AFGHANISTAN: Leading Afghan Journalist ‘Reza Shaheer’ Detained in Zabul: Sources

The Frontier Post: Reports emerged that Reza Shaheer, a leading journalist of ‘Rah-e-Farda’ TV channel who had freshly returned from Iran, was arrested in Zabul and taken to an unknown place, while Taliban provincial officials rejected his arrest.

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AFGHANISTAN: Private Afghan TV Channel Feels The Squeeze From The Taliban

Radio Free Europe: Zhwandoon TV is one of the few independent media outlets still operating under Taliban rule in Afghanistan.

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AFGHANISTAN: Women journalists in Afghanistan claim they are occasionally barred from attending press conferences

ANI: Women journalists in Afghanistan claim they are occasionally barred from attending press conferences

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BANGLADESH: Regional journalist dies after violent attack

IFJ: Golam Rabbani Nadim, a Bakshiganj correspondent, died from his injuries on June 15 after being attacked by a group of assailants while returning home from work on June 14 in Jamalpur.

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HONG KONG: HKFP wins prestigious SOPA award for opinion piece on Hong Kong press freedom

HKFP: A Hong Kong Free Press opinion piece won an honourable mention at the prestigious Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) awards on Thursday night.

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INDIA: India court bars airing of Al Jazeera documentary

Al Jazeera: Media network’s film, India … Who Lit the Fuse?, investigates hate crimes by Hindu nationalist groups against Muslims.

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INDIA: Kashmiri journalist, human right defender languishing in jail under a draconian law

Sabrang: As Fahad Shah completes 500 days in jail, UN group calls detention of previously arrested activist Parvez “arbitrary”, urges India to reverse its politics of silencing dissent

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INDIA & MYANMAR: Journalists quit India-based media club over Myanmar visit

Thai PBS: Ten foreign journalists have resigned from the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia (FCCSA), based in New Delhi, in protest at its president’s visit to Myanmar last week, according to the Irrawaddy.

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JAPAN: Partial change in broadcast license fee exemption criteria (expansion of exemption to students) (Press release – Japanese)

NHK: Today, we received approval from the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications regarding the partial revision of the criteria for exemption from the broadcasting reception fee of the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) after going through the prescribed procedures such as soliciting opinions. 

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KYRGYZSTAN: Kyrgyzstan’s Japarov seeks Putin-style media legislation

RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Kyrgyzstan’s parliament to reject a media law proposed by President Sadyr Japarov’s government that is based on Russian legislation and threatens the very existence of independent media in a country hitherto seen as an oasis of relative freedom in Central Asia.

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PAKISTAN: Journalists should be allowed to do their work, US tells Pakistan (Press release)

Pakistan Press Foundation: The United States said Thursday that journalists in Pakistan should be allowed to cover the ongoing events and do their work freely.

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PAKISTAN: Rights, press bodies slam Pakistan crackdown on ‘critical voices’

Al Jazeera: At least seven journalists and political commentators have been charged with sedition and other offences in the past week.

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PHILIPPINES: Creatives as frontliners in the Philippines’ fight against disinformation

East Asia Forum: The Philippines is often portrayed as one of the world’s most important battlegrounds against disinformation.

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PHILIPPINES: Media trust scores in PH ‘disturbing,’ says author of country report in journalism study

Rappler: ‘Independent media that are at the receiving end of attacks are likely to suffer from low trust scores,’ says Yvonne Chua, author of the Philippines country report in the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2023

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SOUTH KOREA & UKRAINE: Freelance journalist charged for coverage of Ukraine war

IFJ: Freelance photojournalist Jang Jin-young is facing criminal charges for covering the war in Ukraine without permission from the South Korean government, with the People’s Coalition for Media Reform planning to appeal the charges in the nation’s Constitutional Court on June 23. 

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SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation goes DRM following Indian listeners’ request

Radioinfo: The international service of the Sri Lankan Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) recently doubled its Tamil Service airtime to two hours, on 873 kHz AM (medium wave) from Puttalam transmitter. 

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THAILAND: Thai PBS discusses cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Preparing to produce content to promote relations between Thailand and neighboring countries  (Press release – Thai)

ThaiPBS: Thai PBS discusses cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Preparing to produce content to promote relations between Thailand and neighboring countries, presenting good dramas, quality documentaries, supporting Thai “soft power” exports, and promoting the country’s creative economy.

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UZBEKISTAN: Uzbek Journalists and Bloggers Suffer from Mirziyoyev’s Broken Promises on Freedom of Speech

The Diplomat: Although there is much more freedom of speech compared to the Karimov era, ongoing attacks on bloggers and civil society activists show an alarming deteriorating dynamic in Uzbekistan.

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VIETNAM: Facebook helped bring free speech to Vietnam. Now it’s helping stifle it

The Washington Post: When Facebook took off in Vietnam about a decade ago, it was like a “revolution,” said two of the company’s early employees in Asia. For the first time, people across the country could communicate directly about current affairs.

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VIETNAM: What Drives Vietnam’s Tightened Public Sphere? – Analysis

Eurasia Review: Since 2016, Vietnam’s public sphere has come under increasing scrutiny and control by the government, with traditional media, the online sphere, and civil society being the primary targets. 

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REGIONAL: Survival of Online Media: Transforming the Business Model 

Thai PBS: Despite the various degrees of content limitation and changes Southeast Asia media are facing, all online media in the region, and probably globally, are now struggling financially.

AUSTRALIA: ABC News announces digital transformation proposals (Press Release) 

ABC: ABC News has outlined content initiatives and proposed changes to maintain value and relevance for audiences and safeguard our trusted public interest journalism for the future as we accelerate digital transformation, while also achieving savings and efficiencies.

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AUSTRALIA: NAIDOC Committee, Culture is Life and ABC Education Launch Official Educational Resources for NAIDOC Week (Press Release)

ABC: Today, educators around Australia have access to the official educational resources for this year’s NAIDOC Week theme: ‘For Our Elders’ on the ABC Education website.

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AUSTRALIA: National broadcaster cuts over 100 jobs (Press Release)

IFJ: Australian public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), has informed staff of 120 redundancies, including senior political reporters, ahead of a five-year ‘re-structuring’ of the organisation towards a digital-first model.

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NEW ZEALAND:  Further fallout as RNZ takes out the ‘Kremlin garbage’

RNZ Mediawatch: External experts are poring over the “inappropriate editing” of international news published online by RNZ. It has already tightened editorial checks and stood down an online journalist. Will this dent trust in RNZ — or news in general? Were campaigns propagating national propaganda a factor? 

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NEW ZEALAND: RNZ case signals need for a news media reset (Opinion) 

Stuff: The appalling situation in which Radio New Zealand finds itself after the discovery of ‘doctored’ Reuters stories raises an obvious question: What has happened to editorial oversight?

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NEW ZEALAND: RNZ Russia edits: Journalist accused of editing stories with pro-Russian sentiment resigns

The New Zealand Herald: A Radio New Zealand (RNZ) journalist who was stood down 12 days ago for editing stories to include pro-Russian sentiment has resigned. In a statement to staff this afternoon, RNZ’s chief executive and editor-in-chief Paul Thompson said the employee at the centre of the state media organisation’s editing scandal has resigned, Checkpoint reported.

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PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Mr Speaker, we’re not your enemies. We’re reporting without fear or favour (Editorial) 

Asia Pacific Report: ‘Mister Speaker, our collective question without notice is to you mister Speaker. We want the Prime Minister and his deputy to take note Sir. Our question from the Media Gallery is specifically directed to you, Mr Speaker, because of events that have transpired in the last 48 hours in which the freedom of the media in the people’s house has been once again curtailed.’

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REGIONAL: USP signs ‘milestone Pacific MOUs’ for enterprising journalism initiatives

Asia Pacific Report: The University of the South Pacific’s regional journalism programme has penned three milestone Memorandums of Understanding that will usher in greater collaboration with media industry partners over student upskilling and training, joint workshops and seminars, and publication of the award-winning training newspaper Wansolwara. 

AUSTRIA: Chancellery wipes criticism of ORF committees off the table (German)

ORF: A year ago, the state filed a constitutional complaint against political influence in the appointment of the ORF Foundation Council and ORF General Directorate. The Federal Chancellery has now formulated its statement to the Constitutional Court and is defending the current structure.

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AUSTRIA: ORF law passed constitutional committee: “missed chance” for opposition (German) 

Der Standard: The initiators of the GIS referendum are not taking part in the meeting, which is “questionable in terms of democratic policy,” says Green media spokeswoman Eva Blimlinger

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BELGIUM: News channel for teenagers nws.nws.nws also on TikTok from now on, VRT NWS will follow in September (Press release – Dutch)

VRT: As of today, nws.nws.nws., our teenage news channel on Instagram, is present on the TikTok app. With that, nws.nws.nws. follows in the footsteps of Karrewiet, which has been on TikTok since March 2021. Finally, VRT NWS will also be available on TikTok in September.

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BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: UNESCO supports the launch of a Coalition for Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to create a free and healthy online environment for citizens. 

UNESCO: The official launch of the Coalition for Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation in Bosnia and Herzegovina was held on June 19, 2023, at the UN House in Sarajevo. The coalition, established as part of the UNESCO project Social Media 4 Peace funded by the European Union, aims to encourage cooperation between civil society, state institutions, academic community and experts, the social media and digital platforms to improve the curbing of online harmful content while promoting freedom of expression in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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FRANCE: France Télévisions Journalists Now Take Climate-Friendly Trains Not Planes (1 June) 

Forbes: Except for breaking news, journalists working for France Télévisions will now no longer travel by plane to report on events taking place inside France.

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GEORGIA: Georgian journalists incorporate game-based learning amid press freedom interference

IJNet: In recent years, media organizations globally have experimented with “gamifying” the news – making it more interactive to engage audiences.

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GERMANY: German tabloid Bild cuts 200 jobs and says some roles will be replaced by AI

The Guardian: Germany’s Bild tabloid, the biggest-selling newspaper in Europe, has announced a €100m cost-cutting programme that will lead to about 200 redundancies, and warned staff that it expects to make further editorial cuts due to “the opportunities of artificial intelligence”.

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GERMANY: Top salaries in public service broadcasting: Lid on it? (German) 

Deutschlandradio: What do directors earn? All public broadcasters are currently dealing with this question. With RBB it should be significantly less in the future, with Radio Bremen it will no longer be. And then there’s the idea of ​​an upper limit. An overview.

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ITALY: International media freedom groups raise alarm about RAI’s independence

IPI: Following the recent resignation of the CEO and other major politically-influenced internal management changes at Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), the Italian public service broadcaster, the undersigned media freedom and journalist organisations today express growing alarm about threats to the editorial independence of the broadcaster.

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ITALY: Public broadcaster RAI comes under serious political pressure

IPI: Freeing itself from political interference has always been a challenge for RAI, Italian public broadcaster. 

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LATVIA: Latvia’s president requests “political decision” for the merge of public media

BNN: On Tuesday, the 20th of June, during his meeting with the Public Electronic Mass Media Council (SEPLP), President of Latvia Egils Levits stressed that the Cabinet of Ministers and the Saeima need political will to make the necessary decisions to create a unified public media.

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ROMANIA: IPI supports independent newspaper Libertatea after shameful smear campaign

IPI: The International Press Institute (IPI) and our global network of leading journalists, editors and media executives today outline our support for independent Romanian news outlet Libertatea following a toxic smear campaign initiated following the tragic death of its journalist, Iulia Marin.

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RUSSIA: Preserving Russia’s Independent Journalism

SCOOP: A team of reporters and technology specialists is preserving the work of Russia’s independent media before they are erased.

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UK: Tory conference: foreign media groups say accreditation fee undermines press freedom

The Guardian: Hundreds of foreign media groups have accused Britain’s Conservatives of undermining press freedom by imposing charges on journalists to cover their annual conference.

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REGIONAL: European Media Freedom Act: Council secures mandate for negotiations

EU Reporter: EU member state ambassadors have agreed the Council’s position on a new law to safeguard media freedom, pluralism and independence in the EU. 

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REGIONAL : Media Show Resiliency Under Pressure in Europe, Report Finds

VOA: Off the top of his head, Piotr Stasinski doesn’t know how many lawsuits his newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza, has faced over the years.

BRAZIL: Book explores the emergence of sensationalism, shock and amazement as central production values of TV journalism in Brazil

LatAm Journalism Review: Prisoners accused of petty crimes taken straight from the scene of the crime to television studios to be subjected to inquisitorial interviews in front of the cameras. 

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BRAZIL: How journalists from 10 countries investigated organized crime in the Amazon in memory of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira 

LatAm Journalism Review: The first scene of The Bruno and Dom Project trailer shows the moment when members of the Union of Indigenous Peoples of Vale do Javari (Univaja, by its Portuguese acronym) find British journalist Dom Phillips’ press card buried in mud on the bank of the Itaquaí river in Atalaia do Norte, in the Brazilian state of Amazonas.

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COLOMBIA: Every two days a journalist is threatened in Colombia, according to the Flip (Spanish)

Infobae: A new report on attacks on the press in Colombia delivered by the Foundation for Press Freedom, Flip , revealed a worrying balance for journalists in the country. According to the figures collected by the organization, throughout the year 2023, 58 threats against these professionals have been documented.

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COLOMBIA: Prosecutor’s Office signed Directive to protect press freedom

The New Century: Regarding the government’s strong questioning of the role of the media, the Attorney General’s Office yesterday issued a Directive to protect press freedom.

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CUBA: Cuba’s Independent Media Under Pressure But Undeterred

VOA: For journalists working at one of Cuba’s few independent media outlets, the job comes with threats, accusations of being CIA agents, and pressure to be silent or to leave.

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GUATEMALA: Attacks on press freedom intensify in Guatemala on the brink of general elections (Spanish)

Newtral: Organizations of journalists denounce that at least 20 professionals have had to leave Guatemala to protect their lives due to the criminalization of the trade

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GUATEMALA: Prominent journalist José Zamora sentenced

BBC: A Guatemala court has sentenced leading journalist José Zamora to six years in jail for money laundering, in a case condemned by human rights groups.

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MEXICO: Mexican government orders state-funded academics not to post ‘damaging’ criticism of bosses

National Post: The Mexican government defended Monday an order issued to academics at a state-funded research institute not to post criticism that could “damage the dignity” of their bosses on social media, or share them in emails.

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MEXICO: There are 9 detainees for the murder of journalist María Elena Ferra (Spanish)

La Jornada Veracruz: In the Zero Impunity report on Tuesday, the Undersecretary for Citizen Security and Protection, Luis Rodríguez Bucio, highlighted the sentence of 30 years in prison for Nicasio N, for the intentional homicide of journalist María Elena Ferral Hernández on March 30, 2020.

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MEXICO: They held the Regional Council of Independent Press

El Sol de San Luis: Members of the various media outlets in the country discussed the major problems facing this trade in Mexico and the world.

IRAN: Iranian Journalist Says Newspaper Fired Her After She Alleged Special Forces Officer Misconduct

VOA: An Iranian journalist who was jailed last year for conducting an interview with Mahsa Amini’s father said Thursday that she has been “terminated” from her position at the newspaper where she had just started working.

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LEBANON: Lebanon newspaper wins Grand Prix at Cannes Lions

Arab News: A campaign to promote press freedom by Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar and advertising agency Impact BBDO, was awarded the Grand Prix in the Print and Publishing category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity recently.

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PALESTINE: Journalists under fire amid escalating violence in occupied West Bank (Press Release)

IFJ: On 19 June, journalist Hazem Nasser, cameraman for Al-Ghad TV channel, was shot at and wounded, despite wearing a vest labelled ‘press’, during a raid in Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.

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SYRIA: SJU reports 68 media rights violations in 2022 (Press Release)

IFJ: In a seminar held on 13 June, the Syrian Journalists’ Union (SJU) highlighted 68 violations of media and journalists’ rights documented in their annual press freedom report.

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TURKEY: International groups condemn attack against journalist Sinan Aygül 

IFJ: Organisations defending media freedom, freedom of expression and human rights, including the IFJ, have strongly condemned the appalling attack on journalist Sinan Aygül that took place in Tatvan, a city in eastern Turkey, on June 17. Two people were arrested the following day charged with ‘intentional injury with a weapon’. 

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YEMEN: Journalist arrested again and imprisoned

IFJ: On 5 June, Yemeni journalist Fahd Al Arhabi was arrested and jailed by the Houthi security services in Amran city, in western central Yemen. 

CANADA: Bell cuts 1,300 jobs, including prominent CTV journalists

The Toronto Star: When members of the media assembled at the Fairmont Royal York this week for a tribute to Lisa LaFlamme — the famously silver-haired broadcaster turfed from the top anchor chair at CTV, now honoured by the Canadian Journalism Federation for her “powerful voice in journalism” — the mood at her former employer’s table seemed subdued.

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CANADA: Big Tech vs Canada: another test case for media (Opinion) 

The Financial Times: Short of an unlikely political U-turn or corporate climbdown in the next few days, there will soon be headlines about how Big Tech is clashing with a sovereign nation over demands that it pay up to support a local news industry.

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US: 3 Men Charged in Case That Spotlights Attacks on the Media

NYT: The homes of New Hampshire Public Radio journalists were vandalized after they aired a sexual harassment investigation involving a prominent businessman in the state.

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US: Beginning again, and again

Columbia Journalism Review: This spring, Digiday reported that “media companies are still mostly hiring white people.” The news was damning not only because of the facts of the matter, but also the context: just a couple of years ago, the journalism industry was said to be undergoing a “reckoning” over racism. 

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US: Experts Divided as YouTube Reverses Policy on Election Misinformation

VOA:  An announcement by YouTube that it will no longer remove content containing misinformation on the U.S. 2020 presidential election has some experts divided.

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US: Journalists in America must be allowed to safely cover protests

Columbia Journalism Review: A week after the May 1 strangulation death of Jordan Neely, demonstrators assembled outside the Broadway-Lafayette subway station for a candlelight vigil. Freelance photographer Stephanie Keith was there to cover events, and when police began to arrest protesters, she moved into the street to get the shot. 

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US: MANCHIN INTRODUCES KIDS ONLINE SAFETY ACT (Press Release)

WCBC RADIO: U.S. Senator Joe Manchin has re-introduced the Kids Online Safety Act, which will enhance children’s online safety and hold social media companies accountable.

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US: On Juneteenth, Public Media Celebrates African American Freedom and Achievement

CPB: Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans and is celebrated on the anniversary of the order issued by Major General Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas proclaiming freedom for slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865.

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US & INDIA: CPJ urges US to press India’s Modi on media freedom during visit

Al Jazeera: The Committee to Protect Journalists says it expects the US to make India’s media crackdown ‘a core element of discussions’.

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US & RUSSIA: VOA Declines to Renew Contract of Former Russian State Journalist Following Outcry 

VOA: Voice of America this week chose not to renew the contract of a former Russian state media journalist who was placed on leave in February from VOA’s Russian-language service following complaints about his prior employment at pro-Kremlin outlets.

Exile journalists map – fleeing to Europe and North America

RSF: For the first time, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is publishing a map showing the migratory flows of journalists who are forced to flee their country for safety reasons, and the countries that host exile media. Most of the countries that provide refuge to threatened or persecuted journalists are located in Europe or North America.

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How Non-Western Journalists Enriched Coverage of the Global Pandemic

The Open Notebook: When India implemented a lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020, Lalit Khambhayata, then a reporter and deputy editor at the daily newspaper Gujarat Samachar, turned all his attention to health and science journalism. 

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How to future-proof your newsroom with AI

Journalism.co.uk: FT Strategies shares expert tips on using artificial intelligence to newsrooms’ advantage and counter threats it poses to journalism. 

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IPDC approves nearly $1,9 million to support media development worldwide

UNESCO: At its 67th meeting held at UNESCO headquarters from 15-16 June 2023, the Bureau of the Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) approved substantial new funding for media development projects across the globe.

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#IPIWoCo Recap: Impactful journalism from exile

IPI: How journalists forced into exile are rethinking everything to continue delivering the truth to audiences at home.

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#IPIWoCo Recap: Cybercrime laws: A new frontline for press freedom

IPI: With the abuse of cybercrime laws to target journalists on the rise globally, states must ensure that a planned U.N. cybercrime treaty does not undermine freedom of expression, a panel of experts said at the 2023 IPI World Congress and Media Innovation Festival.

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“The concept of freedom is at the core of our work”

DW: In an interview, Carsten von Nahmen, Managing Director, and Natascha Schwanke, Director of Media Development, describe DW Akademie’s activities amid global crises.