The week in public service media
Our weekly round-up of public service media headlines and news stories from around the world.
22-29 August
Africa
NAMIBIA: Govt to regulate, punish media
By The Namibian: Government will regulate and punish the media using an instrument in the draft Access to Information Bill that allows for the formation of a regulatory body.
NIGERIA: Jega Seeks Broadcast Media Independence
By Channels TV: Calls by former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission has called for federal government to allow broadcasters to broadcast information without interference.
SADC: Reverse Downward Slide on Rights
By Human Rights Watch: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) should take concrete steps to improve respect for human rights among its 15 member countries.
SOUTH AFRICA: Fear and Loathing at South Africa’s Public Broadcaster
By US News Best Countries: Concern grows that the SABC is beginning to resemble its apartheid-era predecessor.
SOUTH AFRICA: Media Transformation a Matter of Urgency – Minister Muthambi
Via All Africa: Communications Minister Faith Muthambi says efforts must be doubled to expedite the transformation of the print media landscape in South Africa.
TANZANIA: Editors Push for Changes in Information Bill
Via All Africa
TANZANIA: Politicians Must Let Journalists Do Their Job
Via All Africa: On several occasions, journalists have found themselves at the receiving end of verbal attacks from politicians who treat them with contempt for asking the questions they deem misplaced…
TUNISIA: Tunisian president signs declaration on media freedom
By Press Gazette: Tunisia has become the second state to sign up to the Declaration on Media Freedom in the Arab World, hailed as a “turning point” for press freedom by the International Federation of Journalists.
ZIMBABWE: Social media is emboldening young Zimbabweans to finally stand up to Mugabe
By Quartz: Protests against the rule of Zimbabwe’s ageing president, Robert Mugabe, have become commonplace in recent months, aided by social media.
Asia
AFGHANISTAN: Afghan Media Crying Out for Female Voices
By the Institute of War & Peace Reporting: Women are being prevented from pursuing careers in journalism.
AFGHANISTAN: Afghan Journalists Fear for Their Lives Amid Terror, Militant Insurgency
By Voice of America: The war in Afghanistan has long been a dangerous assignment for journalists, but groups say the country’s deteriorating security situation is making things more dire..
CHINA: Can Netflix expand into China’s censored media market?
By Newsweek: The streaming video service has footholds in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, but mainland China, and its vast potential, is much harder to penetrate.
CHINA: China launches 1st national new media open platform
By Xinhua: Forty-two Chinese media outlets were the initial members of the country’s first new media platform, after they inked an agreement Tuesday at a launch event at Xinhua News Agency headquarters, Beijing.
CHINA: China’s media watchdog campaigns against entertainment news
By Business Standard: China’s media watchdog has announced a campaign against social and entertainment news that lacks “positive energy”, correct values or high aesthetic value.
HONG KONG: HK independence activists claim harassment from pro-China media
By Reuters: Activists who have advocated independence for Hong Kong say they have been harassed or followed by pro-China local newspapers in recent months.
INDIA: DD India slot auction – Final bidders known by next week
By ABU: Balaji Telefilms, BAG Films & Media and Keylight Productions are the three production houses which submitted their bids to Prasar Bharati for the National programming slots.
INDIA: India Must Do More to Protect Its Small-Town Journalists, Says Media Watchdog
By The Wall Street Journal: Politicians and police need to do more to capture and convict killers that target journalists, report says
By Yahoo Finance: An international showcase of innovation and technology for the continued development of Indonesia’s digital landscape started on 31 Aug.
KAZAKHSTAN: Wrecking Ball Hits Independent Press Center
By Eurasianet.org: Local authorities in Kazakhstan’s business capital, Almaty, have begun demolition work on a building used to host press conferences for political activists and independent journalists.
SINGAPORE: Mediacorp launches ‘world’s first’ cross media audience planning solution
By mUmBRELLA
THAILAND: Thailand among world top 10 in YouTube time
By Bangkok Post: Cheaper smart devices and burgeoning telecom infrastructure has placed the country among the top ten for number of YouTube users.
Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific
AUSTRALIA: Coalition rejects Labor’s call for media ownership review before changing laws
By The Guardian: Malcolm Turnbull’s government expected to bring forward its media reform package in opening week of parliament
FIJI: New Information Bill contested in Fiji
By PMA: A proposed Information Bill in Fiji may limit both media and citizens’ ability to access information.
FIJI: New mobile app launched to empower young women
By Pacific Media Centre: A new mobile application launched this week aims to empower young women and girls by providing them with vital health and well-being information.
NEW ZEALAND: Digital media upheaval prompts a tweak of the law
By Radio New Zealand: Digital technology has created huge upheaval in broadcasting, but there’s no bold change in the latest review of our mostly pre-internet regulations.
NEW ZEALAND: Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) to Face New Digital Media Laws in New Zealand
By The Country Caller: New Zealand plans to introduce content and classification requirement for SVoD services, similar to those followed by broadcasters
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: PNG Government Assures Transition from Analogue to Digital TV
BY EMTV: State Enterprise Minister, William Duma, has expressed strong government support for Papua New Guinea’s transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting.
Europe
GERMANY: Media Broadcast rolls out DVB-T2 network for ARD/ZDF
By Broadband TV News: German technical services provider Media Broadcast will set up and operate the DVB-T2 transmitter network for ARD and ZDF on which the public broadcasters will distribute up to 20 TV channels in Full HD quality
KOSOVO: Kosovo public broadcaster RTK hit by a second attack
By EFJ: The EFJ have condemned an explosive attack at the home of the head of Kosovo’s public broadcaster RTK on 28 August, the second such attack in a week.
SWITZERLAND: EBU hosts first digital news workshop in Geneva
By EBU: If digital is the new normal, what is the impact for news production and consumption trends?
UK: The BBC must improve how it reports statistics
By Democratic Audit UK: Opinion piece about the caution needed when scrutinizing and presenting statistics to the public
Latin America & the Caribbean
By Poynter: External fact-checking is growing in general and in Latin America in particular, but paying for this work remains a key concern.
REGIONAL: IAPA voices concern at press freedom violations in Latin America
By the Inter American Press Association (IAPA): The IAPA views with concern a series of actions taken against media and journalists in Costa Rica, Honduras and Venezuela in recent weeks that it said impair press freedom in the Latin American region.
By By Knight Center: Journalism in the Americas Blog: There is discord between the government of Bolivian President Evo Morales and a large sector of the media, as well as organizations defending freedom of expression
By Knight Center: Journalism in the Americas Blog: Brazilian journalist Maurício Campos Rosa, owner of the newspaper O Grito, died on Aug. 17 after being shot five times.
CUBA: Seven signs Cuban media is moving toward openness
By Columbia Journalism Review: The mass media in Cuba for decades was exclusively run by a rigid state monopoly, and even now, the government controls most of the news that makes its way to citizens. But significant cracks may be opening.
MEXICO: IAPA protests attack and threats on journalists
By IAPA
VENEZUALA: Attacks continue against news media offices in Venezuela
By Knight Center: Journalism in the Americas Blog: Two Venezuelan news outlets suffered attacks from armed men.
Middle East
IRAN: Iranian Journalists Alarmed As Media Legislation Resurfaces
By Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Journalists in Iran are sounding the alarm over a government-drafted media regulation bill that is expected to be sent to the parliament for approval soon, after a two-year delay.
ISRAEL: Lieberman Slams Israeli Media: A Soldier Can’t Fulfill His Misson With a Lawyer Beside Him
By Haaretz: Defense Minister criticizes media coverage of military trials, saying that ‘convictions are made by a court of law and not by the media.’
JORDAN: Journalists should expose terrorism, radical groups — media experts
By The Jordan Times: Journalists in the Arab world need to be more courageous in exposing terrorism and radical groups as well as those who stand behind them, media experts said on Tuesday.
TURKEY: 23 staff members detained at Azadiya Welat newspaper
By EFJ: On 28 August, the police raided the main office of the Kurdish-language daily newspaper Azadiya Welat based in Diyarbakır. According to media reports, at least 23 staff members of the newspaper are currently detained
North America
CANADA: Limiting access for news photographers a ‘worrisome’ trend
By CBC News: Tragically Hip concert promoter barred news photographers from the event
USA: As user participation turns 10, media leaders discuss the future of audience engagement
By Poynter
USA: Greater Public donations help pubcasters after Louisiana floods
By Current: Donations are flowing to Greater Public to assist public broadcasters coping with the aftermath of this month’s disastrous flooding in Louisiana.
USA: Public TV sustainer growth may be slowing, but still shows progress
By Current: Public television’s recent focus on sustaining members is paying off — for now.
Other
ABU General Assembly 2016 in Bali – Two months to go
By ABU
An Olympic broadcast challenge
By MediaTel: How is the way we watch major sporting events changing?
The first company that wanted to ‘connect the world’ wasn’t Google or Facebook
Via LSE Media Policy Blog
If you have any suggestions for our weekly round-ups, please email PMA at editor@publicmediaalliance.org.
These 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.