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.
EGYPT: Commercial break: controversial media figures forced off screen
By Egypt Independent: The Egyptian media scene has taken blow after blow this year; every time someone directs criticism at the government or the state, television media figures are either sacked or forced to take leave.
LIBERIA: The press at the forefront of democracy in Liberia
By CIMA: The Press Union of Liberia (PUL) has fought for press freedom in Africa as long or longer than just about any other civil society organization on the continent.
NAMIBIA: NBC Workers Protest, Threaten News Blackout
Via All Africa: Workers at the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) staged a peaceful demonstration in front of the company premises in the capital during lunch hour on Friday to demand an 8 percent salary increment across the board.
RWANDA: Over 20 ACP Press Clubs Meet in Kigali to Discuss Media Devt
Via All Africa: Congress of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) press clubs came together in Kigali to discuss different issues affecting the media and learn from each other on best practices, challenges and opportunities in their trade
SOUTH AFRICA: Parliamentary broadcasting rules violate the constitution: SCA
By eNCA: In a further rebuke to Parliament, The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on Thursday ruled that broadcasting policies and rules implemented during last year’s State of the Nation Address in Parliament violated constitutional principles of openness.
SOUTH AFRICA: SABC board members will have to resign
By PMA: After the recent resignations of two of the South African broadcaster’s board members, Parliament has now requested the dismissal of the remaining representatives.
TANZANIA: Deliberations On Media Bill Flop, Stakeholders Get One Week Extension
Via All Africa: Failure by stakeholders to present their views on the Media Services Bill, 2016, here yesterday led to postponement of the scheduled hearing for a week.
REGIONAL: African Editors to Meet in Pretoria
Via All Africa: The theme of the engagement is ‘Deepening Africa’s Narrative and Capacities to Deliver Agenda 2063’.
REGIONAL: UNESCO to train French-speaking African broadcasters on gender equality in the media
By African Business: Speakers will include representatives of partners such as International Organization of La Francophonie, African Union of Broadcasting, Morocco’s High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, UN Women, and Host Broadcast Services.
BANGLADESH: ICRC’s Asia Media Conference ends in Dhaka
By Bdnews24.com: The two-day Asia Media Conference of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) ended in Dhaka on Saturday with participants presenting their “advices and experiences on how media and humanitarian organisations can work better together”.
CHINA: China to provide half Asia-Pacific’s 157MN VOD subscriptions by 2021
By Rapid TV News: Video-on-demand (VOD) services in the Asia-Pacific region will be paid for by 157.78 million viewers by 2021, with almost half located in China, predicts Digital TV Research.
HONG KONG: Hong Kong TV Show Pulled Over Debate on Independence for The City
By Radio Free Asia: A Hong Kong TV channel has pulled a reality show featuring a student activist and a veteran mainland Chinese democracy activist after the pair spoke in public about the possibility of independence for Hong Kong.
INDIA: ‘Blasting and breathless’: fears over India’s fledgling 24-hour news media’s march to war
By The Guardian: ‘Unsustainable’ pressure to fill the news cycle, especially in a time of tension with Pakistan, is causing stations ‘to hype and dramatise’ says media analyst
INDIA: Indian media, entertainment industry to grow 3-4 times in 7 years
By The Statesman: Driven by digital media and increasingly connected rural consumers, the Indian media and entertainment industry has the potential to grow three to four times over the next seven years, according to report.
INDONESIA: 53rd ABU General Assembly starts in Bali
By ABU: Broadcasters have a mission to deliver “the right content” to the audience, said the Indonesian Minister of Communication and Information.
INDONESIA: Media ‘action plan’ for Southeast Asia
By Pacific Media Watch: Experts from Southeast Asian nations have identified key challenges facing media in their region. They propose three concrete areas of action for civil society, governments and the media.
INDONESIA: Revitalizing public service broadcasting
By The Jakarta Post
JAPAN: Media watchdog slams Tokyo after journalist alleges U.S. military spying
By The Japan Times: The government is under fire for failing to protect press freedom following a Japan Times report by a British journalist revealing that the U.S. military has spied on him over his activities in Okinawa.
PAKISTAN: Pakistan lifts travel ban for journalist but warns media
By Reuters: Pakistan has lifted a ban on a prominent journalist over an article he wrote about an alleged rift between the country’s government and powerful military, but sternly warned media against publishing reports against the national interest.
THAILAND: Thailand to tackle ‘false’ foreign media reports after king’s death
By Reuters
AUSTRALIA: ABC head Michelle Guthrie plays curly questions with a straight bat
By The Guardian: ‘I disagree with the premise,’ the new managing director tells the Senate estimates committee when being asked if the ABC is Sydney-centric or biased
AUSTRALIA: From Syria to Tasmania: ABC presenter’s incredible journey
By RadioInfo
AUSTRALIA: How social media is helping Australian journalists uncover stories hidden in plain sight
By ABC News
AUSTRALIA: Media bosses appeal for change
By 9 News: Australian media chiefs have appealed to the government to overhaul longstanding regulations in place since well before the internet and pay TV.
NEW ZEALAND: Doing the business in the digital age
By Radio New Zealand: Shows devoted to business news vanished from our TV screens years ago because people can get it online anytime – and because it’s often boring. Mediawatch asks BBC business frontman Ben Thompson if business broadcasting has a future.
NEW ZEALAND: New Zealand broadcasters face public funding shake-up
By PMA: New Zealand on Air (NZOA), the body that provides funding for local television, radio and music programming, may soon change the way they distribute their money.
NEW ZEALAND: ‘Outdated’ election address broadcast obligation scrapped
By Radio New Zealand: TVNZ and RNZ will no longer have to give political parties free air time for opening and closing election statements.
POLYNESIA: Journalists in Polynesia deserve same rights as in mainland France
By RSF: French Polynesia’s parliament urged to ignore a call by the archipelago’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council for changes to a bill that is meant to improve protection for journalists and provide better guarantees for media freedom.
ALBANIA: Albanian Investigative TV Show Shutdown Criticised
By Balkan Insight: The South East Europe Media Organisation watchdog condemned the cancellation of Albanian investigative television show ‘Publicus’ after an episode probing the mayor of Tirana caused controversy.
FINLAND: How Finland’s MTV3 is bringing mobile journalism into the newsroom
By Journalism.co.uk: The channel’s news reporters are hoping mobile journalism will allow them to break stories first while reaching wider audiences on social media
FRANCE: French government offers funding to public radio
By PMA: The French government has announced it will give funds to Radio France to help it settle old debts.
GERMANY: Deutsche Welle is working on a tool that makes it easier to tell stories in virtual reality
By Journalism.co.uk: The German broadcaster hopes the tool, called Fader, will allow journalists with no VR production experience to tell stories in this format
GERMANY: VPRT: German audiovisual market to exceed €11bn in revenues
By Digital TV Europe: The German audiovisual media market will generate revenues of more than €11 billion for the first time this year, according to the VPRT.
GREECE: Greek court blocks Syriza plan to shut TV channels
By The Financial Times: Licensing dispute highlights bid for greater control of local media
IRELAND: Change on the cards for PSM funding in Ireland
By PMA: Funding to be examined by Oireachtas Communications Committee as call emerges to include newspapers in reform process.
SPAIN: The politicisation of the media over Catalonia
By ECPMF: As the Parliament of Catalonia adamantly presses on to pull out of Spain – among other political shakeups in the Iberian country – journalism organisations fear politicians have obtained the power to interfere in the media in a systemic manner.
UK: BBC to offer UHD via iPlayer
By Advanced Television
REGIONAL: Criminal Defamation Laws in the EU and EU Candidate Countries
By International Press Institute: This excellent interactive map highlights the extent and abuse of defamation laws across Europe.
CARIBBEAN: DRM Consortium Will Carry Out First Caribbean Digital Radio Broadcast From Cuba
By The Radio Technology Leader
CARIBBEAN: New book explores journalism and communication in the Caribbean
By University of Calgary: The history and future of Caribbean journalism and the factors driving its evolution are the focus of the latest book from the University of Calgary Press
CHILE: Chile makes TV cornerstone of natural disaster alarm system
By Rapid TV News: Chile’s TV association has announced it is developing an alert system for tsunamis and volcano eruptions in which television will be key.
CUBA: CBU meets in Havana for 47th assembly
By Daily Express, Trinidad: THE Caribbean Broadcasting Union, the region’s premier organisation representing radio and television broadcasters from English, French, Spanish and Dutch-speaking countries and territories across the wider Caribbean, meets in Havana, Cuba, this week, for its 47th annual assembly.
PARAGUAY: Paraguay opens bid for first digital-native channels
By Rapid TV News: With the analogue switch-off scheduled for 2020, Paraguay intends to launch its first digital free-to-air (FTA) networks in 2017.
By Knight Center: Journalism in the Americas
REGIONAL: How Latin America’s digital journalists are overtaking traditional media
By IJnet
By Knight Center: Journalism in the Americas
ISRAEL: New plan adds to turmoil for Israel’s public broadcaster
By The Times of Israel: With critics accusing PM of wanting to control the media, and shutdown purported to save billions, politicians bicker and journalists suffer
By iMedia Ethics: A Jordanian educational organization, the Jordan Media Institute (JMI), studied 20 of the country’s news outlets and their coverage of the most recent parliamentary elections.
TURKEY: Groups urge Turkey: end emergency powers abuses
By International Press Institute: The International Press Institute (IPI) and a broad coalition of international human rights defenders today urged Turkey’s government to revoke provisions of the ongoing state of emergency following a failed July coup attempt that violate citizens’ fundamental human rights.
TURKEY: The death of critical journalism in Turkey
By Al-Monitor
REGIONAL: MENA broadcast anti-piracy coalition agrees enhanced co-operation
By Rapid TV News: As it attempts to strengthen the fight against piracy, the MENA Broadcast Anti-Piracy Coalition has convened to develop strategies to reduce the number of infringements and to prevent notoriously rogue pirate channel operators.
REGIONAL: The Middle East’s unusual suspects: MENA round-up
By IFEX: A digest of recent developments affecting the climate for free expression in the Middle East and North Africa.
CANADA: 5 secrets to making a virtual reality film
By CBC News: VR sometimes called an ’empathy machine’ because of the visceral experience it creates for the viewer
CANADA: Canada’s Postmedia Network announces new round of staff cuts
By The Guardian: It seeks 20% salary reduction after reporting £61.3m loss for the fourth quarter
CANADA: Canadians want more done to curb abuse on social media
By BBC News: Canadians who have been harassed online are also much more likely to take a live-and-let-live attitude towards abusive behaviour on social media.
USA: NPR ratings show strength of US public radio
By PMA: Substantial growth in audience figures attributed to “first rate journalism”, much improved user platforms and high quality storytelling.
USA: PBS announces Playtime Pad, a branded tablet for kids
By Current: PBS is getting into the educational hardware business with a digital tablet for kids.
USA: With its broadened Story Lab, NPR is looking to build up its next generation of shows and podcasts
By Nieman Lab: “We are trying to be very conscious that pulling a lever in one place has an impact elsewhere.”
USA: Zuckerberg proves he is Facebook’s editor by allowing Trump’s hate speech
By The Guardian: Deciding to make judgments about the newsworthiness of content is a major shift for the social media platform whose CEO insists it is ‘not a media company’
UN: Free expression under worldwide assault, UN human rights expert warns in new report
By UN News Centre: Warning that the freedom of expression is under the widespread assault, a new United Nations human rights report has found that governments worldwide, wielding the tools of censorship, are “treating words as weapons.”
“The Beef”: rethinking audience interaction
By the Global Editors Network: Finnish PSB Yle has developed a prototype tool aiming to make it easier for a reader to interact with a news story while keeping them on the site, not migrating to social.
Voice & Matter: Communication, Development and the Cultural Return
By Nordicom: New journal series by Nordicom drawing from the lived experiences of collectives and individuals who use media and communication to work toward emancipation and social justice.
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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.
All headlines are sourced from their original story.
If you have any suggestions for our weekly round-ups, please email PMA at editor@publicmediaalliance.org.
Header image: Alan Levine/Creative Commons
