Our weekly round-up of public service media news stories from around the world.
18 July – 24 July
Africa
Court order stops SABC from enforcing censorship decision
From PMA: A court bid by The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) against the SABC succeeds in what has been a tumultuous and highly controversial period for South Africa’s public broadcaster.
Workers of Ghana’s state broadcaster stage protest, threaten strike
From Africa News: Workers of Ghana’s state broadcaster, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) have staged a protest on Thursday in the capital Accra against a government appointed board overseeing their activities.
SADC lags behind in broadcasting migration
From The Southern Times: Struggles continue for the implementation of a SADC TV bouquet and multimedia content creation in the region.
From the International Business Times: IBTimes UK interviews ex-SABC journalist fired for speaking out against perceived self-censorship.
South Sudan authorities arrest editor, order Juba Monitor to cease publishing
From Committee to Protect Journalists: The CFJ calls for the immediate and unconditional release of South Sudanese journalist Alfred Taban.
Asia
ABU General Assembly 2016 in Bali – Registration is now Open
From Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
As Pakistan bars extremists from airwaves, some fear creeping censorship
From Reuters: Fear comes as protest march was not shown by local TV channels.
Curfew continues in Kashmir but media gag lifted
From the International Business Times: Media gagged in North Western state following killing of prominent separatist leader.
Media watchdog faces legal, operational challenges: chairman
From The Express Tribune: Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has faulted its ‘perceived ineffectiveness’ on legal challenges as well as the historical baggage it is supposedly carrying, its chief Absar Alam told the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday.
Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific
Big names in NZ media boycott the Olympics
From Radio New Zealand: It’s all down to media politics…
Calls for better access for media during Pacific polls
From Radio New Zealand: A group fighting for media freedom in the Pacific says election observers need to prioritise free and fair access to the media as they monitor elections in the region.
PNG ethics code needs social media ‘catch up’, says council chief
From Asia-Pacific Report: The president of Papua New Guinea’s media council says there is a need for the country’s media ethics codes to be revised, Radio NZ International reports.
‘That day I saw the power of media, and how it can be tragic’
From Asia-Pacific Report: Accounts about the coverage of the student protests in Papua New Guinea last month, from the WJEC in New Zealand last week
The Scoop Foundation—an open model for New Zealand media
From Scoop: The need for new ways to ensure accurate, relevant, trustworthy and timely news.
Europe
Digitisation of media is shifting TV habits in UK
From PMA: New research by Ofcom indicates that time spent watching TV is declining, especially among young people, but public service broadcasting still remains satisfying for most.
EBU submits response to BEREC consultation on EU net neutrality guidelines
From EBU: The EBU seeks strong net neutrality laws for the EU with “robust and consistent” guidelines for national regulators. The EBU believes net neutrality is a pillar of media diversity in the digital age.
How the BBC can create a better digital public sphere
From Open Democracy: The BBC’s remit is not just broadcast. It has the power to improve our experiences online, and to realise the digital public sphere we want.
From Politics Home
Prominent journalist killed in car bombing – sending shockwaves through Ukraine’s media community
From the Irish Independent: A prominent journalist has been killed in a car bombing in Ukraine’s capital Kiev
Serbia’s ‘Lies’ Exhibition Alarms Independent Journalists
From Balkan Insight: Prominent editors and media watchdogs accuse Serbia’s ruling party of adding to the pressures on a free media by showcasing so-called journalistic ‘lies’.
Latin America
Community media expands in Ecuador
From PMA: Community media will soon be growing in Ecuador, as the sector will receive one third of radio and television licenses by 2017.
Middle East
Mapping Media Freedom: A disastrous week for Turkish journalism
From the Index on Censorship: A summary of the immediate media landscape in Turkey following last Friday’s military coup.
RSF condemns politically-motivated charge against correspondent
From RSF: Outrage from the media freedom advocacy group as Bahraini journalist is charged with working as a correspondent for foreign news media without permission.
Turkey: Newspaper offices vandalized
From Index on Censorship: Dozens of young men vandalised the offices of the local Istanbul newspaper Gazetem İstanbul last night, the newspaper reported on its website.
North America
Radio still paves the way for music discovery in Canada
From PMA: Despite the rise of online streaming music platforms, a survey suggests radio is still the predominant media for finding new music in Canada.
US broadcasters chase live content over the top
From ReTHINK: Broadcasters in the US are unwilling to cede any more eyeballs to the rising tide of internet-delivered video, as two of the four large national networks in the US recently expanded distribution of their content across internet-connected devices.
Other
Introducing Replay Highlights, Periscope Tweet Embeds and Live Autoplay
From Medium/Periscope: Periscope introduces new features that make it easier to share and watch content.
Our travel bursars have returned!
From PMA: Read about this year’s travel bursars and their experiences
Register now for the Global Forum for Media Development
From GFMD: This year’s event takes place in Jakarta, 20-22 September
The unpredictable course of live streaming has caught us unprepared
From The Guardian: The immediacy with which often violent events are broadcast by anyone anywhere is changing how we experience crisis
Thomson Foundation hosts journalism competition
From IJnet: The Thomson Foundation is sponsoring an award for young journalists working in the developing world as part of the 2016 UK Foreign Press Association (FPA) Awards.
Who Can Reinvent Public Media in the Global South?
From MediaPowerMonitor: An upcoming study on public media in the Global South calls for major reforms to help reinvent public service media.
If you have any suggestions for our weekly round-ups, please email PMA at editor@publicmediaalliance.org.
These stories are provided for interest and 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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