Shining a Spotlight on Media Freedom?
REPORT
Shining a Spotlight on Media Freedom?
Media Coverage of the Global Campaign for Media Freedom
City, University of London; University of East Anglia | Martin Scott, Mel Bunce, Mary Myers
Published: 2020
In our first project report, we analyse English-language, online news coverage and Twitter commentary about media freedom. Specifically, we ask whether the Global Campaign for Media Freedom (GCMF) has succeeded in ‘shining a spotlight’ on media freedom in its first year of activities, from July 2019- July 2020.
Soft Power, Hard News: How Journalists at State-Funded Transnational Media Legitimize Their Work
JOURNAL
Soft Power, Hard News: How Journalists at State-Funded Transnational Media Legitimize Their Work
Kate Wright, Martin Scott, Mel Bunce | Sage Journals
Published: May 2020
How do journalists working for different state-funded international news organizations legitimize their relationship to the governments which support them? In what circumstances might such journalists resist the diplomatic strategies of their funding states?
We address these questions through a comparative study of journalists working for international news organizations funded by the Chinese, US, UK and Qatari governments. Using 52 interviews with journalists covering humanitarian issues, we explain how they minimized tensions between their diplomatic role and dominant norms of journalistic autonomy by drawing on three – broadly shared – legitimizing narratives, involving different kinds of boundary-work. In the first ‘exclusionary’ narrative, journalists differentiated their ‘truthful’ news reporting from the ‘false’ state ‘propaganda’ of a common Other, the Russian-funded network, RT. In the second ‘fuzzifying’ narrative, journalists deployed the ambiguous notion of ‘soft power’ as an ambivalent ‘boundary concept’, to defuse conflicts between journalistic and diplomatic agendas. In the final ‘inversion’ narrative, journalists argued that, paradoxically, their dependence on funding states gave them greater ‘operational autonomy’. Even when journalists did resist their funding states, this was hidden or partial, and prompted less by journalists’ concerns about the political effects of their work, than by serious threats to their personal cultural capital.
Journalism Thrives in Slovakia Despite Growing Oligarchic Control
REPORT
Journalism Thrives in Slovakia Despite Growing Oligarchic Control
Center for Media, Data and Society | Central European University
Published: May 2020
Slovaks have access to a plethora of news platforms, but many of them are in the hands of powerful financial corporations, closely linked with political groups. Nevertheless, swelling demand for accurate, quality information boosts the country’s independent journalism.
Slovakia is a voracious news consumer, with almost two thirds of people reading news portals, newspapers or news magazines. Much of this news appetite was stirred by technological advancement. Over 86% of people use the internet, which is a big leap from less than 30% in the beginning of the 2010s…
Text sourced from CMDS | CEU
News media broadly trusted, views of UK government response to COVID-19 highly polarised
News media broadly trusted, views of UK government response to COVID-19 highly polarised
REPORT
This Reuters Institute factsheet is the first of the UK COVID-19 news and information project and explores how people navigate news and information in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In this RISJ Factsheet we examine people’s attitudes towards how news organisations, government and other institutions are responding to the coronavirus pandemic in the UK based on a survey fielded from 10 April to 14 April.” – Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Types, sources, and claims of COVID-19 misinformation
Types, sources, and claims of COVID-19 misinformation
REPORT & WEBSITE
A Reuters Institute factsheet identifying some of the main types of misinformation shared during the COVID-19 pandemic
“In this factsheet we identify some of the main types, sources, and claims of COVID-19 misinformation seen so far. We analyse a sample of 225 pieces of misinformation rated false or misleading by fact-checkers and published in English between January and the end of March 2020, drawn from a collection of fact-checks maintained by First Draft.” – Reuters Institute.
Trust in Media
REPORT
Trust in Media
Public Service Media are the most trusted source for news in 61% of European countries according to this EBU report.
European Broadcasting Union
“This report brings you insights on how people are turning to public service media news content as an essential trusted source at a time of crisis such as COVID-19.”
The new 2020 Trust in Media report includes an infographic and the dataset. Open access, login required.
The Journalism AI
REPORT
The Journalism AI
Charlie Beckett
Abstract
The Journalism AI report is based on a survey of 71 news organisations in 32 different countries regarding artificial intelligence and associated technologies. A wide range of journalists working with AI answered questions about their understanding of AI, how it was used in their newsrooms, and their views on the wider potential and risks for the news industry.
First Draft’s Essential Guide to Responsible Reporting in an Age of Information Disorder
First Draft’s Essential Guide to
REPORT
Responsible Reporting in an Age of Information Disorder (PDF)
First Draft
Abstract
This guide helps to spark discussions on best editorial practice in approaching and covering issues such as terrorism, conspiracy theories, manipulated content in an age of technological innovations and information disorder.
Getting the Message Across
REPORT
Getting the Message Across
Reporting on Climate Change and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific: A Handbook for Journalists
This book is a vital resource for journalists covering climate change. Through an exploration of the essential aspects of climate change, including its injustices to vulnerable communities and examples of best practice, UNESCO has published a book that effectively contextualises the severity of the issue to help journalists improve the way they report its environmental, social, economic ̧ political and technological implications.
“This Handbook is part UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication’s Series on Journalism Education. The series aims to reinforce the capacities of journalists, journalism educators and their institutions to promote sustainable development, by enhancing the abilities of journalists to report on science, development and democratic governance.”
Journalism, 'Fake News' and Disinformation: A Handbook for Journalism Education and Training
REPORT
Journalism, ‘Fake News’ and Disinformation: A Handbook for Journalism Education and Training (UNESCO)
This recent publication explores the key feature of journalism and seeks to guide readers on how to best navigate the news environment and fight against misinformation.
As journalism is constantly transformed and challenged by a wide range of factors, such as technology, politics and users interaction with the media, understanding how journalism works it’s becoming essential.
Written by experts from all around the world and published by UNESCO, this handbook includes modules on trust, critical thinking and social platforms, media literacy, fact checking and combating online abuse.
Given its structure, this handbook is particularly useful for journalism educators as well as media professionals and editors and all those interested in how information is shared and used.
