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.
CAMEROON: Two Cameroonian journalists detained while covering opposition gathering
CPJ: The journalists were detained at a house where opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who claims to have won the 2018 presidential election, and opposition activists were also arrested.
EGYPT: France’s Macron has challenged Egypt’s president Sisi on rising media repression
Quartz
GUINEA-BISSAU: Staff at Guinea-Bissau’s national broadcaster protest political meddling
RSF via Ifex: Since 28 January, TGB’s journalists have been refusing to cover the activities of any political party in order to press their demand for an end to “censorship” and “bias” in the broadcaster’s reporting.
KENYA: Report finds Kenyan women journalists face online harassment, makes recommendations
IJNet: A study found at least seven out of 10 women journalists in Kenya have been harassed online in the course of their work, a fact that organizations in Kenya are addressing through trainings and more.
LIBERIA: Armed Men Attack Critical Radio Station
MFWA: Some unidentified armed men on January 31, 2019 attacked Roots FM and destroyed equipment in what is widely believed to be an attempt to intimidate the popular and highly critical radio station located in Monrovia.
MALAWI: Press briefings should not be turned into political rallies
MISA Malawi: MISA Malawi has noted with concern the conduct by some political leaders who hold press briefings in the presence of their political supporters.
NAMIBIA: Geingob urged to pass info law to prove transparency
The Namibian: Namibia Media Trust’s strategic coordinator, Zoe Titus, says if president Hage Geingob wants to make an impact on transparency and the fight against corruption, he should pass the access to information law.
NIGERIA: 4 tips for journalists covering the 2019 Nigerian elections
IJNet: Some tips for reporters covering the forthcoming general elections in Nigeria, and other elections around the world.
SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa’s indebted public broadcaster scraps layoffs
Reuters: South Africa’s public broadcaster has scrapped a plan to lay off nearly 1,000 staff, and will find other ways to save money after the government said it was reducing financial support.
CHINA: Beijing’s foreign media push “a major threat for democracies” (Watch)
ABC: China is buying up broadcast space on foreign airwaves and pages inside newspapers to increase its influence abroad.
CHINA: IFJ Blog: Working conditions for foreign journalists in China worsening
IFJ: The reporting environment for international journalists in China is worsening in virtually every important respect, according to a survey of correspondent members conducted by the Foreign Correspondents Club of China.
INDIA: Threat to press freedom in India as vice president wants a ‘code of conduct’
The Business Insider: India’s Vice President Venkaiah Naidu took a shot at the country’s news media and pushed for restraint, much like the US President Donald Trump.
Nieman Lab: “It’s inefficient for publishers to try to do everything themselves. Meanwhile, they have to try to compete with massive, powerful news distributors like Google and Yahoo. That’s why it’s best for publishers to cooperate.”
MYANMAR: Myanmar freedom of expression getting worse ‘day by day’, report finds
The Guardian: Aung San Suu Kyi criticised for failing to halt jailing of Reuters reporters Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone.
PAKISTAN: Journalists protest non-payment of salaries, layoffs in Karachi, Islamabad
GEO: Employees of media houses and various journalistic set-ups staged protests in the metropolis over the months-long delay in salaries and pay cuts, as well as forced layoffs.
PHILIPPINES: Philippines tops world internet usage index with an average 10 hours a day
The Guardian: South-east Asia has three countries in the top five, while Japan comes in last.
SRI LANKA: Marking Black January:The Sri Lankan media’s cry for justice
The Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka)
AUSTRALIA: Guthrie, ABC board members ordered into mediation in unfair dismissal case
The Sydney Morning Herald: The Australian Broadcasting Corp and several of its directors have been ordered into mediation “as soon as reasonably practicable” with sacked managing director Michelle Guthrie, who is suing the public broadcaster for unfair dismissal.
AUSTRALIA: ‘Multi-million dollar thought bubble’: TV industry criticises PM’s Pacific Islands plan
The Sydney Morning Herald: Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s plan to put commercial Australian television shows on TV screens in the Pacific Islands has been criticised by free-to-air industry sources as a “multi-million dollar thought bubble” that duplicates services already provided by the public broadcaster.
AUSTRALIA: Sarah Ferguson appointed ABC China Bureau Chief
ABC: Sarah Ferguson, one of Australia’s most respected journalists, has been appointed China Bureau Chief as the ABC expands its commitment to covering this increasingly powerful nation, and the Asia-Pacific region, at this fascinating and crucial time.
AUSTRALIA: Scott Morrison handed shortlist of three candidates for ABC chairman
The Sydney Morning Herald: Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been handed a shortlist of three candidates for the prized role of ABC chairman following last year’s implosion at the highest levels of the public broadcaster.
AUSTRALIA: We reveal the front runners for Chair of the ABC (Watch)
ABC MediaWatch: It’s four months since Michelle Guthrie and Justin Milne departed and our national broadcaster is still without a managing director and a chair.
TAHITI: Staff at Tahiti’s public broadcaster plan to strike
RNZ: A strike notice has been issued by unionised staff at France’s public broadcaster in French Polynesia in a bid to counter cuts.
TIMOR LESTE: Timor-Leste Press Council condemns ‘crime’ against public broadcaster
Asia Pacific Report: Timor-Leste’s Press Council (TLPC) has strongly condemned political interference in the country’s public broadcasting service (RTTL) newsroom where political-appointed advisers for the president of RTTL have interfered in its coverage.
BELGIUM: Belgium enforces largely opposed €50 security check fee to cover the EU
EFJ: The Belgian government passed a bill or “Taxe Michel” forcing media workers (journalists and technicians), residing in Belgium or Belgian, to pay a mandatory €50 fee for the security screening document it delivers to authorize access to EU events. It debuted at last October’s EU Summit.
FINLAND: Radio still popular in Finnish media market
Yle News: Around one-third of people under the age of 45 – but only a tenth of those older than that – regularly listen to radio streams on mobile devices.
FRANCE: Franck Riester: the new audiovisual law presented ” in the summer ” (French)
CB News: With the occasion of presenting his wishes to cultural professionals, the Minister of Culture Franck Riester said he will present the new public broadcasting law to the Council of Ministers “in the summer”.
FRANCE: Médiamétrie: catch-up and multiscreen growing, fiction programming benefiting
Digital TV Europe: French audiences are increasingly turning to catch-up and multiscreen viewing, with fiction programming benefiting more than other genres, according to audience research group Médiamétrie.
FRANCE: When young people judge France Televisions (French)
Le Parisien: Four times throughout the year, the public broadcasting group brings together a panel of viewers to discuss the programmes. This time,it was the turn of 18-35 years old.
GERMANY: Doxing attack against media: Germany hit by global trend
RSF: Following various incidents in other countries journalists in Germany are now also confronted with “doxing” attacks, a practice in which personal information is published with the aim of damaging the reputation of the targeted persons.
GERMANY: In Germany, the press hosts the press briefings
CJR: Journalists as the hosts, not the guests, of press briefings is a long-held tradition in Germany.
POLAND: Mayor’s murder pushes Polish media to look hard at itself
CJR: While the murder lacked a clear political motive, it has shone light on deep political and media polarization in Poland and has prompted calls for an end to the aggressive, sensationalist rhetoric—what some call hate speech—that has become commonplace in Polish media.
Article19: On 24 January 2019, the Russian parliament approved the first reading of two highly contentious bills which would severely undermine freedom of expression.
SERBIA: ‘One in five million’: Protesting Serbia’s muzzled media
Aljazeera: A look at the disconnect between what’s happening on the streets in Belgrade and what’s going out on the airwaves.
SPAIN: The importance of public television (Spanish – Opinion)
La Voz de Asturias
SPAIN: The majority of the RTVE Intercentre Committee calls for the termination of Rosa María Mateo’s contract (Spanish)
InfoLibre: The proposal of UGT is based on “her active role in the outsourcing of production at TVE” and has had eight votes in favour, two against and one abstention
SWITZERLAND: Swiss look into online manipulation ahead of national polls
Swissinfo: Several government ministries in Switzerland are investigating whether online manipulation could affect upcoming elections, says a newspaper report.
UK: BBC licence fee to go up in April
Digital TV Europe: The UK government has confirmed that the BBC licence fee will increase from £150.50 (€171.75) to £154.40 per year from April 1, 2019.
UK: Brexit: Tony Hall confirms possible BBC move to Amsterdam or Brussels
Broadband TV News: The BBC could set up a base in Brussels or Amsterdam after Brexit, DG Tony Hall has confirmed, reports The Times.
UK: British cultural figures urge BBC to boycott Eurovision in Israel
The Guardian: Vivienne Westwood, Mike Leigh and Julie Christie are among those calling for coverage to be cancelled, citing human rights violations.
UK: Proposed UK law could expose journalists’ emails, say critics
The Guardian: Press freedom groups urge MPs to rethink bill covering access to foreign-held data
UKRAINE: Pre-election Dismissal At Ukraine’s Public Broadcaster Sparks Outcry
RFE/RL: The supervisory board of Ukraine’s public broadcaster has fired the operator’s director without explanation in a closed-door decision just two months before a potentially divisive presidential election.
BRAZIL: Investigative journalism helps to shed light on murders of communicators in Brazil
Knight Center: Following the murders of two Brazilian radio journalists, two investigative journalists left Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo for cities in the interior of the country where the killings had taken place. There, they helped reveal networks of interests and intrigues that may have motivated the two crimes. Police investigations of the cases have led to legal accusations against 17 people, now in jail and awaiting trial.
BRAZIL: New Access to Information decree undermines government transparency
Article 19: On 24 January, Brazil’s federal government adopted a new decree which expands the authority to classify public information to a wide range of public officials.
MEXICO: Journalists break the silence around freedom of expression in Mexico with new blog
Knight Center: According to one of the blog’s editors, José Luis Pardo, this space seeks to help better explain the current situation of journalism and journalists in Mexico, the deadliest country for the profession, worldwide, that is not in armed conflict.
MEXICO: Public Media: financing and convergence (Spanish – Opinion)
Forbes: The role of public media, writes Ernesto Piedras, has always been highly debated as a component of public broadcasting policy in Mexico, for its generation of content that does not arise from this market.
VENEZUELA: UN asked to intercede in arrests of foreign journalists, censorship in Venezuela
RSF: The censorship of independent and international media is becoming more and more blatant and disturbing in Venezuela and has intensified dramatically since the start of the year.
VENEZUELA: Venezuela detains at least ten foreign journalists in the last two weeks of January
Knight Center: Since the president of the National Assembly and opposition leader Juan Guaidó proclaimed himself as interim president of Venezuela, the country has experienced massive protests and attacks on national and international press by the government of Nicolás Maduro have intensified, according to several organizations that defend human rights.
VENEZUELA: Venezuela releases detained journalists working for Spanish news agency
El Pais: The Venezuelan government has released three journalists who were arrested on Wednesday as they were covering President Nicolás Maduro’s standoff with the opposition for the Spanish news agency EFE. All three are going to be deported to Colombia, said the agency.
ISRAEL: Israel urges Eurovision organizers to let band compete while observing Shabbat
The Times of Israel: Shalva, which features members with disabilities, is mulling quitting race to represent Israel in song contest over religious concerns
ISRAEL: Netanyahu launches own TV channel to bypass mainstream media
Middle East Monitor: Benjamin Netanyahu has launched his own TV channel to bypass mainstream media and ensure positive coverage ahead of the upcoming General Election.
LEBANON: Unknown assailants attack Lebanese TV station with hand grenade
CPJ: In the early hours of February 2, unknown assailants in a car threw a hand grenade at Al-Jadeed TV’s headquarters in Beirut and immediately fled the scene, according to video shared by the broadcaster.
QATAR: Media in blockading countries struggle to report on Qatar victory
Aljazeera: UAE and Saudi media outlets focus their reporting on losing side, Japan, with some not even mentioning the word Qatar.
SYRIA: Good Morning, Kafranbel (Audio)
This American Life: Reporter Dana Ballout tells the story of Radio Fresh, a community station in Syria that the local listeners depend on, and local militant factions try to shut down.
TURKEY: Turkey’s TRT Today launches Arabic service in HD with Globecast
Digital TV Europe: Turkish news channel TRT Today has launched a new HD variant of its Arabic language channel, TRT Arabi in HD, and has tapped media services outfit Globecast to provide the uplink for the service.
TURKEY: Turkish courts violate journalists’ right to fair trial, new report finds
IPI: Turkish courts regularly violate journalists’ right to a fair trial, according to the preliminary results of a trial monitoring project being carried out by the Turkey-based Media and Law Studies Association (MLSA) and the International Press Institute(IPI)…
CANADA: Canadian TV Boss Accuses Netflix of “Imperialism”
The Hollywood Reporter: Catherine Tait, the newly installed president of CBC/Radio Canada, the country’s public broadcaster, on Thursday associated Netflix with cultural imperialism as it makes its programming available worldwide.
CANADA: CBC on the hunt for amateur comics with new cross-country contest
Regina Leader Post: The public broadcaster says the winner of its new contest — CBC Comedy’s Next Up — gets a performance slot at the Halifax ComedyFest in April.
CBC/Radio-Canada: Currently, over three million students and teachers in 3,000 educational institutions across Canada have access to the platform launched five years ago.
US: Freedom in the World 2019, featuring Special Release on United States (Report)
Freedom House: Challenges to American democracy are testing the stability of its constitutional system and threatening to undermine political rights and civil liberties worldwide, according to Freedom in the World 2019, the latest edition of the annual country-by-country assessment of fundamental freedoms, released today by Freedom House.
US: PBS eyes streaming agreements to address ‘profoundly important’ platform goals, Kerger says (Paywall)
Current: PBS, already offering programs on streaming outlets such as Amazon, Netflix and Roku, is considering additional agreements with Sling TV and YouTube TV.
US: PBS KIDS Announces MOLLY OF DENALI, Premiering July 15, 2019
BusinessWire: New Animated Adventure Comedy is First Nationally Distributed Kids’ Series to Feature Native American Lead
US: Survey: Americans love their PBS
Broadband TV News: For the 16th consecutive year, PBS and its member stations have been named #1 in public trust among American institutions in a nationwide annual survey.
US: TCA 2019: PBS in Discussions With Virtual MVPDs, Says Kerger
Broadcasting Cable: PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger said Saturday that the public broadcaster is speaking with virtual MVPDs about offering PBS content.
CNBC: Digital media companies might benefit from a bundled service that doesn’t require customers to subscribe to multiple a la carte services.
How foundation funding changes the way journalism gets done
CJR: “Scott and his fellow researchers found that funding from foundations does change the way reporting is done, the issues that non-profit media organizations decide to focus on, and the amount and content of that work.”
How TV Meteorologists Can Talk About Climate Change Even During a Polar Vortex
Slate: An interview with Climate Central’s Sean Sublette.
Journalism has a gender representation problem. Bloomberg is looking for a solution
Poynter
More than 100 media outlets and organizations are backing the Journalism Trust Initiative
RSF: The Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI) aims at creating a mechanism to reward media outlets for providing guarantees regarding transparency, verification and correction methods, editorial independence and compliance with ethical norms.
Report: Kids shunning YouTube for more interactive media
Advanced Television: Future Forecast further predicts that established channels like YouTube will be challenged the emergence of new platforms such as the child-friendly, short-form mobile video platform TikTok .
Reporters covering underprivileged communities face pressure to pay sources
CJR
Solutions-focused journalism can improve news audiences’ mental health
Journalism.co.uk: In her set-to-launch crowdfunded book ‘You are what you read,’ author Jodie Jackson invites the reader to be part of a media revolution
The New Language of Climate Change
Politico Magazine: Scientists and meteorologists on the front lines of the climate wars are testing a new strategy to get through to the skeptics and outright deniers.
Why slow TV deserves our (divided) attention
The Conversation: SBS’s suite of slow TV programs, “Slow Summer”, arrived at a fortuitous time in our annual media trajectory, when we were briefly relieved of the busyness plaguing our lives.
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Header image: KTVU Tower. Credits: Tony Webster/Creative Commons
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