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This book focuses on ethnic journalism in the Global South, approaching it from two angles: as a professional area and as a social mission. The book discusses journalistic practices and ethnic media in the Global South, managerial and editorial strategies of ethnic media outlets, their content specifics, target audience, distribution channels, main challenges and trends of development in the digital age. Anna Gladkova is Leading Researcher and Director of International Affairs Office at the Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia, where she conducts research on ethnic media and digital inequalities. She is co-vice chair of the Digital Divide Working Group (IAMCR). Sadia Jamil is a post-doctoral fellow at Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, Khalifa University, United Arab Emirates. She holds postgraduate degrees in Media Management and Mass Communication from the University of Stirling, Scotland, and University of Karachi, Pakistan

1. Introduction -- 2. Understanding Digital Inequalities in the Global South -- 3. Impacts of the Digital Divide on E-government Portals of Nepal -- 4. A Widening Digital Divide and Its Impacts on Existing Social Inequalities and Democracy in Pakistan -- 5. Widening the Wedge: Digital Inequalities and Social Media in India -- 6. ICTs, Power Prejudice and Empowerment: Digital Exclusion of the Poor in Rural Bangladesh -- 7. Weaponisation of Access, Communication Inequalities as a Form of Control: Case of Israel/Palestine -- 8. Digital Inequalities in CIS Countries: Updated Approach to the Analysis of Situation -- 9. A Comparison of High-Skill and Low-Skill Internet Users in Northeast Anatolia, Turkey -- 10. Digital Infrastructure Enabling Platforms for Health Information and Education in the Global South -- 11. Moving Beyond the Rhetoric: Who Really Benefits from Investments in Digital Infrastructure in Low Income and Low Literacy Community in Malawi? -- 12. Digital Inequality and Language Diversity: An Ethiopic Case Study -- 13. The End of the Public Sphere: Social Media, Civic Virtue and the Democratic Divide -- 14. The Digital Divide: Observations from the South about a Failed Dialog with the North -- 15. Social Inequality, Technological inequality and Educational Heterogeneity in the Light of the Conectar Igualdad OLPC Programme (Salta, Argentina, 2015-2017) -- 16. Afro-Creole Nationalism and the Maintenance of the Digital Divide. The Case of Jamaica -- 17. Afterword.

Abstract
This article discusses media researchers' understanding of the term "conflict," what types of experience objects social scientists include in this category, and the possibility of categorization and theoretical understanding of these objects in the context of modern media research in Russia and abroad. Also discussed are the theoretical issues of the interaction between media and conflict, theory-based methodology of conflict research, and the types and key subjects of conflict, which have become the subjects of empirical research on scientific papers published in major media academic journals at home and abroad. In discussing the study's empirical results, the necessity of cultivating ethical and moral values in the media, according to Habermas's communicative behavior theory where he opposes the anti-values of conflict, was raised.

The paper discusses the digital inclusion of major and minor ethnic groups in Russia by comparing three broad categories of digital resources, identified in this study as components of the index of inclusion: information and communications technology (ICT) access, skills, and extent of engagement with technologies. Based on these components/subindices, we constructed an index of digital inclusion for the Russian context and tested it on a representative national sample of 765 Internet users (596 Russians, 196 Yakuts). Our study showed that Russians use more platforms for online access (mobile phones, laptops, consoles, smart TV, etc.) than Yakuts and access the Internet through a bigger number of locations, not being limited to home and/or office only. They also have higher level of social, technical, and creative ICT skills, and demonstrate higher levels of digital engagement and overall digital inclusion. We argue that the explanation here lies first of all in the geographical domain, that is traditional location of ethnic minority (Yakuts) in a region that is less digitally advantaged in terms of Internet access, cost, speed, and other factors (Far Eastern federal district), and is not related to ethnicity itself. We think therefore that this study is a good illustration of how the first and the second levels of the digital divide interrelate and influence each other, leading to a situation when people with lower access to the Internet and ICTs have lower skills and competences to use them, therefore risking to become digitally and also socially excluded.

The paper approaches digital divide as a complex multi-dimensional and multi-level problem, not being limited to the Internet access only. We argue that regardless of some universal trends previously identified by scholars, every country retains its national specifics in ICT access, skills and benefits people can get from using ICTs. In this vein, we theorize Russian model of the digital divide, approaching it through three main angles: state regulation of digitalization processes in Russia on federal and regional levels; different modes of the digital technology use in a cross-regional comparative perspective; and specific mechanisms for the analysis and further overcoming digital divide in Russia. For the latter point, we propose a 'digital passport' of the Russian regions that allows for better understanding of the digitalization progress in particular regions of the country and for more efficient policy-making on site. Lastly, we test a 'digital passport' model on eight federal subjects of Russia to show its applicability of the study of the digital divide in different regional contexts.

The objective of the study was to analyze the representation and characteristics of most relevant semantic categories in COVID-related memes using semantic mapping strategies as well as to describe interconnected spheres in semantic fields and possible shifts in meanings to assess every mem of the sample. The article represents one of the stages in complex research of ethnocultural and psychological features of media content and its perception in internet memes. The perception of COVID-related internet memes by young audience in Russia and China and visual features of the content were tested at previous stages (Denissova et al., 2021; Smirnova et al., 2020; Smirnova & Denissova, 2021). The article treats internet memes as samples of creolized texts. This topic was chosen due to its key significance. The fact that internet memes are monothematic in content makes it possible to identify the differences in a number of characteristics more effectively. In this paper, we consider internet memes a specific type of messages in the network, combining short captions of different genres and semiotic nature that reveal topical issues. Thus, due to the capacity of semantic content and visual image memes obtain viral nature and great intensity of informational impact. Creolized memes were selected for the analysis, since we assumed that it is the memes of this type that fulfil such important tasks in communication process as organizing communication and exerting influence.

The notion of media sustainability is quite contestable. There is no universal definition. This is perhaps because of diverse political and socio-cultural contexts within which news media operate. One aspect of media sustainability can be assessing it through the quality of content it produces. However, media do require enough resources of time, money, technology, and experienced professionals who are expert in producing quality content as per the public needs and demands. This implies that resources lie at the heart of maintaining media sustainability (Kluempers & Schneider, 2015).