Our weekly round-up of public service media related stories and headlines from around the world
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Week 19: What does ACCOUNTABILITY look like?
Accountability is a key pillar of public media and is central to maintaining a trusted and credible shared public media space. Accountability means that PSM are primarily answerable to the citizens who fund them, rather than to political or commercial interests. Accountability can look like independently appointed boards that are reflective of society and are insulated from both the government and the media organisation’s everyday management. Accountability can also look like transparency in the way funding is spent or the investment in and upholding of journalistic rigour, such as SVT’s increased focus on local investigative journalism. Such investment ultimately helps to hold power to account on behalf of the public and contributes to a more informed, civically engaged electorate. Enhancing audience or citizen engagement can also lend to accountability by providing an opportunity for the public to have a say in the content they consume and fund. As global threats to both journalism and democracy grow, accountability is needed now more than ever.
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What we're watching...
Gaza media targeted
ABC Mediawatch: The International Federation of Journalists condemns the bombing of media offices in Gaza, including Associated Press and Al Jazeera.
“The Israeli Prime Minister says the military campaign against Hamas “will continue as long as it is required”.
Perhaps the same is true for intimidation of journalists and attacks on their offices.” #MediaWatch pic.twitter.com/fMePfrB9y2
— Media Watch (@ABCmediawatch) May 17, 2021
What we're reading...
China: The Covid-19 Story: Unmasking China’s Global Strategy
IFJ: New research by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has found that China successfully activated existing media infrastructures to seed positive narratives globally amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The IFJ’s new report The Covid-19 Story: Unmasking China’s Global Strategy, released on May 12, outlines the findings of an international survey of journalist unions to explore the impact and influence of China’s global outreach strategy on the media ecosystem.
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ALGERIA: Algerian authorities briefly detain at least 6 journalists covering protests
CPJ: On May 11, 2021, Algerian security forces briefly detained at least six journalists in downtown Algiers, the capital, while they were covering anti-government protests…
ETHIOPIA: As Ethiopia Fights in Tigray Region, a Crackdown on Journalists (Paywall)
The New York Times: Authorities have detained journalists without charges and revoked the accreditation of a reporter for The New York Times.
GHANA: Arrest of Citi FM/TV Journalists Adds to a Growing Trend of Press Freedom Embarrassment in Ghana
MFWA: The Media Foundation for West Africa condemns the invasion of Citi TV premises by seven armed security officers on May 11, 2021, in an attempt to arrest Zoe Abu-Baidoo, a journalist with the Accra-based media organisation.
IVORY COAST: Covid-19: How fake news is hampering Ivory Coast’s vaccination efforts
France24: Disinformation online has led to a sluggish vaccine roll-out in Ivory Coast. Ivorian and international health authorities have told FRANCE 24 that they are concerned about the pandemic of fake news…
KENYA & UK: British High Commissioner launches PROJECT to support media freedom
KBC: The British High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Marriott has Tuesday announced the setup of a programme dubbed PROJECT to support media freedom and the media environment in Kenya.
MOZAMBIQUE: Media Under Pressure
Via All Africa: Although the rhetoric remains press freedom, the government is putting increasing pressure on Mozambican media and journalists and restricting foreign press.
NAMIBIA: Geingob takes back seat on NBC
The Namibian: PRESIDENT Hage Geingob has decided to leave the unfolding Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) in the hands of prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila after he was asked to intervene.
NAMIBIA: Presidency Rejects Calls To Intervene In Public Broadcaster’s Situation
Broadcast Media Africa: To recall, last week, the Namibia Media Professionals Union (NAMPU), together with the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) workers, marched to the Parliament building to get the attention of the Speaker of the House Professor Peter Katjivi, whom they hoped would accept their petition.
SOUTH AFRICA: SABC alerts public about analogue switch off
SABC News: The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is alerting the public via a scrolling message which is appearing on its television channels, SABC 1, 2 and 3, broadcast through analogue transmitters, about the impending analogue switch off and the need to change to alternative digital technologies for viewing.
SOUTH AFRICA: SABC expects to stabilise over the next three financial years: Communications Dept
SABC News: The SABC’s finances are expected to stabilise over the next three financial years. This is according to the Communications Department that briefed Parliament about the expected financial performances of some of the entities that report to it.
SOUTH AFRICA: South Africans are not paying their TV licences – but new rules could change that
Business Tech: The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) expects to face continued issues around TV licences for the near future, as the majority of TV users in the country refuse to pay their fees.
UNESCO: Meeting in Paris ahead of the International Conference convened by France to Support the Sudanese Transition, Abdalla Hamdok, Prime Minister of Sudan, and the Organization’s Director-General Audrey Azoulay agreed to reinforce ongoing cooperation to support press freedom and media development, key pillars of the democratic transition underway in the country.
TANZANIA: Media freedom: We’re not there yet (Opinion)
The Citizen: Last Monday, Tanzania joined other nations of the world in celebrating World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2021. While the government speaks of its commitment to a free press, the reality on the ground is remarkably different.
BANGLADESH: Bangladesh: Another journalist jailed under Digital Security Act
IFJ: A Jhalakathi court jailed journalist Khalilur Rahman for charges under the Digital Security Act (DSA) on May 11 for an allegedly defamatory post on Facebook.
CHINA: China Distorts its Suppression of Journalists While Railing Against Media ‘Distortion’
Polygraph
CHINA: China’s steady erosion of media freedom rose from Sichuan’s ruins (Opinion)
South China Morning Post: Journalists and activists hoped the 2008 earthquake would open a crack in censorship. Instead, it was the start of more than a decade of tight control of traditional and online outlets.
CHINA: China: The Covid-19 Story: Unmasking China’s Global Strategy (Report)
IFJ: New research by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has found that China successfully activated existing media infrastructures to seed positive narratives globally amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
CHINA & THAILAND: China’s Information Warfare and Media Influence Sow Division in Thailand
Radio Free Asia: Conspiracy theories and Communist Party media are seeping into the Southeast Asian nation of 69 million people.
HONG KONG: Future of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily on the line after freezing of founder’s assets
South China Morning Post: Analysts say decision to freeze Lai’s assets would not only put pressure on the tabloid-style paper, but also have a chilling effect on other outlets.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s public broadcaster is on its way to become a government mouthpiece
Global Voices: Shows are being censored, journalists are being fired, and even social media posts are being deleted.
HONG KONG: Media Analysts Troubled by Changes at Hong Kong’s Public Broadcaster
VOA News: A series of changes at Hong Kong’s only public broadcaster is worrying media analysts who see Radio Television Hong Kong’s response to pressure as a test case for the city’s independent journalism.
HONG KONG & CHINA: China wants Hong Kong media to speak Beijing’s language. It’s firing and hiring journalists (Opinion)
The Print: Major media organisations such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal have moved some of their journalists out of Hong Kong.
INDIA: Indian reporters find new ways to expose ‘vaccine inequity’ and COVID-19 data
ICIJ: ICIJ partners have had to innovate and adapt how they uncover critical information on the crisis, while calling for more government transparency.
MYANMAR: “A more and more brutal crackdown”: Myanmar’s press braves fear to report the news
IPI: A little more than three months have passed since the military seized power in Myanmar at the beginning of February. To stifle protests and silence criticism, the military junta has intensified its crackdown on independent media outlets and journalists. For local journalists every day is a fight for their lives as well as for freedom of speech.
MYANMAR: Myanmar jails local journalist, to free Japanese reporter
Al Jazeera: A Myanmar journalist who reported on anti-military government protests has been jailed for three years for incitement, his news organisation said, while authorities announced a twice-arrested Japanese reporter would be freed.
MYANMAR & THAILAND: Myanmar: Journalists who fled coup face Thailand deportation
BBC: Three journalists and two activists who fled from Myanmar are set to go on trial in Thailand on charges of illegally entering the country.
PAKISTAN: Alarming state of press freedom in Pakistan (Opinion)
Asia Times: Violence against journalists may translate into overall deterioration of human rights, research shows.
PHILIPPINES: Why does press freedom matter? Rappler journalists, community answer
Rappler: During this year’s celebration of World Press Freedom, we ask Rappler journalists and community why they continue to believe in the freedom of the press.
PHILIPPINES: An Exclusive Chat With Maria Ressa: The Biggest Threats to Press Freedom (Watch)
The Wire: Ressa’s news website Rappler has consistently shone a light on the Duterte government’s activities, for which she has often received hate speech online.
TAJIKISTAN: Tajikistan imposes total control over independent broadcast media
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the sudden introduction of unprecedented censorship in Tajikistan, where the authorities are imposing draconian conditions on the renewal of the licences of privately-owned radio and TV stations.
UZBEKISTAN: Conviction of Blogger Casts Chill Over Uzbek Media
VOA News: Uzbek bloggers find more freedom than mainstream journalists to investigate corruption and take on powerful interests, but court ruling draws firm red line.
AUSTRALIA: ABC demands rightwing thinktank correct ‘misleading’ claims on public trust
The Guardian: Public broadcaster disputes assertions made by Institute of Public Affairs to Senate’s media diversity inquiry.
AUSTRALIA: Broadcast spectrum buyback threatens popular TV channels
The Sydney Morning Herald: Television networks are worried they will be unable to provide viewers with high definition quality and secondary channels such as 7mate, 9Gem and 10Bold if a proposal to buy back some of the spectrum they use is implemented, despite assurances from the federal government that the move would not significantly affect viewers.
AUSTRALIA: Christian Porter lawyers accuse ABC of dragging its feet over defamation trial date
The Guardian: Tense week of negotiations after bid to stop Sue Chrysanthou from appearing for former attorney general in case against broadcaster.
AUSTRALIA: ‘Completely excluded’: budget delivers $58.6m to media but ABC misses out
The Guardian: SBS, newswire and community broadcasting to benefit but ABC funding could drop $10m over next year.
AUSTRALIA: Former News Corp chief, Channel 7 executive among new ABC board members
ABC News: The federal government has appointed three new non-executive members to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation board, following the departure of Kristin Ferguson and Donny Walford in November last year and the resignation of Vanessa Guthrie in March.
AUSTRALIA: The war in newsrooms (Debate)
Judith Neilson Institute: Three journalists debate impartiality, balance and objectivity in newsrooms.
AUSTRALIA: V’landys v ABC (Watch)
ABC Mediawatch: Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys loses his defamation case against the ABC over a 7.30 story about the fate of retired racehorses.
NEW ZEALAND: Access all areas? The past and future of community broadcasting (Listen)
RNZ: The Access Radio movement is 40 years old and today 12 stations broadcast locally and online. Some fill local gaps left by stations hooked into national networks – and some produce programmes up for national awards. But low-budget broadcasting isn’t the only way to reach communities with content these days. Does access radio have a digital-age future?
NEW ZEALAND: RNZ won’t be swallowed in state media shake-up (Comment)
Newsroom: The group of experts set up by the Government to oversee the business case for a new public broadcasting entity to replace TVNZ and RNZ has shown its hand. And, as Stephen Parker writes, RNZ loyalists will be relieved.
NEW ZEALAND: Shocking news reveals southern reporting cutbacks (Listen)
RNZ: That shocking knife attack in Dunedin’s central city this week came out of the blue – but the coverage also revealed the ranks of reporters there are thinning out. One major TV broadcaster had to cover it from Christchurch on the day – and the other is set to scrap its office in Dunedin altogether.
NEW ZEALAND: Younger NZers poorly served by public media, says merger chair
Newsroom: Former minister Tracey Martin says new research on merging RNZ and TVNZ shows more people now have access to Netflix than to radio.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA: Media Freedom Remains a Pillar of Democracy in PNG
EMTV: Freedom of the Press will remain a fundamental foundation and character of our democracy says Prime Minister James Marape.
REGIONAL: New TV series showcases ancient Pacific tales in the modern day
RNZ: A new Pacific-themed drama and horror television series has been created for New Zealand. It is the country’s first show to be written, directed, produced and crewed entirely by people of the Moana.
REGIONAL: Resourcing local Pacific media to boost wider ‘connected’ reportage
Asia Pacific Report: After 23 years with one political party and one prime minister in charge, Samoa’s general election last month delivered a surprise neck-and-neck result. But it was barely reported in most national media outlets here. How come? And what might improve the situation?
AUSTRIA: Austria’s Kurz accused of ‘Orbanisation of Austria’ after media freedom award
Euractiv: Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been awarded a media freedom prize by a German publisher at the Ludwig-Erhard-Summit, a move which leading Austrian politician Christian Deutsch has called “absurd” and accused Kurz of pushing towards an “Orbanisation of Austria”.
BELARUS: Over 150 media representatives sign open letter to Belarus authorities: “Stop the witch-hunt!” (Statement)
Belarusian Association of Journalists
FRANCE: ENTR, Phoenix: young people and ecology, the new bet of the public media (French)
La Croix: France Médias Monde will launch ENTR this summer, France Télévisions is preparing Phoenix. What do these projects have in common? They are both European media oriented towards the environment and targeting young people.
FRANCE: France Télévisions Publicité reinternalizes its backups (French)
Le Mag IT: After setting up a backup in the public cloud, the advertising agency of the France TV group brings back its most critical data. In addition to performance, this project aims to improve control over the most critical data.
GERMANY: Cancellation of ARD and politics: Bellut against super media library (German)
DWDL.de: There are already calls from politics for a joint media library of ARD and ZDF, and ARD chairman Tom Buhrow is also in favour of this. However, ZDF director Thomas Bellut has now rejected the project.
GERMANY: FDP wants to curtail public service broadcasting from ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio (German)
Deutschlandfunk: The FDP will also enter the Bundestag election campaign with the demand for a curtailment of public service broadcasting and a reduction in the broadcasting fee.
GERMANY: From slow moving to radio standard: The long way of the DAB + (German)
Deutschlandfunk: For years, media policy and broadcasters have been planning to switch to DAB + digital radio – so far they have not been able to agree on a switch-off date for FM. Meanwhile, web radio and streaming services have become increasingly popular. Research into the future of digital radio.
GERMANY: Funk immediately conquers third place in the social media ranking (German)
Horizont: Funk, the joint content network of ARD and ZDF for young people, is now listed in Storyclash’s social media ranking and makes the leap to number 3 right away. This puts three public service offers on the podium.
GBC News: The Government says a decision not to allow GBC to film inside St Bernard’s Hospital during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year was based on clinical advice, not political reasons – accusing the GSD of politicising the issue in a cynical and calculated manner.
HUNGARY: How Viktor Orbán destroyed Hungarian independent media under the impassive eye of the EU (French – Opinion)
La Libre: Rather than directly destroying media freedom by arresting journalists or censoring newspapers, Orban used economic levers to weaken independent media. This intelligent strategy has allowed it to avoid an international outcry, slowly eliminating independent media one after the other.
HUNGARY & POLAND: How Europe can protect independent media in Hungary and Poland (Opinion)
Politico: Press freedom is a prerequisite for free and fair elections.
ITALY: The activists calling out racism In Italy’s media
EU Observer: Last month, Italy’s Mediaset network broadcast an episode of the TV show Felicissima Sera [Good Evening] – in which two white Italian comedians proceeded to use discriminatory terms and racial slurs in a diatribe on political correctness.
NETHERLANDS: NOS and NPO still demand prosecution Tarik Z. for video (Dutch)
NOS: Tarik Z. must still be prosecuted for threats. NOS and NPO demand that today at the court of appeal in Arnhem. Tarik Z. posted a professional looking video to Instagram in February. In it he says, among other things, that people are still being fooled by the NOS and the public broadcaster, to end with the words “And that’s why I’m back”.
NORWAY: The “superbus” is rolling again (Norweigan)
NRK: NRK Super once again takes the content the children know from TV and comes to visit selected schoolyards this spring.
RUSSIA: EU Says Russian ‘Foreign Agent’ Law Stifles Independent Media
VOA News: The European Union has called on Russia to repeal its controversial “foreign agent” law, which has been used to target a growing number of Russian-language media outlets, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
SLOVENIA: Media Freedom Rapid Response plans mission to Slovenia in May
STA: The partners within the Media Freedom Rapid Response (MFRR) project will conduct a virtual mission to Slovenia in late May and early June to assess reports on the deterioration of media freedom in the country over the past year.
SPAIN: Podemos wants the Government to negotiate a new three-year contract-program with RTVE (Spanish)
El Confidencial Digital: The Confederal Parliamentary Group United We Can- En Comú Podem- Galicia en Común has registered an initiative in Congress by which it urges the Government to negotiate a new three-year contract-program with the RTVE Corporation that sets the objectives to be met in its work as a public service, and collect the budgets and means necessary to ensure the achievement of these.
SWEDEN: Swedish Radio’s mission in war and in peace (Swedish – Blog)
Swedish Radio: Sveriges Radio is an independent media company with the same mission in war as in peace. The role of the company and its employees does not change due to the fact that Swedish Radio is part of the total defense.
UK: Channel 4 could be privatised by 2024, says Oliver Dowden
The Guardian: Culture secretary repeats view that Tory sell-off of public broadcaster before next election is not ‘ruled out’.
UK: Channel 4 unveils 4Skills programmes offering career & development opportunities across the Nations and Regions (Press release)
Channel 4: Channel 4 today unveiled the first tranche of its 4Skills initiatives designed to give career, development and training opportunities in the broadcast industry for people across the Nations and Regions.
UK: CMF asks government to reinstate content fund
Televisual: The Children’s Media Foundation is demanding that government reinstate the £13m it is planning to claw back from the Young Audiences Content Fund.
UKRAINE: Interview With Zurab Alasania, Director General Of Ua:Pbc From 2014 To 2021 (Interview)
EBU: Zurab Alasania, Director General of UA:PBC from March 2014 to May 2021, talks to Radka Betcheva, Head of Member Relations Central and Eastern Europe.
GENERAL: EU Parliament to counter lawsuits designed to silence journalists, NGOs
Euractiv: The European Parliament’s committees dealing with legal affairs (JURI), civil liberties and home affairs (LIBE) met on Tuesday (11 May) to prepare a report on combating lawsuits aimed at intimidating journalists and civil society organisations in the EU. EURACTIV France reports.
REGIONAL: Media freedom in the Western Balkans is a geopolitical issue
Euractiv: The decline in media freedom in the Balkans is eroding the European values of democracy and rule of law and creating a climate ripe for disinformation that is cultivating anti-EU and anti-western sentiment across the region, writes Peter Horrocks.
GENERAL: Sign up now: Social Media Academy # 4 (Swedish – Event)
Nordvision: Wednesday 26 May, it’s time again: Nordvisions Social Media Academy offers a lunch hour inspiration for everyone in the Nordic public service who is interested in social media. You come too!
COLOMBIA: Flip asks to expand investigations against the security forces for violating the press during the strike in Colombia (Spanish)
Infobae: The Foundation for Press Freedom has documented more than 122 attacks against journalists and media workers during the coverage of the strike in Colombia.
ECUADOR: Ecuadorian congress passes ‘digital violence’ bill that threatens press freedom
CPJ: Ecuadorian President Lenín Moreno should require the country’s legislature to amend a recently passed bill to ensure that it does not threaten press freedom, or should veto that legislation, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
MEXICO: Mexico rights group: government must protect own journalist
CityNews Toronto: Mexico’s government National Human Rights Commission has taken the odd position that a protection mechanism for journalists should protect the head of the government’s own news agency.
NICARAGUA: Podcasts, Social Media, Determination: Nicaragua’s Media Adapt to Challenging Environment
VOA
VENEZUELA: Journalistic Guilds: The embargo on El Nacional is an outrage against press freedom (Spanish)
El Nuevo Herald: The embargo on the headquarters of the newspaper El Nacional was considered by journalistic organizations as a “great outrage” against press freedom in the Americas and another step by the Nicolás Maduro regime to liquidate the free press in Venezuela.
VENEZUELA: Venezuela: Police raid last anti-Maduro newspaper
DW: The paper’s general manager called the seizure, which followed a court ruling, “an attack on democracy.” The move is the latest blow to press freedom in the Latin American country.
RSF: Journalists’ investigations of political issues, corruption, and organized crime in small and medium-sized cities in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Honduras account for 139 murders of media professionals 2011-2020, a study by Reporters Without Borders shows. Half of these journalists had received threats related to their work.
ISRAEL & PALESTINE: CPJ calls on Israeli authorities to protect press freedom, journalist safety amid Israeli-Palestinian conflict
CPJ: sraeli forces should do their utmost to protect Palestinian and Israeli journalists covering unrest and conflict, and should ensure that members of the press can work safely and freely, the Committee to protect Journalists said today.
ISRAEL & PALESTINE: RSF asks ICC prosecutor to say whether Israeli airstrikes on media in Gaza constitute war crimes
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to include Israeli air strikes on more than 20 media outlets in the Gaza Strip in her investigation into the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
ISRAEL & PALESTINE: AP ‘horrified’ by Israeli attack on its office (Statement)
Associated Press: An Israeli airstrike destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed offices of The Associated Press and other media outlets on Saturday. All AP employees and freelancers evacuated the building safely.
ISRAEL & PALESTINE: UN court pressed to probe Israel strike on media office
Al Jazeera: Rights groups urged the International Criminal Court to determine whether Israeli air strikes that destroyed a Gaza building housing media outlets constituted [a war crime].
SYRIA: Syria releases hundreds of social media critics ahead of election
Reuters: Syria has freed more than 400 civil servants, judges, lawyers and journalists detained this year in a crackdown on social media dissent, a move seen by rights activists and former detainees as intended to win over public opinion ahead of presidential elections.
TURKEY: Turkey marks WPFD with numerous press freedom violations
IPI: Authorities’ attacks and crackdown against journalists continued during the week of WPFD
REGIONAL: Why journalists and scientists need to join forces in the Arab world
EJO: The Covid-19 crisis gave science journalism an edge, rescuing it from the sidelines of media interest and placing it neck to neck with the traditional ‘hard news’ journalism that usually occupies front pages and attracts the most clicks on websites.
CANADA: Annual Public Meeting 2021 (Event)
CBC/Radio-Canada: Our Annual Public Meeting (APM) will be held virtually on June 16, 2021, at 4:30 p.m. EDT. This year, we’ll be opening the border virtually so you can engage with our foreign correspondents and get a Canadian perspective on events happening around the world.
CANADA: Court dismisses CBC copyright infringement lawsuit against Conservative Party
CBC News: Court finds no evidence broadcaster suffered reputational damage.
CANADA: Ontario’s French TV channel places interim CEO on leave amid workplace harassment allegations
CBC News: Éric Minoli, interim president of TFO, accused of creating toxic work environment.
CANADA: RCI English section: goodbye
RCI: Canada’s international broadcast service from the English language team of Radio Canada International has come to an end.
CANADA: With ‘Schitt’s Creek’ and ‘Kim’s Convenience’ Over, Can Canada Deliver Its Next Global Hit?
Variety: All eyes will be on the Canadian TV industry over the next month as major players such as public broadcaster CBC, Bell Media, Rogers Sports and Media, and Corus unveil their 2021-22 upfront plans.
US: FCC Makes Public Television Datacasting Eligible for Emergency Connectivity Fund
APTS: America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) today praised the Federal Communications Commission for making datacasting equipment and connectivity eligible for funding through the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund Program.
US: Latest round of NEA grants includes dozens in pubmedia (Paywall)
Current: Dozens of public broadcasters received a portion of the $88 million in grants announced by the National Endowment for the Arts Wednesday.
US: Opinion: As NPR Turns 50, Scott Simon’s View From Behind The Microphone (Opinion – Listen)
NPR
US: PRX, PBS KIDS and CPB Welcome Six Teams to the Ready To Learn Podcast Accelerator (Press release)
CPB: PRX, PBS KIDS, and CPB today announced six teams of audio creators who will participate in the Ready To Learn Podcast Accelerator, a podcast training and development program for producers creating new educational content for children ages 4-8. The program is a component of the new CPB-PBS Ready To Learn Initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
US: Publishers Call on President to Use Local Newspaper Advertising to Help Reach Their Goal of 70% Vaccinated by July 4 (Press release)
News Media Alliance: The News Media Alliance and the National Newspaper Association (NNA) today sent a letter to President Joe Biden, on behalf of their more than 3,700 combined daily and community newspaper members, encouraging the Administration to use advertising in local newspapers to help build trust and acceptance of vaccines.
US: Stations report higher gifts as door-to-door canvassing resumes (Paywall)
Current: With pandemic restrictions easing, stations that have relaunched canvassing have seen a 10% increase in average new sustainer gifts.
US: Twitter Rolls Out Hashtag to Save Local Journalism
VOA: Hundreds of cities across the United States have lost their local newspapers in the past decade, cutting off readers from quality journalism focused on issues specific to their region.
DAB + vs. streaming: What the radio of the future will look like (German)
Deutschlandfunk: While the DAB + digital radio is vying for listeners, they have long since reoriented themselves: Web radio and streaming services offer many more options than traditional antenna radio. But the new freedom also has disadvantages – especially for the climate.
How journalists can avoid amplifying misinformation in their stories
Nieman Lab: We need new tools to ensure visual media travels in secure ways that keep us safer online. Overlays are among these tools.
How publishers are engaging new audiences on messaging apps in the Global South
RISJ: Newspapers and startups from Zimbabwe, Brazil and South Africa are using WhatsApp in innovative ways, Laura Oliver reports.
RSF: International non-governmental organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announces today the public launch of its Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI), a game-changing transparency tool designed to promote trustworthy journalism.
Opinion | Online abuse of women journalists is a crisis we can no longer ignore (Opinion)
Toronto Star
New Data Tools and Tips for Investigating Climate Change
GIJN: Wondering how to investigate climate change and where to find the best data? At a recent conference, science reporters from BuzzFeed News, NPR, and ProPublica shared tips on little-known data sources that can make climate change stories both easier to report and understand.
Overlays: How journalists can avoid amplifying misinformation in their stories
First Draft News: Applying an overlay to images of misinformation prevents further amplification of harmful content.
Public service media should be thinking long term when it comes to AI (Opinion)
LSE: As artificial intelligence (AI) plays an ever greater role in how the public accesses information, LSE’s Damian Tambini argues that how public service media chose to deploy the power of AI in how their content is distributed is crucial to the future of democracy.
The Washington Post will soon have a woman as its top editor. And yes, that matters (Opinion)
The Washington Post
There can be no free press unless journalists are able to do their jobs safely (Commentary)
Poynter: It’s no longer enough for us to think about safety through the prism of physical security. We need to consider our colleagues’ mental well-being, too.
WorldDAB factsheet highlights the environmental benefits of DAB
Asia Radio Today: As the development of DAB+ digital radio continues to progress, determining the environmental impact of DAB+ is one of WorldDAB’s key priorities.
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