Our weekly round-up of public service media related stories and headlines from around the world.
Click on the drop-down menus below to reveal the latest regional stories.
BOTSWANA: Media workers to petition Gabz FM
The Voice: Petition against cancellation of prime morning show, saying that it is “calculated move to intimidate and muzzle journalists and other members of the press”.
CAMEROON: Cameroon Taking Steps to Control Social Media
Voice of America
CENTRAL AFRICA: Domestic and international media threatened in Central Africa
Euronews
EGYPT: Two-year jail terms for three leaders of journalists union
Reporters without Borders: RSF condemns the government’s continuing harassment of Egypt’s Journalists Syndicate, three of whose leaders were given two-year jail sentences on 19 November for allegedly harbouring two journalists at its headquarters last May who were wanted by the authorities.
MOROCCO: Moroccan TV ‘sorry’ for makeup tips to hide domestic violence
Deutsche Welle: Moroccan state TV has admitted that a segment which showed women how to hide bruises with makeup was “completely inappropriate.” Hundreds of women have signed a petition expressing their outrage.
NIGERIA: Buhari Committed to Press Freedom
Via All Africa: President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to the freedom of the press, and restoration of Nigeria’s fortunes within the shortest possible time, presidential spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, has said.
SIERRA LEONE: Free speech becomes a talking point in Sierra Leone as WhatsApp storm rages
The Guardian: The arrest and detainment of a student for sharing a message on social media has become a focal point for unrest about expressive freedom in Sierra Leone.
SOUTH AFRICA: SA Only Country in Africa Distributing Free STBs
Via All Africa: South Africa is the only country in the African continent distributing subsidised Set Top Boxes (STBs) in preparation for the shifting of analogue television to digital television broadcasting, says Communications Minister Faith Muthambi.
SOUTH AFRICA: Update: What’s going on at SABC?
Public Media Alliance: An update on the current state of affairs at the South African broadcaster.
SWAZILAND: Political Bar in Swazi Broadcast Bill
Via All Africa: People in Swaziland who are affiliated to any political group will not be granted radio or television broadcasting licences in a proposed law.
BANGLADESH: Bangladesh Betar teams up with GatesAir for HD radio rollout
ABU
CHINA: China on US fake news debate: We told you so
CNBC: The Chinese state media is weighing in on the fake news debate in the U.S., saying the controversy – and its possible impact on the election outcome – only serves to bolster Beijing’s case when it comes to controlling the internet.
CHINA: Facebook Said to Create Censorship Tool to Get Back Into China
The New York Times
INDIA: Prasar Bharati to merge with Information and Broadcasting Ministry?
Asian Age: The Narendra Modi government is expected to go in for the merger of a section of autonomous bodies like Prasar Bharati to cut down on expenses. This could be announced in the coming Union Budget 2017-18.
JAPAN: NHK’s Katsuto Momii
TV Asia: NHK President discusses keeping pace with media consumption trends and technological advancements.
MALAYSIA: ABU-AIBD Regional Workshop on New Media in Broadcasting
ABU: A regional workshop on New Media for Broadcasters organised by ABU in collaboration with AIBD was held this week in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
MALAYSIA: Arrest of famed cartoonist Zunar in Malaysia is an outrage
Amnesty International
MYANMAR: A tech-savvy, urban Internet user
DW Akademie: The Internet and the media in Myanmar were once among the most restricted in the world. A young Myanmar gives his opinion of how the now flourishing media landscape could be better.
PAKISTAN: PEMRA suspends licences of three channels
Pakistan Today: PEMRA on Saturday suspended licences of Din News and Neo TV and fined them Rs1 million each for levelling “baseless allegations” against a Supreme Court judge.
SRI LANKA: PM vows to take on media verbally but not physically
The Island: Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe yesterday told Parliament that he would not hesitate to verbally attack the media when and where necessary but no journalist would be harmed.
SOUTH-EAST ASIA: The Observer view on corruption, repression and violence threatening fragile democracies
The Observer: The populations of Malaysia, Thailand and Burma are increasingly suffering under their leaders
AUSTRALIA: ABC to launch Mandarin-language Chinese news service
The Guardian: Spokesman says site will be subject to editorial rigour and denies reports AustraliaPlus.cn had to comply with Chinese censorship.
AUSTRALIA: Changes to Radio National are gutting a cultural treasure trove
The Conversation: Comment piece about the fears surrounding ABC RN’s new schedule and its “gradual undermining of the specialisation that has been crucial to RN’s output and success”.
NEW ZEALAND: Earthquake Journalism Grant Announced
Scoop Foundation: Announcement of a new $5,000 grant round for significant earthquake related public interest journalism projects.
NEW ZEALAND: Editors seek rethink on media merger plan rejection over plurality
Pacific Media Centre: Thirty-three of New Zealand’s most senior editors have urged the Commerce Commission to rethink its plan to reject the proposed NZME-Fairfax merger.
NEW ZEALAND: NZ’s media already concentrated, lacks diversity: report for ComCom
The National Business Review: New Zealand’s news media is already more concentrated in its ownership than many comparable countries.
FINLAND: Gunilla Ohls: Yle adapts to fast changing media-usage
Yle: “Media consumption has quickly become mobile. Your personal mobile device feeds you with a constant stream of stimuli – more than you could possibly ever delve into.” So what is the Finnish broadcaster doing to keep pace?
FINLAND: Personal Yle – Public Service Media at its best
YLE: The broadcaster showcases personalisation plans and ways to lead the market.
GERMANY: German journalists concern over media concentration due to newspapers takeover
European Federation of Journalists: Journalists and their unions in Germany expressed concerns over the sale of newspaper Donaukurier to the larger publishing house Passauer Neue Presse (PNP).
IRELAND: RTÉ Director General says Brexit has hit advertising income
RTÉ: The Director General of RTÉ has said media organisations in Ireland are under very serious financial strain and RTÉ is no different.
IRELAND: RTÉ Trade Union Group demands reversal of decision to close Young Peoples Department
NewsTalk: The chair says the decision came as “a bolt out of the blue”.
LITHUANIA: Syrian painter challenges Lithuania’s fear of refugees
Deutsche Welle: Fleeing war-torn Syria, painter Majd Kara found himself in Lithuania where half the population says they refuse to help asylum-seekers. Now holding his second exhibition, Kara is changing the country’s attitude.
MACEDONIA: Macedonia Ruling Party Smears Rivals Using Fake News Sites
Balkan Insight: As election day looms in December, new news websites linked to Macedonia’s ruling party have recently started producing false news reports designed to discredit the opposition.
ROMANIA: Romania Court to Judge Attack on License Fee
Balkan Insight: The court in December will assess a move by MPs to scrap license fees for public broadcasters – which critics call a populist pre-election stunt.
SLOVAKIA: Slovakia’s PM calls journalists ‘dirty anti-Slovak prostitutes’
The Guardian: Robert Fico lashes out over questions about alleged procurement anomalies related to the country’s EU presidency.
SWEDEN: Swedish media chiefs call for action over Turkey’s press freedom clamp
The Guardian: Newspaper editors and broadcasting executives write open letter to Sweden’s foreign ministry arguing that Turkey is the world’s biggest prison for journalists.
UK: BBC radio to be offered outside UK in ‘Netflix of the spoken word’
The Guardian: Director general to outline plans to deliver audio content such as The Archers and Moral Maze around the world.
UK: NUJ backs global call for action on violence against women journalists
NUJ: The NUJ is joining International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) affiliates across the world in a call for global action against gender-based violence as reports of attacks on women journalists soar.
UK: Tony Hall speech at the Voice of the Listener and Viewer Conference 2016
BBC: What does the future hold for the BBC & PSB in the UK?
GENERAL: RIse of the Fact-Checker: A New Democratic Institution?
RISJ: All across Europe, more and more independent fact-checking sites are launched to counter the move towards what some see as a post-fact or post-truth society.
GENERAL: The post-Brexit challenges for European media systems
LSE: Media Policy Project: Since the Brexit vote, EU media policy has a new sense of urgency. It remains to be seen if member states will be more prepared to deepen media policy convergence in an attempt to protect fundamental values and rights.
GENERAL: Special barometer launched regarding media pluralism and democracy in Europe
European Commission
BRAZIL: Brazilian broadcasters warn of ‘digital exclusion’
Advanced Television
BRAZIL: Congress Committee holds first hearing on change in the EBC structure (Portuguese)
EBC: The Joint Committee that analyzes the Provisional Measure (MP) 744/2016, which changes the structure of Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC), held today (24) the first of three public hearings to discuss the changes. The debate was attended by the CEO of EBC, Laerte Rímoli, and the former director of journalism and former CEO of the company Ricardo Melo.
BRAZIL: The Unconstitutionality of MP 774 and the dismantling of EBC (Portuguese)
CartaCapital: The National Congress begins to debate Temer’s provisional measure that dismantles public communication company and reverses constitutional principles
CUBA: Cuba’s parallel worlds: Digital media crosses the divide
CIMA: Originally published in August 2016, this excellent article has renewed value following the death of Fidel Castro. An exploration as to whether digital media will offering an opening for independent media to thrive in the island state?
PERU: Radio presenter shot dead in mid-broadcast
Reporters without Borders: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Peruvian judicial authorities to quickly identify those responsible for the shocking murder of a radio presenter who was shot dead in mid-broadcast in Camaná.
GENERAL: China Hunting Major Stake In Latin America And Caribbean Media
The Gleaner: Chinese President Xi Jinping is extending a hand of friendship to the media in Latin American and the Caribbean, saying it would influence government decisions, create new friendships, and lay the foundation for new partnerships.
Deadline: The WGA West is reaching halfway across the world to lend its support to the Scriptwriters Guild of Israel in its ongoing battle against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the fate of Israel’s new Public Broadcasting Corporation.
QATAR: Aljazeera documentary sparks Egyptian media war against Qatar
Albawaba News
TURKEY: Swedish media chiefs call for action over Turkey’s press freedom clamp
THe Guardian: Newspaper editors and broadcasting executives write open letter to Sweden’s foreign ministry arguing that Turkey is the world’s biggest prison for journalists.
CANADA: Call to slash CBC/Radio Canada’s funding & end advertising
Public Media Alliance: Conservative leadership candidate, Maxime Bernier, announced his policy to streamline Canada’s public broadcaster and withdraw funding if elected.
CANADA: CBC/Radio Canada asks for $400M in increased government funding to go ad-free
CBC News: Public broadcaster wants to move to a funding model similar to U.K.’s BBC.
CANADA: Viewing the CBC as a public good
Policy Opinions: The neoliberal view of the CBC as a commodity in the market, as opposed to a public good outside it, must be challenged.
USA: An Auction That Could Transform Local Media
The New York Times: With the demand for wireless broadband growing, the Federal Communications Commission is auctioning off a big chunk of the public airwaves. Billions of dollars are likely to change hands, a windfall that could transform local media across the country.
USA: The US election & public media: what will happen?
Public Media Alliance: With Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States it’s hard to fathom what to expect, not least for public service media.
USA: Why work in public media?
Current: Making a difference, serving the audience — people who work in public media explain why they devote themselves to the job. From the National Association of Black Journalists/National Association of Hispanic Journalists 2016 conference in Washington D.C.
Index on Censorship: journalists now under ‘unprecedented’ attack
The Guardian: Study finds growing hostility toward media around the world has lead to rise in assaults on individuals as well as press freedom.
Rise of the Fact-Checker – A New Democratic Institution?
RISJ: New report surveying the diverse and fast-changing landscape of fact-checking outlets in Europe.
RIPE@2016 Conference papers are now available
Public Media Alliance: RIPE’s biannual conference provides a wealth of academic resources on all things public service media.
Journalism.co.uk: Mark Williams-Thomas, investigative reporter, gave his tips for those producing in-depth reporting at the 2016 NCTJ Journalism Skills conference.
PSM Weekly is available via email. You can subscribe by signing up to our mailing list at the bottom of the page or email editor@publicmediaalliance.org.
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.
If you have any suggestions for our weekly round-ups, please email PMA at editor@publicmediaalliance.org.
Header image: KTVU Tower. Credits: Tony Webster/Creative Commons
Related Posts
