Independent media development led by the Dept. of State & the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) supports the national. security goal of developing sustainable democracies around the world. Independent media institutions play a role in supporting commerce, improving public health efforts, reducing corruption, & providing civic education. Despite important gains in some countries, the overall level of press freedom worldwide continued to worsen in 2004. This report examined: (1) U.S. government funding for independent media development overseas; (2) the extent to which U.S. agencies measure performance toward achieving results; & (3) the challenges the U.S. faces in achieving results. Charts & tables.
International media assistance is a small but important form of international democracy-promotion aid. Media assistance boomed after the 1989 transitions in Central Europe, but now flows to virtually all regions of the world. Today the media assistance industry is focused on the problem of sustainability: How are free and independent public affairs media supposed to maintain their editorial mission while facing hostile political systems or the demands of the consumer marketplace? Many media in developing countries have been or are grant-dependent. When grants are exhausted or withdrawn, media that were funded to further democratic consolidation typically wither and die. Some become mere grant chasers. Others abandon public service to the demands of market competition, or political patronage. As a result, governmental and non-governmental grant makers now emphasize the need for sustainability in considering grants in the media sector. Many grant recipients have grown frustrated, sometimes bitter, and have sought to take a much more active role in the way assistance programs are put together. Just how is sustainability to be achieved while also ensuring a public-service editorial mission? Exporting Press Freedom examines the history and practice of media assistance, and argues that the dilemma of media independence and sustainability is best understood as an economic problem rather than one of poor editorial standards or lack of will. It includes profiles of news and public affairs media in developing and democratizing countries, and also of two non-governmental organizations that have pioneered the use of low-interest loans in media assistance. These profiles exemplify strategic and entrepreneurial approaches to developing and supporting public service media. Such approaches may be of use not only in the developing world, but in the consolidated Western democracies as well, where concern has grown about poor journalistic performance and its consequences f
Sponsored by the Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology section of the American Sociological Association (CITAMS), this 22nd volume in Studies in Media and Communications explores the complex construction of democratic public dialogue in developing countries.
This book examines the effects of media interventions in the global South, and argues for a more adaptive and context-sensitive media development. The work investigates media development as part of statebuilding and the effects that Western-led media has in, and on, a newly built state. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, including interviews, observations and social surveys, it analyses the effect media interventions has on global South countries, from the population’s point of view. The findings show that in practice media development can be alien to the societies in which a free press is implemented, which can lead to unintended and negative consequences for social relations in a country. While the book uses South Sudan as a case study, it also presents different perspectives and shows that local views on the media are different from those of Western experts and policymakers. Therefore, the book advocates taking local views seriously and an adaptive media development that is sensitive to the context in which it is set up. This book will be of much interest to students of statebuilding, media studies, development studies and international relations in general.
A basic reference document for persons interested in the federal budget-making process. Emphasizes budget terms in addition to relevant economic and accounting terms to help the user appreciate the dynamics of the budget process. Also distinguishes between any differences in budgetary and non-budgetary meanings of terms. Over 300 terms defined. Index. Appendices: overview of the federal budget process, budget functional classification, and more.
The federal budget impacts American policies both at home and abroad, and recent concern over the exploding budgetary deficit has experts calling our nation's policies "unsustainable" and "system-dooming." As the deficit continues to grow, will America be fully able to fund its priorities, such as an effective military and looking after its aging population? In this third edition of his classic book The Federal Budget, Allen Schick examines how surpluses projected during the final years of the Clinton presidency turned into oversized deficits under George W. Bush. In his detailed analysis of the politics and practices surrounding the federal budget, Schick addresses issues such as the collapse of the congressional budgetary process and the threat posed by the termination of discretionary spending caps. This edition updates and expands his assessment of the long-term budgetary outlook, and it concludes with a look at how the nation's deficit will affect America now and in the future. "A clear explanation of the federal budget... [Allen Schick] has captured the politics of federal budgeting from the original lofty goals to the stark realities of today."—Pete V. Domenici, U.S. Senate
Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.