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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">Dear colleagues,</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000"> </span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">We proudly announce the start of a new publication series called “Research Reviews for Media Development Practitioners”. The
reviews provide concise analyses of current research, both academic and non-academic, and discuss its practical relevance for international media assistance.</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-skip-ink:none">The first issue: Feminist and Gender Perspectives</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">The first issue is authored by Viviane Schönbächler, MEDAS 21 PhD student at Ruhr University Bochum, who made the start by reviewing
“Feminist and Gender Perspectives in the Literature on Media and Development”. Here are three key findings:</span></p>
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<ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-inline-start:48px">
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span>Scientific literature on gender in media development is sparse and is mostly contributed to by feminist scholars through dedicated chapters; it is not addressed as a cross-cutting
issue.</span></p>
</li></ul>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span>African Media Studies, even though an emerging field, might contribute to the broadening of media development scholarship, through, for instance, the disruption of fixed categorisations
and essentialisations often present in ‘Western’ ways of thinking. Gender perspectives in African Media Studies also bring the concept of intersectionality to our attention.</span></p>
</li></ul>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000"> </span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-inline-start:48px">
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span>Grey literature on women in media (development) is abundant, providing important empirical data, e.g. through the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP). However, the large number
of publications offered by various (media) development actors need to be read critically, taking into account their particular normative conditions of production.</span></p>
</li></ul>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">The entire research review including conclusions for practitioners is available online and free of charge at: </span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="http://fome.info/research-reviews"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-skip-ink:none">http://fome.info/research-reviews</span></a></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="http://www.medas21.net/resources/"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-skip-ink:none">www.medas21.net/resources/</span></a></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">The publication series has been initiated by
</span><a href="https://fome.info/"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-skip-ink:none">fome</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000"> and the graduate program
</span><a href="https://www.medas21.net/"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#1155cc;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-skip-ink:none">MEDAS 21</span></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000"> with the aim to inform
practitioners and researchers about key debates, evidence and emerging issues in international media development.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000"> </span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-skip-ink:none">Upcoming issues</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">Up next are:</span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-inline-start:48px">
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span>Peace Journalism: A Tool Within Media Development? (by Fabíola Ortiz dos Santos)</span></p>
</li><li dir="ltr" style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span>Sustainability: Going Beyond the Buzzword (by Michel Leroy)</span></p>
</li></ul>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">These reviews are currently being edited and will be released in the upcoming weeks. Stay tuned!</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000"> </span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-skip-ink:none">Want to contribute?</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">Further research institutions and individuals are invited to join the initiative to expand its scope and reach! For more information,
please contact ines.drefs@tu-dortmund.de</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000"> </span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">We hope you’ll enjoy the read!</span></p>
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">Best wishes from the editorial team</span></p>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">Christoph Dietz, Ines Drefs, Sofie Jannusch, Guido Keel
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<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:#000000">--
</p>
<div>Dr. Ines Drefs</div>
<div>Program Director MEDAS 21</div>
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<div>Erich Brost Institute for International Journalism</div>
<div>Otto-Hahn-Str. 2</div>
<div>44227 Dortmund</div>
<div>Germany</div>
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<div>Tel: +49 231 755-6976</div>
Email: ines.drefs@tu-dortmund.de<br>
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