Our weekly round-up of public service media related stories and headlines from around the world.
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CAMEROON: Anglophone TV Channel banned in Cameroon
Balancing Act: An English-speaking channel which airs programs about protests, activism and human rights abuses has been banned in Cameroon.
EGYPT: Egypt blocks Human Rights Watch website amid widespread media blockade
Reuters: Egypt has blocked the website of Human Rights Watch just one day after the organization released a report on systematic torture in the country’s jails.
EGYPT: Egyptian intelligence services extend control over media
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is worried about the way Egyptian media outlets are being taken over by businessmen linked to the government and intelligence services. The regime’s domination of the media continues to grow and is even affecting pro-government media.
GHANA: Funding Opportunity and Awards on SDGs Reporting in Ghana, Best Story Gets GHC 10,000
MFWA: As part of efforts to mainstream the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in development reporting in Ghana, the Media Foundation for West Africa, in collaboration with UNDP Ghana, is offering funding opportunity to Ghanaian journalists to support quality and thorough reporting that focus on the SDGs.
KENYA: Bringing truth to light in Kenya (Video)
Deutsche Welle: In Kenya, limited public access to information, a non-independent judiciary and an insular media industry mean people rely on journalists to expose crime and corruption. John-Allan Namu is one of them. He founded Africa Uncensored 8 years ago.
KENYA: Media must diversify revenue streams away from State, says Media Council of Kenya
The Standard: Media Council of Kenya has threatened to crack the whip on media houses which fuel hate speech and those presenting fake news as the country prepares itself for a repeat presidential elections.
KENYA: TVU Networks To Help Broadcasters Cover National Election
Broadcasting & Media: TVU Networks has announced it will be providing additional mobile transmitters to major broadcasters in Kenya to cover, adequately, the forthcoming presidential elections in the country.
KENYA: US blasts Kenyan police raid on media group
IOL: US officials on Friday blasted Kenyan police for raiding a news organisation that had irked the government of President Mwai Kibaki.
LIBERIA: RAL supports LBS Independence
The New Dawn: The Reporters Association of Liberia or RAL welcomes the submission of a bill seeking to make state broadcaster, the Liberia Broadcasting System a Public Broadcaster.
MALAWI: Malawi Police Ask Media to Report With Caution to Avoid Scaring Investors
Via All Africa: Police in Mzuzu have asked media practitioners in the city to report crime news in a manner that does not instill fear among the public and potential investors.
MOZAMBIQUE: Mozambique’s media delegation visits Harbin
China Daily: Emilia Jubileu Moiane, director of the Information Office of Mozambique, together with six Mozambican media officials, started their weeklong visit in China on Sunday to deepen communication with Chinese media officials and agricultural practitioners.
SOUTH AFRICA: Outcry Over Deployment of ANC Cadres at South African Broadcaster
All Africa: Opposition parties have slammed the inclusion of Krish Naidoo and Febe Potgieter-Gqubule as candidates to the permanent board of the South African Broadcasting Corporation based on their affiliation with the ruling African National Congress.
SOUTH AFRICA: Update: What’s going on at SABC? #4
PMA: The latest about the ongoing crisis at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)
SOUTH SUDAN: Words matter: Hate speech and South Sudan
IRIN: How much influence does angry writing on social media thousands of kilometres away from the fighting actually have in a country with limited internet and mobile phone penetration?
TOGO: Freedom to inform curtailed amid protests in Togo
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the restriction of freedom of information in Togo resulting from government’s disconnection of the Internet and its harassment of journalists covering the major anti-government protests that began a month ago in the capital, Lomé.
TOGO: Togo protests against Faure Gnassingbé
BBC News: The number of demonstrators is said to be unprecedented. The internet has been severely restricted.
ZAMBIA: Zambia “on track” for digital TV
Advanced Television: Zambian government officials say the country is on track to switch to all-digital TV transmission.
REGIONAL: Francophone Africa still looks to RFI and France 24 remain reference channels
Balancing Act: Conducted by Kantar-TNS in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Mali, DRC and Senegal, [recent survey] shows that the two-French speaking channels continue to attract strong audiences.
AFGHANISTAN: The motivation for more women in journalism
Pajhwok: The world of journalism has turned upside down for Afghan women in just the last sixteen years.
AZERBAIJAN: Azerbaijan sues French journalists for libel over ‘dictator’ claims
RFI: The government of Azerbaijan has sued two French journalists and a French public broadcaster for calling it a “dictatorship”.
AZERBAIJAN: The silent crackdown in the Land of Fire
OBC Transeuropa: The already long list of arrests of those who are not aligned with the Baku government continues. The last one to pay was Mehan Aliyev, director of the Turan press agency.
CAMBODIA: Shutdown of Prominent Cambodia Newspaper Fuels Fears of Government Crackdown Ahead of Elections
VOA: Moeun Chhean Narridh, a media expert, said the closure of the Daily could encourage self-censorship among other journalists in Cambodia.
HONG KONG: RTHK petitioned to reinstate BBC daytime AM broadcasts
Asia Radio Today: RTHK has come under fire from some listeners in Hong Kong for dropping BBC Radio from prime time programming on its local AM 675 transmitter, and a petition has been launched to get the feed back on air.
INDIA: CCI orders fresh probe against Prasar Bharati
Money Control: The Competition Commission has ordered a fresh investigation against public broadcaster Prasar Bharati on complaint of alleged abuse of dominance with regard to infrastructural facilities for FM radio broadcasting.
INDIA: Dangal,Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Kashmiri KBC – Govt’s formula to woo Kashmiris
The Times of India: The Centre has decided to revamp DD Kashir, Doordarshan’s 24×7 satellite channel that reaches to all parts of the state, as part of the government’s efforts to reach out to the people of J&K and make them feel part of the mainstream.
INDIA: Murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh is a devastating blow to freedom of expression
Via IFEX: The murder of journalist, Gauri Lankesh, is a devastating blow to freedom of expression, PEN International said today, as it called for a full and impartial investigation into her killing.
INDIA: Whoever killed Gauri Lankesh, it is clear that India continues to be deadly for journalists
Scroll.in: Indian and international bodies have noted how attacks on journalists in the country tend to be carried out with impunity.
Markets Insider: iKO Media Group, a global end-to-end service provider for broadcasters and content owners, announced today that it has signed a distribution agreement with Khabar Agency JSC. iKOMG will be offering Khabar Agency JSC global distribution services for Kazakh TV international TV channel as well as wide range support of channel’s initiatives.
MYANMAR: RSF appeals to Aung San Suu Kyi in open letter about press freedom in Myanmar
RSF
MYANMAR: What is the Future of the Media in Myanmar?
The Diplomat: The media – once termed the “Fourth Estate” in society by British parliamentarian and philosopher Edmund Burke – plays a vital role in shaping democracy and open public discourse.
NEPAL: For the common good (Opinion)
The Kathmandu Post: The state-owned media, Radio Nepal and Nepal Television (NTV), still have little to no editorial independence and are viewed by most Nepalis as the mouthpiece of the government. The private media, as in other places, is over-commercialised. The overall media scenario of the country is a rather gloomy one.
NORTH KOREA: North Korea sentences South Korean journalists to death in absentia
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the death sentences that North Korea’s central court has passed in absentia on four South Korean journalists because of their positive reviews of an “insulting” book about North Korea’s growing market economy.
PHILIPPINES: Amid targeted online harassment, Filipino news site takes steps to fight back
IJNET: Every journalist in the country reporting independently on the Duterte presidency is subjected to rampant and highly coordinated online abuse. Especially if they’re female.
SOUTH KOREA: South Korea urged to guarantee public media independence
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on South Korea’s government to guarantee editorial independence in the state-owned media after unions at the two biggest public TV networks launched an indefinite strike yesterday to demand an end to political meddling and harassment of journalists.
SOUTH KOREA: Strikes at major networks likely to be drawn out
The Korea Herald: As labor unions and management remain in a deadlock, the labor disputes at South Korea’s two major broadcasters are likely to continue for a while, industry watchers said Monday.
THAILAND: Media curbs will backfire (Opinion)
Bangkok Post: The bill is only part of the regime’s programme to bring the media under control and to heel.
THAILAND: TV operators shun Section 44
Bangkok Post: Despite growing financial constraints, digital TV operators still see it as unnecessary for the government to exercise Section 44 of the interim charter to deal with their problems.
THAILAND: Thailand’s military government tightens grip on media
IPI: Surge in lese-majeste, defamation cases as new cybersecurity, media regulation efforts proposed
AUSTRALIA: ABC Announces AUD$1 Million Podcasting Fund
Content + Technology: The Director of ABC Radio, Michael Mason, has announced an AUD$1 million boost to the corporation’s podcast production aimed at supporting emerging community-based podcasters and extending the range and diversity of content.
AUSTRALIA: ABC won’t review vetting despite controversial calls
The Sydney Morning Herald: ABC Radio won’t be reviewing its vetting procedures despite a number of controversial comments being made on air by callers in recent weeks.
AUSTRALIA: Media law reform set to pass parliament
SBS: Media law reforms are expected to pass parliament with the support of the Nick Xenophon Team later this week.
NEW ZEALAND: Labour pledges $38m to public broadcasting
RNZ: The Labour Party wants to create a new public digital media service, built around RNZ, to transform it into something similar to the ABC in Australia.
NEW ZEALAND: Māori TV Goes HD, Launches New HQ
Content + Technology: New Zealand’s Māori Television has formally opened new premises at 433 East Tāmaki road, South Auckland.
SAMOA: Treatment of camerawoman at Pacific Forum leaves ‘sour taste’
Pacific Media Centre: An alleged incident involving a Tahitian camerawoman during the official opening of the 48th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting at Robert Louis Stevenson Museum, has left some members of the media industry angry.
BELGIUM: Journalists do not take sides in reporting protest turnout (Article)
Journalism Research News: When Belgian journalists report on how many people attended a particular street protest, they align with neither the police nor the protest organisers, write Ruud Wouters, of University of Amsterdam, and Kirsten Van Camp, of University of Antwerp.
DENMARK: Media development in Denmark in 2017
Nordicom: The Danes’ media consumption is increasingly based on digital and mobile platforms. But there are significant age patterns in how the use of media and platforms evolves.
FINLAND: Journalists in Finland face ‘unprecedented’ levels of online abuse
IPI: Issue in forefront following harassment of journalist covering Turku knife attack
FRANCE: Digital Revolution in Public Broadcasting (French)
La Croix: Radio France, France Televisions and Arte have placed their revenue under the sign of innovation, with projects intended to widen their audience, especially beyond the borders.
FRANCE: Journalists on trial in France after calling Azerbaijan a dictatorship
CPJ: The French justice ministry should dismiss criminal defamation charges the government of Azerbaijan brought against journalists Elise Lucet and Laurent Richard, and allow the pair to continue their work without obstruction, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
GEORGIA: Adjara TV picks up cancelled GPB shows
OC MEDIA: Adjara TV is to pick up two popular TV programmes controversially axed by the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) in June.
IRELAND: Public service media funding in Ireland faces continuing challenges
LSE: Ireland’s main public service broadcaster RTÉ is facing serious challenges to its funding, and the sustainability of funding for public service media in the country is in question.
ITALY: Rai, confirmed “Porta a Porta” but with a 30% cut to the salary of Bruno Vespa (Italian)
Repubblica: “Porta a Porta” will still be on RaiUno . This year’s novelty is cutting over 30 percent of Bruno Vespa’s compensation. The presenter, who had earned a million and 930,000 euros in the last few years, will drop to 1.2 million for the same number of talk shows (120 in the season).
KOSOVO: Journalism, a risky profession (French)
Le Courrier des Balkans: Marked by political conflicts, corruption scandals and social problems, Kosovo nevertheless retains a relatively lively media scene. However, being a journalist and informing the public is dangerous.
POLAND: Boost for TVP English channel
Broadband TV News: The Polish public broadcaster TVP has moved a step closer to launching an English language news channel.
RUSSIA: Sky Views: Is Russia ramping up propaganda?
Sky News: Russia’s international broadcasting arm Russia Today advises us to “Question More”. Its online counterpart Sputnik informs us it is “Telling the Untold”. But a more accurate slogan for these state-run operations might be: “Decided in Advance”.
SERBIA: Press Freedom In Serbia
The McGill International Review: In this EU-aspirant country, still overcoming hurdles to EU accession like enacting judiciary reform and improving dialogue with recently independent Kosovo, press freedom has unfortunately become progressively worse over the past few years.
SPAIN: RTVE extends HDTV roll-out
Rapid TV News: RTVE is to broadcast La 2 in HDTV, leaving Clan TV as its only remaining SD channel.
SPAIN: RTVE launches streaming, social TV, transmedia premiere window
Rapid TV News: Spanish national broadcaster RTVE is to launch Playz, a streaming, interactive platform through which exclusively premiering transmedia and social TV productions.
UK: BBC announces sweeping pay reviews after star salary row
BBC News: The BBC has outlined three wide-ranging reviews into equal pay following a furore over its star salaries this summer.
UK: BBC ‘must future-proof’ against US threats
Digital TV Europe: BBC director general Tony Hall has said getting the “strategic relationship” between the UK pubcaster’s international sales and production division right will help “secure the future of British content, at home and around the world”, as the power of US rivals grows.
RPR Ukraine: The Reanimation Package of Reforms experts and partner organizations that foster media reform express their concern about the alarming situation, caused by significant underfunding and inherited debt of the public broadcasting in Ukraine.
UKRAINE: Ukrainians Grow as Critical News Consumers
Internews: Annual survey shows Ukrainians demand better quality and more reliable content from journalists.
GENERAL: European parliament discusses the political and legal challenges for fake news
EFJ: Fake news have become an unavoidable term when talking about (digital) media. They are seen as an effective tool of manipulating political discourse, a way for content creators to generate revenue from advertising and are easily widespread on the social media.
GENERAL: OSCE Media Freedom Representative building new coalition defending media freedom
EFJ: A coalition of international journalist and media freedom organisations, as well as intergovernmental institutions gathered in Brussels on 5 September to discuss challenges and develop new ideas for cooperation to defend media freedom across Europe.
REGIONAL: New issue of Media Trends in the Nordic countries
NORDICOM: The Nordic countries are becoming increasingly digital and increasingly mobile. There is a continuing growth of online media use, with the Nordic countries ranking high in international comparisons. But there is also evidence that media users are not simply forsaking traditional media from one day to the next.
BOLIVIA: Bolivia taps satellite technology to speed digital TV switchover
Rapid TV News: Bolivia has gone through its DTT strategy and has confirmed the analogue switch-off for late 2019, as well as using satellite technology to reach out-of-DTT-coverage areas.
BRAZIL: EBC journalists report embarrassment, fear and censorship in the Temer government (Portuguese)
The Intercept
BRAZIL: Researchers launch atlas to map local journalism and “news deserts” in Brazil
Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas: Concentrated in the São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro – Brasilia axis, a majority of the Brazilian media ultimately informs the entire population of the country about what happens in these places. But how are people who live in small and medium-sized cities informed about what is happening in their regions?
COLOMBIA: Santos wants to improve Colombia’s press freedom ranking
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for more protection for journalists and more efforts to combat impunity when it met Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos last week, while President Santos regretted that Colombia was ranked no better than 129th in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index.
ECUADOR: Ecuador: A free expression lens on Lenin Moreno’s first 100 days
IFEX: The stigmatizing speech, insults and disqualifications against journalists and activists during the president’s Saturday broadcasts and the almost daily attacks against the media have decreased dramatically, according to Fundamedios.
MEXICO: On the front lines of reporting in Guerrero, Mexico’s most-violent state
CPJ: For journalists, working in Guerrero is often dangerous and sometimes deadly.
IRAN: How Iran tries to control news coverage by foreign-based journalists
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns attempts by the Iranian judicial system and intelligence services to influence the Persian-language sections of international media outlets by putting pressure on Iranian journalists based abroad and on their families still in Iran.
TURKEY: Cumhuriyet: A pained history of suppression, assassinations and betrayal
Index on Censorship: The trial of Cumhuriyet journalists and executives resumes on 11 September. It is more than likely that some of the newspaper’s former executives will testify against them, but neither imprisonment nor backstabbing is new in Cumhuriyet’s strained existence of nearly a century.
TURKEY: Journalism on trial: ‘Cumhuriyet’ case continues
ECPMF: The case against ‘Cumhuriyet’ newspaper represents a persistent crackdown on press freedom in Turkey, undermining the rule of law and an exhausting injustice. It has become in itself a completely accurate representation the of current state of affairs in Turkey for any adequate opposition or eagerness to pursue journalism.
TURKEY: Turkey Court Keeps Opposition Newspaper Staff in Custody
News18: Editor-in-chief Sabuncu condemned the trial, telling the judge it “has unfortunately already entered the darkest pages of the history of press freedom” in Turkey.
GENERAL: As an Arab journalist, let me tell you exactly why Al Jazeera’s existence is so important
Independent: It’s no secret that journalism is a difficult career in the Arabic world – but Al Jazeera changed things, and if it folds now, we could see the whole of the Middle East go backwards.
GENERAL: No August reprieve for journalists and activists in the Middle East and North Africa
IFEX: Whether authoritarian regimes, so-called democracies or warring armed groups, those who wield power in the Middle East and North Africa have stepped up their individual campaigns against critics, journalists, and opponents this month.
REGIONAL: Israel and the Palestinian Authority seek to silence the same media outlet
CPJ: Israel should allow the al-Hurriya media network and its affiliates to resume work without fear of harassment, and the Palestinian Authority should release Ayman al-Qawasme, the chairman of the same media network, from its custody, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
US: Covering Hurricane Irma: journalists go to extremes to report storm
The Guardian: Journalists from US and international media networks sought out the storm for their viewers’ benefit.
US: Despite positives, big challenges await WV public broadcasting
Charleston Gazette Mail: West Virginia Public Broadcasting has a lot going for it, including strong locally produced programming, but also faces major challenges, public media consultant Alison Scholly told the state Educational Broadcasting Authority Wednesday.
US: Lawmakers hear that pubcasters need additional $50M for auction repack
Current: Pat Butler, president of America’s Public Television Stations, told a Capitol Hill subcommittee Thursday that Congress is “our only hope” for an additional $50 million to help noncommercial stations repack after this year’s spectrum auction.
Poynter: Hurricane Irma may still be days away from striking the mainland United States, but its impact is already being felt in Miami, where supplies like gas and water are hard to find. That’s why a Miami-based news startup teamed up with the local NPR station to help residents find shelter and supplies.
US: Senate Appropriations Approves Level Funding for CPB
Broadcasting & Cable: The Senate Appropriations Committee has provided level funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, including for the Ready to Learn early childhood education program, and even $20 million in interconnection funds, according to a relieved CPB. Interconnection funding was not included in the House version of the appropriations bill, so that is a net gain, and one CPB had pushed for.
US: Yellowstone Public Radio joins other stations on regional reporting project
KTVQ: Billings-based Yellowstone Public Radio has joined with five other public radio stations to produce in-depth coverage of subjects unique to the Rocky Mountain West.
NiemanLab: Sixty-seven percent of Americans report getting some of their news via social media at some point, according to a Pew Research survey of just under 5,000 U.S. adults conducted last month and published Thursday.
As Irma’s Winds Rise, So Does a Debate Over TV Storm Reporting
The New York Times
Can Media Start-Ups Save Journalism?
EJO: Media start-ups, from established news platforms including Buzzfeed in the US and Mediapart in France, to more recent concepts such as Switzerland’s Project R, are often considered models of innovation, inspiration and radical funding ideas, offering hope for the future of journalism. However, recently published German research indicates new ventures rarely fulfil this promise.
Ensuring a Successful Technology Project
PMA: Choosing the right technology solution is only part of the recipe for ensuring a successful technology project. The real challenges – and potential for failure – begin once implementation is underway.
Fear of surveillance causes journalists to change their ways
Journalism Research News: The threat of governmental surveillance, or the “Big Brother feeling”, causes journalists to change their behaviour both in their work life and in private. Stephenson Waters, of University of Florida, interviewed seven American journalists, who are specialized in reporting on national security issues.
From handsets to Hollywood: Apple joins the dash for content
The Guardian: The tech giant is a latecomer to a market being transformed by Netflix and Amazon. But if it commits enough money, it could yet be a serious player.
How journalists can better approach victims of disaster
Ijnet: Journalists need to rethink how they engage with the communities they cover, especially during times of trauma.
Major news networks are failing to explain that Hurricane Harvey was fueled by climate change
Quartz: Will the major broadcast networks report on the role of climate change in shaping this storm? If Hurricane Harvey is any indication, the answer is ‘probably not.’ But by ignoring climate science, they are missing an opportunity to tell a great story.
Press freedom under attack during Hurricane Irma
WMC: As the Caribbean and Florida have been pummeled by Hurricane Irma these past few days, people around the world have been desperate for news of their loved ones, while those stuck on battered islands and coasts with no electricity, no information on rescue activities, and little hope that their lives and property will make it through this A-bomb-level storm are left trying to find cell phones that work to learn what they can. And now the effort to get information out to desperate survivors is being hampered even further.
Ready to fight back? ECPMF conference “Defending journalists under threat”
ECPMF: Prosecution of journalists in Turkey, frequent attacks on media workers in Hungary, Poland and Ukraine, accreditations withdrawn at the G20 summit in Germany and daily harassment through verbal abuse and hate speech… threats to journalists and violations of media freedom are on the increase across Europe.
Tagging fake news on Facebook doesn’t work, study says
Politico: A Yale survey of 7,500 people shows little benefit, and possible detriments, to fact-check programs.
Digital News Initiative (Google): The Digital News Initiative (DNI) Innovation Fund has been created to support innovation in digital news journalism. The 4th round will open from September 13 until October 12. Important: There’s now a mandatory monetisation theme for all Medium and Large projects.
Index: Digital technologies have given radio a new lease of life.
Try This: The most useful apps, tools and sites we used during Hurricane Irma
Poynter
What is the future of financing digital journalism?
EFJ: The media environment is becoming increasingly digital, mobile and more and more people consume news directly on social media. Which innovative financing tools will make quality journalism sustainable in the future and how can we preserve a lively news environment that informs citizens and scrutinizes societal power hubs.
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All PSM Weekly stories are provided for interest and their relevance to public service media issues, they do not necessarily reflect the views of the Public Media Alliance.
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Header image: KTVU Tower. Credits: Tony Webster/Creative Commons
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