Our weekly round-up of public service media related stories and headlines from around the world.
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BURKINA FASO: Burkina Faso Selects Eutelsat to Accelerate Nationwide Roll-out of Digital Television
DIgital Journal: Eutelsat Communications today announced a multi-year agreement for satellite capacity with Société burkinabè de télédiffusion (SBT), the public agency deploying DTT channels across Burkina Faso.
EGYPT: Egypt blocks 21 websites, including Al Jazeera: state news agency
Reuters: Egypt has banned 21 websites, including the main website of Qatar-based al Jazeera television, for “supporting terrorism”, state news agency MENA and security sources said on Wednesday.
EGYPT: Here’s Why Egypt Has Just Banned 21 Websites
BuzzFeed News: “The state simply wants to have full control over all the media until the elections are over.”
KENYA: Generating Quality Content Is A Big Issue, Says Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC)
Broadcast Media Africa: The Managing Director of Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) has acknowledged that the ability to generate and access quality original local content is one of the biggest challenges faced by his organisation.
KENYA: Threats to Media Ahead of August Polls
Human Rights Watch: Authorities in Kenya have committed a range of abuses against journalists reporting on sensitive issues, threatening freedom of expression ahead of elections slated for August 8, 2017, Human Rights Watch and ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa said in a report.
NIGERIA: ‘Africa needs to adopt unified system of technology for successful digital switchover’
The Guardian.ng: Report outlining why a unified approach to digital transition may be needed in Nigeria and across the continent.
NIGERIA: ‘Demolition of Breeze 99.9 FM, Lafia shocking’
The Guardian.ng: The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has described the demolition of the structures housing the Breeze 99.9 FM, Lafia as “shocking and unbelievable”.
RWANDA: Rwanda gets Chinese grant to set up film and TV production facility
Screen Africa: The Rwandan broadcasting and creative industries will soon have access to modern production facilities in the country, thanks to a $7 million (about Rwf6bn) Chinese grant.
SOUTH AFRICA: Good governance non-negotiable, says Dlodlo
News24: In her first budget report to parliament, the minister of communications highlighted several grave governance failures at public broadcaster SABC and made damning findings against Dlodlo’s predecessor, Faith Muthambi.
SOUTH AFRICA: Hlaudi fails in bid to stop his SABC disciplinary hearing
Times Live: Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s case in the Labour Court was dismissed on Wednesday afternoon with him being ordered to pay the costs.
SOUTH AFRICA: Political parties welcome suspension of SABC CFO Aguma
Sowetan Live: Political parties and parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) have welcomed the suspension of SABC’s acting chief financial officer James Aguma.
UGANDA: Radio Hoima Closed Down By Uganda Communications Commission
Via All Africa: The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has suspended the broadcasting license of Radio Hoima following accusations of “unprofessional” programming and the use of “sectarian statements”.
ZIMBABWE: New censorship board in Zimbabwe to “regulate and control” media
Via IFEX: A new Board of Censors has been put in place to regulate and control the media and film industry in the digital era.
AFGHANISTAN: Talent show stars in danger (Watch)
Deutsche Welle: The reality TV competition “Afghan Star” is Afghanistan’s most popular television show. The first female finalist so far was a young woman from a Taliban stronghold. Her success has put her life in danger.
BHUTAN: No immediate plans to approve private TV channel
Kuensel: There are no immediate plans yet to approve a private television channel, information and communications minister DN Dhungyel said yesterday at the National Assembly.
HONG KONG: Li Ruigang: China’s Rupert Murdoch comes to Hong Kong
Ejinsight: Li Ruigang is not a household name in Hong Kong but what if he, a member of the Chinese Communist Party, calls the shots at the city’s dominant free-to-air television broadcaster?
INDIA: Police assault dozens of journalists covering political demonstration in Kolkata
IFJ: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate the National Union of Journalists (India) is condemning two incidents of police brutality against media workers in Kolkata, India on Monday, May 22.
INDIA: Will India Lead the Way for International Broadcasting Rights?
The Wire: India has drastically changed its stance on post-fixation rights in the ongoing negotiations for the international Broadcasters Treaty.
INDONESIA: Clear rules key as Indonesia ponders overhaul in broadcasting laws
Rapid TV News: Indonesia’s broadcasting sector needs “strong, fair and clear regulations”, the chairman of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission, Yuliandre Darwis, said at an industry roundtable in Jakarta.
KAZAKHSTAN: Kazakhstan shakes up TV rules
Advanced Television:Kazakhstan’s Information & Communications Minister, Dauren Abeyev says that the state’s public broadcasting channels – terrestrial and satellite – are not competitors to each other.
MYANMAR: Tackling the media’s overlooked gender bias
Frontier Myanmar: News organisations in Myanmar continue to ignore women’s voices in their reporting – something that only perpetuates exclusion from the public sphere.
PAKISTAN: Court order authorising PEMRA to censor TV content challenged
The Tribune: The Pakistan Broadcasters Association has challenged the Islamabad High Court (IHC) order that authorises the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to scrutinise TV content, including dramas and commercials, for obscenity.
GENERAL: The ‘fake news’ trope is making it harder to fight state-sanctioned violence in Asia
QUARTZ: In Southeast Asia, a region full of young democracies, journalists and press freedom advocates are alarmed by politicians’ eager uptake of two cultural memes spawned by the Trump election and presidency — adviser Kellyanne Conway’s neologism “alternative facts” and the label “fake news”—in response to human rights allegations.
AUSTRALIA: ABC redundancy round targeting 120 staff has started, Michelle Guthrie says
The Guardian: Another round of redundancies targeting 120 ABC staff has begun this week, the ABC’s managing director, Michelle Guthrie, has told Senate estimates.
AUSTRALIA: BBC News at Six to air in Australia on SBS
Decider TV: One of the World’s most respected news services, BBC News at Six, will join SBS’s international English language breakfast news line-up (5am – 7.30am), airing within a few hours of its British broadcast every Tuesday to Saturday morning.
AUSTRALIA: ‘One down, many to go’: Peter Dutton calls for ABC purge after Abdel-Magied axing
The Sydney Morning Herald: Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has called for a purge of ABC personalities in the wake of the broadcaster’s decision to axe Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s program, which he welcomed as “a good start”.
AUSTRALIA: Quality journalism is about more than just unearthing scandals and injustice
The Age: With the demise of ABC presenter Mark Colvin a fortnight ago – a journalist of exceptional intelligence and integrity – it’s difficult not to feel that his death marks the end of something greater. The end of an era, perhaps.
AUSTRALIA: Trump, fake news, and shrinking newsrooms: does journalism still matter in 2017? (Opinion)
The Guardian: Discussions about the future of journalism have broken out of the newsroom and into Australia’s public debate. How will society adjust its information needs?
NEW ZEALAND: Fairfax, NZME to appeal blocked merger
Radio New Zealand: Media companies Fairfax and NZME are appealing against a decision to block their merger.
NEW ZEALAND: RNZ gets extra $11m over four years in Budget (Listen)
Radio New Zealand: RNZ has received a funding boost following a nearly decade-long funding freeze. The state funded broadcaster will receive an additional $11.4m over the next four years.
TONGA: Former adviser calls for Tongan PM to resign
Radio New Zealand: Tonga’s prime minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva should resign according to his former media adviser.
TONGA: Tonga wrongful dismissal case will clarify role of public broadcaster
IFEX: A wrongful dismissal complaint being brought against the government of Tonga by the sacked General Manager of the national broadcaster will help to educate the public and politicians on the independent public-interest role of national broadcasters, says regional media watchdog the Pacific Freedom Forum, PFF.
GENERAL: Storytellers of the Pacific challenge old power elites, traditions (Opinion)
Asia Pacific Report: ‘Why aren’t there more Pacific journalists?’
FINLAND: Editor-in-chief Atte Jääskeläinen departs Finnish public broadcaster
YLE: Yle editor in chief and head of news and current affairs Atte Jääskeläinen has left the national broadcaster after assuming the lead role in a story that originally centred on reporting of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s potential conflicts of interest.
FRANCE: France Televisions: the resignation of Michel Field, symptom of an information under tension (French)
Le Monde: Delphine Ernotte had to accept the resignation of her director of information to resolve the open crisis after the ouster of David Pujadas.
GERMANY: In Germany, a Battle Against Fake News Stumbles into Legal Controversy
CodaStory: Some in Germany want social networks to decide what news is fake or ever illegal. It may not be so easy.
GREECE: Golden Dawn sues public TV and radio trade union for striking
Mapping Media Freedom: Ultra-nationalist Greek far-right party, Golden Dawn, sued the Panhellenic Federation of Radio and Television Operations Staff (POSPERT), a trade union, over its decision to block the party from being covered on public TV, newspaper Efimerida ton Syntakton reported.
IRELAND: Ex-RTÉ boss Noel Curran to lead European Broadcasting Union
The Irish Times: ‘Candidate of choice’ appointed to oversee organisation best known for Eurovision.
MALTA: Malta warned about risks of political parties owning media outlets
Times of Malta: European study gives Malta 90 per cent risk rating for political control over media.
MALTA: Updated: AD protests unfair treatment from PBS and ‘Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe’
Malta Independent: Alternattiva Demokratika (AD) this morning protested unfair treatment from both the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Broadcasting Authority (BA), calling the latter the ‘Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe.
POLAND: Poland approves amendment to licence fee law
PMA: Polish Pay-TV providers will now have to share their subscription databases in a bid to make the collection of the public broadcaster’s licence fee more efficient.
POLAND: TVP revamps VOD service, extends Chinese cooperation
Broadband TV News: The Polish public broadcaster has re-launched its on demand service TVP VOD.
ROMANIA: Journalists’ Row Reignites Romanian Debate on Media Freedom
Balkan Insight: Journalists’ Row Reignites Romanian Debate on Media Freedom Accusations made by a Romanian TV show anchor – that his broadcaster has turned a blind eye to a corruption scandal linked to the station – have fuelled fresh controversy over press freedom and self-censorship.
RUSSIA: Repression of journalists and activists in North Caucasus ‘worst in Russia’
OC Media: The pressure exerted on journalists and human rights activists in the North Caucasus is the most severe in Russia, according to experts speaking at the Free Speech conference on 23 May in Moscow.
SPAIN: The new Valencian public television will have a staff of 500 workers (Spanish)
Valencia Plaza: The Board of Directors of the Valencian Media Corporation (CVMC) has approved an initial workforce of 469 workers for the new Valencian radio and tv station, which will be added to the 31 employees who have already decided that they will be part of the CVMC.
SPAIN: TV holds its own as Spanish media usage evolves
Digital TV Net: Spaniards are continuing to use the TV as the major device for the consumption of audiovisual content, according to the latest survey of media habits by regulator the CNMC.
UK: BBC’s global audience rises to 372m
BBC: The BBC is reaching a record weekly audience of 372m around the world, a rise of 7 per cent year on year, new audience figures reveal today.
UK: The UK TV model faces “fundamental changes”, according to Arqiva CEO
IBC: The UK broadcasting TV business model has seen little disruption over the past 25 years, pivoting around two pillars – free-to-air and paid content, but that is “fundamentally changing” according to the Chief Executive of Arqiva.
UKRAINE: Commissioner calls on Ukrainian authorities to revise the anti-corruption legislation that might negatively affect NGOs and journalists
Council of Europe: In a letter addressed to the Deputy Head of the Administration of the President of Ukraine published today, the Commissioner recommends removing the recently-enacted provisions in the legislation on corruption prevention requiring civil society representatives or other persons working on anti-corruption issues to declare their assets in the same way as state officials or public servants.
GENERAL: EU to pressure social media companies to tackle videos with hate speech
WAN IFRA: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube would need to follow same regulations as broadcasters, if the new legislation passes at the European Parliament.
GENERAL: So far 2016 has been the worst year for European journalism on this millennium (Report)
Journalism Research News: Journalists in Europe have been attacked over a thousand times since the beginning of the year 2000, a recent study found. A University of Vienna research team, led by Katharine Sarikakis, tallied the attacks until the end of 2016. According to the authors, last year has so far been the darkest for European journalists.
ARGENTINA: Argentina to expand FTA DTT line-up
Rapid TV News: Radio Televisión Argentina (RTA) is to reorganise the free-to-air (FTA) DTT line-up in order to free up space for more live signals.
ARGENTINA: Changes in TV Grid to Watch with TDA Antenna (Spanish)
Rosario3: The Open Digital Television (Televisión Digital Abierta) will update its contents from June. Promises priority for national public and news channels.
ARGENTINA: The Anti-Corruption Office wants PPT to return 88 million to the Public TV (Spanish)
La Nacion: According to La Cornisa, the production of Cristóbal Lopez and Diego Gvirt would have fraudulently collected money from Anses during the Kirchner government.
BARBADOS: Deadlock
Nation News: The Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation and the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) are headed to the Minister of Labour after the latest round of talks between the two ended in deadlock.
BRAZIL: Act in defense of freedom of expression and democracy takes place in Brasilia
Brasil de Fato: The end of the media monopoly as a presupposition to consolidate democracy was a consensus of the activity.
BRAZIL: Coverage of violence against women still superficial in Brazil, study says (Portuguese)
ZH: Event in São Paulo discussed the role of the media in combating the culture of aggression.
BRAZIL: Society needs to participate in the communication debate, says director of the FNDC (Portuguese)
Brasil de Fato: Freedom of expression and the press and the right to communication as the pillar of an emancipating society. This was the principle defended by the more than 300 activists and activists of the movement for the democratization of communication in Brazil, who met at the University of Brasília (UnB) on Sunday (28), at the 20th plenary session of the National Forum for Democratization of Communication (FNDC) .
COLOMBIA: Rethinking Pay-TV
El Espectador: The Government, through a resolution and a policy project, seeks to address the changes that new platforms, such as Netflix, can generate in the national audiovisual industry.
ECUADOR: Ecuador’s journalists pin hope on new president after Correa’s war on media
The Guardian: President Lenin Moreno, sworn in earlier this month, is said to be more tolerant of press freedom than his predecessor – and change cannot come soon enough.
HONDURAS: Honduras facing a wave of threats and attacks against the media and activists
IFEX: Thursday, 25 May 2017, marked the Day of the Journalist in Honduras, but there was little to celebrate. The country continues to be immersed in a strong wave of violence threatening the media, journalists, and activists.
Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas: May 26 marked 56 days of continuous protests against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, during which journalists face aggression from police, armed collectives and protesters alike.
IRAQ: Iraqi parliament slammed for bill restricting free speech
via IFEX: Local civil society groups and activists are criticizing the parliament for attempting to pass a bill that would restrict freedom of expression and rights to protest and assembly.
ISRAEL: The closure of Israel’s public broadcaster (Opinion)
Arab News: Most people in Europe heard for the first time that Israel was about to shut down its public broadcasting service, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA), while watching the vote-counting during Eurovision recently. It was announced that this was the last time the IBA would broadcast this tiresome music contest.
SAUDI ARABIA: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain block Qatari news websites
CPJ: Authorities in the allied kingdoms yesterday blocked access to at least eight Qatari-funded news websites, including those of regional broadcaster Al-Jazeera, according to Al-Jazeera, government statements, and news reports.
TURKEY: Turkey’s imprisoned journalists pin hopes on European Court
RSF: Turkey’s journalists are turning to the ECHR because of the politicization of their country’s judicial system.
CANADA: CBC and Vice Media seek different kinds of Canada
The Globe and Mail: We live in tribal times, when even television networks are declaring allegiances and taking sides…
CANADA: CBC says it’s taking risks and experimenting with new TV lineup
Toronto Metro
US: What’s America really watching in the morning? Local news.
Poynter: Local trumped national, as it does every morning when it comes to viewers, if not the interest of media critics.
US: FCC moves to drop regulations on broadcasters’ main studio operations
Current: The FCC has proposed to eliminate a set of rules that require radio and TV stations to maintain and staff studios in or near their communities of license.
US: ‘My’ media versus ‘the’ media: Trust in news depends on which news media you mean
API: This research was conducted by the Media Insight Project — an initiative of the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research
US: Trump’s 2018 budget calls for phasing out public broadcasting funds
Current: CPB would receive just $30 million to close itself down in President Trump’s fiscal year 2018 proposed budget.
US: Georgia Public Broadcasting deserves its federal funding (Opinion)
Reporter Newspapers: On May 23, President Trump released a fiscal year 2018 federal budget proposal that would slash Corporation for Public Broadcasting funding from $455 million to $30 million as a first step in eliminating it. CPB is a major funding source for Georgia Public Broadcasting. Reporter Newspapers asked GPB’s board chairperson, Jan Paul, to explain the impacts.
Calling Pacific Island Media! Win a Trip to the UN Climate Conference 2017 in Bonn, Germany
UNFCC: As part of a journalism competition launched today, ten journalists from the Pacific island region will get the unique chance to travel to and report from this year’s UN climate conference taking place in Bonn, Germany (COP23, 6 – 17 November). The competition will award journalists from print, on-line and radio/TV with the prize of sponsored participation in the conference, media training at the prestigious DW Akademie and access to UN and other experts.
Could You Manage a Russian Media Company? (Quiz)
EJO: Meduza, a Russian news website based in Latvia, is pioneering a new way to advertise. Audiences are challenged to participate in a game in which they manage a hypothetical Russian media company. When players (almost inevitably) fail they are invited to a media management conference in Moscow, taking place at the end of this month.
Council backs 30% European content threshold for audiovisual platforms
Euractiv: EU ministers agreed yesterday (23 May) to stricter requirements for online media platforms. Under the proposed rules, at least 30% of the content offered by companies such as Netflix, Google Play and iTunes will have to be produced in Europe. EURACTIV Spain reports.
How Video is Changing the News in the Czech Republic
EJO: News organisations in the Czech Republic have made significant investments in video content in the past three years. While most include video as part of their news package, two Prague-based online news platforms have made video central to their business model.
Internet consumption erodes TV’s lead
Broadband TV News: Mobile internet will account for over a quarter (26%) of global media consumption in 2019, up from 19% last year.
People consumed more media than ever last year — but growth is slowing
Recode: People watched, read, listened, streamed and posted more media than ever in 2016, but that consumption plateaued this year, according to data released today by research firm Zenith.
Want to stop a spreading fake news story? Choose one of these four points of attack to fight back
NiemanLab: Plus: The faces of a Russian botnet, an alt-right newsletter to subscribe to, and “falsehoods in a forest of facts.”
Will media development finally receive the spotlight?
CIMA: Those who provide support to the development of media around the world have occupied a special, and quite separate, field within the broader realm of international development, and have worked largely in the shadow of larger governance concerns. But that may be changing.
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Header image: KTVU Tower. Credits: Tony Webster/Creative Commons
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