Our weekly round-up of public service media related stories and headlines from around the world.
Click on the drop-down menus below to reveal the latest regional stories.
ALGERIA: Harsh Facebook Posts, Jail and Now Death: A Man’s Fate Angers Algeria
The New York Times: The Algerian government is coming under criticism for its treatment of a freelance British-Algerian journalist, Mohamed Tamalt, who died in a hospital on Sunday after being imprisoned under a draconian new law that criminalizes offending the president and state institutions.
DRC: Congo To Block Social Media Sites Ahead Of Protests Against The President
NPR: The Democratic Republic of Congo has ordered telecom companies to block social media sites ahead of protests planned for Monday. That’s the day that President Joseph Kabila’s final constitutionally sanctioned presidential term expires, though he has delayed elections until April 2018.
ETHIOPIA: Social media and news websites blocked by government to prevent protests
Amnesty International UK: “As far as the Ethiopian government is concerned, social media is a tool for extremists… The reality, though, is very different” – Michelle Kagari
MALAWI: Kamlepo successfully lobbies for Malawi media to cover Parliament live
Nyasa Times: MP Kamlepo Kalua has become the darling of the media after he successfully lobbied that the media should cover live parliamentary committee meetings.
SOMALIA: Journalists protest against restrictions to cover upcoming elections
International Federation of Journalists: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) [has] expressed concerns and condemned the restrictions to the coverage of the ongoing indirect elections in Somalia by journalists of the independent media.
SOUTH AFRICA: SABC Inquiry Tops SA News
Via All Africa: The Parliamentary inquiry into the SABC was the main focus of news in South Africa, media monitoring organisation ROiAfrica said on Sunday.`
SOUTH AFRICA: Censorship and Corruption: What’s going on at SOuth Africa’s Public Broadcaster?
Newsweek: The SABC is facing accusations of censoring violent protests and its boss has been banned from coming to work.
TANZANIA: Co-founder of Tanzania whistleblowing website charged
The Washington Post: A founder of a whistleblowing website has been charged with three felonies after being arrested in Tanzania amid protests from human rights groups.
UGANDA: President Moves to Gag Media
Via All Africa
CENTRAL ASIA: Promoting Investigative Journalism in Central Asia
Institute for War & Peace Reporting: IWPR has awarded the inaugural prizes in a new competition that aims to promote the culture of investigative reporting across Kyrgyz and Tajik local media.
Hong Kong Free Press.
INDIA: Govt to appoint new consulting firm to revitalise loss-making Doordarshan
DNA: Various measures taken to improve DD met with a poor response.
INDONESIA: Indonesia faces trying to be more ‘journalist-friendly’ in 2017
Pacific Media Centre: When journalist and media activist Victor Mambor wants information from inside Papua, Indonesia, he knows how to get it — he has to ask someone who isn’t Papuan.
JAPAN: Japanese media under siege
East Asia Forum: Between 2012 and 2016, during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s tenure, Japan plunged 50 places to 72nd out of 180 nations in Reporters Without Borders’ global media freedom ranking.
JAPAN: NHK plans to start online broadcast from 2019
The Mainichi: Japan’s public broadcaster NHK said Tuesday it plans to distribute programs of its two terrestrial television channels through the Internet on a steady basis from 2019.
NORTH KOREA: How media smuggling took hold in North Korea
PBS Newshour
PAKISTAN: Pakistani media on alert after TV channel’s libel defeat in British court
The Guardian: Ruling against ARY could act as a deterrent for stations that broadcast in UK and carry out defamatory attacks on public figures.
PHILIPPINES: Philippines seeks to renew media ties with Singapore
ABS-CBN News: The Philippines is seeking to renew an agreement with Singapore that aims to boost media collaboration between the two countries.
SRI LANKA: Right to Information Act Will Likely Redefine Sri Lanka’s Media Landscape
The Wire: The RTI Act, which will go into effect in February, will allow journalists in the country to rely on verified, authenticated information from the government rather than on hearsay.
TAJIKISTAN: India, Tajikistan ink pact for cooperation in broadcasting
The Indian Express: The Memorandum of Understanding also envisages that the two sides will explore co-production opportunities related to matters of mutual interest.
THAILAND: NRSA warned over media control in reform bill
Bangkok Post: Six media organisations on Monday issued a statement accusing the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) of attempting to allow politicians and government officials to intervene with the media’s self-regulation.
AUSTRALIA: Geoblocking: Australians should have access to TV shows when, where they want, report says
ABC News: Australian audiences should be able to access TV shows and movies online when they want, from wherever in the world they want to find them, according to the Productivity Commission.
AUSTRALIA: ABC isn’t biased against business but does neglect smaller firms, Australia Institute finds
The Guardian: Research finds big business received three to five times more attention than small to medium businesses
FIJI: Fiji govt must step up efforts to end racism, says UN official
Radio New Zealand: The United Nations human rights expert Mutuma Ruteere has called on the Fiji government to intensify its efforts to end racism and xenophobia.
NEW ZEALAND: OMSA Members Join the New Zealand Press Council
Scoop: The members of the Online Media Standards Authority (“OMSA”) are pleased to announce that all online publications over which they have editorial control will now be under the jurisdiction of The New Zealand Press Council.
NEW ZEALAND: Big brands and broadcasters blurring the lines
Radio New Zealand: Big brands, broadcasters and personalities will work more closely than ever in the media in 2017. Expect intense endorsements of products and politicians alike – and more blurred lines between ads, news and programmes.
REGIONAL: Call for ABC to review closure of shortwave service to Pacific
Pasifik: The Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) is concerned with the decision of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) to shut down its Shortwave Radio Services to the Pacific by the end of January next year.
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA: EBU appeals to Bosnia & Herzegovina government to save public service broadcasting
EBU: Funding crisis leads to sanctions, with EBU issuing “last-ditch” appeal for government to save broadcaster.
FINLAND: Finland’s #1 press freedom status at risk
Yle News: The events of the last few weeks in Finland have likely damaged its chances of being named the top country on the World Press Freedom Index next year, a ranking it has enjoyed every year since 2008.
FRANCE: RTL Group Set to Bundle Its French Broadcasting Activities Into Groupe M6
Variety: RTL Group is planning to bundle its French broadcasting activities, comprising TV and radio operations, into Groupe M6 with the aim to become a fully-integrated company and better compete in the digital media landscape.
GREECE: The Greek broadcaster ERT: a state or public service broadcaster?
LSE Media Policy Project: From being abolished in 2013 to being relaunched in 2015, the Greek public broadcaster ERT has undergone a tumultuous few years
HUNGARY: Fears Hungary no longer has neutral newspaper voice after closure of independent daily Nepszabadsag
Press Gazette: One of Hungary’s biggest news outlets has folded after 20 years of breaking news.
IRELAND: RTÉ urged to promote Irish music and artists
The Irish TImes: Labour TD Willie Penrose has urged RTÉ Radio to bring back its commercially sponsored programmes to promote Irish music and singers.
NETHERLANDS: Again increased media concentrations in Netherlands
Media Monitor: The number of media concentrations increased again in the past year. Most noteworthy are the developments in the newspaper market. The TMG Dutch and Flemish publisher De Persgroep together now owned almost 80% of the market.
POLAND: Crowds renew calls for press freedom
BBC News: Demonstrators in the Polish capital Warsaw have renewed their protest against government plans to restrict journalists’ access to parliament.
SLOVENIA: Slovenian & Albanian Members Build Partnership
EBU: Albanian Member RTSH has just completed a two day study visit to their Slovenian colleagues RTVSLO in Ljubljana.
SLOVAKIA: Celebrations held for public-service broadcaster
The Slovak Spectator: Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) commemorates 90 years since its first radio broadcast and 60 years since the first television broadcast.
UK: BBC hails the ‘biggest year ever’ for iPlayer
Digital TV Europe: The BBC has revealed that 2016 was the “biggest year ever” for the iPlayer with an average of 243 million monthly requests.
UK: Culture secretary challenged on diversity for Channel 4 board post
The Guardian: Karen Bradley says she wants to see diverse range of candidates despite rejecting only non-white applicant put forward by Ofcom.
UK: How TV news failed to keep up in 2016
The Guardian: It has been a remarkable year – but the rise of social media has made traditional televised newscasting look increasingly out of touch.
BRAZIL: EBC: Restructured
PMA: A proposed restructuring of Brazil’s public broadcaster was approved last week in a bid to make the organisation more efficient whilst also undermining its autonomy.
CHILE: Egatel delivers Chile’s first high power DTT transmitter
Rapid TV News: Spain’s Egatel has won the contract to supply, install and commission a 6.5kWrms ISDB transmitter for TVR in Santiago de Chile.
COLOMBIA: The League Against Silence wants to overcome self-censorship in Colombia
Knight Center: Journalism in the Americas: “We are going to make a confession: in Colombia, journalists publish much less than what they know.” Thus begins the promotion video of the newly-formed network of journalists called The League Against Silence, which, through its first activity, is seeking resources to cover the most self-censored issues in the country.
PERU: BBC, CNN, El Pais, Fusion hail Peru’s first Quechua news program
Andina: Leading TV broadcast networks and newspapers around the world noted the launch of Peru’s first news program in Quechua this Monday.
Knight Center: Journalism in the Americas: Currently, at least 250 journalists worldwide have been detained in relation to their reporting work, according to recent reports by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and international nonprofit Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
REGIONAL: Latin American TV Sees Long-Term Growth With Deregulation, New Affluence
Variety
TURKEY: Human Rights Watch: Turkey silencing media in post-coup purge
Deutsche Welle: The international rights group Human Rights Watch has accused Turkey of quashing independent and opposition media outlets. Turkey claims it’s fighting multiple sources of terrorism.
CANADA: The Bottom Falls Out of Canadian Media
Nieman Lab: “A federal innovation fund will spark the blooming of a thousand digital media startups. Well, okay, maybe 20 or so.”
CANADA: Petition to Support Community Media Presented in House of Commons
Broadcaster: Canadians in five federal ridings have so far petitioned Parliament for support for community-operated TV and media centres.
USA: The Aberration of 20th Century Journalism
Nieman Lab: “High-quality, high-cost, and crucially high-impact journalism is a cultural form worthy of our support and protection and not a commercial product in search of a business model.”
USA: New oversight for Voice of America, Radio Free Europe raises concerns
Reuters: A defense policy bill that President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law this month will give President-elect Donald Trump greater influence over U.S. foreign broadcasting entities.
USA: How NPR One data points to new ways of thinking about local content
Current
USA: Spanish-language multicaster Vme will soon drop public TV service
Current: The Spanish-language TV channel Vme will end its multicast service for public television over the next year as it transitions to commercial cable.
Journalist killings ease from record highs as murders down, combat deaths up
CPJ: Deadly violence against the media eased in 2016 from recent record levels as the number of journalists singled out for murder declined.
Radical Sharing: Breaking Paradigms to Achieve Change
ICIJ: ICIJ deputy director Marina Walker Guevara was invited to give a keynote speech at the 2016 Open Government Partnership Summit in Paris…she spoke about the Panama Papers, investigative journalism, press freedom and how collaboration can help the world face up to some of the enormous challenges it currently faces.
Want to tune in to the world’s radio stations? Grow your listening with Radio.Garden
The Guardian: A new interactive online website allows users to explore radio stations around the world – as they broadcast live. It’s a timely project that celebrates human communication across borders
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