Our weekly round-up of public service media related stories and headlines from around the world.
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BURKINA FASO: Low social acceptance for Burkina Faso’s women in media
DW AKADEMIE: A press study carried out in cooperation with DW Akademie reveals that women in the media have a hard time in Burkina Faso’s male dominated society – even harder than in other industries.
CAMEROON: Cameroon internet shutdowns cost Anglophones millions
Aljazeera: For people in the English speaking parts of Cameroon, free speech on the internet has become all but impossible.
DRC: There’s a decades-old law threatening digital freedom in DR Congo
Quartz: The Democratic Republic of Congo has in recent years emerged as one of the most important nations to watch for digital rights violations in Africa.
DRC, GUINEA & MADAGASCAR: Silencing the media to hide the realities (Audio – French)
Deutsche Welle: Internet cuts, harassment of journalists, especially when they cover the repression of anti-government demonstrations, social discontent or on the eve of elections, where only the press favorable to power has the right to speak.
EGYPT: Revolution anniversary amid new crackdown on opposition media
RSF: Around 15 journalists and citizen-journalists have been questioned, arrested and imprisoned in the past four months, or have simply disappeared, and so far only two of them have been released. According to the information obtained by RSF, there have in all been around 30 names on a list of journalists sought by the security services.
ETHIOPIA: Why release of two journalists in Ethiopia does not signal end to press crackdown
CPJ: Ethiopia’s use of imprisonment, harassment, and surveillance means that the country continues to be a hostile environment for journalists.
KENYA: Kenyan TV transmissions blocked ahead of Odinga’s mock inauguration
The Financial Times: ‘Swearing in’ of Raila Odinga, defeated in vote last year, blocked from broadcasts
KENYA: KTN News, Citizen, NTV shut down
The Standard: KTN News, Citizen TV and NTV are currently off air on free to air and paid for platforms.
KENYA: New content rules for broadcasters
The Standard: Broadcasters and advertisers will soon be compelled to invest more to increase access to their content to people with disabilities.
NIGERIA: Federal Government to monitor social media hate speeches by notable Nigerians
Nigerian Tribune: The federal government may soon commence the monitoring of the social media to checkmate hate speeches emanating from notable Nigerians.
NIGERIA: Nigerian govt orders NBC to sanction erring media houses
Daily Post: The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to sanction broadcasting organizations that violate the nation’s Broadcast Code.
SOUTH SUDAN: Beaming News to South Sudan
Internews: Solar power helps fuel the growth of sustainable, professional community radio stations.
SWAZILAND: Exiled Swazi editor speaks out
Mail & Guardian: Editor speaks out about press and media freedom in Swaziland having fled the country.
TUNISIA: Tunisia protests highlight worrying decline in press freedoms
Al-Monitor: Freedom of the press is under pressure in Tunisia’s post-revolution atmosphere, as violence against journalists rises amid a government crackdown.
BANGLADESH: Bangladesh drafts draconian Digital Security Act
IFJ: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Bangladesh Manobadhikar Sangbadik Forum (BMSF) express serious concerns over the provisions curtailing the freedom of expression in the draft of the Digital Security Act 2018. The IFJ demands that the Bangladesh government revise the draft act in accordance with the international standards.
CHINA: China’s Young Journalists Are Giving Up Before They Even Begin (Opinion)
Sixth Tone: Low incomes and the perceived decline of traditional media are turning students away from a noble profession.
CHINA: Chinese People Trust Their Media Much More Than You’d Think
Sixth Tone: Global report from consulting firm Edelman shows both traditional media and online platforms enjoy high credibility rankings.
CHINA: Plagiarism is rampant in China, and its media companies are raking in billions
CNBC: An expert in intellectual property law says that it’s unambiguously against China’s own rules for new media companies to commit plagiarism, but many in newsrooms there have been ignorant of the laws
INDIA: Gauri Lankesh and the Non-Existent Pursuit of Justice for India’s Slain Journalists (Opinion)
The Wire: There has been no improvement in India’s track record in prosecuting journalist murders, but the time for justice is long overdue.
INDIA: If 2017 Was A Terrible Year For The Freedom Of Press In India, 2018 Isn’t Looking Any Better (Opinion)
Huffington Post: The battle to keep lit the flame of dissent and inquiry, grows ever tougher.
INDIA: India’s Excellence in Radio Awards call for entries
Asia Radio Today: Entry submissions to India’s annual Excellence in Radio Awards (ERA) to recognise and reward outstanding content and creativity in the industry in 2017 are now open.
INDIA: Prasar Bharati floats tender to start manpower audit
LiveMint: Prasar Bharati releases RFP (request for proposal) through Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd (Becil) and will soon finalize a private agency to carry out the audit
INDIA: Prasar Bharati to undertake manpower audit, go lean
The Times of India: In a bold move that previous governments have not been able to execute, the Union government has decided to ‘trim’ India’s public broadcaster, Prasar Bharati, to make it leaner and better equipped to tackle growing competition from private players in the television and radio markets.
MALDIVES: Corruption report sends Maldives journalist into flight
Index on Censorship: For many tourists, the Maldives is a resort destination with straw-thatched luxury bungalows perched atop the clear blue Indian Ocean. But for journalist Zaheena Rasheed, this small island nation, located off the southwest coast of India, is home. At least, it was.
MYANMAR: Myanmar advisory panel chief says it cannot interfere in court case against reporters
Reuters: Myanmar’s panel of international advisers on Rohingya issues will not get involved in the case of two Reuters journalists charged with violating the Official Secrets Act, its chairman told a state newspaper in an interview published on Monday.
TAIWAN: Taiwan seeking to incorporate major public media
Focus Taiwan: The Ministry of Culture is aiming to incorporate Taiwan’s major public media such as the Public Television Service (PTS) and Central News Agency (CNA) into an independent media group to better serve the people, Culture Minister Cheng Li-chiun said Wednesday.
PAKISTAN: Pakistan shuts down radio station over content
IFJ: Pakistan’s Interior Ministry ordered the close down of the office and the operations of Radio Mashaal, a Pashto language broadcaster linked to the US-funded Radio Free Europe (RFE), on recommendations of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), according to a report. The ministry said that as per an ISI report, the radio airs programs ‘against the interests of Pakistan and in line with hostile intelligence agency’s agenda’.
PHILIPPINES: UN critics join global outrage over Duterte’s Rappler ‘free press’ attack
Asia Pacific Report: Three United Nations special rapporteurs have added their voice to the global protests this week over the President Rodrigo Duterte government bureaucracy’s attack on the independent online news website Rappler and a free press in the Philippines.
PHILIPPINES: TIMELINE: The case of Rappler’s SEC registration
Rappler: In a blow to press freedom, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 11 revoked Rappler’s license for allegedly violating the Constitution and the Anti-Dummy Law.
SOUTH KOREA: Mr Ko Dae-young stepped down as President and CEO of KBS – Korea
ABU
AUSTRALIA: ABC iView Planning To Go Global
Channel News: ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie wants its online streaming service, ABC iView to become a global product similar to Netflix with reports it will happen sometime this year.
AUSTRALIA: Australia must amend security bill to protect journalists and sources
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Australian government to remove secrecy and espionage provisions from a proposed national security law that could result in journalists being sent to prison just for doing their job.
AUSTRALIA: Impartiality, the ABC and Australia Day (Editorial)
ABC
NEW ZEALAND: Media boss hits out at government policy
RNZ: The boss of major media company MediaWorks has hit out at the new government’s plan to boost public broadcasting – and claimed it could wipe out his business.
NEW ZEALAND: No need to fear us: RNZ
Newsroom: Radio New Zealand’s CEO Paul Thompson has a message for his commercial rivals – he is not planning to eat their lunch, writes Mark Jennings.
AUSTRIA: In Austria, debate over ‘fake news’ lays bare societal polarisation
IPI: Journalists and media experts say that though the worst effects associated with what is known as the “fake news” phenomenon have thus far been avoided, the country has been left with confusion about the term “fake news” itself as well as with a general mistrust of the media sown by an increasingly bipartisan press.
CROATIA: Croatia’s media freedom in jeopardy as delegation returns for second visit
Euroactiv: The issue of media freedom in Croatia has earned the EU’s newest member the dubious honour of being visited twice in as many years by a team of press freedom organisation representatives. Upon return, they said the situation has improved but serious concerns remain.
CZECH REPUBLIC: Czech Republic: RSF decries violence against reporters by president’s staff
RSF: Since yesterday evening, social networks and TV channels have been showing video footage of the incident, in which presidential aides pushed and punched journalists in an attempt to prevent them filming a supporter who fainted and collapsed as the presidential election results were announced.
CZECH REPUBLIC: In Czech Republic, ‘alternative’ news sees good business
IPI: Low trust in media driving readers to look for new sources, journalists say
DENMARK: Fewer than one in ten Danes pay for news online
The Local: The majority of Denmark’s population does not pay to read news on the internet.
ESTONIA: Fact-finding mission to Estonia highlights negative impact of a deregulated media
EFJ: The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) and the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECPMF) concluded their Fact-Finding Mission to Estonia, 22-23rd January 2018, by noting that in comparison with many other Eastern European countries, media freedom in Estonia is rather high. However, the complete deregulation of the media has led to high media concentration and a negative impact on quality of the media.
FINLAND: Yle CEO Lauri Kivinen resigns
Yle: The CEO of Finland’s national public broadcaster Yle says he is leaving his post in order to move forward with his career.
FINLAND: New Finnish project brings journalists to schools to teach media literacy
IPI: Last autumn, a project called Faktana, kiitos! – roughly translated as Facts, please! – was launched in Finland. The aim of Faktana, kiitos! was to bring together journalists throughout Finland and send them to schools to share their expertise on journalistic practices and social responsibility, issues with which parents and teachers may not necessarily have experience.
GEORGIA: Media Outlets Oppose Changes to Broadcasting Law
Representatives of national and regional television stations, as well as print media outlets, held a meeting with Parliament Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze on January 26 to discuss the controversial amendments to the Law on Broadcasting.
GERMANY: Germany evaluates TV broadcasting via 5G
Broadband TV News: German broadcast technology institute IRT wants to examine through a research project to what extend the new mobile network standard 5G is suitable for the large-scale transmission of TV channels.
LITHUANIA: European MEPs voice Lithuanian TV concerns
Broadband TV News: Members of the European Parliament have expressed their concerns over the setting up of a commission in Lithuania to scrutinise the public broadcaster LRT.
NETHERLANDS: Dutch broadcaster NOS appoints new CEO
Digital TV Europe: Dutch public service broadcaster NOS has appointed the director of Dutch broadcasting association BNNVARA as its new chief executive.
SLOVAKIA: Putting the ‘public’ into public-service broadcasting (Subscription)
The Slovak Spectator: RTVS should not be withdrawing support for investigative journalism.
SPAIN: Spanish project bets on ‘radical transparency’ to restore reader trust
IPI: In an effort to counter false information and build trust in fact-based journalism, many Spanish media outlets have started fact-checking operations or dedicated entire sections to debunking hoaxes.
SWITZERLAND: Critics of public broadcast fee lag behind
Swissinfo.ch: An initiative to scrap the licence fee for public broadcasting in Switzerland is likely to fail at the ballot box, according to the latest poll.
SWITZERLAND: The Swiss media industry is undergoing a stress test
Swiss Review: A swingeing attack on public service broadcasting from the “No Billag” initiative, the press fights for survival, and tentative new approaches in online media: the Swiss media industry is in a state of turmoil.
Broadband TV News: A cost-benefit analysis has estimated that every pound spent by BBC R&D delivered a return of £5 – £9 to the UK.
UK: BBC to admit mistakes over pay and ‘right the wrongs of the past’
The Guardian: Broadcaster to publish audit and proposals following calls from women to overhaul pay structure
UK: Female employees demand back pay and apology from BBC
The Guardian: Group of 170 women claim broadcaster broke equality laws by failing to remunerate fairly
UK: UK seeks post-Brexit ‘country of origin’ deal update by May
Digital TV Europe: A cross-party report on the impact of Brexit has called for the UK government to provide an update on its progress in securing a new ‘country of origin’ deal by the end of May 2018.
UKRAINE: Ukraine’s Misguided Curbs on Freedom of Expression
HRW: Banning History Book Latest Example.
WESTERN BALKANS: Investigative journalism helps democracy in the western balkans
EBU: Investigative journalism helps fuel democracy was the conclusion of a regional conference on the ‘importance and situation of investigative journalism in Western Balkan’s PSM’, organised by the Montenegrin public broadcaster RTCG in cooperation with the EBU and the Delegation of the EU in Montenegro.
GENERAL: Gender inequalities in media content and production persist, new study says
EFJ: The European Parliament has just published its latest study on ‘Gender Equality in the Media Sector’. The study examines representation and conditions in the media and key elements of European policy towards gender equality in the sector.
ARGENTINA: Against the dismissals: a massive hug to TV Pública (Spanish)
Política Argentina: Hundreds of people participated in the embrace of the TV Pública building, to protest against the dismissals and the discharge policies.
CUBA: Cuba’s emerging media: challenges, threats and opportunities
IJNET
CUBA: Cuban Journalists Face “War of Attrition”
IWPR: Conference hears how writers who reject the state-controlled press face harsh consequences.
HONDURAS: Honduran leader asked to respect media as he begins second term
RSF: President Hernández’s first term saw a constant increase in violence against the media, impunity for crimes of violence against journalists and government manoeuvres designed to obstruct independent and opposition journalists.
ISRAEL: KAN reports rise in ratings
The Jerusalem Post: New report by Israel’s public broadcaster shows that despite contentions by various Knesset members who have advocated the closure of public broadcasting for lack of listeners and viewers, the ratings have not only increased but have even surpassed previous records over the past ten years.
TURKEY: Journalists detained after criticizing Turkey’s Syria incursion
CPJ: The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the detention of at least four journalists in Turkey after they criticized its incursion into northern Syria, and urged Turkish authorities to release the journalists and allow the media to report without fear of reprisal.
Relief Web: The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today called on the Turkish authorities to drop terrorism charges against journalists and set them free.
GENERAL: Journalism in times of war: A Middle East perspective
Aljazeera: Telling the human stories from Syria, Yemen, Libya and other conflict areas means a vast number of reporters, citizen journalists and media activists find themselves pushed deeper into the ever-shifting frontlines.
GENERAL: The Arab World is Changing and So is its Media Use
EJO: Internet users in the Middle East are becoming more concerned about online surveillance and many are worried that governments use social media to check their online activities.
CANADA: Canadian creatives urge online theft action
Advanced Television: FairPlay Canada, a coalition of Canadian artists, content creators, unions, guilds, producers, performers, broadcasters, distributors, and exhibitors is asking the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to take action to address the theft of digital content by illegal piracy websites.
CANADA: CBC, Big Telecom Join Forces To Push For Website Blocking In Piracy Fight
Huffington Post: Hundreds of thousands of Canadian jobs are at risk from piracy, a new coalition argues.
CANADA: Most Canadians support government funding for local media, poll finds
The Globe and Mail: Ottawa has moved cautiously to deal with the crisis in the media industry in recent months, citing the need to preserve journalistic independence.
US: New York state stations receive grants for health services (Subscription)
Current: Two public radio stations in western and central New York state are receiving grants from a community foundation to support their coverage of health.
US: Public TV begins counting ‘Invisible audiences’ for education content (Subscription)
Current: As public television stations expand their work in education, they need a coherent, standardized system for measuring how people use the various services they offer.
Gender inequalities in media content and production persist, new study says
EFJ: The European Parliament has just published its latest study on ‘Gender Equality in the Media Sector’. The study, requested by the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and undertaken by the Department of Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional affairs, examines representation and conditions in the media and key elements of European policy towards gender equality in the sector
How to investigate companies found in the Offshore Leaks Database
ICIJ: This is the final of a three-part series on ways to search our Offshore Leaks Database that now includes more than 680,000 entities from 55 secrecy jurisdictions.
Journalism, Media & Technology: Trends & Predictions 2018 (Report)
Reuters: What developments should you watch out for? And, why are three-quarters of publishers set to invest in artificial intelligence?
Media Influence Matrix: What’s It All About?
Center for Media, Data and Society: CMDS has launched the Media Influence Matrix Project to investigate the profound influence that rapid shifts in policy, sources of funding and technology companies in the public sphere are having on journalism today.
The global state of trust in media, in 5 charts
Digiday UK
The persistence of climate scepticism in the media
Al Jazeera: Among the world’s climate scientists, the number of those who doubt that global warming is caused by human activity is extraordinarily low – fewer than three in 100. But that’s not the impression you might get from the news media.
What does 2018 hold for public service media?
EBU: As we say goodbye to 2017 and ease our way into 2018, now is a good time to reflect on the current state of public service media and what the next year holds for the EBU.
Work in broadcasting still requires suppressing “blackness”
Journalism Research News: African-American broadcast journalists still feel pressure to downplay their natural features in order to fit in the newsroom, Indira S. Somani and Natalie Hopkinson, both of Howard University, write. The authors interviewed 23 black, American broadcast journalists over their experiences.
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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: Radio tower in San Francisco. Credits: Orin Zebest/Creative Commons
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