Center for Global Communication Studies 

The Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania (CGCS) is a leader in international education, training, and research in the fields of media development, strategic communication, and comparative media law and policy. CGCS draws on various disciplines to explore public policy issues and the ways media and globalization intersect with the changing nature of states. The Center has experience both advising on and implementing innovative communication programs and research projects in restrictive, transitional, conflict and post-conflict environments, with particular expertise in the areas of media law and policy, media and democratization, monitoring and evaluation of media interventions, and the design and implementation of training and capacity-building programs.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 69
  • Publication
    Researching Attitudes Towards Peace and Conflict and Darfur: An Analysis of a Research Initiative From February 2007 – October 2008
    (2008-11-01) Taylor, Maureen; Price, Monroe; Gagliardone, Iginio; Foreman, Athony; Abbott, Susan; Morgan, Libby
    The Researching Attitudes towards Peace and Conflict in Darfur project seeks to inform the ongoing peace process in Darfur by providing the various institutions involved in the mediation efforts with a deeper understanding of Darfurians’ perspectives on the causes of the conflict, its impact on their lives, and the role of the international community in its resolution. The project was initiated at the request of Albany Associates (www.albanyassociates.com), which was contracted by the UK’s Department for International Development in 2006 to engage in communication about the Darfur peace process among the population of Darfur and other key stakeholders on behalf of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) and later United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). The project is a partnership of the Center for Global Communication Studies (Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania) and the Stanhope Centre for Communications Policy Research, and is funded by contributions from the Dutch Ministry for Development Cooperation and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The guiding premise of the project is that complex, seemingly intractable conflicts cannot be effectively resolved without taking into account the positions and opinions of those most directly affected.
  • Publication
    Public Service Broadcasting in Transition: A Documentary Reader
    (2011-11-01) Price, Monroe; Raboy, Marc
    This is a book of documents, comments, and cases that has been prepared, at the request of the European Institute for the Media, for the use of government officials and citizens interested in strengthening public service broadcasting in transition societies. In this book we try to provide a small chest of tools and background information that will be of assistance. We start, in Chapter 1, with an overview of some of the general principles of public service broadcasting, and include pertinent comments on each of them. Here, as throughout the book, we concentrate on issues of governance and financing, with some attention as well to issues surrounding programming. In Chapter 2, we turn to current issues in the European-level debate, partly from the perspective of European expectations and standards that are employed in evaluation and accession processes. In Chapter 3, we look primarily at the UK and Germany, and also at Canada, presenting documents that might illuminate and help in the understanding of the respective models that these long-established systems represent. In Chapter 4, we provide documents on the experience with public service broadcasting in various transformations in transition societies in the last decades.
  • Publication
    Comparative Analysis of International Co- And Self-Regulation in Communications Markets
    (2007-09-01) Latzer, Michael; Price, Monroe; Saurwein, Florian; Verhulst, Stefaan; Hollnbuchner, Katharina; Rance, Laura
    Globalisation, liberalisation and convergence of communication markets have triggered intensive debates about the options for regulatory reform, including the growing role of alternative modes of regulation (self-regulation, co-regulation). These alternatives or supplements to traditional statutory regulation are marked by the involvement of nongovernmental actors in regulatory processes. Both industry and policy makers consider alternative regulation to have great potential for solving problems in communication markets. Regulators are increasingly required to assess the potential and limitations of alternative regulatory institutions to inform or improve regulatory systems. As part of this, they are examining how existing alternative regulatory schemes work and what improvements can be made to them. Regulatory authorities are seeking to identify best practice in other countries in relation to self- and co-regulation and regulatory innovation. Empirical evaluations are intended to contribute to a better understanding of alternative modes of regulation and increase the knowledge base for decisions on whether various types of co- and self-regulatory solutions might be preferable to full statutory regulation. This report is intended to contribute to the regulator’s assessment- and regulatory choice-efforts. It examines whether and how success and failure of selected self- and co-regulatory schemes can be explained by their respective institutional design, by characteristics of the industries involved and by the established regulatory environment. In other words, the performance of selected self- and co-regulatory schemes is examined comparatively and it is investigated as to whether and how performance differences can be explained by differences in the organisational design of the alternative regulatory institutions (institutional/organisational success factors) and by differences regarding their particular industrial and regulatory environments (enabling contextual factors).
  • Publication
    Building New Media Institutions in the MENA Region: A Roadmap towards Media Law and Policy Reform Summary Report
    (2011-08-01) Wong, Cynthia
    Building New Media Institutions in the MENA Region: A Roadmap towards Media Law and Policy Reform was the first in a multi-part series of workshops aimed at bringing together key stakeholders from the academic, law and policy and civil society communities interested in participating in a dialogue intended to aid the media transitions in the Middle East and North Africa. The workshop was organized by the Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, with support from Internews Network. This synthesis report draws both from meeting discussions and draft reports submitted and presented at the meeting: Dr. Joan Barata, Draft Report on the Political Transition in Tunisia from the Point of View of Regulation of Communication Media (June 2011); Toby Mendel, Draft Report on Freedom of Expression in Egypt: Opportunities for Reform (June 2011); and Draft Report on the Internet Policy Framework in Egypt (June 2011). Click here to learn more about the workshop.
  • Publication
    Benchmarking Demand: Turkey’s Contested Internet
    (2015-10-01) Nisbet, Erik C; Dal, Aysenur; Behrouzian, Golnoosh; Çarkoglu, Ali
    The role of the Internet as a fundamental tool for communication and empowerment is one that should not be inhibited as the limitless nature of the medium allows for a broader, unfiltered, and more democratic exchange of information. These features become increasingly important in conditions where the mainstream media are unwilling or unable to provide the public with the information necessary to function as democratic citizens and maintain political accountability. Though an open Internet tends to be valued by more democratic governments, the percentage of countries adhering to the standards of open and free media is dismally low. In a majority of countries, governments maintain a stringent level of control over many of the mainstream information outlets, making the Internet a vital source of alternative information for the people living within these environments. While media censorship is certainly not a new phenomenon, it becomes especially noteworthy when a country experiences a sudden setback in the realms of media independence and freedom of information. Such cases allow for a more nuanced observation of how much the public values media freedom and their expectations of media performance. Turkey is a striking example of how a sudden dip in media freedom may impact the social and political climate of a country. This survey report is a product of an ongoing research project by faculty and graduate students at the Ohio State University and Koç University with support from the Center for Global Communication Studies’ Internet Policy Observatory at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School of Communication. The data in this report was collected between December 20, 2014 and February 2, 2015 and represents the views of 1161 respondents from that time. The goal of the project is to understand how people in Turkey perceive and value the debate over Internet freedoms in Turkey and how they employ the Internet and social media as alternative information resources within a heavily censored mass media environment. This is an important question more broadly as 85% of the globe’s population live within censored media systems like Turkey.
  • Publication
    Benchmarking Public Demand: Russia’s Appetite for Internet Control
    (2015-02-01) Nisbet, Erik C
    This report explores the Russian public demand for internet freedom. Produced by Erik Nisbet with the Center for Global Communication Studies and the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, the study seeks to uncover attitudes and opinions about internet regulation, censorship of online content, and the potential for citizen mobilization and protest. Key findings from the report include: Almost half (49%) of all Russians believe that information on the Internet needs to be censored; A plurality (42%) of Russians believe foreign countries are using the Internet against Russia and its interests. About one-quarter of Russians think the Internet threatens political stability (24%); About four out of five Russians (81%) stated a negative feeling toward calls to protest against the government and change political leadership; The Russian government and the Russian security service were virtually tied in the percentage of Russians (42% and 41% respectively) that cited these organizations as trusted regulators of the Internet; 51% of Russian believe the primary motivation of government legislation creating a blacklist of websites is the maintenance of political stability versus 13% who believe the primarily motivation was limiting democratic freedoms; 39% of Russian believe personal blogs should be regulated the same as mass media websites.
  • Publication
    Benchmarking Demand: Pakistan and the Internet Users’ Perspective
    (2016-05-01) Khan, Arzak; Nisbet, Erik C
    This report is the third in a series that examines public attitudes and preferences about Internet censorship and regulation in states in which media and Internet use are subject to increasing restrictions. In the context of Pakistan, where rapid increases in internet access and usage are accompanied by a propensity to regulate this new cyber-territory, the goal of this report is to uncover the views of Pakistani Internet users with respect to the regulation and control of online spaces. In each of these reports, we seek to provide insight into who uses the Internet in each country and the most used and trusted sources of online and offline information. But more than that, the surveys seek to add to a process: learning how to plumb general views about the influence of the Internet on politics and society and chart attitudes concerning censorship on various political, religious and social grounds. The reports test an approach to determining who, among competing institutions, people trust to regulate the Internet, what constitutes their policy preferences about Internet regulation, and the extent to which Internet regulation issues might figure in political mobilization efforts in furtherance of Internet freedom.
  • Publication
    Welcoming the Dragon: The Role of Public Opinion in Russian Internet Regulation
    (2015-02-01) Asmolov, Gregory
    This reflection on the report “Benchmarking Public Demand for Internet Freedom: Russia’s Appetite for Internet Control,” argues that protecting internet freedom is not possible without a shift in public opinion. Using Russian examples, Asmolov suggests that public opinion concerning internet regulation is a function of whether the online communications environment is perceived as dangerous–giving officials a chance to play an instrumental role in fostering a sense of peril online and fomenting an “internet as threat” narrative in the minds of the public.
  • Publication
    Assessing Impact, Evaluating Adaptability: A Decade of Radio La Benevolencija in Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC
    (2014-05-05) Kogen, Lauren
    For the past decade, Radio La Benevolencija (RLB) has worked in Rwanda, Burundi, and the DRC to provide citizens with tools for recognizing and resisting manipulation to violence and healing trauma. Until now, however, its numerous programs, projects, and contributions had not been synthesized, and its findings had not been evaluated as whole. The Center for Global Communication Studies at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania conducted an evaluation of RLB’s past ten years of work in the Great Lakes Region. In addition to understanding the aggregate impact of RLB’s programs, this meta-evaluation seeks to investigate what RLB’s work offers to others engaged in this field. We therefore seek to understand the adaptability of RLB’s methodology to other countries and contexts and how the RLB model might be used a prototype for future interventions.
  • Publication
    Commercial Remote Sensing Satellites and the Regulation of Violence in Areas of Limited Statehood
    (2015-01-01) Livingston, Steven
    The number and sophistication of commercial remote sensing satellites has grown steadily since 2000 when the first high resolution satellite went into service. The nature and trajectory of the growth in satellite technology is outlined in this paper. The discussion is placed in the context of an international relations theory about statehood. An area of limited statehood framework is outlined, especially as it relates to the maladroit use of force by limited states unable or unwilling to discipline security personnel or otherwise control the use of force. Of course, another possibility is that the use of excessive and indiscriminant violence is deliberate. We consider the “regulation of violence” to be deliberate violence by nonstate actors serving as “functional equivalents” for state oversight functions not found in limited statehood. NGOs and other international institutions, comprising what Keck and Sikkink call a Transnational Activist Network (TAN), use remote sensing satellites to gather data about uses of force by weak-state security apparatuses. Put more formally, we investigate the use of commercial, high-resolution remote sensing data by TANs as they attempt to regulate excessive and indiscriminate violence used by the security apparatuses of states that can be thought of as limited in key dimensions.