AFGHANISTAN: Afghan women journalists and human rights activists are being forced into hiding

DW: A wave of violence against female journalists and human rights activists is rocking Afghanistan. As the government seems unable to protect them from attacks, many are hoping for support from the international community.

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BANGLADESH: Bangladesh’s first transgender news reader takes to the airwaves

The Guardian: Tashnuva Anan Shishir survived assault, bullying and suicide attempts to become a trailblazer for the LGBT community.

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CHINA: Foreign correspondents in China face COVID-19 restrictions and expulsions, FCCC finds

CPJ: The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China found that “media freedoms deteriorated significantly in 2020” in its annual report, released Monday. The report, titled “Track, Trace, Expel: Reporting on China Amid a Pandemic,” surveyed 150 club members representing news organizations from 30 countries and regions. 

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CHINA & HONG KONG: China’s Media Repression Extends to Hong Kong, Report Finds

VOA: China is becoming an increasingly hostile environment for foreign media who are experiencing “tumultuous times” in the country, according to the Foreign Correspondents Club of China.

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HONG KONG: New RTHK head takes over after three senior officials quit

HKFP: Patrick Li, who has no journalistic experience, moves in after his predecessor quit the embattled broadcaster early.

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HONG KONG: Will Hong Kong’s Free Press Survive?

CJR: Journalists look back on eight months of disintegration.

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INDIA: CPJ launches safety guide for journalists covering Indian state elections

CPJ: The Committee to Protect Journalists has published a new India election safety guide for editors, journalists, and photographers covering events leading up to legislative assembly elections in the states of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry.

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JAMMU & KASHMIR: Press freedom in Jammu and Kashmir: An interview with journalist Anuradha Bhasin

Global Voices: ‘Democracy is power of the people, not of those ruling’.

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JAPAN: NHK management chairman decides to reappoint Mr. Morishita again denies allegations of program intervention (Japanese)

The Mainchi: NHK’s management committee was held on the 9th, and Shunzo Morishita (75), the chairman of the Kansai Information Center, was reappointed as chairman by mutual election of the members.

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MALAYSIA: Ministry mulls foundation to assist retrenched media workers

Free Malaysia Today: The communications and multimedia ministry is planning to set up a special foundation to help media industry practitioners who have lost their jobs, its deputy minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin said today.

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MYANMAR: Myanmar: military revokes licences of five media outlets in blow to press freedom

The Guardian: The outlets have reported extensively on protests over the coup over recent weeks, as well as the brutal response by the security forces.

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MYANMAR: Myanmar’s protests will be broadcast, despite junta blackout

Arab News: Myanmar’s web-savvy protest movement has overcome social media blocks and even a nationwide Internet blackout to transmit real-time information out of the country, as the new military regime struggles to tamp down opposition to last week’s coup.

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NEPAL: Social media is ‘dangerous’ to women journalists in Nepal

IPI: Women journalists say that their Facebook and Twitter inboxes are filled with ugly messages soon after they put forth ‘different views’.

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PAKISTAN: Attacks On Women In Media In Pakistan

Pakistan Press Foundation: Within an already restrictive environment for free expression, in the past year, women in the Pakistani media industry were the subject of online abuse, threats, trolling and smear campaigns. While online attacks as well as criminalization of the media for content shared online have become increasingly active tools used as a whole, the gendered nature of these attacks has also been observed. 

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PAKISTAN: Court Summons Chairman PEMRA On March 10 For Taking Illegal Action Against BOL News

Via Pakistan Press Foundation: Chairman PEMRA Saleem Baig has illegally instructed the cable operators to shut down BOL News’ transmission in different cities. As per the details, PEMRA officials have threatened the cable operators to put BOL News on the last number.

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PAKISTAN: DG PBC For Focusing On Issues Like Child Abuse, Health, Public Interest In Radio Programmes (19 February)

UrduPoint: Director General Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation Ambreen Jan on Friday said that issues like child abuse, health and public interest be focused in programmes with special attention on quality content.

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PHILIPPINES & US: No one in the Philippines would air a documentary about press freedom. So ‘Frontline’ is doing it itself (Paywall)

The Washington Post: On the evening before Valentine’s Day in 2019, journalist Maria Ressa was arrested by the Philippine government and charged with “cyber-libel.” At issue was a seven-year-old article that her news website, Rappler, had published before such a crime as cyber-libel existed in the country’s legal code.

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PHILIPPINES: State-led and coordinated: ICFJ dives into online attacks vs Maria Ressa

Rappler: The first-of-its-kind case study analyzed hundreds of thousands of Twitter and Facebook posts directed at Rappler CEO Maria Ressa from 2016 to 2021.

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SOUTH KOREA: TV 60 Years <The Path of Special Live Broadcasting Public Broadcasting> What kind of path has public broadcaster KBS walked over the past 60 years? (Press release – Korean)

KBS: KBS TV’s 60th year, 2021, the 48th anniversary of the founding of public broadcasting! 2021, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the KBS TV history. To commemorate this, on March 3, 2021, KBS celebrated its 48th anniversary and the 60th anniversary of KBS TV broadcasting.

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THAILAND: Thai PBS wins five media awards for human rights year 2020 (Press release – Thai)

Thai PBS: On March 4, 2021, the Public Broadcasting Service of Thailand (FTI) or Thai PBS won five awards for ”  Media Award 2020 for Human Rights” (Media Award 2020) as follows…

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REGIONAL: IPI partners in South Asia highlight online harassment of women journalists

IPI: The International Press Institute (IPI) recently launched the first-ever cross-border collaboration project between media organizations in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal. As part of this innovative effort “Covering and investigating attacks against journalists in South Asia: a Cross-Border cooperation”, IPI’s media partners have documented the hostile environment and attacks faced by women journalists in the region.

AUSTRALIA: ABC celebrates International Women’s Day 2021 (Press release)

ABC Australia: The ABC will mark International Women’s Day (IWD) on Monday 8 March 2021 with all-female line-ups and programs that celebrate the achievements of women and girls in Australia and around the world.

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AUSTRALIA: ABC leads the way at national documentary awards (Press Release)

ABC: The ABC has led the way at the inaugural Australian International Documentary Conference Awards, winning five of the six content categories on offer.

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AUSTRALIA: ‘Life at home just didn’t make sense’: the mental trauma of foreign correspondent Sally Sara

The Sydney Morning Herald: Covering war, famine and other atrocities left its mark on the celebrated ABC reporter. In her struggle to recover, she turned to therapy – and the creative release of writing a play about her experiences.

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AUSTRALIA: SBS announces successful Australia Uncovered documentaries for 2022 (Press release)

SBS: SBS has selected four productions which will receive development funding, and is also exploring commissioning of a fifth program, as part of its Australia Uncovered single documentary strand, exploring diversity and equality in contemporary Australia.

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AUSTRALIA: SBS suspends Chinese-sourced news programming after receiving human rights complaint

SBS: Human rights organisation Safeguard Defenders wrote to SBS after the UK media watchdog revoked the licence of CGTN due to “serious non-compliance offences”.

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FIJI: FBC launches Diversity and Inclusion initiative

FBC: The Fijian Broadcasting Corporation today launched its Diversity and Inclusion initiative, the first of its kind for media in Fiji and the Pacific.

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NEW ZEALAND: Broadcast bosses quizzed about bias – but not the big picture (Listen)

RNZ: The bosses of state-owned RNZ and TVNZ fronted up to MPs for their annual review at Parliament this week. The government’s proposal to replace both of them by 2023 is the big issue for both of them – but that wasn’t what opposition MPs zeroed in on.

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NEW ZEALAND: Covid-19: Health experts expecting vaccine misinformation (Listen) 

RNZ: Health experts expect there will be misconceptions to dispel when the Covid-19 vaccination mass rollout begins later this year.

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NEW ZEALAND: The man behind RNZ’s Mediawatch – Colin Peacock (Opinion)

RNZ: Journalists avoid his calls, editors loathe it when he highlights mistakes. But he reckons he’s not scary at all. Chris Schulz meets RNZ’s Mr Mediawatch, Colin Peacock.

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PACIFIC: Who is killing off top Pacific journalism – and why?

Asia Pacific Report: Without much in the way of a credible explanation about why, Aotearoa New Zealand education authorities are killing off one of the Pacific’s leading journalism programmes.

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REGIONAL: Pasifika encouraged to apply to $55 million media fund

Pacific Media Network: Kris Faafoi is hoping Pasifika and other minority media groups will apply to a public fund of $55 million to help ensure information is spread thoroughly and timely to communities and audiences of all types.

BELARUS: Belarus journalists struggle as crackdown on media intensifies

Euractiv: The case of two female Belarussian journalists jailed in February for reporting about protests in Minsk once again highlighted the severity of the government’s crackdown on news media in the former Soviet republic.

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DENMARK: DR invests heavily in young people with a strengthened podcast offer (Swedish)

Nordvision: Half of the young people in Denmark listen to podcasts every week. It is in this reality that DR recently launched its sound unit DR Lyd, and now the company is accelerating the range of podcasts for young and young adults. This is something new about the Nordic public service that we are paying attention to this week.

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FRANCE & CHINA: Chinese CGTN to broadcast under French flag

Broadband TV News: French media regulator CSA has given the green light to China’s CGTN.

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GERMANY: Change of time at ZDF – Director Bellut will end in 2022 (German)

Süddeutsche Zeitung: There will be a change at the top of the Second German Television (ZDF) in the coming year. After ten years in office, Artistic Director Thomas Bellut will retire in March 2022.

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GERMANY & CHINA: China’s CGTN returns to German TV screens

DW: The Chinese state-run TV news channel CGTN returned to the Vodafone cable network in Germany, a spokesperson for the channel confirmed on Saturday.

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HUNGARY: As Hungary Cuts Radio Station, Critics Say Europe Should Put Orban On Notice (Listen)

NPR: 

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HUNGARY: Hungarian media watchdog targets LGBTQI TV campaign

Euractiv: Hungary’s media authority has initiated proceedings against RTL Hungary media group for broadcasting an advert aimed at boosting acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender queer and intersexual (LGBTQI) families. 

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HUNGARY & POLAND: ‘The Hungary model’: How Poland copied illiberal tactics for weakening independent media

IPI: lliberal playbook developed by Orbán government spreading within EU.

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IRELAND: RTÉ to end radio services on Digital Audio Broadcast network

Irish Times: RTÉ has announced it will cease transmission of its radio services on the Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB) network on March 31st.

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IRELAND: RTE’s gender pay gap has barely shifted in three years (Paywall)

The Times: RTE staff have reacted with dismay to new figures that show there has been only a small percentage increase in the number of women among the national broadcaster’s top earners over the past three years.

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POLAND: CEO of Poland’s Polska Press quits after takeover by state-run refiner

Reuters: The chief executive of Polish regional newspaper publisher Polska Press has quit following its purchase by state-run oil refiner PKN Orlen, a takeover the opposition sees as part of efforts by the ruling party to assert control over the media.

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SLOVENIA: European Parliament Will Discuss Media Freedom in Slovenia Next Week

Total Slovenia News: Media freedom in Slovenia will be one of the items on the European Parliament’s agenda as it meets for a plenary next week as the planned debate on government attempts to silence media in Poland and Hungary has been expanded to include Slovenia.

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SLOVENIA: Prime Minister Janez Jansa, Slovenia’s Marshal Tweeto and the media

DW: Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa is waging an ongoing war of words on Twitter against critical journalists, accusing them of lying and spreading fake news. Now the EU has criticized Jansa’s dealings with the media.

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SPAIN: All the criticism that the agreement to renew the Board of Directors of RTVE has received (Spanish)

Cuartopoder: Last Thursday the Government, together with the PP, the main opposition party, announced that they had closed an agreement for the renewal of the RTVE Board of Directors . The decision to agree on the seats of the new Council has not been well received from different work areas of the corporation, as well as unions and other platforms.

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SWEDEN: About Sveriges Radio during a revolutionary year in the new available public service report (Blog – Swedish) 

Sveriges Radio: More and more people are listening and they are listening longer, a stable and high level of trust and a company that, despite a challenging year, has developed both the content, the technology and the working methods. This is how 2020 can be summarized for Swedish Radio. CEO Cilla Benkö gives you the main features of this year’s public service report and invites you to read.

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SWEDEN: Cilla Benkö: journalism and society cannot afford silence (Blog – Swedish)

Sveriges Radio: Women journalists are hated and threatened online to a much greater extent than men, and above all it is about a sexualised and threatening climate on digital platforms. If the situation does not change, journalism and society in general risk losing important voices and perspectives. We can not afford that, writes Swedish Radio’s CEO Cilla Benkö on International Women’s Day.

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UK: Equal pay: “700 BBC women have had pay rises since my case”, Samira Ahmed (Q&A)

IFJ: On 24 February 2020, the London Central Employment Tribunal ruled that female journalist Samira Ahmed’s hosting work on BBC’s Newswatch programme was equal to that of her male colleague, Jeremy Vine, on Points of View and that therefore she was entitled to equal pay. We asked her about the impact of this historic settlement a year after the verdict, and how BBC’s payment structures have changed since then.

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UK: UK launches action plan to prevent harassment and abuse of journalists

The Guardian: The UK’s first national action plan aimed at protecting journalists from abuse and harassment has been published by the government with the backing of police and union leaders.

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UK & CHINA: British regulators fine Chinese ‘propaganda’ channel

DW: Ofcom has demanded that CGTN pays fines after breaching the UK’s broadcasting rules. Critics say the English-language satellite broadcaster merely parrots the Chinese Communist Party line in its reports.

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REGIONAL: European Union must act on media freedom in Poland, Hungary and Slovenia

IPI: Ahead of a major debate at the European Parliament on efforts by governments to silence free media, the International Press Institute (IPI) was today joined by 18 other groups in calling on the European Union to take decisive action to defend independent journalism and media freedom in Hungary, Poland and Slovenia.

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REGIONAL: Eurovision Sport Publishes Media Handbook On Women’s Sport Ahead Of International Women’s Day

EBU: Eurovision Sport is delighted to announce the publication of a new media handbook, ‘Reimagining Sport: Pathways to Gender-Balanced Media Coverage’, as part of its mission to drive greater and more consistent coverage of women’s sport across the EBU territory.

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REGIONAL: More Work, Less Pay: COVID-19 Worsens Plight of Stressed-Out Balkan Reporters

Balkan Insight: A BIRN research of the working conditions facing journalists in the Balkans since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic makes for grim reading.

ARGENTINA: Rosario Lufrano: “It is so important to open a hospital, a school, a cultural center or have a state media” (Spanish)

Infobae: Alone with Teleshow, the president of RTA previews the news that is coming on public TV, talks about the role of women and gender training and ensures that there are no ideological limitations in the search for professionals: journalists who think what the President of the Nation thinks. They are asked not to lie”.

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BRAZIL: Learn how Bolsonaro’s offensive against the press hurts Constitution and democracy (Portuguese)

Folha de S.Paulo: Attacks to delegitimize journalism are systematic and are part of the government’s misinformation practice.

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BRAZIL: March 8: Fight like a journalist (Portuguese – Statement)

FENAJ: We women are the majority in Journalism. But, as in all other professions, we are not the majority that occupy the positions of leadership and decision-making and, still, we are less paid, especially black women. 

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COLOMBIA: Call to strengthen communication media opens (Spanish)

Portafolio: The ICT ministry awaits comments on projects focused on the digital transformation of media and the protection of jobs as a measure to support economic recovery.

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COLOMBIA: MinTIC opens audiovisual calls for women and people over 60 years old (Spanish)

Radio Nacional: The Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications opened the MinTIC Audiovisual Calls for the second consecutive year, with the aim of promoting the creation of unpublished content and the audiovisual industry throughout the country. On this occasion, 24 billion pesos will be allocated in stimuli, to finance 91 audiovisual proposals in all their stages: pre-production, production and post-production.

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GUYANA: NCN to test subtitles, sign language insets during broadcasts (Paywall)

Stabroek News: Under its budgetary allocations for the year, the state-run National Communication Network (NCN) will be testing the use of closed captions and sign language insets as part of its productions as it moves towards compliance with the Persons with Disabilities Act.

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GUYANA & SURINAME: Promoting a Culture of Prevention. Broadcasters from Guyana benefit from UNDRR – CBU Training Programme

CBU: The United Nations Disaster Risk Reduction Office (UNDRR) and the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) conduct Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) training with broadcasters from Guyana and Suriname.

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NICARAGUA: Nicaragua’s Press Censorship is “Physical, Legal and Symbolic” (Interview)

Havana Times: Sophisticated government censorship is becoming the norm in Nicaragua. In the face of this, Pedro Vaca recognizes the social commitment and heroism of Nicaraguan journalists. Vaca is the IACHR [Inter-American Commission for Human Rights] Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression. He’s well aware of the difficulties reporters face, within a socio-political and human rights crisis now in its third year.

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URUGUAY: The public channel will cease to be called Televisión Nacional Uruguay and will once again be Channel 5 (Spanish)

La Diaria: Gerardo Sotelo, director of the public media, affirmed that the previous change did not work because it was not necessary.

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VENEZUELA: They close and confiscate equipment from a radio station in northwestern Venezuela (Spanish) 

Swiss Info: The National Union of Press Workers (SNTP) of Venezuela denounced this Saturday that the country’s telecommunications regulator ordered the closure and confiscated the equipment of the Selecta 102.7 FM station, which broadcast its signal in the state of Zulia (northwest).

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REGIONAL: Journalists are not the enemy… and the virus of censorship continues to spread

IFEX: February 2021 in the Americas: A free expression round up produced by IFEX’s Regional Editor Paula Martins, based on IFEX member reports and news from the region.

LEBANON: In Lebanon, journalists report attacks and a decline in freedom of speech (Analysis)

Open Democracy: Three reporters speak out about being subject to assaults from supporters of the country’s major political parties.

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SAUDI ARABIA & TURKEY: Turkish court refuses to consider US intelligence report in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder trial

RSF: On 4 March, Istanbul’s Çağlayan Court continued its consideration of slain Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder case. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) monitored the hearing, in which the court denied the request by Khashoggi’s fiancée Hatice Cengiz to accept into these proceedings the recently published declassified US intelligence report naming Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as responsible for approving Khashoggi’s murder.

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SYRIA: In Fragmented Country, Syrians Turn to Hyper-local News

VOA: In March 2011, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Syria to demand greater political and media freedoms. Ten years after the popular uprising against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the country remains deeply divided due to a decadelong government crackdown on opposition and dissent, the spread of a violent militancy, and rivalry among regional powers.   

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TURKEY: New media outlets expanding in Turkey, still face online hurdles – report

Reuters: Newer media outlets in Turkey are reaching a wider audience but the practices of big tech gatekeepers such as Google and Facebook are slowing their efforts to catch up with mainstream, mostly pro-government media, a report said on Wednesday. 

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TURKEY: Turkish Media Overseer Keeps Critical TV Station’s Screens Blank

Balkan Insight: A popular newspaper says that one year after it bought a local TV station with a view to starting nationwide broadcasts, the state agency regulating the Turkish media is still refusing to allow it to go on air.

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UAE: CSD workshop advocates responsible media practices to safeguard children’s rights

Zawya: Virtual session organised by Child Safety Department in collaboration with the University of Sharjah saw the participation of more than 40 media professionals and experts.

CANADA: Canadian trust in journalism is wavering. Here’s what CBC News is doing about it (Blog)

CBC News: Recent survey found 49 % of Canadians think journalists are purposely trying to mislead.

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CANADA: Get the facts: Canadians love their CBC Radio (Letter)

CBC/Radio-Canada: The following letter to the editor was submitted to Toronto Sun, Ottawa Sun, Calgary Sun and Winkler Times.

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CANADA: Nadine Alcindor: Seeking greater parity and representation in our broadcast content (Blog)

CBC/Radio-Canada: Since 2019, Nadine Alcindor has been a project lead with the Community Inclusion team at Radio-Canada. Her tasks include developing strategies and projects to help our content creators (researchers, commentators, hosts, journalists and producers) incorporate more inclusive content into French Services programming.

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CANADA: Pandemic: 1 year later – Special Radio-Canada programming (French)

Radio-Canada: The year 2020 is the year that has transformed our lives since the World Health Organization declared the state of a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. All over the planet, lives have capsized, paths have branched off. On March 11, 2021, Radio-Canada is offering special programming…

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US: At least 3 US reporters face court hearings on charges from 2020 coverage of protests and rallies

CPJ: Local authorities in Iowa, Massachusetts, and North Carolina should drop all charges against journalists who were arrested while doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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US: COVID Relief Bill Provides $175M to Public Broadcasters

TV Technology: Funds labeled as “emergency assistance” for public TV and radio stations.

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US: Former USAGM CEO Paid $1 Million to Investigate Staff, Documents Show

VOA: The U.S. Agency for Global Media has released financial documents showing the agency’s Trump-appointed CEO paid an outside law firm more than $1 million for work that included investigating its own staff.

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US: Growing Percentage of Audio Listening Now Happens on Mobile

Radio World: AM/FM radio still commands consumed audio but the gap between traditional radio and mobile devices is closing.

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US: How Michigan Radio launched 42 podcasts at once (and why it’s just the beginning) (Paywall)

Current: With its new Minutes project, the station is making city council meetings more accessible while helping its reporters find stories.

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US: PBS Releases Criteria for Emerging Filmmakers Open Call (Opportunity)

PBS: This week, PBS released eligibility and submission criteria for its previously announced open call to amplify the voices of emerging and diverse/BIPOC content creators’ long- and short-form projects. 

Journalism is a public service. So why doesn’t it represent the public? (Commentary)

Poynter: For aspiring journalists from low-income backgrounds, systemic industry barriers compound from the start.

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Network mapping is a concrete method to include more voices in your reporting

Nieman Lab: It gives a framework and place to begin, recognizing that no outreach plan will work for everyone so it’s necessarily an iterative, step-by-step process.

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One Year Into the Pandemic, How Are Health Reporters Doing? (Feature)

Nieman Reports: Health reporters are holding officials accountable, documenting the virus’s devastating toll, and balancing the pandemic’s impact on their own lives.

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Q&A on Disinformation and Gender between Ambassador and Gender Expert

Article 19: Our Keep It Real Ambassador Natasha Sutton (image on the left) asking questions about gender and disinformation to ARTICLE19 Head of Gender and Sexuality, Judy Taing.

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RSF publishes report on ‘Sexism’s toll on journalism’

RSF: Journalism can be a dangerous profession, but it is often doubly dangerous for women because of the risk of sexist and sexual violence to which they are exposed. Of the 112 countries where journalists were polled for this report, 40 were identified as dangerous or very dangerous for women journalists.

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Take part in the revision of UNESCO’s Gender Sensitive Indicators for Media (Opportunity)

IFJ: In 2012, UNESCO published its first Gender-Sensitive Indicators for Media (GSIM) to “contribute to gender equality and women’s empowerment in and through media of all forms, irrespective of the technology used”. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is in charge of revising the indicators and has launched an online survey to evaluate users’ understanding of the indicators.

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The media plays a crucial role in battling vaccine misinformation. But here’s what not to do (Comment)

The Washington Post: 

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“Time to end the gender pay gap in journalism,” says IFJ

IFJ: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has launched a global campaign #PayMeEqual to mark International Women’s Day on 8 March, urging media across the world to conduct pay audits in their newsrooms and to act to tackle the gender pay gap.

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Tom Hourigan, senior journalist, BBC News, on reporters’ mental health during the pandemic (Listen)

Journalism.co.uk: A new website encourages journalists to open up about the stress and anxiety caused by the lockdown. We spoke to the founder about what newsroom leaders must do to better look after their staff.

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Women and leadership in the news media 2021: evidence from 12 markets (Report)

Reuters Institute: