Press Service Research Articles

Sustainable Agriculture has a Woman's Face

Sabina Zaccaro is a journalist and gender global co-ordinator at the IPS-Inter Press Service, Rome, Italy.

A Climate Coalition of the Willing

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. See, for example, Robert Keohane and David Victor, “The Regime Complex for Climate Change,” Discussion Paper 10–33, The Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, January 2010, http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/19880/regime_complex_for_climate_change.html. Note, however, that their definition of the regime complex excludes private and sub-state actors. 2. See, for example, J. Lawrence Broz and Daniel Maliniak, “Malapportionment, Gasoline Taxes, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,” presented at the Third Annual Conference on The Political Economy of International Organizations, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., January 28–30, 2010, http://dss.ucsd.edu/~jlbroz/pdf_folder/wip/broz_maliniak_PEIO.pdf. 3. Antoaneta Bezlova, “China's Climate Change Plan: The Debate Goes On,” Inter Press Service News Agency, November 6, 2009, http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49166. 4. National Development and Reform Commission, “China's National Climate Change Programme,” June 2007, http://www.ccchina.gov.cn/WebSite/CCChina/UpFile/File188.pdf. 5. For further information on Chinese climate-change policy, see the government's online informational portal, http://www.ccchina.gov.cn/en/; also see ChinaFAQs, an informational Web site sponsored by the Washington-based World Resources Institute, http://www.chinafaqs.org/. 6. U.S. Energy Information Administration, “International Energy Statistics,” http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject/IEDIndex3.cfm?tid=90&pid=44&aid=8. 7. For an overview of the negotiations of the ozone regime from the perspective of the chief U.S. negotiator, see Richard Benedick, Ozone Diplomacy: New Directions in Safeguarding the Planet (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998). 8. For more information, see the organization's Web site, www.c40cities.org; for a detailed study of “urban climate governance,” see Heike Schroeder and Harriet Bulkeley, “Global Cities and the Governance of Climate Change: What is the Role of Law in Cities?,” Fordham Urban Law Journal 36 (2009): p. 313, http://law2.fordham.edu/publications/articles/400flspub17715.pdf. 9. For more information, see the network's Web site, http://www.incr.com/; for an analysis, see Michael MacLeod, “Private Governance and Climate Change: Institutional Investors and Emerging Investor-Driven Governance Mechanisms,” St. Antony's International Review 5, no. 2 (February 2010): pp. 46–65. 10. For a partial list, see Mathew Hoffmann, “Climate Governance Experiments,” http://matthewhoffmann.wordpress.com/climate-governance-experiments/. 11. Nicholas Lutsey and Daniel Sperling, ‘‘America's Bottom-up Climate Change Mitigation Policy’’, Energy Policy 36, no. 2 (February 2008): pp. 673—685. 12. President Barack Obama, “Executive Order 13514—Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance,” October 8, 2009, http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-24518.pdf. 13. The countries surveyed were Bangladesh, China, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Russia, Senegal, Turkey, the United States, and Vietnam; see The World Bank, “Public attitudes toward climate change: findings from a multi-country poll,” December 3, 2009, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2010/Resources/Background-report.pdf. 14. U.S. Energy Information Agency, “Greenhouse Gases, Climate Change, and Energy,” http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/1605/ggccebro/chapter1.html. 15. See, for example, the EPA's Household Emissions Calculator, http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator.html; the Nature Conservancy's Carbon Footprint Calculator, http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/?gclid=CNyfr4DB4aQCFctL5QodVihNGg; or Carbon Footprint Ltd, http://www.carbonfootprint.com/. 16. The UN Global Compact's registry can be found at http://www.unglobalcompact.org/ParticipantsAndStakeholders/index.html. 17. David Vogel, Trading Up: Consumer and Environmental Regulation in a Global Economy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997). 18. Paul-Erik Veel, “Carbon Tariffs and the WTO: An Evaluation of Feasible Policies,” Journal of International Economic Law 12, no. 3 (2009): pp. 749–800. Additional informationNotes on contributorsThomas HaleThomas Hale is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Politics at Princeton University and a Visiting Fellow at LSE Global Governance, London School of Economics

Towards European synergism and entertaining the public

Towards European synergism and entertaining the public

Methods for studying and modeling the requirements of workers of press services and marketing subdivisions (using the example of the prime time LLC)

This paper describes methods of organizing the study of the information requirements of clients as a business process for a company that monitors and analyzes mass media. The modeling of these requirements is seen as an instrument for increasing the loyalty of clients and as a method for optimizing the final product of a company to the individual requirements of the consumer.

WITHDRAWN: Anti-cancer potentials of a plant alkaloid (Scopoletin): Induction of apoptosis through caspase activation and cell cycle arrest

The editor has not accepted the submitted manuscript for publication, and the author was so informed. Due to a subsequent administrative error, the Publisher mistakenly included the manuscript in its Articles in Press service. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy.

WITHDRAWN: The structures and magnetic properties of Al-doped Fe n( n=2-8) clusters: a DFT study

The editor has not accepted the submitted manuscript for publication, and the author was so informed. Due to a subsequent administrative error, the Publisher mistakenly included the manuscript in its Articles in Press service. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy .

On the edge. AMARC Europe between ‘movement entrepreneurs’ and the grassroots. Notes from the Bucharest meeting

The (re)founding conference of the European chapter of the World Association of Community Broadcasters (AMARC) took place in Bucharest, Romania, in December 2008 ( http://www.amarc.org/conference_europe/index.html). About 60 community media practitioners from 18 countries in Eastern, Central and Western Europe, took part in the four-day meeting. Items on the agenda included the debate on current ‘hot issues’ such as the digital switch-over, the foundation of the European chapter of the AMARC Women’s International Network, skill-exchange workshops, a plan of action for the coming three years, and the election of a new board. The conference was crucial in fostering networking among radios, and enhanced the relationships with other players, such as the UNESCO and the news agency Inter Press Service. But should it have been more than that? This article takes a critical look at the Bucharest conference, and analyses what AMARC Europe has done so far, its potential role for community media in a pan-European continent, and the perspectives for the future.

Gender Mainstreaming in International News: A Case Study of the Inter Press Service

From 1994 to 1999, the global news agency Inter Press Service (IPS) implemented a gender mainstreaming policy in its newsrooms. This study examined organizational changes and news coverage that IPS advocated, as well as methods employed to bring about these changes. It shows that IPS has not been able to mainstream gender into all aspects of the organization and news coverage, and it considers reasons for the lacking implementation of the policy, while documenting IPS's efforts to improve women's access and representation in international news.

Raising an Alternative Voice

Inter Press Service (IPS) is widely considered to be distinctly different from the conventional news agency. Research on this alternative news agency has mainly focused on the IPS news to underwrite this statement, but much less attention has been paid to the broader production context. Drawing on the findings of twenty-six semi-structured in-depth interviews, this article explores the value and role of IPS in the digital news market of the 21st century as perceived by staff members, stakeholders and independent scholars. In general, interviewees argue that IPS and its news copy are a useful and necessary addition to mainstream news media, as well as a crucial source of information and a partner for the global civil society. However, the study also indicates that IPS will need to face a number of professional, organisational and financial challenges if the news agency aspires to continue its unique role of sensitising the public and bridging the information gap between North and South.

Your 10,000 manuscripts

After 6 years in office, we are finishing our mandate as Chief Editors of the European Respiratory Journal ( ERJ ). It has been a great honour and pleasure to serve the journal, the European Respiratory Society, and… you! Based on undergraduate management knowledge, we started with the mission: “rapid, reliable and responsive”. Has that been achieved? Well, regarding the central part of our mission, we have tried our utmost to guarantee the reliability of both the ERJ and the data published. Is the ERJ responsive? Over the years, we have stimulated the usage of the ERJ as a platform for debate on the latest issues in respiratory science, through editorials, perspective papers, and our correspondence section. We hope you liked it. And were we rapid? Our ERJ In Press service (http://erj.ersjournals.com/pap.dtl) has indeed increased the early access to accepted papers. But, to be honest, we believe that there is still some room for improvement with …

Zionism and the Palestinians

In discussions of the Arab–Israeli conflict, few claims have resonated more widely, or among a more diverse set of observers, than the Zionist movement's alleged non-recognition of the Palestinian ...

Congo: Between Hope and Despair

Research Article| June 01 2008 Congo: Between Hope and Despair Michael Deibert Michael Deibert Michael Deibert is the author of Notes from the Last Testament: The Struggle for Haiti (Seven Stories Press, 2005). He has reported on Africa for a variety of publications since 2007 and served as the Democratic Republic of Congo correspondent for the Inter Press Service. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google World Policy Journal (2008) 25 (2): 63–68. https://doi.org/10.1162/wopj.2008.25.2.63 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Michael Deibert; Congo: Between Hope and Despair. World Policy Journal 1 June 2008; 25 (2): 63–68. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/wopj.2008.25.2.63 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsWorld Policy Journal Search Advanced Search You do not currently have access to this content.

An Evaluation of the Press and Communication Reforms of the Prodi Commission of 1999—2004

A B S T R A C T ■ The Commission's press and communication service plays a central role in the EU's dealings with news organizations. However, following the fall of the Santer Commission, even the service's own press officials admitted the organization was failing and constantly on the defensive against an increasingly hostile media. It was in this context that Santer's successor, former Commission president Romano Prodi, pledged radical reform, making the goal of a `modern and professional' press service a priority. The Prodi Commission concluded that it needed a much more positive and proactive way of working. At a time when the Barroso Commission is proposing its own programme of change in communication policy, this article assesses the inheritance that the Prodi reforms left behind, with particular reference to their impact as seen by journalists from one of the member states in which traditionally it has been most difficult to communicate a positive image of the EU. ■

The Forest for the Trees: Trade, Investment and the China-in-Africa Discourse

* We thank the Hong Kong Research Grants Council for its generous support. 1 See Maxi Schoeman, “China in Africa: the Rise of a Hegemony?” in China and Africa: Partners in Development and Security?, Danish Institute of International Affairs, Copenhagen, 23 August 2007. 2 Ironically, the discourse is most developed in the US, yet the US stood alone in refusing to recognize a right to development when the United Nations adopted it in 1998. “US Votes Against Development as Basic Human Right,” Inter Press Service (IPS), 10 December 1998. 3 “Patron of African Misgovernment,” New York Times (NYT), 19 February 2007. 4 See, e.g., Yaroslav Trofi mov, “In Africa, China’s Expansion Begins to Stir Resentment,” Wall Street Journal (WSJ), 2 February 2007. The Forest for the Trees: Trade, Investment and the China-in-Africa Discourse

The Return of Net Assessment

It has been almost two decades since the notion of ‘net assessment’ preoccupied strategic thought during the Cold War. It has not been revisited in a sustained manner since a flurry of articles and...

The gift of form: Brassaï and the crypt of Saint-Sulpice

This article provides a brief introduction to an intriguing series of Brassai photographs of sculpture stored in the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris during World War II. It employs a contemporary set of photographs on the same subject by an unidentified photographer of the French Press & Information Service to furnish an illuminating comparison with the Brassai images. Placing these photographs in their historical context, the article explores the events surrounding the relocation of sculpture to the crypt of the church and highlights the extraordinary efforts made by the City of Paris to protect works of art during the war. It also discusses how Brassai and his contemporaries used the imagery of the wartime art evacuations as an effective and haunting metaphor for the human toll of war.

International News Agencies and the War Debate of 2003

A stratified random sample of articles about the debate from 29 January 2003, to 18 February 2003, leading up to the US–Iraq conflict was selected from six news agencies – AP, Agence France Presse, Reuters, Xinhua, ITAR-TASS and Inter Press Service. US official sources were cited most frequently by all agencies except IPS and ITAR-TASS, which showed a nationalistic bias in its sourcing. Neither the western news agencies nor Xinhua's sourcing patterns were nationalistic, and their coverage was more balanced than IPS and ITAR-TASS. However, the non-western news agencies presented significantly more non-western viewpoints in their coverage of the pre-war debate.

The influence of familiarity and usability on loyalty to online journalistic services: The role of user experience

The spread of the use of the Internet has had a significant effect on the newspaper sector. Potential cannibalization between the digital and traditional channels, as well as growing competition have made it necessary to gain greater loyalty among consumers of Internet press services. This paper analyzes the effect of consumer familiarity with a website and the degree of perceived usability on levels of loyalty. The results show that familiarity only affects loyalty among consumers who have more experience in using the Internet. However, perceived usability of a website has a significant influence, irrespective of how experienced consumers are. Finally, the paper offers various recommendations for Internet press management and points out the main limitations of the study.

"Asterix Repelling the Invader": Globalization and Nationalism in News Coverage of Jose Bove and the McDonald's Incident

This article examines Associated Press and Agence France-Presse wire service coverage of Frenchman Jose Bove's 1999 ransacking of a Millau, France, McDonald's, as well as his subsequent trial. News media coverage of this incident represents an opportunity to examine deeper issues surrounding globalization, nationalism, and the media's-in this case, international news agencies'-role in constructing and maintaining both. Analysis suggests that both services covered the Bove incidents similarly, downplaying the broader context of corporate capitalism and the global movement to resist it, while elevating Bove to be a key representative of the movement. At the same time that they anointed Bove as a French icon (contributing to "Bovemania"), the wire services constructed a comical caricature of him, which ultimately discredits the activists and the movement he represents.

The Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire, 1828-1967 (review)

The Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire, 1828-1967. By D. Kern Holoman. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. [xvi, 620 p. ISBN 0-520-23664-5. $95.] Illustrations, facsimiles, bibliography, index. Writing the biography of an orchestra that existed for nearly 140 years is no easy task, especially when the archival materials are as voluminous and rich as those of the celebrated Societe des concerts du Conservatoire, the forerunner of the Orchestre de Paris, and doyen of the capitol's Sunday afternoon concert scene. As D. Kern Holoman's extensive study shows, file upon file yields material of jaw-dropping fascination: an orchestra that threatens to strike at the slightest hint of either inappropriate government pressure or governmental concessions to rival enterprises; that punishes a perceived Nazi collaborator by leaving the stage as he is about to begin a piano concerto; that forces its chorus to agree to its own death by attrition (simply jettisoning its female chorus members, who were never real members of the society anyway); and whose internal power struggles come slowly to the boil before overflowing into slanging matches of vivid passion. Holoman's story is, quite simply, a gripping read. Of the many organizational approaches open to him, Holoman has elected to write a chronicle. His conductor-by-conductor sequence of chapters is enriched, however, by short Overview sections drawing together the main features of three large slices of the Society's history (Part 2: 1828-72; Part 3: 1872-1919; Part 4: 1919-67). Preceding the first Overview is a substantial Part 1 explaining the structure, personnel, and traditions of the Society, particularly as established in its earliest years, but frequently including comparisons with twentieth-century practice. Holoman has also done readers a service by publishing large swathes of the documentation associated with the project on the Internet (http://hector.ucdavis.edu/sdc/ accessed 30 August 2004). The book's range of discursive subjects is vast, not least because of the major social, technological, and artistic upheavals through which the orchestra lived: three wars (including two occupations); industrialization; the Great Depression; artistic competition; the system; the development of orchestral touring; recording and broadcasting. Local matters seem to interest Holoman most. One of the great bonuses of his account is the attention given to the minutiae of the orchestra's finances: instrument hire costs versus drayage charges (in the early days), repeated (and largely successful) demands for favorable treatment in respect of the detested poor tax, the payment of star soloists (once it became necessary to do so), and the negotiation down to the last centime of contracts with overseas agents organizing tour schedules (including post-tour disputes). We witness the belated recognition (precipitated by the financial crisis of around 1903) that to take market from less august rivals the orchestra would have to begin taking publicity seriously and pay properly for a press service; and we perhaps the sense of being caught out by unintended consequences when the broadcasting of dress rehearsals causes much of the Society's audience to skip the Sunday performance, depriving it of both the buzz of a full hall and the benefit of a full cash box. These concerns, usually marginalized in musicological discussions, emerge with refreshing clarity as the crucial issues they were, often taking precedence over such relatively unproblematic matters (for the Society, if not for outsiders) as the choice of the next fortnight's concert program. In the background, Holoman's frequent statements of accounts reveal just how paltry the annual share that each societaire in this collective received after a year of rehearsals and concerts in a Society whose founding articles nevertheless contained an exclusivity clause in respect to players' careers as orchestral concert musicians. …