Mass Media in Zambia: Demand–Side Measures of Access, Use and Reach

How can targeted research help members of the development community hone their information‐sharing efforts at the policy level and at the grassroots level? What can members of the development community do to help improve the policy information flow in Africa, with a view toward supporting effective development policies? These questions are at the core of the multiyear AudienceScapes project launched by InterMedia in spring 2009. Its broad aim is to provide research and analysis to guide the information‐sharing efforts of development practitioners at the grassroots and policy levels, thereby supporting more effective development outcomes. Pilot research was conducted in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. AudienceScapes researchers gather and analyze data at two levels: among citizens ‐‐ measuring their access to and use of media and communication technologies as well as word‐of‐mouth networks, and how these relate to citizens' exposure to information on key development topics (health, agriculture and personal finance); within policy communities ‐‐ mapping the complex "information ecology" in which development policymakers operate. This report on access and use of mass media draws from a nationally representative survey of Zambian individuals conducted in spring 2010. Other reports from Zambia address use of mobile phones, the policy information environment, and access to critical health information. All AudienceScapes analytical reports, as well as a data query tool and other features, are available on the AudienceScapes website (www.audiencescapes.org). These resources give development professionals and their partners the means to provide critical information when and where it is needed to empower local communities.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117567/1/2010_Murthy-Hussain_InterMedia.pd

What Best Explains Successful Protest Cascades? ICT s and the Fuzzy Causes of the Arab Spring

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97489/1/misr12020.pd

Democracy’s Fourth Wave? Digital Media and the Arab Spring

Did digital media really "cause" the Arab Spring, or is it an important factor of the story behind what might become democracy's fourth wave? An unlikely network of citizens used digital media to start a cascade of social protest that ultimately toppled four of the world's most entrenched dictators. Howard and Hussain find that the complex causal recipe includes several economic, political and cultural factors, but that digital media is consistently one of the most important sufficient and necessary conditions for explaining both the fragility of regimes and the success of social movements. This book looks at not only the unexpected evolution of events during the Arab Spring, but the deeper history of creative digital activism throughout the region.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117564/1/Democracy's Fourth Wave.pdfDescription of Democracy's Fourth Wave.pdf : PD

New Media to Further Global Engagement

This 2010 Brookings workshop paper explores opportunities for expanding the instruments available to foreign policy-makers to engage weak states. Fragmented and internally divided states can be difficult to influence by traditional foreign policy means and further can be difficult to understand through traditional media outlets. New models of civil society action catalyzed by new media—and more broadly grounded civic media—show potential for reducing internal conflict and promoting social trust among tribal, ethnic, and religious groups. Bringing new media communications together with civil society action and model programs creates more powerful opportunities to enhance understanding of these internal conflicts and thereby address them in ways that will help accelerate social and political change. This paper identifies new media tools and connection technologies that can foster or enhance civic engagement through case studies that span the globe. It was prepared for, and its recommendations reflect the proceedings of, the New Media working group at the 2010 U.S.-Islamic World Forum.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117566/1/2010_Madhany-Hussain_Brookings.pd

The Dictators’ Digital Dilemma: When Do States Disconnect Their Digital Networks?

When do governments decide to interfere with the Internet, and why? While many observers celebrate the creative use of digital media by activists and civil society leaders, there are a significant number of incidents involving government-led Internet shutdowns. Governments have offered a range of reasons for interfering with digital networks, employed many tactics, and experienced both costs and benefits in doing so.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117569/1/2011_Howard-Agarwal-Hussain_Brookings.pd

Opening Closed Regimes: What was the Role of Social Media during the Arab Spring?

Social media played a central role in shaping political debates in the Arab Spring. A spike in online revolutionary conversations often preceded major events on the ground. Social media helped spread democratic ideas across international borders.National Science Foundationhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117568/1/2011_Howard-Duffy-Freelon-Hussain-Mari-Mazaid_PITPI.pd

A missense mutation in the PISA domain of HsSAS-6 causes autosomal recessive primary microcephaly in a large consanguineous Pakistani family

Asymmetric cell division is essential for normal human brain development. Mutations in several genes encoding centrosomal proteins that participate in accurate cell division have been reported to cause autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH). By homozygosity mapping including three affected individuals from a consanguineous MCPH family from Pakistan, we delineated a critical region of 18.53 Mb on Chromosome 1p21.3-1p13.1. This region contains the gene encoding HsSAS-6, a centrosomal protein primordial for seeding the formation of new centrioles during the cell cycle. Both next-generation and Sanger sequencing revealed a homozygous c.185T>C missense mutation in the HsSAS-6 gene, resulting in a p.Ile62Thr substitution within a highly conserved region of the PISA domain of HsSAS-6. This variant is neither present in any single-nucleotide polymorphism or exome sequencing databases nor in a Pakistani control cohort. Experiments in tissue culture cells revealed that the Ile62Thr mutant of HsSAS-6 is substantially less efficient than the wild-type protein in sustaining centriole formation. Together, our findings demonstrate a dramatic impact of the mutation p.Ile62Thr on HsSAS-6 function and add this component to the list of genes mutated in primary microcephal

Review of ‘Third World Citizens and the Information Technology Revolution,’ by Nivien Saleh

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117572/1/2013_Third-World-Citizens.pd

Review of ‘Real–Time Diplomacy: Politics and Power in the Social Media Era,’ by Philip Seib.

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117571/1/2013_Real-Time-Diplomacy.pd

Review of ‘Transnational Media Events: The Mohammed Cartoons and the Imagined Clash of Civilizations,’ by Elisabeth Eide, Risto Kunelius and Angela Phillips (Editors).

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117570/1/2010_Transnational-Media-Events.pd