CHINA: China’s new media world order: Interview with Cédric Alviani from Reporters Without Borders East Asia

Global Voices: Since Xi Jinping established himself as the undisputed leader of China in 2013, the role of global media in reshaping the image of China has become one of the top priorities for the Chinese government. 

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CHINA: Simon Cheng: UK media watchdog receives ‘China forced confession’ complaint

BBC: A former employee of the UK’s consulate in Hong Kong has filed an official complaint about the broadcast by China’s state-run CGTN of a confession he says he was forced to make.

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INDIA: India puts new Bill for regulating media up for public consultation; some issues (Opinion)

Media Nama: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is hosting a consultation for a law that will regulate print and digital media, and seeks to replace the Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act, 1867.

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INDIA: Modi Government’s Draft Press Registration Bill May Restrict Digital Media’s Freedom

The Wire: Ambiguous definitions leave it unclear if publications that are not printed on paper will be counted as ‘e-papers’.

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JAPAN: Japan’s NHK to drastically cut online distribution budget at government’s request

The Japan Times: NHK plans to drastically reduce its budget for internet-based operations, including a proposed real-time distribution service for TV shows, informed sources said Friday.

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JAPAN: NHK [announces] 13 programs “Preparing for an earthquake directly under the capital” (Paywall – Japanese)

The Asahi Shimbun: NHK names December 1-8 as “Experience: Earthquake just below the capital,” and calls for preparations for earthquakes directly below the capital with 13 programs such as NHK Special (N-spec).

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JAPAN: NHK president denies it nixed program about Japan Post’s insurance practices due to outside pressure 

The Japan Times: NHK President Ryoichi Ueda denied Thursday that outside complaints caused the cancellation of a program about inappropriate sales practices for Japan Post Insurance Co. products.

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MYANMAR: Journalists see no major improvement in media freedom

Myanmar Times: Two international journalist organisations have noted no improvement in media freedom in Myanmar since Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy took office in 2016.

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PAKISTAN: Another day, another freedom curbed: How Pakistan is shutting down voices in the media

Scroll: The rising threat to journalists is pushing many towards self-censorship and in some cases, outside the industry.

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PAKISTAN: BBC arbitrary termination of jobs

IFJ: BBC Pakistan terminated the jobs of four employees working in Islamabad and Peshawar, without reason. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) strongly rejects the arbitrary termination and urgently call on BBC to reinstate the employees.

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PHILIPPINES: Groups slam ‘delayed justice’ for victims of Ampatuan massacre

Rappler: Ten years after the gruesome killing of 58 people, 32 from the media, press freedom continues to be under attack

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SINGAPORE: Radio remains key media channel in Singapore: Nielsen Survey

Asia Radio Today: The results of Singapore’s Nielsen Radio Diary Survey Wave 2, 2019 for Singapore are out.

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SINGAPORE: States Times Review told to correct Facebook post under fake news law, refuses to comply

Straits Times: The person who runs the Facebook page of  website States Times Review was directed on Thursday (Nov 28) under the Republic’s fake news law to correct false statements in a post on the page.

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SOUTH KOREA: In South Korea, independent newsroom Newstapa has seen what happens when it investigates its donors’ favorite politicians

Nieman Lab: Under a conservative government that restricted press freedom, Newstapa became a favorite of Korean liberals who backed its lonely fight. But when a more liberal president took charge, some of those donors weren’t too keen on its investigations.

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SRI LANKA: Fear grips journalists after new Sri Lanka president targets opposition media

JDS: Media watchdogs in Sri Lanka have raised the alarm about a looming clampdown on media freedom following abrupt police probes against pro opposition media institutions soon after a Sinhala nationalist president was voted to office.

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THAILAND: Centre goes live to fight fake news

Bangkok Post: The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry aims to spend 60 million baht on running its much-touted anti-fake-news centre in fiscal 2020 and will work with 200 organisations and the Police Cyber Taskforce (PCT) to combat disinformation spreading online.

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UZBEKISTAN: Uzbekistan Decides Against Charges Over Mayor’s Threats Against Journalists

The New York Times: The Uzbek Prosecutor General’s office has decided not to press charges against the mayor of the capital city Tashkent over his threats to journalists but reprimanded both sides in a row that drew Western diplomatic attention.

AUSTRALIA: Defamation laws overhaul to unclog courts and protect journalism, attorneys general say

The Guardian: Proposed changes will also ‘put downward pressure on damages for hurt feelings’

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AUSTRALIA: How ABC triple j newsreader Nas Campanella’s experience of being blind is informing ABC News coverage of people with a disability (Watch – Opinion)

ABC News: When I was little I wanted to be a journalist because I liked the idea of making a difference.

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AUSTRALIA: Kerry O’Brien uses Walkey Awards speech to rally journalists, saying press ‘freedom is eroded gradually’ (Watch)

ABC News: Former 7.30 host Kerry O’Brien has called for journalists to unite to protect press freedoms in a powerful opening speech for the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism.

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AUSTRALIA: This government must be held to account on press freedom. It’s not to be taken lightly (Opinion)

The Guardian: This year, for a brief moment in the history of Australian journalism, every significant news organisation in this country put its competitive instincts and its differences to one side and united as one voice to stand against an unacceptable step down the road to authoritarianism. 

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FIJI: ABC’s current affairs program makes Fijian history

FBC: The Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s current affairs program Q and A recorded a first Pacific Episode at USP Laucala Campus last night.

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NEW ZEALAND: Continued Audience Growth For RNZ Across All Platforms

RNZ: RNZ audiences continue to grow in an uncertain and changing New Zealand media environment.

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NEW ZEALAND: Local Democracy Reporting Service Takes Off

RNZ: New Zealand media organisations are invited to apply to receive content from a $1m pilot scheme aimed at boosting the reporting of local democracy issues across the country. The Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service announced earlier this year, now has eight reporters employed by eight host newsrooms around the country.

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NEW ZEALAND: Mediawatch for 1 December 2019 (Listen)

RNZ: This month the government will decide how to fund public broadcasting in the future – and ponder replacing RNZ and TVNZ with a brand new organisation. This week Mediawatch looks at how Australia, Ireland and Canada fund their public media – and what they get for their money.

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TONGA: Tongan govt sacks Shared Communication Boards chair

RNZ: Tonga’s government has sacked the chair of the Shared Communication Boards, citing incompetence and failure to follow due process.

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REGIONAL: Melanesian journalists decry growing threats against media freedom

Global Voices: Journalists from Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and West Papua gathered in Brisbane, Australia for the inaugural launch of the Melanesian Media Freedom Forum which was organized in response to ‘increasing media repression’ in the region.

AUSTRIA: New start for media freedom

IPI: Four international organizations formulate demands on new government of Austria

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FRANCE: Radio France, France Télévisions and RTBF join forces for a new edition of the Accelerator of ideas (French)

Radio France: Radio France, France Télévisions and RTBF, with the support of Médians Francophones Publics, have partnered this year for a new edition of the Accelerator of ideas, an innovation contest for their employees.  

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FRANCE: The appointment of the mediator. Strike at Radio France: Sybile Veil, President and CEO, answers listeners’ questions (French)

France Info: After five days of strike and disruption of the antennas at Radio France, following the social movement of staff against the plan of reorganization of the public company , which provides for the elimination of 299 positions over three years, Emmanuelle Daviet, mediator of antennas, receives the President and CEO, Sybile Veil, who answers the questions of the auditors.

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FRANCE: Why the creation of a media ethics council divides journalists (French)

Le Monde: This body, wanted by the government and who wishes to scrutinize the journalistic practices, must hold its first general meeting on Monday.

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GERMANY: ARD wants to significantly expand media library (German)

BR24: More and more people use streaming services. ARD is responding to this development and intends to significantly expand its media library. At the general meeting of the ARD directors and committee chairmen in Munich, it was also about the money.

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GERMANY: “Direct promotion – that did not happen yet” (German)

Deutschlandfunk: German publishers still have to spend a lot of money on delivering their daily newspapers. The state should now take part in it. “This is a paradigm shift,” said media economist Frank Lobigs in the Dlf. However, it is questionable whether we will therefore see more support.

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GERMANY: European Public Value Conference at the MDR in Leipzig: “Leipziger Impuls” is supposed to initiate a debate about public welfare contributions (German)

MDR: The MDR launched the “Leipzig Impulse” on 3 December 2019 with the SRF from Switzerland, ORF from Austria, ZDF, WDR and Deutschlandradio and the Leipzig Business School. In it, they explore the “potential for the well-oriented future shaping of public media”. At the same time, they stimulate a debate on the public welfare contribution internally and externally.

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HUNGARY: Hungary’s far-right government pulls out of Eurovision song contest because it is ‘too gay’

The Independent: Hungary has pulled out of the Eurovision song contest amid speculation the competition is “too gay” for the country’s far-right government.

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HUNGARY: RSF decries anti-Semitic attacks against two Hungarian website reporters

RSF: The posters showed the two journalists, Gábor Miklósi and Andras Dezso, in front of the Israeli flag and beneath them the words: “We, too, came from the other side of the border.”

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IRELAND: Government plan to give RTE extra €10m in budget was dropped at last moment

The Irish Times: A government plan to provide broadcaster RTÉ with an additional €10 million in Budget 2020 was dropped at the last moment, according to a report in the Business Post. It said that having lobbied for the funding boost, RTÉ management were shocked to discover on budget day that the increase had been cancelled.

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LATVIA: Latvian Ministry of Culture proposes ad restrictions and possible “digital tax”

LSM: The Ministry of Culture released information on November 26 that it is considering several courses of action in response to Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš’ (New Unity) request for a vision and concrete proposals for strengthening the integrity of the Latvian information space.

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MALTA: International organisations condemn the further degradation of press freedom in Malta and the continued intimidation of journalists

RSF:

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MALTA: Malta’s PM quits in crisis over Daphne Caruana Galizia murder

The Guardian: Malta’s embattled prime minister Joseph Muscat has resigned, driven from office by the constitutional and political crisis triggered by the murder of the investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

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MALTA: Maltese journalists threatened and harassed while covering protests

EFJ: The European Federation of journalists (EFJ) has backed its member, the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM), in condemning the latest attacks on Maltese journalists covering public events.

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POLAND: Ruling Law and Justice party and public broadcaster TVP must drop SLAPP defamation lawsuits against Law Professor Sadurski

ECPMF: Article 19 and the undersigned organisations call for the governing party in Poland, the Law and Justice party (PiS), and public broadcaster TVP to immediately drop their criminal and civil defamation lawsuits against Professor Wojciech Sadurski, a distinguished constitutional law scholar and public intellectual in Poland.

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POLAND: TVP on a budget drip (Polish)

ONET: Polish Television and other public media are counting on money from the state coffers to save them next year.

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RUSSIA: Putin approves law targeting journalists as ‘foreign agents’

The Guardian: Vladimir Putin has signed a law that will allow Russia to declare journalists and bloggers as “foreign agents” in a move critics say will allow the Kremlin to target government critics.

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SPAIN: A kidnapping on TVE to attract young audiences (Spanish)

El País: Manuel Bartual and Modesto García take to Playz an interactive format in the style of their Twitter stories.

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SPAIN: False messages via Whatsapp (German)

Deutschlandfunk: In Spain, in the election campaign and fueled by the Catalan conflict, countless false reports spread – also because messenger services such as Whatsapp are used much more often for news than in the rest of Europe. But even serious editors accept messages often unchecked.

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SWEDEN: A Swedish radio offering must be heard in Swedish cars (Swedish)

Sveriges Radio: Sweden’s Radio, NENT Groups and Bauer Media’s joint statement on new requirements for digital radio receivers in cars. The requirement should also include FM receivers.

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UK: BBC pledges to include more disabled people in programmes

The Guardian: The BBC has pledged to include more disabled entertainers and actors on its mainstream panel shows, documentaries and dramas in an attempt to improve the representation of people with disabilities on screen.

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UK: Ofcom will not investigate Channel 4 over Tory ice sculpture complaint

BBC News: Ofcom has decided not to investigate a Conservative Party impartiality complaint about a Channel 4 special.

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UKRAINE: Journalists and publishers jointly call for protection of print media

EFJ: Ukrainian journalists and publishers jointly called on the Ukrainian government to swiftly address the shrinking newspapers’ circulation at the Forum of All-Ukrainian Editors and Publishers of Print Media, which took place in Kyiv on 21 November.

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REGIONAL: Media expert Hendrik Sittig: ‘Broadcasters in South-East Europe are getting politically influenced’

Deutsche Welle: The dependence of the public media in South East Europe on the ruling structures is still very strong. Germany could be a model for more social representation, says Hendrik Sittig in a DW interview.

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REGIONAL: Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom: Policy recommendations for Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine (Report)

Index on Censorship: Index on Censorship’s Monitoring and Advocating for Media Freedom project monitors threats, limitations and violations related to media freedom in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. Previously these countries were also included in the Mapping Media Freedom project, which Index incubated and managed between 2014 – 2018.

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GENERAL: Launch of the Press Freedom Police Codex (Guidelines)

EFJ: In Europe, the relationship between journalists and the police has not improved in recent years with an increase of protests and sometimes violent demonstrations. Research has revealed that journalists blame the police, the police blame journalists.

ARGENTINA: Public media: what should be the policy of the new management? (Spanish)

Pagina12: The public media recover hope. The imminent change of government will launch a new management, which will seek to revitalize a system that in these last four years suffered a policy of abandonment and emptying, as an object of the adjustment – economic, productive and creative – that the workers suffered but also the schedules.

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BARBADOS: ‘Dictatorship move’ over CBC

Barbados Today: As Government moved Tuesday to amend the CBC Act, giving greater ministerial power over a restructured top management of the state broadcaster, the Leader of the Opposition Bishop Joseph Atherley accused the administration of taking “baby steps towards tyranny and giant strides towards dictatorship”.

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BARBADOS: King backs CBC Act changes

Barbados Today: Minister of Creative Economy, Culture and Sports John King today threw his support behind changes that lawmakers are planning for the Act that governs the state-owned Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation.

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BARBADOS: More CBC cuts coming

Nation News: It appears more staff cuts could be coming for the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), as well as a new business direction.

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BRAZIL: Fight for the Amazon: Brazil’s Media in the Age of Bolsonaro (Watch)

Aljazeera: A journalist investigates land disputes in the Amazon and how Brazil’s government uses misinformation as a smokescreen.

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CHILE: Journalists create collaborative digital projects to document Chile’s unrest

IJNET: Starting October 18, 2019, protests have rocked Chile, with citizens expressing frustration over systemic quality of life issues in the country. Chileans continue to take to the streets demanding lower transportation prices, increased pensions and reformed healthcare. 

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JAMAICA: Opinion journalism does not exist in Jamaica, says media boss

RJR News: Gary Allen, President of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union and CEO of the RJRGLEANER Communications Group, has said opinion journalism does not exist in Jamaica.

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JAMAICA: RSF urges Prime Minister to repeal law that sanctions reporters for taking photos outside courtrooms (Letter)

RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on the Prime Minister of Jamaica on November 22 to repeal a proposed amendment to Jamaica’s Criminal Justice and Administration Act, which would introduce draconian penalties for attempting to take a photograph of a criminal defendant outside a courtroom or sketch a prisoner in court.

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PERU: What are the legal implications of the alleged intrusion of Francisco Petrozzi in the State channel? (Spanish)

La Ley: Criminalists believe that the Minister of Culture could be investigated by Hugo Coya’s departure from the presidency of the National Radio and Television Institute (IRTP).

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VENEZUELA: Digital media from Venezuela launch collaborative journalism platform to join resources, investigate and circumvent censorship

Knight Center: To face the many challenges that currently exist in Venezuela, many journalistic media have found themselves in need of forming alliances to continue reporting and investigating.

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REGIONAL: What are public television stations in Latin America and how do they work? (Spanish – Opinion)

El Comercio: Between the 50s and 60s, the television industry began its steps in Latin America. The television channels that were beginning to broadcast were privately owned, but also owned by the State and governments. These are the state channels of Latin America and their current situation.

IRAN: Around 4000 people arrested and over 140 killed as protests continue amidst Internet shutdown

GCHR

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IRAN: Government attacks critical TV channel as ‘terrorist’

IFJ: The Iranian authorities have labelled the activities and programs of Iran International TV, a Persian station based in London, as ‘terroristic’, in a serious escalation of the threats against media.

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IRAQ: Iraqi authorities clamp down on TV channels covering protests

RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is appalled by last week’s decision by Iraq’s media regulator to suspend nine TV channels for three months, issue warnings to four others and shut down four radio stations for good. 

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JORDAN: New Arrests of Activists

HRW: Targeted for Social Media Criticism, Protests. 

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PALESTINE: Hundreds of journalists stand up against Israeli decision to shut down Palestine TV

IFJ: Hundreds of journalists joined a march organised by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) on 21 November against the decision by Israeli authorities to close down the offices of Palestinian TV in Jerusalem.

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SAUDI ARABIA: Several journalists arrested in crackdown in Saudi Arabia

CPJ: From November 16 to 21, Saudi authorities arrested at least seven journalists, bloggers, and columnists, according to reports by The Associated Press and London-based human rights group Al-Qst. 

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REGIONAL: ARIJ19: Amid Risks and Attacks, A Record Gathering of Arab Investigative Journalists

GIJN: Hundreds of investigative journalists from the Middle East, North Africa, and worldwide met in Amman from November 22 to November 24 for the ARIJ19 conference, where they discussed “the role of media in a radicalized world” – a global challenge amid an explosion of digital tools and online attacks against journalists.

CANADA: CBC Indigenous launches Original Voices, a new online resource for Indigenous languages (Press Release)

CBC/Radio-Canada: CBC Indigenous today [2 Dec] launched Original Voices, an immersive and extensive exploration of Indigenous languages in Canada, providing users with a place to listen to and learn from language keepers, explore the ways people are revitalizing Indigenous languages, and highlight how these languages are being preserved.

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CANADA: CBC/Radio-Canada seeking to broadcast more mandated programming on digital services

CBC News: CBC/Radio-Canada is asking Canada’s telecommunications regulator to allow the network to decrease the number of hours certain programming must be broadcast on television, and permit more of that content to be shown on digital services.

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CANADA: Groupe Média TFO continues its digital transformation, hitting 1 billion views on YouTube (Press Release)

TFO: Groupe Média TFO, Ontario’s French-language multi-platform public broadcaster, reached an important milestone today with more than a billion views on its YouTube channels.

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US: NPR’s Staff Diversity Numbers, 2019

NPR: In fiscal year 2019, NPR’s newsroom makeup was just over 28% people of color and just under 71% white. Nearly 57% of the staff was female, according to newsroom staff diversity statistics provided, at the request of the Public Editor’s office, by NPR’s human resources department.

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US: ‘Officials Say…’

CJR: In Chicago and elsewhere, police departments plant misinformation in the press.

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US: Trump campaign denies press credentials to Bloomberg News

BBC News: The Trump campaign says it will refuse credentials to reporters with Bloomberg News, the outlet owned by Democratic presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg.

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US & IRAN: U.S. Calls On Social-Media Networks To Block Iranian Leader Accounts

RFE/RL: The United States has called on social-media giants Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to suspend accounts linked to Iranian government leaders until Internet coverage is restored in that country.

CPJ launches 2019 #FreeThePress campaign

CPJ: The Committee to Protect Journalists today launched its annual #FreeThePress campaign to raise awareness of jailed journalists globally. The campaign will highlight the plight of several journalists via CPJ’s Instagram account.

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Global freedom of expression ‘at ten-year low’, report says

Press Gazette: `Freedom of expression has reached a ten-year low around the world, according to new research urging governments to “take action to reverse this trend”.

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Inspired by The Daily, dozens of daily news podcasts are punching above their weight worldwide

Nieman Lab: “The big change is commercial, which is that we had advertisers who started to come to us last year and say, ‘We are only going to buy two kinds of ad next year, print and podcast. What have you got?’”

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Journalists Worldwide are Embracing Technology to Tackle Daunting Challenges

ICFJ: Journalists around the world are increasingly turning to digital technology to help address daunting challenges such as the spread of misinformation and growing attacks on reporters, according to the International Center for Journalists’ 2019 survey of the State of Technology in Global Newsrooms. 

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‘Less talk, more action’: Why newsrooms must respond to the growing need of diverse representation

Journalism.co.uk: When reporters from working class and minority ethnic backgrounds are made to feel welcome, it can help news organisations thrive

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Motion: No journalism on a dead planet

IFJ: IFJ Executive Committee Members convening in Tangiers on 27-28 November 2019 unanimously passed a motion expressing the pressing need for media and journalists to be more involved in the world’s debate about climate change.

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These Are the 10 ‘Most Urgent’ Threats to Press Freedom in December 2019

TIME:

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VPNs aren’t perfect, here are some alternatives

IJNET: Virtual private networks (VPNs) are one of the most common online security tools, used to hide a user’s internet protocol (IP) address or geographical location.