Our weekly round-up of public service media related stories and headlines from around the world
Public media is in peril and facing many challenges. Social media platforms are presenting an existential crisis to public service media. Governments are trying to extend their control and influence on the editorial output of the broadcasters. Funding systems for many are up in the air. Journalists are facing threats, attacks and harassment, both online and in-person. But it’s also an exciting time for public service media – digital platforms provide new opportunities to reach audiences, technology means public broadcasters can be innovative in how they provide a public service.
Every week, PMA monitors these trends, compiles all the latest news from the public media and media freedom industry. Have a story to feature? Get in touch!
PSM Innovations
SRG Hackdays: “24 hours of pure creativity”
SRG Hackdays is an innovative way of encouraging innovations that help improve Public Service Media (PSM) and public engagement.
SRG Hackdays is a 24-hour period where different people come together to generate ideas, and develop innovative solutions for technological future with a focus on Public Service Media (PSM).
“With its collaborative, multi-perspective and gamified approach it’s a very engaging and activating way to deep dive into the needs of the users and develop innovative new ideas – in a short time frame,” said SRG.
Invited to the event were developers, media producers, designers, media users, data scientists, UX-experts, educationalists and other bright minds to help shape product development in the media digital space.
SRG Hackdays was started as a way for the Swiss public broadcasting corporation, SRG SSR, to serve their communities better. SRG SSR wanted to learn more about their audience and how best to meet the needs of their audience as a Public Service Media (PSM).
Each SRG Hackday has a theme and set of challenges. The people who contribute can come with their own ideas around the theme or pick from the challenges given.
Read more about SRG Hackdays
We also want to hear about your local public media coverage! Email us!
As the coronavirus pandemic worsens, public media are rapidly adapting to best cover the crisis on a local level while also providing for educational needs and vulnerable groups as isolation policies are introduced.
We want to hear from our members about what you are doing to best cover the crisis on a local level. Email us using the link below.
Public media research
Our PSM Research and Resources page brings together all the latest academic studies looking into the world of public media.
What we're watching...
Clash of data on Turkey’s election night exposes lack of media freedom
France 24: Conflicting vote counts that emerged in Turkey’s presidential election as results trickled in overnight Monday were partly a result of a lack of free media in the country, says Yavuz Baydar, founder of freeturkishpress.com.
What we're listening to...
Off Balance – Frontlines of Journalism
BBC Radio 4: Taking you to some of the most difficult stories Jeremy and other journalists have covered; in this episode – why impartiality is not about trying to get perfect balance, the truth lying somewhere in the middle. Often it does not.
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Global Headlines
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ALGERIA: European Parliament Slams Press Freedom Violations and Calls for release of Ihsane El-Kadi
The North Africa Post: The European Parliament has decried the Algerian authorities’ crackdown on media freedom, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of all those arbitrarily detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression, including journalist Ihsane El-Kadi.
COTE D’IVOIRE, KENYA, NIGERIA & UGANDA: Media freedom and democracy: Africans in four countries weigh up thorny questions about state control
The Conversation: We found that citizens in these countries cannot be simply characterised as either for or against media freedom. People who supported democracy were more supportive of protecting the media from government interference.
EGYPT: Journalism Is a ‘Crime’ in Egypt; Pens and Cameras Behind Bars
Middle East Monitor: The Egyptian political scene is witness to clear confusion, which is, apparently, demonstrated by the arbitrary arrests of journalists and human rights activists.
ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Journalist Melkamsew Puts Women at Show’s Heart
VOA: Ethiopian journalist Melkamsew Solomon broadcasts a weekly radio program, Yimechish, which focuses on rural women in Ethiopia.
LESOTHO: Prominent journalist shot and killed
Lesotho Times: POPULAR radio presenter Ralikonelo Joki has been shot and killed, in a development that has sent shockwaves across the media fraternity in Lesotho.
MOROCCO: Draft Bill on National Press Council threatens independent media
Article 19: The signatory organisations express their deep concern about the new Moroccan government’s draft bill, which includes regressive measures that would prejudice the gains of self-regulation and the press towards increasing government control over the National Press Council and media in Morocco, having a negative impact on press freedom.
NIGERIA: Big win for press freedom in Nigeria as court bars regulator from sanctioning networks
MFWA: On May 10, the Federal High Court in Nigeria’s capital Abuja gave an order of perpetual injunction restraining broadcast watchdog, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), from imposing fines on broadcast stations.
SIERRA LEONE: Our impact: NGIJ alumni lead Sierra Leone’s fight against fake news ahead of Elections
MFWA: In the lead-up to Sierra Leone’s general elections in June 2023, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is running its automated fact-checking tool, iVerify, in the country and the trusted hands behind the project include two alumni of the MFWA’s Next Generation Investigative Journalism (NGIJ) Fellowship.
SOUTH AFRICA: SABC confirms car radio licence ‘press statement’ is fake
News24: False information that the SABC has introduced an annual SABC car radio licence fee of R401 which comes with a penalty fine of R750 or 90 days in jail, is devoid of any truth and has been denied by the South African public broadcaster.
SOUTH AFRICA & ZIMBABWE: Amabhungane’s Journalists Versus Zunaid Moti and Paul O’sullivan
GroundUp: Reporters fear arrest after exposé links businessman to Zimbabwean president
SUDAN: Silencing dissent: Journalists in Sudan face threats, raids
Al Jazeera: Media workers say they’re being intimated by warring forces on both sides of the unrest for reporting human rights violations.
TUNISIA: Media rights retreat in Tunisia as gov’t tightens freedoms
Al Jazeera: Government restrictions are reducing the number of media outlets that are still speaking with an independent voice.
TUNISIA: Pop Up Think Tank Tunis: A crisis lab for the environmental cause
DW Akademie: Food safety and water scarcity, waste management – these and many other environmental challenges were at the core of DW Akademie’s new project “Pop Up Think Tank,” in Tunis earlier this year.
REGIONAL: CAJ President, Isiguzo, Bemoans Zero Press Freedom, Attacks on Journalists in Central Africa
PR Nigeria: President of the Congress of African Journalists, CAJ, Mr. Chris Isiguzo, has raised an alarm over the abuse of press freedom and violent assaults on journalists, in Central Africa.
REGIONAL: Media push back for right to report, French journalists expelled, and World Press Freedom Day
IFEX: Kenyan protests and the rights and responsibilities of media, expulsions and smear campaigns in Burkina Faso, and World Press Freedom Day messages call for strengthening of media freedom safeguard measures across the continent.
REGIONAL: Regional governments commit to more openness as MISA launches press freedom report
MISA: MISA Regional Director Tabani Moyo gave a synopsis of the report, explaining that while there were improvements on some aspects, the issue of impunity for crimes against journalists remained a worry.
BANGLADESH: BCRA coordinate community radio aid in Cyclone Mocha response
ABU: The Bangladesh Community Radio Association – BCRA’s 9 community radios located in the coastal belt area of Bangladesh are playing a crucial role in responding to the powerful cyclonic storm Mocha that has hit the region. The radios have been broadcasting emergency life-saving messages to raise awareness and preparedness among their 4.2 million listeners.
BANGLADESH: Making Prothom Alo “the enemy” in Bangladesh
Himāl: t’s a rare thing that a country’s parliament is told by none other than the prime minister that its top newspaper is the enemy of the people.
CHINA: ‘Beijing’s Global Media Offensive’
China File: Over the past several years, there has been an active debate about Chinese influence overseas. Amidst allegations that Beijing has influenced foreign elections and politicians, state newswire Xinhua has expanded into one of the largest news agencies worldwide, and state-linked media companies have taken over Chinese-language media sources internationally.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong Newspaper Cuts Cartoonist ‘Zunzi’ After Officials Complain
VOA: A Hong Kong newspaper has pulled a popular, decades-old political comic strip after government officials accused it of smearing the government’s image and misleading the public.
RSF: Among the signatories are publishers, editors-in-chief, and senior editors from 42 countries, including two Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
INDONESIA: Lawsuit against KompasTV raises fresh press freedom concerns
Asia News Network: The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and the Press Council have warned about the damage a recently settled lawsuit against Jakarta-based television station KompasTV could inflict on Indonesia’s already declining press freedom.
JAPAN: NHK STRL Open House 2023 “Support Media, Create the Future” (Press release – Japanese)
NHK: NHK Science & Technical Research Laboratories (STRL) will hold “STRL Open House 2023” from June 1 (Thursday) to 4 (Sunday) to open the latest research and development results to the public . We are planning to hold a real event where you can actually see the exhibition without prior reservation.
KAZAKHSTAN: Unfreedom Monitor Report: Kazakhstan
Global Voices Advox: Authoritarian regimes have long had a complicated relationship with media and communications technologies. The Unfreedom Monitor is a Global Voices Advox research initiative examining the growing phenomenon of networked or digital authoritarianism.
PAKISTAN: History goes up in smoke as PTI protesters set Radio Pakistan Peshawar on fire
Geo: In the aftermath of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9, infuriated party activists took to the streets in several cities across the country, vehemently protesting their leader’s arrest.
PAKISTAN: Journalists Attacked and Internet Blocked Amid Pakistan Unrest
VOA: Amid widespread protests and political instability following the recent arrest of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, authorities have imposed internet shutdowns and blocked social media platforms, while protestors have targeted journalists in violent attacks.
PAKISTAN: RADIO PAKISTAN TRANSMISSION RESTORED
ARY News: The transmission of Radio Pakistan Peshawar has been restored after the building was burned down by violent protestors, ARY News reported.
PHILIPPINES: Southeast Asia media groups condemn red-tagging attacks on Filipino journalists
AJI: We strongly condemn the recent red-tagging and baseless accusations made against members of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) by Lorraine Badoy and Jeffrey Celis during their show “Laban Kasama ang Bayan” aired on Wednesday (3/5/23).
SINGAPORE: Opportunities and challenges for retaining trust in Singapore’s state-funded media
Reuters Institute: In February 2022, Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information, Josephine Teo, announced that her ministry had set aside S$900 million (£555m) in funding support for Singapore Press Holdings Media Trust (SMT) over the next five years.
PTS: Public Television held the PTV 2023 International Symposium at the Taipei International Convention Center today (12th). Six other public media representatives discussed and shared the international experience of public media in digital transformation and governance.
THAILAND: Thai PBS enters the OTT market into a content provider hub in Thailand (Thai)
Ban Muang: “Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wilasinee” took the stage to share experiences online with international public media organizations. “The future of media in the era of digital transformation” Thai PBS is ready to raise the level of Digital First to drive the media organization of the future. Connecting the work as one with One Thai PBS penetrates the OTT market into a content provider hub in Thailand.
AUSTRALIA: ABC announces job losses amid biggest restructure since 2017
The Guardian: A major ABC restructure will see the abolition of the separate regional and radio division and lead to redundancies of management and staff.
AUSTRALIA: Police raid journalist’s home, confiscate photographs
IFJ: The home of Ngaarda Media journalist Eliza Kloser was searched, with a memory card confiscated, after the journalist took photographs of the suspected removal of sacred ancient rock art during the construction of a fertiliser plant on the Burrup Peninsula, Western Australia.
AUSTRALIA: Radio was the ABC’s crown jewel, but new data shows how it has fallen
SMH: The ABC has a problem: people aren’t listening to radio, at least not as much as they used to.
AUSTRALIA: The Emerging Writers’ Incubator returns, calling out for a new wave of Australian storytellers (Press release)
SBS: Six more screenwriting creatives from under-represented communities will join leading Australian production companies, as the industry initiative returns in its third year.
NEW ZEALAND: Journalism cadet Will Sangster can’t speak, but has plenty to say
The New Zealand Herald: Listen up. Will Sangster has a voice, but you may not hear his words. He has Cerebral Palsy and physically, at least, can’t talk.
NEW ZEALAND: Offshore outfit rating the reliability of our media
RNZ: US-based NewsGuard is rating New Zealand’s significant news sites for reliability – and even preparing ‘nutrition labels’ to warn users to treat them with caution. NewsGuard is also using human journalists to train generative AI innovations like ChatGPT to minimise the potential for misinformation-spreading on an epic scale.
REGIONAL: Journalist David Robie launches new open access Café Pacific website
Asia Pacific Report: While Asia Pacific Report will continue to cover regional affairs, the new website — dubbed Café Pacific, the same name as his blog which is being absorbed into the new venture — will focus on more in-depth reports and make available on open access a range of books and articles previously hidden behind paywalls.
REGIONAL: Pacific media needs more support to protect the truth
ASPI: Media freedom is an essential pillar of democracy. In Pacific island countries, this pillar is under threat from financial and capacity constraints.
AUSTRIA: ORF against VÖZ demands: “Weaknesses as a media location in Austria”
Der Standard: As reported, the newspaper association VÖZ presented a package of demands to the legislator for an ORF reform on Wednesday.
FRANCE: French commercial broadcasters slam ‘unfair’ competition from pubcaster
Digital TV Europe: French commercial broadcasters have grouped together to complain to the country’s prime minister about what they regard as unfair competition for audiences by public broadcaster France Télévisions.
FRANCE: In France, live journalism is bridging the gap between journalists and the public
IJNet: As a correspondent in Venezuela for several years, French journalist Jean-Baptiste Mouttet witnessed citizens’ distrust of the media firsthand. “A lot of readers didn’t trust me because I was telling stories of torture [and] economic policy,” he said.
GERMANY: Broadcasting reform: expert calls for less entertainment and more information
MDR: A commission of inquiry in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt wants to reform public broadcasting. This is intended to restore trust in broadcasting.
DW: In an effort to strengthen media freedom and freedom of expression worldwide, Svenja Schulze, Minister of the BMZ and Peter Limbourg, Director General of DW, signed a declaration of intent in Berlin today.
GREECE: Debate: ERT is by far first in TV ratings (Press release – Greek)
ERT: The exemplary way that ERT organized, covered and broadcast such an important event, as the debate of the political leaders, was also rewarded by the television viewers, who highlighted it, yesterday, Wednesday, May 10, 2023, by far the first in television viewing, although the debate was broadcast on at the same time almost all television channels nationwide.
GREECE: Greece introduces first Artificial Intelligence news presenter
Greek Herald: The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming more widespread in various fields, including writing and editing, and now a virtual TV presenter named Hermes has made his appearance on Greece’s state broadcaster ERT.
GREECE: Weaponizing GDPR: How EU data protection threatens press freedom in Greece
Balcani Caucaso: At the end of March, journalist Stavroula Poulimeni and the independent media outlet Alterthess were ordered in first instance to pay compensation of EUR 3,000 to Greek gold mine executive Efstathios Lialos.
IRELAND: LATEST JNLR RADIO LISTENERSHIP FIGURES RELEASED
RTÉ: Irish listeners turn on RTÉ Radio stations in huge numbers as 1.93 million, 47% of the Irish Adult 15+ population tune in every week.
ITALY: Rai: Cda appoints Roberto Sergio as new AD (Press release – Italian)
Rai: The Shareholders’ Meeting took place today, which formalized the appointment of Roberto Sergio as a new member of the Rai Board of Directors, indicating him for the position of Chief Executive Officer.
LITHUANIA: LRT presents a free platform for movies and series: you can find quality content in LRT EPIKA (Press release – Lithuanian)
LRT: Free quality content, a wide range of genres and specially selected movies and series – you will find all this in LRT EPIKA from now on. The new LRT platform is for anyone who misses legal, easily accessible content in one place.
NETHERLANDS: NOS correspondent Iris de Graaf no longer to Russia (Press release – Dutch)
NOS: The editor-in-chief of NOS News has decided to bring Russia correspondent Iris de Graaf back to the Netherlands. “We notice that Iris is being treated in an increasingly intimidating manner in Moscow because of her work for Dutch television. For the time being, Iris will follow developments in Russia from the Netherlands.”
POLAND: TOK FM fine sparks renewed concerns about regulatory capture
IPI: The International Press Institute (IPI) today raises alarm over the controversial fine imposed on the independent radio TOK FM by the chair of Poland’s broadcast media regulator and warns of increasing regulatory pressure on the station ahead of a looming licencing decision.
ROMANIA: How this Romanian news brand is reaching young audiences on Instagram and TikTok
Reuters Institute: “We realised there was a huge gap in how young Romanians read the news,” says ‘Gen, știri’ co-founder Diana Filimon
SERBIA: Growing concern in Europe over media freedom and pluralism
IPI: Independent journalism faces deepening crisis.
IPI: Overall, the report finds that media pluralism remains relatively strong compared with Slovakia’s neighbours in the Visegrád region. While the power of media oligarchs in the country remains problematic, there is a resilient independent media sector.
SLOVENIA: Minister Vrečko: Procedures for the dismissal of program councilors will be carried out within the framework of the rule of law (Slovenian)
RTV SLO: Minister Asta Vrečko, upon her arrival at the Brussels meeting of the EU Ministers of Culture, assured that the procedures for dismissing the nine program councilors of Radiotelevision Slovenia will be carried out in accordance with the procedures that are possible within the National Assembly.
SLOVENIA: The coalition for the dismissal of nine program councilors of RTV, outraged in the opposition (Slovenian)
RTV SLO: The Mandate-Election Commission of the DZ is expected to consider proposals for the dismissal and termination of the mandates of nine members of the program board of RTV Slovenia at four regular June meetings.
SLOVENIA: The management of RTV Slovenia is suing the government for reimbursement of higher labor costs (Slovenian)
RTV SLO: “Despite many calls, including from my predecessor, the government has not come to the realization of the commitment from the strike agreement in 2018, which was concluded with the public sector unions,” said Grah Whatmough, announcing that this is why the lawsuit was filed.
SWEDEN: Cilla Benkö writes about a tour in Central Europe on press freedom day (Blog)
Swedish Radio: Journalists exposed to verbal attacks, major financial challenges for media and public service under varying degrees of political pressure.
UK: BBC announces extra support to help people pay for TV Licence (Press release)
BBC: A new action plan will aim to reduce the number of women in severe financial hardship who are prosecuted for licence fee evasion.
UK: BBC Education, Micro:bit Educational Foundation and Nominet join forces to deliver free micro:bits to every primary school across the UK (Press release)
BBC: The partnership will offer a classroom set of 30 BBC micro:bits (a total of almost 700,000 devices) and brand-new teaching resources to every primary school across the UK
UK: UK is a hostile environment for LGBTQ+ journalists, study suggests
The Guardian: Most respondents report receiving online abuse and harassment, with many seeing their role as dangerous.
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on European Union member states and MEPs to amend the proposed European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) so that it effectively safeguards the right to reliable news and information, especially online, and favour sustainable journalism.
ARGENTINA: The role of the media in caudillista Argentina (Spanish)
Infobae: Informing, investigating power, expressing an opinion, all with absolute freedom, that is the role that corresponds to the press. But the anti-democratic caudillos maintain their desire to control that. Without a free press there is no democracy.
BARBADOS: BARJAM reiterates call for Freedom of Information Act (3 May)
Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation
BRAZIL: Agência Brasil turns 33; challenge is to consolidate public journalism (Portuguese)
Agência Brasil: Free, quality information makes a difference, say experts.
BRAZIL: Brazil records murders of journalists again in 2022 (Portuguese)
Agência Brasil: In 2022, Brazil was once again the scene of the murder of journalists and communication professionals in general. After a year without recording homicides related to the exercise of the profession, the country recorded, last year, at least two brutal crimes, in addition to a third occurrence still being investigated in Ceará.
BRAZIL: “Public communication is still in its infancy” (Portuguese)
Focus Brasil: President of the EBC, veteran press man with passages through several vehicles of the corporate media and professor at UnB, Hélio Doyle says that it is necessary to separate the public interest communication from the governmental one. And he points out that the challenges to resuming government communication are enormous.
COLOMBIA: A journalist who was investigating femicides in Colombia was shot dead
News Rebeat: Luis Gabriel PereiraAged 25, he was a journalist and director of a digital media that investigated cases of feminicide. Era shot to death this Tuesday in the municipality of Ciénaga de Oro, in the department of Córdoba, in Colombia.
COLOMBIA: RTVC and WWF come together to develop transmedia projects on the environment and biodiversity conservation (Press release – Spanish)
RTVC: RTVC Sistema de Medios Públicos and WWF Colombia (World Wide Fund for Nature, in Spanish), an environmental conservation organization present in more than 100 countries, sealed an alliance to design special projects and generate content on environmental issues, which will be broadcast in multiple formats through the RTVC brands.
EL SALVADOR: Salvadoran digital news outlet El Faro turns 25 years old, amid the increasing authoritarianism facing Central American journalism (Spanish)
El Faro: El Faro is 25 years old. The road has been intense and full of challenges, which have led us to evolve, to mature our editorial processes and also to find our own voice in journalism.
GUATEMALA: Guatemala’s ElPeriódico Shutters Amid Government Crackdown
VOA: One of Guatemala’s oldest news outlets, known for its investigations into government corruption, is ceasing operations Monday amid what it described as a campaign of government persecution.
GUYANA: Raghubir returned as president of GPA for second term
Stabroek News: Guyana Press Association (GPA) President, Nazima Raghubir was yesterday re-elected to a second term following a highly contentious elections.
HAITI: Director-General condemns killing of journalist Dumesky Kersaint in Haiti (Press release)
UNESCO: UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has condemned the killing of journalist Dumesky Kersaint near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on 16 April.
JAMAICA: RJRGLEANER CEO issues sharp rebuke of threat against journalists
Jamaica Gleaner: Chief Executive Officer of the RJRGLEANER Communications Group, Gary Allen, has written to President of the People’s National Party, Mark Golding, expressing alarm, disgust, and disbelief at Monday night’s incident in which an employee of the company was verbally abused and threatened with rape at the party’s headquarters.
CPJ: Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador must stop making baseless criticisms of local news outlets and the international free expression organization Article 19, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.
NICARAGUA: The IAPA condemned the intensification of the repression of the Daniel Ortega regime against the press (Spanish)
Infobae: The Inter-American Press Association urged the international community through a statement to denounce the persecution against “freedom of expression and of the press.”
PERU: ‘La Pestilencia’ escalates the violence against IDL Reporters (Spanish)
IDL Reporteros: Two days after the publication of the investigation that ended a campaign based on slanderous misinformation against the director of IDL-R Gustavo Gorriti, and the director of La República, Gustavo Mohme, the far-right groups of ‘La Pestilencia’ violently harassed the local IDL -Reporters, on Friday the 5th at night, in what constitutes the fourth attack against Gorriti and IDL-R in the last four months.
PERU: Peruvian journalists accumulate 70% of digital attacks against the press (Spanish)
Swissinfo: 71% of digital attacks against journalists have been directed against women in recent months in Peru and the most common forms of offense against them were stereotypes and judgments based on their appearance, says a study Made using artificial intelligence by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
URUGUAY: In the last year there were 66 cases of threats to press freedom, according to a Cainfo report (5 May – Spanish)
La Diaria: The organization presented its ninth annual report, which found a slight reduction compared to the 69 cases registered the previous year, although it expressed concern about the “growing trend of stigmatization of journalism by government spokespersons.”
VENEZUELA: Public Space: 13 states of Venezuela do not have independent media (3 May – Spanish)
Runrun.es: In its annual report, Espacio Público recorded the closure of at least 403 independent media in the last 20 years in the country.
REGIONAL: Jailed, exiled and harassed, journalists defy authoritarian leaders in Central America
Reuters Institute: Reporters in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras warn against the dangerous decline of press freedom in the region.
IRAN: Imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi to receive PEN America”s Freedom to Write Award
The Independent: The Iranian writer, journalist and human rights activist Narges Mohammadi will be honored at this week’s PEN America Literary Gala
IRAQ: Cases against social media influencers raise concerns over freedoms in Iraq
Amwaj: Iraq’s judiciary is issuing arrest warrants and convicting social media stars over allegedly inappropriate content. Reactions to these measures have been divided. Some Iraqis support the moves, feeling that certain videos and social media posts are indecent and offensive.
ISRAEL: Israel Apologizes for the Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh (Watch)
VOA: Thursday marked one year since the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during an Israeli army raid. Press freedom advocates and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen are calling on the Biden administration to hold Israel accountable for the killing, and Israel has apologized for the killing for the first time.
ISRAEL: Israel prevents foreign journalists from entering Gaza
MEM: The Israeli occupation authorities have been preventing foreign journalists from entering Gaza since the start of its offensive on Tuesday night.
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi-backed group explores launch of English news channel to rival Al Jazeera
Financial Times: Gulf kingdom aims to expand its media influence around the world
TURKEY: Media Freedom on the Line as Turkey Approaches Elections
IPI: As Turkey prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections, press freedom and human rights groups demand that, whoever forms the next government, unwinding a decade of restrictions on media freedom must be a central priority for the country.
TURKEY: Turkey elections: Persecuted journalists cautiously hopeful of change
Middle East Eye: Those who faced prosecution and exile under Erdogan view the prospect of a new government with guarded optimism
TURKEY: Turkey’s voters ‘are more vulnerable to disinformation’
DW: “All parties have their own troll armies,” said Turkish fact-checker Gülin Cavus in an interview with DW ahead of Sunday’s key presidential election.
TURKEY: Türkiye to try 11 Kurdish journalists for “PKK membership”
RSF: Eleven journalists with pro-Kurdish media, accused of belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), are due to go on trial in Ankara on 16 May. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which will attend the opening of the trial, calls on the Turkish authorities to stop using the courts to muzzle opposition media outlets.
CANADA: Government won’t adopt Liberal policy critics warned could hurt press freedom, PM says
CBC News: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will not adopt a controversial Liberal Party resolution to target disinformation that critics have denounced as potentially dangerous to freedom of the press in Canada.
CANADA: MTM Junior releases its 5th annual report on Canadian kids’ media consumption behaviours
CBC/Radio-Canada: In its fifth year, MTM JR centres on topics such as TV and video discoverability, audio and radio consumption in the car, online harassment among teens, gaming and VR headsets and much more to help you better understand Canada’s youngest generation of media consumers.
CANADA: PARTICIPANTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2023 EDITION OF CBC NEW INDIGENOUS VOICES (Press release)
CBC: Today, the National Screen Institute welcomed 10 emerging Indigenous creators as they began their training through the CBC New Indigenous Voices program.
US: As In The Past, The Black Press Today Must Fearlessly Confront Today’s Challenges (Opinion)
South Florida Times: President Joe Biden, at the White House Correspondents Dinner on April 29, hailed the work of the Black Press, singling out Ida B. Wells who waged a courageous campaign against lynching. The featured comedian Roy Wood Jr. agreed.
US: Day-after reviews of Trump town hall get even worse for CNN
Poynter: In the post-mortem of its Wednesday night town hall with former President Donald Trump, CNN was in full spin mode Thursday. In an editorial meeting with staff, big boss Chris Licht both praised and defended the night.
US: Government Report Finds Former USAGM CEO Abused Authority, Wasted $1.6 Million in Funds
VOA: The first presidentially appointed head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media breached editorial firewall regulations, engaged in gross waste of public funds and abused his authority, according to a 145-page report released Wednesday by the Office of Special Counsel.
US: NPR Deep Dives Into the Future of Public Radio Content Distribution
Radio World: “In technology and in media there is no such thing as standing still. You’re either adapting to the changing environment or falling behind.”
CNN: America’s most-watched PBS station is on the verge of going dark. The Republican governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, recently vetoed a bill that would have renewed the license and provided millions in funding for the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, the statewide PBS network that reaches more than 650,000 viewers a week.
US: PRX cuts positions due to declining podcast sponsorship (Paywall)
Current: The layoffs affected “teams including marketing, station services, training, and technology and advertising operations.”
US: RFE/RL President and CEO Jamie Fly to Depart (Press release)
RFE/RL: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) President and CEO Jamie Fly has announced his resignation, effective June 30, to move his family back to the United States and pursue an opportunity in the private sector.
US: Study suggests a way forward in serving diverse audiences with classical music
Current: “Clearly, the path to diversifying audiences for our organizations involves a robust digital strategy in addition to making our radio programming welcoming to listeners from all backgrounds and ethnicities,” writes the leader of Classical KING FM.
Authoritarian governments are weaponizing ‘lawfare’ to punish journalists
IJNet: In Liberia, a country with a long and tragic history of violence against anyone who challenges power, guns did not silence journalist Rodney Sieh. Courts did.
Can journalism still be saved?
DW: At World Press Freedom Day in New York, DW Akademie and other leading media development organizations debated “radical approaches to saving journalism.” As it turns out, there are at least a few glimmers of hope.
Drone Journalism: Advancing news in an insecure era
Vanguard: The development in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the Internet has actually redefined almost every facets of human endeavour.
Fake content a growing threat to press freedom, democracy
Observer: Hot on the heels of World Press Freedom Day comes the 2023 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, which ranks Canada at 15th on the list of 180 countries, sandwiched between the Czech Republic and Latvia.
Five tips on newsroom leadership from the International Journalism Festival 2023
Reuters Institute: Being an intentional leader is difficult. Here are a few useful quotes we heard in Perugia from speakers we admire and respect
New Ofcom study explores how media literacy can support mental health
Ofcom: As Mental Health Awareness Week gets underway, Ofcom has today published a study exploring the role online media literacy can play in supporting people’s mental health.
Press freedom also means media in indigenous languages: The case of France’s Occitan
Global Voices: Thirty years ago, the UN’s branch supporting education, science and culture, UNESCO, launched World Press Freedom Day to highlight the key role of media freedom. T
Strategies for finding and writing solutions-based stories
IJNet: When COVID-19 sent the world into a tailspin, personal protective equipment became scarce, and as the Jackson Hole News&Guide’s health care reporter, I was writing dire stories about the lack of PPE at our hospital.
The New York Times’ Sulzberger warns reporters of ‘blind spots and echo chambers’
NPR: Too often, he says, “journalists are demonstrating that they’re on the side of the righteous. And I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers.”
Threats Against Journalists on the Rise
Nieman Reports: Nearly half of respondents report facing legal threats in first investigation of its kind from the Tow Center for Digital Journalism.
Twitter has a new CEO. What does it mean? (Opinion)
Poynter: It became official on Friday. Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s advertising chief, will be Twitter’s next CEO.
What this longtime crime reporter says the news media gets wrong in covering tragedy
The Toronto Star: The wave of violence across Canada and the U.S., including two mass shootings in Texas in two weeks with young children among victims, is enough to make the average news consumer feel overwhelmed and anxious.
The New Statesman: How states are weaponising digital shutdowns to stifle dissent
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Header image: TV cameras lined up, covering large public event. Credit: Microgen/istock
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