Thousands Will Die. They Are Victims Of Senseless Murder, But Should T

Thousands will die. They are victims of senseless murder, but should the murderous felons die as well? Capital Punishment is a major controversy. Debating whether they receive execution or spend the rest of their ruined lives rotting in a jail cell seems pointless. The government throws away these human's lives. We control the lives of these criminals and we should not waste them. We should use the thousands of them to better our society. Rather than capital punishment, the government should create work teams using death row criminals to better our communities. The death penalty has been debated since the beginning of humankind. Today a total of 94 countries and territories use the death penalty for ordinary crime, including the United States. In the other 57 countries in the world, the death penalty no longer exists. In some of the 57 countries, capital punishment is only banned for ordinary crimes and still effective for military crimes or crimes committed in exceptional circumstances such as wartime (Doan, 2). Currently 34 of the states in the U.S. exercise capital punishment. The most recent to abolish capital punishment was Massachusetts, in 1984, and New York, in 1995, was the most recent to reinstate it, according to the NAACP. During 1977 and 1994, Texas executed the highest number of prisoners, a total of 85. As of 1996 there were 3,122 inmates on death row. These convicts could help with government labor with a hope that they might be free someday. Figures show that, with men, 80% decide in favor of the death penalty, and women the vote was 74%.. White populations vote 81% for capital punishment and blacks only 53% (Doan, 2). This information means that the general public will resolve to end the lives of these killers. By offering an alternative, these figures may alter themselves significantly. Those opposing the death penalty would obtain some level of satisfaction with a work program for death row inmates. "More often than not, families of murder victims do not experience the relief they expected to feel at the execution, says Lula Redmond, a Florida therapist." ( Brownlee 28). "The United States is the execution capital of the world. Now isn't that something to be proud of?" Katie Kondrat asks sarcastically in "The Death Penalty a Just Punishment?". "A killer who is killed can not kill again, but a killer in jail until he dies also can't kill." The well known argument against capital punishment remains as the morality issue. Some say killing the murderer will not bring the victim back to life. The U.S. needs a plan that will not execute but use the remaining lifetimes in a positive manner. The common argument for capital punishment is that it saves tax dollars, it decreases prison overcrowding and provides equal justice. With the proposed plan, the government would save millions on not having to hire road crews and other manual labor task forces. The monies generated by the work provided should solve the prison crowding issue by freeing up more funds to build and staff bigger prisons. "Without severe punishment the justice system says that a murderer's life is more important than the victim's." says Connie Sun in contrasting part of "The Death Penalty a Just Punishment?". A lifetime of service to the victim and his family may be viewed as equal justice. What the Bible has to say about capital punishment affects peoples view on it. The whole issue seems to stem from ideas of morality. "Men presume to claim things that are God's alone. They even want to decide over the life and death of people and nations," says Eberhard Arnold. "They forget that it is the Lord who kills and makes alive." ( Bruderhof 2). The New Testament is based on forgiveness. "Father forgive them; for they know not what they do," states Luke 23:34 of the New Testament. The Bible also contains the Ten Commandments, one of which states , "Thou shalt not kill". From a Biblical standpoint, capital punishment remains unacceptable to its followers. This is a strong argument for constructively using the life of one who has killed by not repeating the same act twice. It contains an element of forgiveness while still making the offender confess to the misery he has caused others. We should make use of the murderers on death row. Punishment should not come as three minutes of minimal physical and mental pain as in execution. These killers should have to live with their guilt, and also do more than eat up money

Back-Formation

Back-Formation Back-Formation Back-Formation By Maeve Maddox Back-formation is one of several methods by which new words are added to the language. An often-quoted example is the word pea. Before pea was created by back-formation, English had the singular noun pease. Here are two examples of its early use from the OED, (some spellings altered): All this world’s pride is not worth a pease. As like as one pease is to another. The plural was peasen: The leaves of beans and peasen Cherries, gooseberries, and green peasen Over time, as -s shoved out -en as the sign of the plural, speakers came to feel that pease was a plural; thus was born our singular pea and its plural form peas. Back-formation is especially frequent in the creation of new verbs. Some writers use the verb â€Å"to back form,† a back-formation of back-formation; so far, this coinage hasn’t made it into either the OED or M-W. Sometimes the coinage is intentionally jocular, as with the verb buttle from butler: â€Å"Nobody could buttle like James† Sometimes the new verb formed from a noun fills a need and is quietly absorbed into the language, like the verb edit from editor. At their first appearance in the language, back-formations often stir feelings of revulsion. Test your own reactions to the following sentences: I  hate  it when people  enthuse  too much over food. Ive met him twice, but never had  the chance to conversate. To what extentdid the US intelligence community surveil the anti-apartheid movement in the United States?† Now I would  never dis my  own mama just to get recognition.   Britains most senior police officer is liaising with US law agencies. Have you accepted the legitimacy of the back-formations that have created the verbs enthuse, conversate, surveil, dis (also spelled diss), and liaise? Or do you get that fingernail on the blackboard feeling when you see them or hear them? Conversely, gauge your reaction to these verbs: diagnose, donate, eavesdrop, evaluate, kidnap, manipulate, proliferate, and vaccinate. My guess is that the second list raised nobody’s blood pressure. Yet, each of the verbs in this list is a back-formation from a pre-existing noun: diagnosis, donation, eavesdropper, evaluation, kidnapper, manipulation, proliferation, and vaccination. Time and usage will determine whether back-formations like surveil and conversate will prevail. The determining factor will be usefulness. If the coinage is felt to fill a gap in the language, speakers will eventually embrace it. Related posts: â€Å"Kudo vs Kudos† â€Å"Vaccination and Baccalaureate† â€Å"Why We Love To Hate Liaise† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Punctuating â€Å"So† at the Beginning of a SentenceHomogeneous vs. Heterogeneous40 Words Beginning with "Para-"

Save students money Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Save students money - Assignment Example The author believes that such a change, if brought about would be potentially disastrous as it would lead to printed textbooks becoming obsolete. In my opinion, such a change is unfavorable for students as using e-books would be inconvenient for them and for some, would be more expensive then purchasing textbooks. The proponents of introduction of e-books as required reading in colleges and universities include the college officials and some important textbook companies such as McGraw Hill and John Wiley and sons, amongst others, as Jeffrey Young points out in this article. These parties propose including a fixed mandatory fee per course in the tuition fee for providing the e-books to the students. Some of the colleges such the Daytona State College have already adopted this change while others like Indiana University are still in the experimental phase. The college officials believe that e-books would be cheaper for the students, if they are purchased in bulk by the college and prov ided to the students at a subsidized rate. Moreover, the publishing industry believes that such a change would help in reducing the rates of digital piracy. Thus, such a collaboration is thought to benefit all parties, viz. the students, the colleges and the publishing companies.

Business Planning and Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Business Planning and Development - Essay Example The market that we were targeting is broader one. We served the customers with the uniqueness and quality rather than offering them with lower price (Business Dictionary, 2011). The company offered quality and features that were acceptable and valued by the customers. The advantage that the company encountered due to differentiation strategy is the uniqueness among other available products. Now a days people prefer uniqueness even if they have to pay a little extra for it. For this strategy we trained the production team and sales department for creating innovative products and properly market the products. The difficulties that the company faced were that the rivals copied the style and design and offered it at a lower price. This affected our market position and resulted in lesser customers and market share. The other difficulties that our company faced were due to the sales and production teams (Murray, 1988). The differentiation strategy highly depends on these two departments. I f these are strong and reliable the company will flourish. That is why the company hired consultant and increased its production units. The company also got facilitated by the advertising strategy. This helped the company in having greater sales and profit. The company overcame this difficulty by offering quality and services that were worth buying. The biggest challenge for our company was to provide unique services to the customer and to satisfy maximum number of customers (Strategic Management, 2010). In achieving this target, we have competed with the rivals and reflected our decided strategy with our actions and products. The future prospects of the company are to enhance its targeted market and to provide the customers with larger variety and styles. The customers are concerned with the styles and prices of the product. We want to work on it to further collaborate with the customers in providing them products of their choices (Porter, 1997). For achieving this goal, the compan y would have to increase its production and manufacturing units. The company will need the services of more distributors and consultants. For the sake of sales and production enhancements, the company has to bring in more assets and operating resources. As discussed earlier, to achieve these goals the company has applied for loan to expand the finances and resources. The more the company has opportunities for increasing the production units and sales, the more the company can earn profit and efficiency. The target for setting up this system is to increase the sales and profitability. The biggest trade off in this policy is the low cost versus high cost. The benefit that the company may get due to the expansion of production units is the profit and sales. When the company offers a product with extra features at a higher price, only limited number of customers by it. In contrast to this, the people buy products which are cheaper in rate and are imitated products. The company should ha ve enough resources that if the company does not achieve more than it has estimated, the company can recover the loss. The companies offering lower prices can b difficult to tackle but if the customers are loyal the company can gain profit and credibility. For the establishment of this business, I have sacrificed a lot. On a personal note, the commitments that I had to make include the sacrifices of one’s own needs. We have to fully commit and surrender our lives for the establishme

Book review for No No Boy by John Okada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Book review for No No Boy by John Okada - Essay Example The novel is a fiction, not memoir. The divided loyalties and the mental blocks are the issues with Ichiro Yamada who is interned during World War II. The author has written a book that clubs personal ideology with national ideologies and aspirations and how the combustible youth is caught in a dilemma of the emotional world between his country of origin and the country of which he is the citizen. Ichiro fails to answer appropriately two critical questions in the questionnaire related to allegiance to America. His improper answers and denial to serve in the American armed forces and his repudiation to abjure allegiance to Japan send him to prison. On his release from the prison, Ichiro moves back to Seattle and the ground realities of the social life there bother him intensely. His parents are proud of being Japanese and he accepts United States as his own. With this dilemma he meets and has discussions on the subject with many people, but is unable to sort out the conflicts within h is inner world. Kenji, one of his intimate friends joins the military and during the war operations loses a leg with just two years to live. Ichiro sees parity in his mental anguish and the physical pain of Kenji. His friends and his own brother take potshots at him for not joining the army, which they term as betrayal of the country. The two friends discuss whether or not it is feasible to trade places. Ichiro admits candidly "I wasn't in the army, Ken, I was in jail. I'm a no-no boy." (p. 62)Though this is a joke between the two friends, it throws light on the type of social environment prevailing at that time which Ichiro finds it tough to challenge. The war has sharpened the conflicts of generations and anti-emotions have turned out to be hard. Adjusting with the new identity, even though one wants to go with, is hard due to the societal and familial pressures. Ichiro is compelled to bow before the hard identity scenario created by his mother. She wants him to identify with her Japanese identity and sets her own terms and conditions for loving him. Their views points about national identity are poles apart. He finally makes the decision that he is an American and looks forward to the future with cautious positivity. He is unable to think in tandem with his mother who has been in United States for thirty-five years and yet she identifies with the Japanese, viewed from all angels. John Okada was born and raised in Seattle and he attended University of Washington. The friend and foe of literary creations is time. Time intervened for more than a decade, before this book is able to hit the stands of popularity. This first literary creation by the author was published in 1957 and it remained unnoticed for years until it shot into fame when the literature of the Asian American minority groups becomes popular in the American literary scene by 1970s. This novel is the reflection of the inner crisis of the young Japanese who is confronted with the dual challenge of identity. Race is the crying question around which all other subsidiary confusion hangs around. Every segment in the town is labeled with the racial tag and its separate identity stands pronounced. â€Å"Oriental† is a big umbrella under which the categories of Japanese, Chinese and Asians are accommodated. Races victimized by the whites are also not at peace with each other and they are at loggerheads with their own problems. The younger generation has to break through such communal

The Role Of Media In Peace Building

The Role Of Media In Peace Building History has shown that the media can incite people toward violence. Hitler used the media to create an entire worldview of hatred for Jews, homosexuals, and other minority groups. Rwandas radio RTLM urged listeners to pick up machetes and take to the streets to kill what they called the cockroaches. Broadcasters in the Balkans polarized local communities to the point where violence became an acceptable tool for addressing grievances. The medias impact on the escalation of conflict is more widely recognized than the medias impact on peace-building. Yet it is not uncommon to hear experts pronounce that the medias impact on peace-building must be significant given its powerful impact on conflict. However, this simple relationship must not be taken for granted and should be critically examined in order to most effectively use the media for conflict prevention and peace-building (Wolfsfeld, 2004, p.15) In the last six decades, the influence of the media in the global arena has increasingly been recognized, especially its power to either exacerbate or contain potential conflicts. Indeed it is worth noting that among the defendants during the Nuremburg trials which were constituted by the allied forces following the defeat of the Germany and her allies immediately after the second world war was one Julius Streicher who although never held any official position within the Nazi party hierarchy, was considered to be among the top individuals who bore the greatest responsibility for the holocaust that killed more than six million Jews (Nuremburg trial papers). For close to twenty five years, Streicher had educated the Germany people in hatred and incited them to the persecution and the extermination of the Jewish race. The propaganda which Streicher carried for close to twenty five years was chiefly done through the medium of his newspaper as the editor of the Der Stuemer and later sever al other provincial journals (May 24 1934 issue). As early as the 17th century, Edmund Burke had coined the term the fourth estate, to demonstrate the growing power of the media in periods when power and influence was concentrated in hands of only three classes of society (Calyle, p 392).). Although it is still debatable as who was the first to use the word, Burke is said to have remarked that there were estates in Parliament, but in the reporters gallery yonder, there sat the fourth estate more important than four than they all. He was making reference to the traditional three estates of Parliament: The Lords spiritual, the Lords temporal and the Commons (Schultz, p.4). In the last 50 years the media influence has grown exponentially with the advance of technology, first there was the telegraph, then the radio, the newspaper, magazines, television and now the internet. Many people are today fully dependent on the information and communication to keep moving in the right direction and their daily activities like work, entertainment, healthcare, education, personal relationships, traveling are greatly controlled by what they read, hear and see. New communications technologies such as mobile/video phones and laptop computers are allowing journalists to gather and disseminate information with ease from many parts of the world. The digitization of the news industry, which has led to a compression of time and space, means we see news images of demonstrations, riots or coups within minutes of these occurring in the streets. These images not only inform global audiences, but may instigate further campaigns of violence at home. Commercial realities of news gathering have also affected the reporting of conflicts. The higher cost of news gathering in remote regions, coupled with the geopolitical and economic priorities of the West, mean that conflicts occurring at close proximity to the metropolitan centers receive coverage at the expense of those occurring further away in less developed regions of the world. A study of conflict reporting in the worlds major news outlets in 2000 shows that the Israel Palestine conflict was by far the most covered five times greater than the next most covered conflict (Hawkins, 2002) . Virgil Hawkins, the researcher who conducted the study, notes: By contrast, conflict in Africa, which has been, in the post-Cold-War world, is responsible for up to 90 percent of the worlds total war dead suffered an almost complete media blackout. Coverage of the massive war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which caused in excess of one million deaths in the year 2000, was almost insignificant (p. 231). With the international news agenda controlled by the worlds major media giants, it has become crucial to develop and strengthen media at the local level to maintain diversity of opinion. As media in many developing nations, such as Kenya, move away from state control towards private enterprise, it is essential for local media to find their own voice and professional codes. A well developed media system with professionally trained journalists usually benefits both global and local audiences and provides a vital link to the outside world during conflict situations. The media is a double-edged sword. It can be a frightful weapon of violence when it propagates messages of intolerance or disinformation that manipulate public sentiment; but there is another aspect to the media, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it can be an instrument of conflict resolution, when the information it presents is reliable, respects human rights, and represents diverse views. It is the kind of media that enables a society to mak e well-informed choices, which is the precursor of democratic governance. It is a media that reduces conflict and fosters human security (BBC policy briefing). Today, in every part of the world reliable, accurate and objective media, whether be it mainstream, alternative or traditional/non-conventional, can both help to prevent and resolve conflict through the automatic functions of responsibly disseminating information, furthering awareness and knowledge, promoting participatory and transparent governance, and addressing perceived grievances. In the same vein, inadvertently or overtly propagandistic media may equally fuel tensions and exacerbate conflicts, which in extreme cases like in Rwanda may directly result in genocide (Thomson, 1998). 1.1 Background of the Study To argue that media does make a difference means rejecting the view that media are no more than mirrors of something else -consumer choices; elite interests, or reality itself (as in the positivist assertions by some journalists that they simply report the way it is). It is a commonplace to suggest that media provide their audiences with a map of the social and political world beyond their own immediate experience. From this observation about contemporary complex society, flow other notions of media power: agenda setting (media capacity to focus public attention on some events and issues, and away from others); the spiral of silence (the withering of issues and perspectives ignored by media); priming (media ability to influence citizens criteria of political evaluation); cultivation (the gradual adoption of beliefs about the social world that correspond to televisions selective picture of the world), framing, and the ideological effect (the production of meaning in the service of dom ination) (Hackett Carroll, 2006, p.30-31). A less frequently considered but equally pertinent dimension of media influence is their relationship with anti-war movements. Within reasonably democratic states, and in the absence of elite discord, such movements may be the most important buffer within civil society against war. The movement/media relationship is asymmetrical: movements need media (to mobilize support, validate their political existence, and attract new supporters) far more than vice versa (Gamson Wolfsfeld 1993). Media play contradictory but important roles at every stage of their trajectory; their emergence, organizational self-maintenance, and success; when political and foreign policy elites are united around a war policy, dominant media are likely to trivialize or demonize anti-war dissent (Gitlin 1980; Hackett 1991). In the context specifically of war, some scholars see an intensification of media agenda-setting with the advent of real-time, 24-hour, globally distributed television news -most iconically Ber nard Shaws and Peter Arnetts reporting for Cable News Network (CNN) from Baghdad during the 1991 Gulf War. The so-called CNN effect allegedly highlights political uncertainty and incompetence, accelerates the pace at which politicians must respond to crises, and creates expectations and emotions that may force governments, against their initial inclinations, to intervene (or disengage) in conflict situations. The American humanitarian intervention in Somalia is often cited as an example (Spencer, 2005, p.24-38). According to Arnold (2005), the mass media contributed immensely to the propagation of US foreign policy agenda, couching imperial military actions in terms of humanitarian interventions undertaken to promote global freedom and democracy. This gave the US foreign policy the media attention cycle as there was competition among worldwide television and radio networks such as BBC, CNN, FOX TV and Channel 4 as who gets the right information first. This therefore, created huge demand for Western media even in non-western countries. In Africa, several efforts have been made to use the mass media to promote peace. For example, Radio for Peace-Building Africa (RFPA) is a program founded in 2003 by the international non-profit organization Search for Common Ground. The following are the countries in which RFPA is operated: Burundi, Central African Republic, Kenya, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda. Working on the assumption that radio is the most accessible form of mass communication in Africa, RFPA trains journalists in peace-building, conflict resolution, and acting on commonalities. As stated in their achievements, 2010, RFPA has more than 3,000 members representing 100 countries, across Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. They have carried out over 90 workshops and trained local radio station personnel (Radio for Peace-Building Africa, 2011). If the media have played an important role in breeding violence, it seems reasonable to examine the prospects of the reverse perspective-positive media contributions to ending violence and peace building in Kenya as a whole. Furthermore, if the media are usually found to support forces that lead to violent conflict, it can also be said that the media have the power to influence the activities that promote peace in the society. While media have been prominent contributors to every post-Cold War conflict (Prince and Thompson, 2002, Allen and Seaton, 1999), their role in post conflict peace-building and social development has not been apparent. Elsewhere however, recently there have been enough proves to accept the idea regarding the use of role that the media have played in peace-building. For instance, in Bosnia, Burundi, Cambodia, Croatia, Israel/Palestine, Macedonia, and Rwanda there are documented positive accomplishment of initiated projects of post-conflict recovery through the r ole of the media (McGoldrick, 2006). Also, over the past seven years, RFPA promoted peace in its areas of operation through levels of collaboration that it established between the government, media (TV stations and news papers) and civil society, increased the ability of radio stations to identify the underlying causes of war and conflict, increased the publics access to policy information, and used media to foster communication between policy makers and the civil society within that state, among other achievement (Radio for Peace-Building Africa: Achievements, 2012). 1.2 Problem Statement Literature on conflict and peace-building reveals a dismal focus on the role of the media in peace processes. Existing theory only tends to portray the media as essential in reporting and generating discourses on conflicts (Wolfsfeld, 2004; Watson, 2006; Bratic, 2006). Scholars of the post-election phenomenon in Kenya quickly conclude that, the crisis was a deeply rooted political and ethnic problem. Yet, the role of the media in the conflict, as well as its ability to mediate peace is not adequately tackled. In the East African region, Kenyan media like that in Rwanda has been scrutinized at the level of international law as a perpetrator of political violence. The post-2007 crisis serves as a good case to exemplify the process from conflict to peace-building. First, it illustrates the double role of the media as a constructive and destructive agent, and provides a link between media freedom and human rights. Secondly, this research explores challenges of media freedom within fragile democracies, where politics, poverty and ethnic differences can influence the media agenda. While the use of hate speech in the media is not discounted, this project will not focus on the subject as a whole, but draw examples to examine arguments. This project does not discuss ethnicity as a theory, but rather uses the term ethnic violence, a theme applied to describe political and ethnic tensions in Kenya (Hagg Kagwanja, 2007). The concept of ethnic violence has also been characterised as an element of civil or degenerate wars by several authors in recent years (Hanssen, 2000; Shaw, 2003; Kaldor, 2006). In recent times the effect of the mass media in shaping and forming the view of people especially the radio due to its accessibility, affordability and availability as compared to TV and computers (social networks e.g. Face book, Twitter, and YouTube) has contributed immensely to the development of a country. In the area of sport the mass media is promoting all kinds of sports especially football through constant publicity. As an emerging buoyant economic industry, the various media houses have established front desk for sports. Besides, they also have sports journalist who monitor, research and analyze sports related issues in the world, Africa and Kenya in particular. This has brought sports to the limelight of the media and given it a place in the media cycle. Inferring to the above and many achievements and contributions of the mass media in Kenya, it can be concluded that the mass media actually do assist in social improvements and building the ideals of the society. By systematically monitoring the performance of state institutions and reporting progress activities of the government, by guiding and dispensing of socialization, and by entertaining its audiences through interesting programmes. Against this background, many media houses have capacity building programmes to enhance public participation through phoning-in sessions. These programmes are also inspired by the need to improve and deepen governance and democracy. Notwithstanding, none or little concern has been given to programmes that are geared towards peace-building. It is for this reason that this study seeks to find out the role of the mass media in peace-building in Kenya. 1.3 Objectives of the Study The general objective of this research will be to explore the role the media has played in peace building among selected media houses in Kenya. The specific objectives of the research will be: To examine the activities of the media in peace-building. To establish the measures that government, stakeholders and media houses have put in place towards peace-building. To find out whether the media has been successfully used to promote peace in Kenya. To assess the effects of the media on peace-building. To make recommendations towards the use of the media in promoting and enhancing peace-building in Kenya. 1.4 Research Questions The following questions will serve as research questions to guide this research. What are the activities of the media in peace-building? What measures has the government, stakeholders and media houses put in place towards peace-building? How has the media been successfully used to promote peace in Kenya?. What are the effects of the media on peace-building? 1.5 Rationale for the Study The media is a double-edged sword. It can be a frightful weapon of violence when it propagates messages of intolerance or disinformation that manipulate public sentiment. But there is another aspect to the media. It can be an instrument of conflict resolution, when the information it presents is reliable, respects human rights, and represents diverse views. It is the kind of media that enables a society to make well-informed choices, which is the precursor of democratic governance. It is a media that reduces conflict and fosters human security. Today, in every part of the world, reliable, accurate and objective media, whether mainstream, alternative or non-conventional, can both help to prevent and resolve conflict through the automatic functions of responsibly disseminating information, furthering awareness and knowledge, promoting participatory and transparent governance, and addressing perceived grievances. In the same vein, inadvertently or overtly propagandistic media may equall y fuel tensions and exacerbate conflicts. This study aims at establishing the role of media in peace-building in Kenya. 1.6 Assumptions of the Study This study will be guided by the following assumptions: The media houses in Kenya have adopted acceptable practices in relation to peace-building reporting in their operations. The target audience from the population that will be selected will give a fair representation of the whole population under study. 1.7 Limitation of the Study Unexpected negative response from respondents due to the fact that they will be unwilling to give out sensitive organizational information. This will be delimited through counter-checking on secondary literature as well as desk-reviews. 1.8 Definition of Key Terms Capacity Building Capacity development is the process whereby individuals, groups, and organisations enhance their abilities to mobilize and use resources in order to achieve their objectives on a sustainable basis. Efforts to strengthen abilities of individuals, groups, and organisations can comprise a combination of (i) human skills development; (ii) changes in organisations and networks; and (iii) changes in governance/institutional context (ADB, 2004). Capacity building is a complex notion it involves individual and organisational learning which builds social capital and trust, develops knowledge, skills and attitudes and when successful creates an organisational culture which enables organisations to set objectives, achieve results, solve problems and create adaptive procedures which enable it to survive in the long term Ethnic violence In this study the term ethnic violence will be defined as a theme applied to describe political and ethnic tensions in Kenya (Hagg Kagwanja, 2007). Media The media refers to several mediums or channels used in an organized fashion to communicate information to groups of people, as a service to the public (Howard, 2002). In regard to this project, media is mainstream or independent (print, radio, television) in general. Peace Journalism According to Lynch and McGoldrick (2005) peace journalism is when editors and reporters make choices of what stories to report, and how to report them which create opportunities for society at large to consider and to value non-violent responses to conflict. Peace Journalism entails: Uses the insights of conflict analysis and transformation to update the concepts of balance, fairness and accuracy in reporting Provides a new route map tracing the connections between journalists, their sources, the stories they cover and the consequences of their journalism the ethics of journalistic intervention Builds an awareness of non-violence and creativity into the practical job of everyday editing and reporting (Lynch and McGoldrick 2005 p. 5). Peace Building The Carnegie Endowments Commission on the Prevention of Deadly Conflict (1997) defined peace-building as structural prevention which consists of the strategies to address the root causes of deadly conflict. Likewise, the Joint Utstein study of peace-building concludes that peace-building attempts to encourage the development of the structural conditions, attitudes, and modes of political behavior that may permit peaceful, stable and ultimately prosperous social and economic development. It states that there are four main headings related to peace-building: to provide security, to establish the socioeconomic foundations of long-term peace, to establish the political framework of long-term peace, and to generate reconciliation, a healing of the wounds of war and justice (Smith, 2003). These terms will be adopted in this study based but not limited to the above definitions. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The Kenyan Media: An Overview Kenya has a plural, sophisticated and robust mass media and communication sector that serve the various competing political, social, economic, cultural and technological needs of diverse interest groups. The sector has grown rapidly in the past 15 years because of a combination of factors including political and economic liberalization; and Kenyas strategic location as a regional and international economic and communication hub. Before 1992, the media scene was small, urban based and less independent owing to repressive media laws and regulation. Today, the media especially radio and television, reaches all urban centers and almost all rural communities. The broadcasting sub-sector is diverse, dynamic and competitive with substantial reach. There are about 14 TV and 113 radio stations in Kenya (Steadman Group, 2008). Radio is the number one source of information reaching almost 90 percent of the entire population followed by television reaching about 40 percent and newspapers (30 per cent). There are about 7.5 million radio sets (1.9 million in urban and 5.6 in rural areas) and 3.2 million TV sets in Kenya (1.4 million in urban and 1.8 in rural areas) in the country. There are about 16.7 radio listeners across the country with 12.4 million in rural and 4.4 million in towns (Steadman Group, 2008). Interesting developments in the broadcasting sector include the proliferation of FM stations broadcasting in over 21 ethnic languages out of 42 (CCK, 2008). The FM stations broadcasting in ethnic languages command about 30 percent of the market share today. Unfortunately, low professionalism characterizes most of these FM stations because they employ untrained and less experienced journalists. Satellite broadcasting is also thriving particularly among the upper and middle class in urban areas (Howard, 2008). Although the print media has a history of relative independence, it remains an urban phenomenon in Kenya. Kenya has 5 daily newspapers and over 10 weekly newspapers. The dominant newspapers are the Standard with a daily circulation of 80,000 -110,000; and Nation newspapers with a circulation of 100,000 120,000 (Mbeke Mshindi, 2008). The new media is also catching up in Kenya which boasts of 17.6 million mobile phone owners and 3.2 million internet users. There are over 1000 act ive blogs in Kenya. Safaricom, Kenyas number one mobile operator commands 70 percent of the market share and has over 16 million subscribers. Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), the oldest and only public broadcaster, has the largest network of TV and radio stations across the country. KBC radio service, broadcasting in over 21 ethnic languages, is the only network in Kenya with the capacity to reach all audiences across the country. It also operates KBC TV. Royal Media Services, owned by media magnate S.K. Macharia, is the second largest media house in Kenya. It operates Citizen TV which has a national reach and several radio stations broadcasting in ethnic languages including Kikuyu (Inooro), Luo (Ramogi), Kamba (Musyi), Luhya (Mulembe) among others The Nation Media Group (NMG) is the largest media network in Kenya with interests in newspapers, magazines, TV and radio. It operates the Daily Nation, Sunday Nation, the Business Daily, the East African newspapers as well as the Tourist Guide, the Business Directory among other magazines (BBC Media Monitoring, 2007). NMG runs the NTV and QTV as well as Easy FM and QFM radi o stations both with a national reach. NMG is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) with the Aga Khan as the key shareholder. The Standard Group (SG) owns the KTN Network, Kenyas first private TV station (1989) and the East African Standard Newspapers, the oldest newspapers having started in 1902. The SG is listed on the NSE with Baraza Limited, a company closely associated with the former President Daniel arap Moi and his close aide Joshua Kulei as the key shareholders. The people media group owns the People Daily several ethnic radio stations. It is associated with the Kenyatta family having bought it from Kenneth Matiba and the radio component from Rose Kimotho. Patrick Quarcco owns Kiss FM and several other FM station together Kiss TV and the Nairobi Star, a daily newspaper. Industrialist Chris Kirubi owns Capital Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) that runs CBC TV and Capital FM. Other media include STV formerly owned by professional journalist Hilary Ngweno. Kenya also has a strong faith-based broadcasting media including Hope FM, Radio Waumini owned by the Catholic Church; and Family TV and radio FM owne d by Leo Slingerland. A number of international news agencies and organizations operate from Nairobi, Kenya. These include the BBC, VOA, Duetsche Welle, Radio France, Radio China, Al Jazeera and CNN. While the press covers mainly politics and economic issues, the broadcasting stations in Kenya are characterized by heavy music and light entertainment programming lazed with interactive talk shows on politics and current affairs. Kenyans have continuously voted the media as the most trusted and influential institution even as they continue to express their reservations over other government institutions like the legislature and the executive. According to BBC, the Kenyan media is one of the most respected, thriving, sophisticated and innovative in Africa. Compared to other African countries, Kenya has in the recent past enjoyed a robust economic growth which in turn has supported one of the most dynamic advertising markets on the continent and a population which consumes news and information voraciously. In turn, this market has supported an explosion in media over recent years. This is a relatively recent phenomenon. While an independent media tradition in Kenya is a long one, it was only in 1992 that the media bloomed to become the thriving industry it is today. Until then, the suppression of media freedom by the then KANU government, a stagnant economy and the continued monopolization of the airwaves by the governments Voice of Kenya (now Kenya Broadcasting Corporation), meant that independent media outlets were few and confined mostly to elites. Over a period of 15 years, this increasingly assertive and self-confident media has played a substantial role in mediating relationships between citizens and state, in shaping the democratic dispensation in the country, and has transformed utterly how some of the most marginalized in society access information on issues that shape their lives. Kenyan citizens have become increasingly reliant on the media for such information, investing in it with greater credibility than almost any other source of information. For most of this period, the media has been seen nationally and internationally as a principal indicator of the democratic vitality of Kenya. Media has been at the forefront of moves to transform Kenya from one party state to multiparty democracy; it has gained a reputation for exposing corruption and acting as a vigorous forum for public debate; it is seen as a guardian of the public interest against an overbearing state power. 2.2 The Activities of the Media in Peace-Building While large scale or world war has been avoided, continual civil conflicts have not been avoided i.e., the conflicts in Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Somalia. At the same time, peaceful resolution of conflicts that have major potential for civil conflicts: the transitions in South Africa, in Central and Eastern Africa have been witnessed. Therefore, peaceful resolution of national-civil conflicts is in a great part a communication process. That is; a concept of communication that channels civil conflict away from open war in to what is called cultural negotiation (White, 1990, p.22-23). The media can provide information directly to citizens regarding major events of importance for decision -making so that citizens can take action and influence the structure of decision-making. What is expected is a narrative reconstruction of events which reveals the source of the problem, the persons who are responsible and why, and what emerge finally as the solution. The media are the forum for the expression of public opinion and enable the public and public officials to chart the general public opinion regarding the state of public affairs. The mirroring of public opinion enables the public to know what people are expecting and whether representative governments are serving the public or not. A totalitarian state is one in which civil society is totally absorbed by the state, a state without a public opinion. Boutros Boutros-Gali (1992) gave clarity and coherence to the concept of peace building when he defined it as Action to identify and support structures which will tend to strengthen and solidify peace in order to avoid relapse into conflict and, rebuilding institutions and infrastructures of nations torn by civil war and strife (and tackling the deepest causes of) economic despair, social injustice and oppression. Inscribed in Willshers comment about his role as a journalist is an assumption about media influence which has also come to be known as the CNN effect -so called after the first Gulf War when the UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said: We say we have 16 members in the Security Council: the 15 members plus CNN (Boutros Ghali, 1995). The proposition is that todays global media have grown so mighty as to be able to raise issues to the political agenda by their own efforts; issues which would otherwise hold little or no interest for the powers-that-be. In summary, the influence of the media on society has attracted international agencies closely involved in peace-building since the early 1990s (Ross, 2002). The media can contribute to peace, by engaging in credible reporting, representing balanced opinions in its editorial content, and opening up communication channels among parties in a conflict. It can also identify and articulate without bias the underlying interests of warring factions. By doing so, the media is capable of disseminating information that builds on the confidence of stakeholders in a conflict. 2.2.1 The CNN Effect The Harvard University Joan Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy has been instrumental in examining media effects. Steven Livingston, a leading CNN Effect researcher and associate professor of communication and international affairs at The George Washington University, along with his colleagues at Harvard, identified three conceptual variations surrounding the CNN Effect: the notion that media serves as an agenda-setting agency, that the media serves as an impediment in some cases and that the media facilitates a more accelerated publi

PCI Compliance Essay -- PCI DSS Credit Card Fraud Security

What is PCI Compliance? PCI Compliance is maintaining adherence to the PCI DSS standard that was developed by major credit card companies as a â€Å"guideline to help prevent credit card fraud† ("PCI DSS"). Credit card fraud has taken the spotlight in the past several years due to the massive growth of e-commerce and online transaction processing. With the proliferation of e-businesses, it has become easier than ever to commit fraud over the internet. Major credit card issuers such as MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover, and JCB International joined together to create a standard known as PCI DSS or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. In order to process credit card payments merchants and vendors are required to be compliant with the standard based on the Merchant Level of the organization. This standard was created in response to a dramatic rise in credit card data breaches at many high-profile organizations. This standard defines a set of twelve requirements for compliance. In order to validate a company is in compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard, large organizations are audited by external auditors that are PCI Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs). Smaller companies that process less than 80,000 transactions per year are allowed to perform a self-assessment questionnaire, which determines if the merchant is within compliance. Who owns the PCI Data Security Standard? In June of 2005, these five major credit card issues came together and founded the PCI Security Council. The main purpose of the PCI Security Council was to create, own, and manage the PCI Data Security Standard for credit card data. However, the PCI Security Council is not a policing organization and does not enforce PCI... ...g merchant account is PCI DSS compliant? Is sensitive information being stored? How safe is your data? Works Cited "An Introduction to PCI Compliance." PCIComplianceGuide.org. 2008. PCI Compliance Guide.org. 17 Apr 2008 . McCarthy, Caroline. "T.J. Maxx parent company sued in credit card hack probe." CNET News. 21 Mar 2007. CNETNews.com. 17 Apr 2008 . "PCI DSS." Wikipedia. 5 Apr 2008. Wikipedia. 5 Apr 2008 . Vijayan, Jaikumar. "Minnesota becomes first state to make core PCI requirement a law." ComputerWorld.org. 23 May 2007. Computer World.org. 4 Apr 2008 .