Our weekly round-up of public service media related stories and headlines from around the world.
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ETHIOPIA: PROJECT EXILE: Ethiopia state media reporter chased from country
Global Journalist: Fasil Girma Aragaw got to know Ethiopia’s one-party state from the inside. As a reporter for state radio and television from 2006 to 2010, his job was to protect the image of the government.
GAMBIA: The challenges of reporting in crisis situations
RFI: Journalists in and outside The Gambia discuss the challenges of reporting under a crisis situation with a repressive government at the helm.
KENYA: Fake news reinforces journalists’ primary role as gatekeepers
DailyNation
NIGERIA: Call for Nigeria Military Chief to Stop Intimidating Press
ABC News: Nigeria’s army chief must stop intimidating a news website and drop defamation charges, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
NIGERIA: Why journalists need training, re-training, by Vincent Maduka
TheGuardian.ng
NIGERIA: Outrage as PREMIUM TIMES journalists return to police station after arrests
Premium Times: Two PREMIUM TIMES staff arrested but later released Thursday by the Nigerian police returned to the Abuja headquarters of the force early Friday, amid widespread outrage that followed the raid.
SOUTH AFRICA: Appointment of SABC interim board imminent
IOL: The SABC could have a new board as early as this week, once members of the portfolio committee on communications have picked the names of the proposed candidates.
SOUTH AFRICA: SABC board failed financially, legally, morally – MPs
News24: The SABC’s board had a “shaky” moral compass and had failed to protect journalists from intimidation, MPs on Parliament’s SABC inquiry ad hoc committee said on Friday.
SOUTH AFRICA: SABC ‘cuts feed’ when Juju starts slamming Hlaudi
The Citizen: The EFF’s live press briefing suddenly went blank when Malema laid into the former COO and his colleagues.
SOUTH AFRICA: Update: What’s going on at SABC? #2
PMA: The crisis at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) continues. Since their decision to censor news and amidst allegations of censorship and corruption, the situation has been uncertain. Here is what happened since our last update in November.
TANZANIA: Tanzania’s new reform-minded government has banned a tabloid for “inflammatory” journalism
Quartz: Recently-elected Tanzanian president John Magufuli has garnered regional praise for his reformist proposals aimed at rooting out government corruption and incompetence. But his administration is facing its first real test of that agenda following a decision to ban a tabloid for producing journalism it says could threaten the country’s stability.
AZERBAIJAN: Azerbaijani authorities tighten screws on independent media
CPJ: When officials in Baku released several high-profile journalists, including investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova, from prison in May last year, the international media rights community breathed a sigh of relief. But any optimism was short-lived, with authorities in recent months prosecuting journalists and bloggers, and passing restrictive online media laws.
CHINA: Monitoring and Killing Public Opinion Online: A Booming Industry in China
Media Power Monitor: China has traditionally been a masterful manipulator of public opinion. It has finally perfected a system to weed out dissent on the internet, too.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong Media Lose Independent Stance After Bad Year For Press Freedom in China
RadioFreeAsia: Hong Kong’s media last year “gave up its last defenses,” making editorial independence in the city a thing of the past, an international press freedom group has said in an annual report.
INDIA: Media must stand up to fear, speak out today more than ever: Vice President Hamid Ansari
The Indian Express: “It is a fundamental function of the media and a basic requirement for the functioning of a healthy democracy,” said Vice President Hamid Ansari.
INDIA: IBF calls for broadcast, print media equality in India’s new tax regime
Rapid TV News: The Indian Broadcast Foundation (IBF) is urging the Government to classify television as an item of mass consumption with a 5% tax cap, alongside print media, under the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) system.
INDIA: Allow FM stations to air news, says PIL; Supreme Court seeks govt reply in 4 weeks
Times of India: The Supreme Court told the Centre on Thursday that it must file its response in four weeks to a PIL by NGO ‘Common Cause’ seeking permission for private FM radio stations and community radio services to broadcast news.
INDIA: Indian journalists better than best to cover world: Arnab Goswami
The Financial Express: Arnab Goswami lamented that country has no presence in global media despite acceptance at the international level that India is a large economy and a growing power.
INDONESIA: Revisiting Media Governance in Indonesia: Beyond ITE Law, Cyber Agency
Jakarta Globe: With the growing significance of the internet in today’s life, especially in enabling the cyberspace to facilitate wider public participation in the discussion of issues matter to them, internet does not only pose promise of inclusive and better democracy, but also a threat to the national security and unity such as spreading fake news, provoking hatred, or coordinating terror attacks and terrorists recruitment.
MALDIVES: Maldives journalists face prison
CPJ: Authorities in the Maldives should cease pursuing all criminal charges against journalists from Raajje TV, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka Media Minister Decries Profit-Driven Nationalistic Coverage in South Asia
Huffington Post: Speaking to a group of Indian and Pakistani journalists gathered in Colombo recently for a dialogue on cross-border reporting issues between their countries, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Mass Media called upon corporate media owners in South Asia to stop promoting nationalistic reporting to make bigger profits, saying that such news coverage becomes “part of the conflict” that prevents the region from reaching its global potential.
THAILAND: Media groups renew ‘control’ bill battle
The Bangkok Post: Media organisations will step up efforts to oppose a bill governing rights protection, ethical promotion and professional standards of media professionals with the National Reform Steering Assembly.
THAILAND: Media’s shifting landscape
The Bangkok Post: Broadcasters are finally turning to online-only content, reflecting Thais’ changing viewing habits.
THAILAND: Thai court muzzles media as human-trafficking defence begins
South China Morning Post: Dozens of people including a general arrested in Thailand’s crackdown on human-trafficking appeared in court on Tuesday to begin presenting their defence but journalists were barred from reporting trial proceedings.
UZBEKISTAN: CPJ urges Uzbek president to lift media restrictions
CPJ: Open letter to President Mirziyoyev from the Committee to Protect Journalists, urging him to lift media restrictions.
AUSTRALIA: ABC director of television Richard Finlayson resigns
The Guardian: Executive quits before managing director Michelle Guthrie announces restructure that may bring big changes to department.
AUSTRALIA: Distrustful nation: Australians lose faith in politics, media and business
The Sydney Morning Herald: Who do you trust? Increasingly the answer seems to be: nobody.
AUSTRALIA: Podcasting Down Under: Tom Wright on how Australia is innovating with audio
NewStatesman: The ABC producer, formerly of the Times and The Bugle, makes the case for Australian podcasting.
NEW ZEALAND: ‘Relentlessly Pākehā’ newsrooms improving, says researcher
Pacific Media Centre: There are still too few Māori in New Zealand’s newsrooms, media researcher Julie Middleton says.
NEW ZEALAND: RNZ features student docos on love, health, tapu and Pacific reflections
Pacific Media Centre: RNZ National featured seven short documentaries made by final-year Bachelor of Communication Studies students in its Summer Report series.
POLYNESIA: Polynesians left with no AM signal after France issues radio shutdown
PMA: Residents of French-Polynesia express concerns following decision to shutdown AM broadcasting.
GENERAL: Endangered – the frontline journalism of outrage
Pacific Media Centre: Media coverage of the decapitation and other atrocities against journalists has heightened global awareness of just how dangerous the profession of journalists is when covering war zones, corruption and human rights violations under dictatorships.
ALBANIA: Layoffs of Albanian Journalists Anger Opposition
Balkan Media Watch: The sudden departure of a number of prominent journalists is causing unease about a possible loss of political balance in Albania’s mainstream media.
GERMANY: RSF launches constitutional appeal against German anti-whistleblower penal provision
RSF: An alliance of German civil rights organizations, journalists and bloggers has lodged a constitutional appeal against a new anti-whistleblower provision in the German Penal Code.
GREECE: Stop threats against media pluralism!
IFJ: The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) have strongly backed calls by Greek journalists to prevent banks forcing the closure of the country’s oldest newspapers and threatening up to 500 jobs.
IRELAND: RTÉ Player live streams surged 74% in 2016
The Irish Times: ‘Fair City’ most-watched show on digital service, while overall streams increase 26%.
IRELAND: Views sought on future of public service broadcasting
The Irish Times: Committee wants to explore role of independent producers and new digital services.
SPAIN: Journalists ask for a school subject on mass media (Spanish)
Heraldo: The Federation of the Associations of Journalists of Spain (FAPE) calls for curricula in secondary education to include a subject on the functioning and role of the media, as they are “essential” for democracy and social transformation.
UK: Fake news and Brexit put news brands in peril
Campaign: If the path facing news brands wasn’t already perilous enough, further stumbling blocks in the form of Brexit and fake news have arisen.
UK: The BBC – wanting to be Netflix?
Diginomica: The BBC’s iPlayer has been a major asset to the Corporation at a time when on demand TV viewing has become the norm. But now it needs to become a Netflix-style destination of choice for original content in its own right.
UK: Maggie Brown: BBC must lead the way on promoting diversity
The Stage: As the bongs announcing the new year sounded, it seemed fitting to mutter a toast to the ending of the BBC charter, and the start of a new era. For British drama, entertainment and comedy to thrive and keep up standards, a healthy BBC is the vital patron.
SWEDEN: How Sweden is fighting fake news
Digiday UK: Sweden has just celebrated 250 years of press freedom. If you thought this tradition would make it safe from fake news, you’d be wrong.
UKRAINE: EBU welcomes new public broadcaster in Ukraine
EBU: The EBU community has welcomed the successful legal registration of the new Ukrainian public broadcaster – National Public TV and Radio Company of Ukraine (NPTRCU).
GENERAL: Digital media days looks at redefining PSM role in digital era
EBU: EBU Media Director Jean Philip De Tender set the scene for the very first Digital Media Days event in Lisbon (22 – 24 January). 240 delegates from across the EBU Membership have gathered together to explore new ideas, focus on understanding the real and updated needs of audiences and to develop more relevant solutions enabling PSM to thrive in the digital era.
ARGENTINA: “Leaderlessness limits operation” (Spanish)
El País: Since last November there hasn’t been a public defender designated for the Audiovisual Communication Services. The team that is in charge of the body demands that Congress to regularize the situation before a possible media reform.
Knight Center: Journalism in the Americas: The Peruvian government recently formalized the creation of the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Public Information, whose purpose is to ensure the proper application of the Law on Transparency and Access to Public Information, enacted 13 years ago, reported newspaper La República.
IRAN: Journalists Sentenced to Flogging for “Spreading Lies”
Iran Wire: Two journalists have been given lashes in the Iranian provinces of Isfahan and Semnan, the latest in what Amnesty International describes as a “spree of cruel punishments.”
PALESTINE: New report reveals extent of safety crisis facing journalists
IFJ: Almost half of all Palestinian field reporters, photographers and camera crews have been shot at, beaten, detained or banned from covering news, the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) revealed in a new report.
TURKEY: Journalism in death throes after six months of emergency
RSF: RSF examines the persecution of Turkey’s journalists and media under the state of emergency proclaimed exactly six months ago today, and urges Turkey’s national assembly to repeal all the decree-laws that are incompatible with its constitution and its international obligations.
TURKEY: Turkey Crackdown Chronicle
CPJ: The Turkish government closed two television stations that catered to a largely Shia Muslim audience by emergency decree today.
CANADA: Canada’s local news “poverty”
Policy Options: Newsrooms outside the big cities are closing, and with them goes the critical information citizens require for everyday life.
Nieman Lab: “By inviting in anybody who covers these things and letting them be participants and part of the conversation, the bar gets raised for everybody.”
U.S: Alaska public broadcasters fear funding cuts under Trump administration
CBC News: As a new federal administration prepares to take office, rural communities in Alaska are worried about the suddenly murky future of public broadcasting.
MediaMatters: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is pushing back on reported efforts by the Trump administration to privatize it, saying the proposal would have a “devastating effect” and that “the entire public media service would be severely debilitated.”
U.S.: For Trump, media is public enemy number one
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is alarmed by the new administration’s repeated attacks on the media and blatant disregard for facts in the first three days of Donald Trump’s presidency.
NiemanLab: The show is “about understanding the values that we hold and how we want to be — what are our shared hopes and dreams for who we want to be in the world and how are we seen,” says WNYC CEO Laura Walker.
U.S: Trump team to cut federal support for public broadcasters?
PMA: The new US administration is reportedly planning to privatise the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the private non-profit organisation that distributes federal funds to more than 1,500 public media outlets and their programmes across the US.
Reuters Institute: Based on a survey of 50,000 people in 26 countries, over 150 charts and tables illustrating the changing shape of the news industry
EJN: Report on challenges for journalists in the Post-truth era
Fighting Fake news on climate change
Yahoo News
NordMedia 2017: Mediated Realities – Global Challenges
University of Tampere: NordMedia invites you to submit abstracts and panel session proposals for the NordMedia 2017 conference that will be held on August 17 – 19, 2017 in Tampere, Finland.
Radiodays Europe: Europe’s very first open radio hackathon!
.Radio top level domain name ready for launch
EBU: 2017 is a big year for radio. The EBU is launching a new Top Level Domain (TLD) name – .radio – for the radio community which will progressively change the way people are reaching internet resources linked to radio.
The Scott Trust Bursary Scheme
The Guardian: The Guardian Foundation offers a number of bursaries each year for aspiring journalists to study for a postgraduate qualification in newspaper, web or broadcast journalism.
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All PSM Weekly stories are provided for interest and their relevance to public service media issues, they do not necessarily reflect the views of the Public Media Alliance.
All headlines are sourced from their original story.
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Header image: Radio tower in San Francisco. Credits: Orin Zebest/Creative Commons
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