AFGHANISTAN: Taliban arrests at least seven journalists in July

IFJ: Afghan journalists continued to endure ongoing harassment and intimidation from the Taliban in July, with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) monitoring the detainment of at least seven media workers during the month.

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ARMENIA: 29 lawsuits against media in Armenia in six months 

Jam News: Between April and June 2025, 36 cases of pressure on media and journalists were registered in Armenia.

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BANGLADESH: A year after new Bangladesh leader vows reform, journalists still behind bars 

CPJ: The repeated use of such charges against journalists who are widely seen as sympathetic to the former regime appear to be politically motivated censorship.

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BANGLADESH: DRU Launches ‘Khola Janala’ Mental Health Service for Journalists 

Pressenza: For the first time in Bangladesh, the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) has launched ‘Khola Janala’ (Open Window), a regular and free mental health service to help journalists cope with professional mental stress.

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BANGLADESH: One year after the Monsoon Revolution, justice for six slain journalists remains elusive

RSF: Charged with investigating the murders of six journalists between 15 July and 5 August, 2024, Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, a special national legal entity, has been slow to deliver accountability. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the interim government to fulfil its commitment to justice.

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INDIA: The silent unmaking of Prasar Bharati (Paywall)

Frontline: A once-independent broadcaster is being hollowed out by bureaucratic control and political loyalty.

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INDONESIA: Television has crucial role in educational outreach: ministry

Antara: While attending the “63 Years of Enlightening the Nation” concert organized by state television station TVRI here on Thursday, Umar described TVRI as a symbol of resilience and adaptability that has undergone various technological changes without losing its identity

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NEPAL: A watchdog, not a whip: Rethinking Media Council

The Annapurna Express: Press councils should operate on the answerability model. They should function as watchdogs that bark but do not bite, empowered to raise concerns, issue warnings, and alert stakeholders to ethical lapses, but not to take legal action against journalists. 

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PAKISTAN: Senate approves landmark amendment to journalist protection bill 

IFJ: Pakistan’s senate has unanimously passed a comprehensive series of amendments to the country’s Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act, including a number of changes to better safeguard the security, welfare, and working conditions of media workers.

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SOUTH KOREA: Assembly ends filibuster, passes DP-led broadcasting bill

The Korea Herald: The National Assembly on Tuesday passed one of the three contentious broadcasting bills proposed by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, after voting to end a 24-hour filibuster by the opposition People Power Party.

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SOUTH KOREA: Ruling party accelerates legislative drive at its own peril (Editorial)

The Chosun Daily: A controversial bill to revise South Korea’s broadcasting law—criticized by opponents as an attempt to turn public networks KBS and MBC into permanent Democratic Party mouthpieces—has been tabled for a vote in the National Assembly on Aug. 4.

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SOUTH KOREA: Ruling party set to propose contentious broadcasting bills as main opposition warns of filibuster

Yonhap News Agency: If approved, the three bills would eventually alter the governance structure of the three public broadcasters — KBS, MBC and EBS — by significantly increasing the number of their board directors and granting media and broadcasting associations, as well as related professional organizations, the right to recommend board members.

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THAILAND: Thai PBS welcomes NSTDA to upgrade skills in managing new digital media. (Press release – Thai)

Thai PBS: Thai PBS welcomed a group of NSTDA Public Relations officers to visit and exchange knowledge, enhance skills in modern digital media and strategic measurement, and enhance management capabilities for “new content creation and communication in the digital age” to effectively meet the needs of all target groups.

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THAILAND & CAMBODIA: Thai news media breaks ties with Cambodian counterparts

Thai PBS: The ongoing conflict between Thailand and Cambodia has now spilled into the media sphere, as three major Thai media associations announced the suspension of ties with their Cambodian counterpart, the Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ), accusing it of acting as a mouthpiece for the Cambodian government, rather than operating as an independent, professional organisation. 

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VIETNAM: One year into his rule, Vietnamese leader To Lam continues his all-out war on independent journalism 

RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges the international community to increase pressure, particularly economic pressure, on the Vietnamese leader to end his systematic repression of press freedom. 

AUSTRALIA: YouTube argues it’s ‘not social media’ as government says it ‘won’t be intimidated’ over ban 

SBS: Under-16s won’t be allowed to have active YouTube accounts or subscribe to YouTube channels when the federal government’s social media ban comes into effect..

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FIJI: $1.2m lifeline for troubled TV station

Fiji Times: The fund is part of the Government’s public service broadcast budget as announced recently in the 2025-2026 National Budget.

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FIJI: Media locked out, Police to probe alleged courtroom obstruction

Fiji Times: Media personnels covering the alleged extortion case involving five Police officers have cited alleged interference from Police officers at the Nasinu Magistrate Court today.

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NEW ZEALAND: Air NZ’s CEO appointment stirs racist backlash 

RNZ: The abuse forced the country’s leading media organisations to restrict or disable the ability to comment on the social media posts announcing the news.

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NEW ZEALAND: Māori media set for major shake-up

Te Ao Māori News: Te Māngai Pāho has released its latest Request for Proposals (RFP), outlining how Māori news and current affairs producers can apply for funding. Chief executive Larry Parr says the proposal represents the most significant change to the Māori news and current affairs landscape to date.

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NEW ZEALAND: Mike McRoberts: ‘You could read the 6 o’clock news and not know anything about te reo Māori back then’

RNZ: Mike McRoberts was all set for a career in law when a taste of the RNZ newsroom in the 1980s set him on the path to a distinguished career in journalism.

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NEW ZEALAND: The battle to get netball on TV: How did it come to this?

RNZ: How has New Zealand’s top netball competition gone from attracting millions in broadcast rights, to having to fork out some of its own money to get it on TV?

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REGIONAL: Duo elevates Pacific languages through youth video journals 

PMN: Film-makers Telesia Tanoa’i and her father, Salā Esera Tanoa’i, are driving a cultural revival in Aotearoa by producing video journals that preserve Pacific languages and empower youth.

ALBANIA: “Millions of euros of abuse”/ RTSH in crisis, director Eni Vasili requests Rama for additional budget (Press release) 

Pamfleti: The director of Albanian Radio Television, Eni Vasili, says that the institution she has been leading for a few months is in crisis.

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AUSTRIA: High payment morale for ORF contribution makes compulsory debiting unnecessary for the chairman of the foundation board (German) 

Der Standard: The new chairman, Heinz Lederer (SPÖ), is demanding a “coherent salary pyramid” at ORF, with the general at the helm. At the ESC, he added, “the cost implications will certainly not be lost sight of.”

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BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA: Supreme Court of Republika Srpska Rules in Favour of BHRT

Eurovoix: The Supreme Court of Republika Srpska has ruled in favour of BHRT, the Bosnian national broadcaster, with regard to unpaid fees from RTRS.

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BULGARIA: CEM approved the new Management Board of the Bulgarian National Radio (Press release – Bulgarian) 

BNR: The Council for Electronic Media approved the new Management Board of the Bulgarian National Radio, proposed by Director General Milen Mitev.

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GEORGIA: Ahead of verdict, press freedom groups renew call for Mzia Amaglobeli’s release

IPI: Amaglobeli’s arrest and prosecution comes amid a wider crackdown on media freedom in Georgia

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KOSOVO: EFJ and AJK call once again on the government to fund RTK

EFJ: The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) joins its affiliate in Kosovo, the Association of Journalists of Kosovo (AJK), in expressing concern that no visible action has been taken regarding the need to prevent the financial collapse of the public broadcaster, RTK.

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KOSOVO: Kosovo’s Parliamentary Deadlock Leaves Broadcaster Short of Funds 

Balkan Insight: Failure to constitute parliament leaves Kosovo’s public broadcaster, RTK, without a budget for the second half of the year, putting salaries at risk.

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MOLDOVA: RFI Romania strengthens its coverage of Moldova,  on air and digitally (Press release – French) 

FMM: This editorial reinforcement and increased digital presence aims to strengthen access to professional, balanced, and independent information for listeners and Internet users in the region, where RFI România enjoys a strong audience and great credibility.

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NORWAY: This is how election coverage will be on NRK (Press release – Norwegian) 

NRK: The parliamentary and Sámi elections on September 8 are fast approaching. NRK follows developments throughout the election campaign online, on TV and on the radio.

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POLAND: Behind the scenes of Maciej Świrski’s dismissal from the National Broadcasting Council. A family feud? (Polish) 

Interia wydarzenia: Maciej Świrski was dismissed from his position as head of the National Broadcasting Council, also by votes from members appointed by the Law and Justice party (PiS) and President Andrzej Duda.

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RUSSIA: In Russia, the government is muzzling the internet in the name of public safety and national security (French) 

RFI: The Russian internet is increasingly controlled and isolated from the rest of the world. Censorship, online surveillance, and digital disruption are intensifying, Human Rights Watch says in a new report, “ Shut Down, Slow Down, Blocked: State Censorship, Control, and Growing Isolation of Internet Users in Russia .” Network access is also being disrupted and shut down, ostensibly in the name of public safety and national security.

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SLOVAKIA: Head of Slovak Radio Flašíková will temporarily take over the management of the Slovak Radio, Štofaník will resign (Slovak) 

SME: Martina Flašíková, Director General of Slovak Television and Radio (STVR), will temporarily lead Slovak Radio.

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SLOVAKIA: Machala, Lindtner and others are silent. The retiring Slanina signed multi-million dollar contracts in STVR (Slovak) 

SME: Lukáš Machala, the highest official in the Ministry of Culture, and Prime Minister’s advisor David Lindtner, along with other members of the STVR Council , are still not acting in the first serious case where they were supposed to guard legality in a public media outlet.

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UK: BBC to reduce news quotas on Asian Network and Radio Foyle

RadioToday: Ofcom has approved the BBC’s request to reduce its news and current affairs quotas for both BBC Radio Foyle and BBC Asian Network, following a consultation earlier this year.

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UK: Channel 4 opens applications for its Content Creatives training programme, giving young people in Northern England a pathway into the creative industry (Press release) 

Channel4

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UK: Further findings from our latest look at the UK’s media habits (Report) 

Ofcom: Today we’ve published our latest research looking at the media habits of people in the UK, which highlights audiences’ media use and attitudes towards different platforms.

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UKRAINE: RSF sends new government five key recommendations to protect press freedom

RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has updated its roadmap for Ukraine’s press freedom with five key recommendations for the country’s new government.

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REGIONAL: AI: European Commission caves in to Big Tech to the detriment of authors

EFJ: Following the publication of the so-called “transparency template” by the European Commission’s AI Office on 24 July, most AI model providers will be required to publish summaries of training data as of 2 August 2025.

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REGIONAL: It’s time to stand up for public service media journalists (Blog) 

EFJ: Public service media is there to serve the public — the citizens, who fund them and to whom they owe responsibility, transparency, and trust.

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REGIONAL: Precarious, poorly paid, risky: freelance journalism in Europe (28 July)

Voxeurop: Journalism is undergoing a structural crisis that impacts the lives of workers in the sector. In this context, how are freelance reporters doing in France, Italy and Spain? Spoiler: mostly poorly.

IRAN: An Anonymous Iranian Reporter on Life in Tehran

CJR: “Iran Window” has spent more than two decades as an independent reporter and documentary filmmaker.

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IRAN: Iran arrests 98 ‘citizen-journalists’ for contact with UK-based outlet

CPJ: The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Iranian authorities to explain the grounds on which they have summoned and arrested 98 “so-called citizen-journalists” for having contact with a London-based Persian-language television channel.

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IRAN: Iran Pushes Ahead With ‘Fake News’ Bill That Critics Say Guts Free Speech

RFE/RL: The bill has sparked heated debate across political and civil society circles. Critics argue that vague terminology, such as “disturbing public opinion” and “content against state security,” could allow for broad and arbitrary crackdowns on media freedom and legitimate criticism.

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ISRAEL & PALESTINE: Around 260 journalists denounce Israeli restrictions ‘silencing independent observation’

MEMO: Nearly 260 journalists and media organizations denounced the Israeli-imposed restrictions on the press that “silence independent observation,” signing the Freedom To Report petition on Monday, Anadolu reports.

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LEBANON: Tackling media transparency and information challenges

IFEX: A Maharat Foundation report calls for separating ads from editorial content to safeguard journalistic and information integrity and urges that the proposed media law be used to close legal gaps and rebuild trust.

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PALESTINE: “Is this the last time I’ll see Gaza?”: A France 24 employee who took refuge in Paris gives his account (French)

France24: After months of covering the war in Gaza, France 24 journalist Fady Hossam was able to return to Paris a few days ago. Very few of his colleagues survived the 21 months of fighting. He is one of the last witnesses to the ongoing conflict.

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PALESTINE & SWEDEN: Publishers reiterate demand to allow international press to report from inside Gaza (Press release – Swedish)

Utgivarna: The ability for independent media to report from Gaza remains virtually non-existent.

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SAUDI ARABIA: Portraits from Saudi Arabia – RSF alarmed about fate of detained journalists after execution of Turki al-Jasser

RSF: The execution of journalist Turki al-Jasser by the Saudi regime has raised serious concerns about the fate of other media professionals wrongly detained in Saudi Arabia for doing their job.

CANADA: Cabin Radio gets right to broadcast on FM radio 

Radio-Canada: The federal regulator responsible for approving or denying new FM radio stations has given Cabin Radio permission to broadcast on the FM band.

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CANADA: Canada Games and CBC/Radio-Canada Announce Multiyear Partnership to Amplify Coverage (Press Release)

CBC/Radio-Canada: The Canada Games Council (CGC) is proud to announce a multiyear partnership with CBC/Radio-Canada, making Canada’s public broadcaster the National Media Partner for the Canada Games from 2025 through 2031.

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US: Corporation for Public Broadcasting Addresses Operations Following Loss of Federal Funding (Press release) 

CPB: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced today that it will begin an orderly wind-down of its operations following the passage of a federal rescissions package and the release of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-H) appropriations bill, which excludes funding for CPB for the first time in more than five decades.

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US: Corporation for Public Broadcasting says it’s shutting down 

NPR: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the conduit for federal funds to NPR and PBS, announced on Friday that it is beginning to wind down its operations given President Trump has signed a law clawing back $1.1 billion in funding for public broadcasting through fiscal year 2027.

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US: More than Big Bird: What the demise of the Corp. for Public Broadcasting means

The LA Times: The Corp. for Public Broadcasting, which helps pay for PBS, NPR, 1,500 local radio and television stations as well as programs like “Sesame Street” and “Finding Your Roots,” announced last week that it would close after the U.S. government withdrew funding.

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US: What’s Being Lost in the Documentary Space As Congress Defunds Public Media

The Hollywood Reporter: “We may have lost our funding, but unlike Congress, we have not lost our way,” writes ITVS boss Carrie Lozano as she assesses a less vibrant documentary landscape without the $9 million her organization provided annually to indie doc filmmakers behind titles like ‘Minding the Gap’.

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US: Which public TV and radio stations most rely on federal funds

Axios: The odds of survival for some stations — especially those in less-populated, low-income areas — appear long at best.

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US: Why a senator’s side deal to protect tribal stations might not be enough

Current: With the loss of CPB’s systemwide support — such as subsidies for programming and interconnection services — the costs of operating a tribal station at its current capacity will go up, Taylor said. 

Did Craigslist decimate newspapers? Legend meets reality.

Poynter: Craig Newmark’s simple site was hailed as a disruptor and blamed for the collapse of classifieds. But journalism’s business failures ran deeper.

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Footnotes, TikTok’s crowdsourced fact-checks, launches in the US

TechCrunch: TikTok on Wednesday announced the public launch of Footnotes, a crowdsourced fact-checking system similar to X’s and Meta’s Community Notes feature. The technology will initially roll out to U.S. users as a pilot program, allowing contributors to both write and rate Footnotes on TikTok videos.

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Geraldine Doogue takes on the future of journalism in 2025 Andrew Olle lecture (Lecture – 25 July) 

ABC

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“It’s a feature, not a bug” – How journalists can spot and mitigate AI bias

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism: Consultant and executive coach Ramaa Sharma spoke to leading figures in the newsroom AI space to identify the risks and potential solutions of AI bias

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Joseph McCarthy’s War on Voice of America 

CJR: A largely forgotten campaign of harassment and persecution from the 1950s that still echoes today.

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Newsrooms Need to Get Tougher on All That Lying

Second Rough Draft: In a country that can’t agree on much, there’s widespread agreement that our public life has coarsened over the last 15 years. One of the key reasons, I think, is that there’s far less social sanction for lying, especially in public, than there once was.

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Ten years of #JeSuisCharlie: a documentary that keeps the conversation alive 

VRT: Ten years after the attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the fight for freedom of expression remains as urgent as ever.

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The Discourse Is Broken

The Atlantic: Even that word, discourse—a shorthand for the way that a particular topic gets put through the internet’s meat grinder—is a misnomer, because none of the participants is really talking to the others. Instead, every participant—be they bloggers, randos on X, or people leaving Instagram comments—are issuing statements, not unlike public figures. 

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The good, the bad, and the completely made-up: Newsrooms on wrestling accurate answers out of AI

NiemanLab: “If we sit on the sideline and observe, I think the risk is too high that we are gonna be left behind.”

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Traffic Apocalypse – Google’s AI Overviews are killing click-throughs to news sites.

CJR: Now that AI-generated summaries are being integrated into search results, anyone looking for information has less reason to click through to the websites where that information originates

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Major UK publishers have seen Google search visibility ‘drop by up to 80%’ since 2019

Press Gazette: Likelihood of publisher keywords triggering an AI Overview increased by 3.5 times between March and June.