Our weekly round-up of public service media related stories and headlines from around the world.
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CAMEROON: Is Cameroon Sabotaging its Digital Economy Plan?
All Africa: The country aspires to be a tech hub and create jobs in the sector, but high costs, poor infrastructure and the internet bl`ackout in Silicon Mountain is undermining this vision.
GAMBIA: GPU Prepares Journalists for Elections
Via All Africa: The Gambia Press Union (GPU), in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), yesterday opened a four-day training course for journalists on election reporting, to prepare them ahead of the National Assembly election.
NAMIBIA: Gam angling for better radio, TV reception
New Era: The lives of communities in rural areas such as Eiseb Block in Gam and Tsumkwe depend heavily on radio as the medium of communication, leading to fresh calls for NBC to improve its coverage.
TANZANIA: Brazen interference in the media by Tanzania’s government
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is very disturbed by Tanzanian President John Magufuli’s declaration of support for Dar es Salaam governor Paul Makonda’s heavy-handed raid on a radio and TV station last week, and urges the authorities to leave the media alone and to stop interfering in their work.
TANZANIA: Media freedom has its limits, Magufuli warns journalists
The Star (Kenya): Tanzania’s President John Magufuli warned the country’s journalists on Friday that there were limits to their press freedom, comments that will add to opposition concern that his government is further narrowing the space for public criticism.
SOUTH AFRICA: President Zuma Appoints Members of the Interim SABC Board
Via All Africa: President Jacob Zuma has in terms of section 15A (3) of the Broadcasting Act (Act 4 of 1999), and on the recommendation of the National Assembly, appointed for a period of six months, five members to the Interim Board of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
SOUTH AFRICA: President Jacob Zuma has appointed an interim board for the SABC, the presidency said on Sunday.
News24: President Jacob Zuma has appointed an interim board for the SABC, the presidency said on Sunday.
REGIONAL: African Governments Versus Social Media: Why the Uneasy Relationship?
The Wire (India): This is election year for several African countries and there’s a need to ensure social media isn’t used to incite violence. But can governments be prevented from restricting citizens’ rights?
HONG KONG: Election 2017: Journalism watchdog takes Hong Kong gov’t to court over digital media ban
Hong Kong Free Press: The Hong Kong Journalists Association has asked the High Court to hand down an order to grant digital media outlets access to report on the chief executive election on Sunday.
INDIA: BBC disallowed to film in tiger reserves for five years
Business Standard: The BBC has been banned to film in tiger reserves for five years as its documentary on Kaziranga National Park “misrepresented” the immunity provided to forest staff as a “shoot-to-kill” policy, the Centre today said.
INDIA: DD national channel’s audience underwent a boost in 2016
ABU: Doordarshan, the Indian public broadcaster, has revealed its gross viewership for the year 2016. It amounts to 172 million weekly, compared to 133 million from the previous year and 155 million back in 2014.
INDIA: India innovators debate how to handle fake news
IJNET: Indian journalists have seen firsthand what kinds of problems may be caused by the spread of unverified news…
INDIA: NDTV Ban Reversal: Centre wants apology, counsel seeks time from SC
Indian Television: The Central Government on Friday to the Supreme Court that the one-day blackout order against New Delhi Television Ltd will be reversed only when the channel offers an apology for its coverage of the Pathankot attack on 2 January last year.
KYRGYZSTAN: Growing Pressure on Media Groups
Human Rights Watch: Kyrgyzstan’s General Prosecutor has brought a series of cases against two prominent local media outlets that have been critical of the government, Human Rights Watch said.
KYRGYZSTAN: President’s Lawsuits Intimidate Kyrgyz Media
IWPR: Independent outlets fear pressure may fuel self-censorship.
MALAYSIA: Media barred from Parliament lobby once again
The Star (Malaysia): The new ruling, announced by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, meant that reporters can now only provide coverage from the new media room.
MONGOLIA: Draft broadcasting law put before Mongolia parliament
IFJ: In early March, the draft Broadcasting Law was put forward to the Mongolian parliament after several years of debate and numerous versions. Mongolia’s media has flourished in recent years, boosting 400 media outlets for a population of just three million.
PAKISTAN: Shutting down Facebook not the solution to blasphemy, interior secretary tells IHC
GEO TV: Interior Secretary Arif Khan argued in the Islamabad High Court on Monday that shutting down social media such as Facebook is not the solution to blasphemy.
PHILIPPINES: The myth of Philippine press freedom
PhilStar (Opinion)
THAILAND: TV news channel suspended in Thailand
CPJ: Thai media regulators should immediately reverse their suspension of the operating license of Voice TV and should allow the media to broadcast and publish freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
VIETNAM: India, Vietnam agree on greater collaboration between pubcasters
Indian Television
AUSTRALIA: Australia’s public broadcaster is using Apple News push alerts to reach new, younger audiences
Nieman Lab: Apple News sometimes gets forgotten about amid the discussion of Facebook and Twitter, but the platform is growing as a way for publishers to reach new audiences.
AUSTRALIA: FactCheck Q&A: Has confidence in the media in Australia dropped lower than in the United States?
The Conversation: In a wide-ranging Q&A discussion on misinformation, disinformation and trust in media, the assistant minister for social services and multicultural affairs, Zed Seselja, said that surveys showed confidence in media has fallen around the world. In Australia, he said, it has dropped lower than in the US. Is he right?
AUSTRALIA: Saying goodbye to Radio Australia on the shortwave after 37 years
ABC News
AUSTRALIA: Sugar the sweetener for One Nation to back government’s media reform
The Australian: They might not realise it, but a small band of sugarcane growers in far north Queensland could hold the key to reforms for the nation’s media industry.
FIJI: Call for Fiji Times sedition charge to be dropped
Radio New Zealand: Amnesty International says sedition charges against The Fiji Times could have a chilling effect on freedom of expression and for other news outlets in the country.
FIJI: ‘Nothing stopping investigative journalism,’ claims Khaiyum
Asia Pacific Report: Media freedom – especially for critical and responsible reporting – has been an ongoing issue in Fiji.
NEW ZEALAND: Huge turnout for final public investigation
Business Scoop: Over 140 people packed a school hall in Mt Eden, Auckland yesterday to take part in the final event of the People’s Commission on Public Broadcasting and Media – a crowdfunded public inquiry into the state of public broadcasting and media in New Zealand.
NEW ZEALAND: TVNZ confirms job losses in news reshuffle
Radio New Zealand: An overall reduction in news jobs at TVNZ is likely, staff have been told, as the broadcaster reveals a new plan to cut some roles and introduce others.
FINLAND: Yle reprimanded by media watchdog over PM reporting
Yle: Finland’s media watchdog has given Yle a reprimand over its reporting of a potential conflict of interest in Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s handling of the state-owned mine Terrafame.
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has lodged a constitutional complaint against Germany’s foreign intelligence agency for violating the secrecy of the press freedom organization’s telecommunications.
GERMANY: What to know about Germany’s fake-news crackdown
Digiday: Last week, Germany formally proposed a law to fine social networks up to €50 million ($54 million) if they fail to remove harmful fake news or defamatory content — what it’s calling “criminal content” — from their platforms within 24 hours.
IRELAND: Hard times at RTE must be a licence for change
Irish Independent: RTE has just announced a reduction in staff numbers of 10- 15pc – the total staff is almost 2,000, so around 250 jobs will go.
IRELAND: RTÉ plans up to 250 redundancies and eyes licence fee reform
The Irish Times: RTÉ director-general Dee Forbes has announced sweeping executive and structural changes at a meeting with staff this morning, as she signalled the broadcaster would be looking for up to 250 redundancies.
NORWAY: Norway DAB Stakeholders Respond to FM Shutdown Criticism
Radio: At the just completed Radiodays Europe conference in Amsterdam, Kenneth Andresen from Norway’s P4, and Marius Lillelien from the public broadcaster NRK, said that they expected a drop in listenership.
POLAND: Poland’s plan to “repolonize” foreign-owned media
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is alarmed about the latest threat to media pluralism in Poland – a proposed law to “repolonize” the country’s press by imposing a limit on the level of foreign capital in Polish media companies.
RUSSIA: Journalists detained covering Russia protests
CPJ: Russian media reported that at least 11 journalists were detained yesterday while reporting on nationwide protests. All have since been released.
SERBIA: Serbia: propaganda and control on the web
Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso: The growing impact of cyber-attacks, digital surveillance and sophisticated techniques of computational propaganda. The case of Serbia in an interview with Vladan Joler, director of Share Foundation.
SPAIN: The election system for the appointment of roles at RTVE will be debated (Spanish)
El Periódico: The PSOE will present on Tuesday a law proposal to recover the election system of the advisory board.
UK: BBC names new board members
Digital TV Europe: The BBC has named the three executives that will join director general Tony Hall on its new board, along with five non-executive directors from outside the company.
UK: TV Connect 2017: BBC and Opera showcase HbbTV 2 content syncing
Digital TV Europe: The BBC is partnering with Opera TV to showcase a number of HbbTV 2 implementations at TV Connect this week relating to syncing content.
UK: UK broadcasters back BBC’s call for top spots on programme guides
The Guardian: The House of Lords is debating legislation that would protect the prominence of public service broadcasters over streaming rivals.
GENERAL: “You’re not doing it the way I did”: Public media in Europe gets creative with digital news
Nieman Lab
BRAZIL: Intervozes launches study on violations of the right to communication (Portuguese)
Vermelho: The report entitled “Right to Communication in Brazil 2016”, an Intervozes publication that outlines the main events of the year in the field of public policies in the area of broadcasting and the internet in the last year, was launched on Thursday evening, March 23rd.
BRAZIL: National Event for the Right to Communication debates freedom of expression in Brazil
Brasil de Fato: Third edition of the event, which will take place from May 26 to 28 at UnB, will gather more than 500 entities
BRAZIL: Opposition wants to overturn Temer vetoes on EBC changes
Comunique-se: The opposition wants to overturn Temer’s vetoes to the Brazilian Communications Company’s (EBC) restructuring law, while governing officials say the new law will improve the management of public broadcasting.
BRAZIL: ‘The History of Brazilian media is a history of concentration without limits’
Carta Major: In Brazil, the press is a unique party, with a history of concentration without limits. A party and a company that contests political power and brings together the capital.
Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas
MEXICO: Half of journalists in Mexico are threatened (Spanish)
NSS Oaxaca: In Mexico, almost half of journalists say they have been threatened because of their work, which has led many to take their own security measures, such as self-censorship, to hide information from colleagues at their workplace – for fear them being infiltrators – limit their personal life and change their commuting routes.
PERU: SIP rejects Peruvian bill that aims to control management positions in media outlets
Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas: The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) qualified a Peruvian bill that seeks to control who can hold executive positions in media outlets “a tool for direct censorship of the press.”
VENEZUELA: Foreign journalists not welcome in Venezuela
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on President Nicolas Maduro’s government to stop blocking the international media’s reporting in Venezuela.
ISRAEL: Netanyahu, Kahlon work on merger to end coalition crisis
The Jerusalem Post: Coalition chairman David Bitan said the deadline for reaching an agreement is next Wednesday.
TURKEY: Journalists in Turkey face heightened crackdown as vote nears
Financial Times: Sacking of TV presenter highlights further pressure from Erdogan.
TURKEY: Amnesty International: One Third of All Imprisoned Journalists Are in Turkey
VoA: Amnesty International has called on the Turkish government to stop its crackdown on the media and release imprisoned journalists in the country.
CANADA: Health of Canadian democracy improving, but concerns remain, poll suggests
CBC News: Rates of direct participation in traditional politics remain relatively low in Canada while trust in the media drops.
CANADA: Indigenous media organizations vie for radio licences in Ottawa
CBC News: Indigenous media organizations vying for radio licences in five Canadian cities are in the capital region this week to make their pitches, and two of them hope to serve Ottawa.
US: Defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting won’t kill PBS. It will hurt Trump voters.
Vox: Most of the organization’s money goes toward keeping rural PBS and NPR stations alive.
US: KCPT CEO Kliff Kuehl: Public broadcasting enriches and unifies our culture
The Kansas City Star: In its proposed 2018 budget, the White House eliminates funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
US: We’re the only daily news source in our part of rural Alaska. Trump’s budget would devastate us.
Vox: The idea of defunding public media in the United States, as President Trump’s new budget proposes, is nothing new according to Shane Iverson, “but it’s serious every time it happens.”
US: What Could Happen To Federal Funding For Public Media And Why It Matters
Northeast Indiana Public Radio
US: Women lag behind in US news media
IFJ: Women journalists remain outnumbered by men in US news. These are the results of a study commissioned by the Women’s Media Centre (WMC) across 20 leading national news outlets.
Bitter battle between news media and Google steps up
The Irish Times: The internet giant, branded ‘the terrorists’ friend’, is being criticised from all quarters
Developing Digital News in Public Service Media
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: An analysis of how public service media organisations across six European countries are developing new projects and products to deliver digital news.
First Look Media and Democracy Fund to provide $12M for investigative journalism
Current: First Look Media and the Democracy Fund announced Monday a total of $12 million in new grants to help investigative news nonprofits tackle today’s political landscape.
How Broadcast Networks Covered Climate Change In 2016
MediaMatters: Combined Climate Coverage On ABC, CBS, NBC, And Fox News Sunday Decreased Significantly From 2015 To 2016, Despite Ample Opportunity To Cover Climate Change.
Over 50m DAB receivers now sold worldwide
Advanced Television: WorldDAB has published the latest version of its infographic, featuring DAB receiver sales, coverage and household penetration for markets in Europe and Asia Pacific up to the end of 2016.
Who benefits from the global media revolution?
DW: #mediadev talked to a range of people from diverse backgrounds and countries about how and why they use media. Here’s what these conversations illustrate about global media trends.
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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.
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Header image: Kuala Lumpur, Malasia. This week, Malaysia’s government has limited media access to parliament.
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