerced living circumstances of alienation, solitude, and hard work. In this context they are not ‘just the caregiver,’ but accomplished writers, winners of competitions, and recipients of respect. Empowerment is derived from pleasure; it is grounded in recreational gratifications and a sense of mission that have no political dimensions.
TL;DR: This study examines the changing distribution patterns for TV dramas in Korea and finds that the influence of a program's performance during its first run on a broadcast network on its performance in other channels is as strong as ever in this simultaneous diffusion pattern of distribution.
Abstract: While ‘windowing’ as a vehicle for intertemporal price discrimination has been the traditional distribution strategy for TV programs, new digital technologies are calling for new distribution methods. In this study, we examine the changing distribution patterns for TV dramas in Korea. Analysis of primetime dramas that were aired on terrestrial broadcasting networks (KBS, MBC, SBS) in Korea during 2004–2006 shows that the temporally linear sequence of windowing is being replaced by a strategy of (near) simultaneous distribution across all available channels. However, focusing on cable channels and Internet video-on-demand, this study finds that the influence of a program's performance during its first run on a broadcast network on its performance in other channels is as strong as ever in this simultaneous diffusion pattern of distribution. We also find that programs with lower audience homogeneity do better in any medium. The qualities of popular TV programs as we have known them do not seem to have change...
TL;DR: This paper explored the utility of an intergroup perspective to understand media bias as it emerges in the context of intergroup conflict and revealed the operation of a "naming bias" whereby both Christian and Muslim newspapers were more likely to explicitly name the religious outgroup as perpetrators of inter-group conflict than they were to attribute responsibility to their own group.
Abstract: Although the media are regularly charged with bias, empirical evidence of media bias is variable. The aim of the current research was to explore the utility of an intergroup perspective to understanding media bias as it emerges in the context of intergroup conflict. Content analysis was conducted on accounts of ongoing Christian–Muslim conflict in Ambon, Indonesia, as reported in both Christian and Muslim newspapers. This revealed the operation of a ‘naming bias’, whereby both Christian and Muslim newspapers were more likely to explicitly name the religious outgroup as perpetrators of intergroup conflict than they were to attribute responsibility to their own group. The prevalence of this bias was, however, asymmetrical across the two groups: it was pronounced in the Muslim newspaper but minimised in the Christian one. This pattern was evident in a general sample of media reports, and in a sample of matched reports in which the same incident was covered by both papers. The naming bias and its variable ope...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors employ three methods to understand media content: peak periods to ascertain the pattern of coverage, prominent frames used by newspapers, and the factors that influence the way these frames are created.
Abstract: This study employs three methods to understand media content. First, the study examines the ‘peak periods’ to ascertain the pattern of coverage. Second, with a sample of 4058 articles the study examines the prominent frames used by newspapers. Third, with the help of interviews of journalists from the same newspapers, the study examines the factors that influence the way these frames are created in the first place. Results show that, in general, the driving force of this coverage is marketability of the stories. This is implied by the overall coverage as well as the responses of journalists.
TL;DR: In this paper, the Chipko movement in northeastern India is used to propose an alternative way to think alternatively about communication and development, and the role of movement leaders, resource management, and strategies of communication.
Abstract: This article uses the Chipko movement in northeastern India to propose an additional way to think alternatively about communication and development. The Chipko movement took place in the 1970s. Movement members demanded better local resource management by the state and for a greater voice in the determining the use of the local forests. Acknowledging that alternatives to the dominant paradigm of communication and development already exist (the participatory communication models and the participatory action research models), this essay shows even these alternatives did not address certain problems associated with the dominant paradigm. After a brief review of the dominant paradigm and the alternatives this article examines certain dimensions of the Chipko movement, such as the role of movement leaders, resource management, and strategies of communication, and argues that a Chipko-based ‘regions in protest’ model should take a place among the various models posed as alternatives to the dominant paradigm.
TL;DR: This paper examined the representation of cultural values through the presidential candidate debates of the US and South Korea and found that the nature of presidential debates might actually overpower cultural norms, which are likely to be embedded in debates.
Abstract: This study intends to examine the representation of cultural values through the presidential candidate debates of the US and South Korea. A content analysis of the videostyles of debates in these two countries showed that political debates seemed to manifest differences in cultural values at large due to their nature as conspicuous indicators of cultural values. By examining specific verbal components of the debates, however, this study revealed that the nature of presidential debates might actually overpower cultural norms, which are likely to be embedded in debates. These findings imply that by imitating campaign practice developments in the US, many countries are transitioning to media-centered democracies in which various forms of mass media, particularly television, technological innovations, and political marketing approaches, have grown to play a significant role in influencing and changing the nature of electoral communication and other political practices around the globe.
TL;DR: This paper applied Napoli's (1997) media diversity model to the study of television audiences in Guangzhou, one of China's largest television markets, and developed an analytical framework to organize the measures of exposure diversity, i.e., audience concentration, fragmentation, polarization, and channel repertoires.
Abstract: This study applied Napoli's (1997) media diversity model to the study of television audiences in Guangzhou, one of China's largest television markets. An analytical framework was developed to organize the measures of exposure diversity, i.e., audience concentration, fragmentation, polarization, and channel repertoires, based on a secondary analysis of peoplemeter data. The results showed that the degree of audience concentration decreased while the degree of audience fragmentation and polarization increased in the market over the course of the past decade. Most notably, the rapid development of both overseas and local television channels greatly diminished CCTV's market monopoly. Overall, patterns of audience fragmentation and polarization are more limited than analogous audience behavior reported in the West.
TL;DR: In this article, a game-theoretic model was developed to analyze the strategic and competitive reaction of the incumbent in the newspaper market to a recent tabloid-like entertainment newspaper entrant and its impact on the industrial structure through a modification of Judd's multi-product competition model.
Abstract: Taiwan's daily newspaper industry is characterized by multiple products and heterogeneous competition. This article develops a game-theoretic model to analyze the strategic and competitive reaction of the incumbent in the newspaper market to a recent tabloid-like entertainment newspaper entrant and its impact on the industrial structure through a modification of Judd's multi-product competition model (1985), considering the property of heterogeneous competition in the Taiwan newspaper market. The leading incumbent operated newspapers in the general news and entertainment-oriented news segments of the market and our equilibrium analysis shows that closing its entertainment-oriented paper was the optimal response to the competitive entry in the short run. However, when the possibility that the entrant might invest in disruptive innovations in other product segments after entry is considered, the model shows that the incumbent's withdrawal from the entertainment market could induce more severe competition in...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the role of third-party mediation in particular and the extent to which four conflict management strategies, i.e., thirdparty mediation, integration, distribution, and avoidance, exist and affect conflict resolution in the Taiwanese government's executive-legislative relations.
Abstract: This paper explores the role of third-party mediation in particular and the extent to which four conflict management strategies, i.e., third-party mediation, integration, distribution, and avoidance in general, exist and affect conflict resolution in the Taiwanese government's executive–legislative relations. Additionally, third-party mediation mianzi (face) and renqing (favor) in relation to Chinese culture are explored. Two independent samples were included in this study. The first included 235 legislative members and their assistants working within the legislative branch. The second included 301 legislative liaisons from the executive branch in Taiwan. The results indicated that four conflict strategies had been used in legislative–executive relations, namely integrative, distributive, non-confrontational, and third-party mediation, with mediation being the least frequently used. Third-party mediation, across two independent samples, was shown to have the strongest correlations with non-confrontation/a...
TL;DR: In this article, the current state of the economic study of Asian media is reviewed, and the opportunities and challenges of these changes are discussed, and a deeper understanding of the economics of the Asian media systems and their implications is provided.
Abstract: Media industries in most Asian countries have undergone remarkable transformation over recent decades due to a combination of technological change, regulatory innovation, and newly unleashed market forces. While the media sectors of other countries and regions are also being transformed, Asian markets have been at the forefront of this wave of change and, as such, may serve as the best early indicators of the future of media industries. Because these changes are in large part responses to emerging economic opportunities, a deeper understanding of the economics of Asian media systems and their implications is valuable not only because the region comprises a major and increasing share of the world media market, but also because developments in Asian media might reasonably be viewed as harbingers of developments in media business strategies and industry structure elsewhere. This paper critically reviews the current state of the economic study of Asian media. The opportunities and challenges that this scholar...