PSM Weekly | 6-14 Sept 2016

Namibia: Tweya Clarifies Stance On Media Freedom

By AllAfrica: Information and Communication Technology Minister Tjekero Tweya has dismissed assertions that he is a potential threat to media freedom or access to information in Namibia, as widely hinted lately in the press.

NAMIBIA: Namibia: Media Not Appreciated Enough

By AllAfrica: The local media has of late been alarmed, seemingly, by the minister of information hinting at the possibility of a clause in the Access to Information Bill allowing the regulation of the media by the State.

REGIONAL: African Court to fight crimes against journalists

By Ghana Business News: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights partner to fight impunity for crimes against journalists.

INDIA: ‘Regional Media Is Uniquely Placed In Connecting The Governments And The People’

By Ground Report: Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu has stressed the need for self-regulation and reasonable restrictions in the context of rapid expansion of different forms of media in the country and the attendant competition in reporting on various events to maintain public order and ensure integrity and sovereignty of the country.

MALDIVES: Maldives government issues warning over al-Jazeera documentary

By The Guardian: The governing party of the Maldives has threatened to use controversial defamation laws against anyone involved in producing or broadcasting what it says are false allegations of corruption due to be aired in an al-Jazeera documentary on Wednesday.

THAILAND: Media rise in protest against regulatory bill

By The Nation: Major media organisations will meet to discuss a joint stance on the media regulation bill proposed by the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA). It appears that they could issue a joint statement in opposition to the bill.

THAILAND: Media bodies propose alternative to new legally binding regulations

By The Nation: Media professional associations resolved in a joint meeting yesterday to submit a letter to the chairman of the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) media reform committee opposing a draft bill on regulating the industry.

AUSTRALIA: Australian Broadcasting Regulator updates Privacy Guidelines

By iMediaEthics: The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has updated its guidelines for handling privacy issues in media. This is the first time the national broadcast regulator’s guidelines have been updated in five years.

CZECH REPUBLIC: How a media mogul helped turn Czechs against refugees

By The Economist: Politics in central and eastern Europe are increasingly driven by the businesses that own media outlets.

GREECE: Greece culls broadcasters, awarding TV licenses to four media groups

By Ekathimerini: Greece awarded new broadcasting licenses on Friday in a politically controversial step to cull the number of television channels operating in an industry that authorities say is mired in mismanagement and corruption.

KOSOVO: How Kosovo’s Public Television Lost Its Luster

By Media Power Monitor: Built through an international assistance program, for many years Kosovo’s public broadcaster received kudos for its editorial coverage. Local politicians have spoiled that.

REGIONAL:  EBU Acknowledges positive signal for media diversity and pluralism in EU Telecoms Package review

By EBU: The EBU considers the review of the EU Telecoms package as an opportunity to modernize rules which support media pluralism and cultural diversity. Although there is room for improvement, today’s proposal by the European Commission goes in the right direction.

UKRAINE: Ukrainian siege of ‘pro-Russian’ Inter TV studios ends

By BBC: Ukrainian protesters have lifted a blockade of Inter TV, a news channel in Kiev attacked by arsonists for being allegedly pro-Russian.

UNITED KINGDOM: Public service broadcasting in fragile states: are we flogging a dead horse?

By BBC: James Deane argues that the concept of media systems capable of: engaging everyone in society, acting independently and enabling dialogue across divides appears increasingly – rather than decreasingly – relevant in the 21st century.

BRAZIL: Brazilian government withdraws autonomy of state broadcaster EBC and tries again to fire its president

By Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas: The Brazilian government changed the structure, as well as the rules of appointment and dismissal of presidents, of the Brazilian Communications Company, which runs a news agency and broadcasting stations of the federal government.

BRAZIL: Provisional measure threatens autonomy of Brazil’s public broadcaster

By PMA: The newly confirmed Brazilian government has recently proposed a measure that would change the structure and the autonomy of the public broadcaster.

CUBA: Writing the Next Chapter in Cuba’s Television History

By TVTechnology: Easing of restrictions set to bring about new opportunities.

ISRAEL: Facebook and Israel to work to monitor posts that incite violence

By The Guardian: Facebook delegation is in Israel as the government pushes legislative steps to force social networks to rein in content that officials say incites violence.

CANADA: ‘We are fearless in experimentation and we move quickly’: Facebook Live at CBC News

By Journalism.co.uk: Brodie Fenlon, senior director of digital news, explains what he has found to be the ‘golden standard’ of livestreaming on Facebook, and how CBC has let the audience lead its development.

REGIONAL: Conservative media bias is inflating American climate denial and polarization

By The Guardian: New studies show that climate polarization is on the rise in the US; WSJ climate coverage is full of denial.

REGIONAL: Study: Broadcast TV Still Consumers’ No. 1 Choice

By Broadcasting Cable: A GfK/TVB study released Wednesday finds viewers spend nearly five hours a day with TV.