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.
DRC: Ten TV journalists arrested, material seized in Kinshasa raid
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) joins its partner organization in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Journalist in Danger (JED), in condemning the heavy-handed police raid on the Kinshasa-based TV current affairs production company Kin Lartus on 25 July, in which the police arrested ten journalists, ransacked the premises and seized material.
EGYPT: Egypt TV ads warn against ‘rumours’ on social media
BBC News: Adverts have appeared on Egyptian TV warning about “rumours” circulated on social media.
EGYPT: ‘Fake news’ becomes tool of repression after Egypt passes new law
The Guardian: ‘Broadcasting false rumours’ criminalised as government imprisons journalists and bloggers to stifle dissent.
MALI: Malian authorities must ensure journalists are free to cover election
RSF: After three journalists from the French TV channel TV5 Monde were briefly arrested shortly after landing in the Malian capital, Bamako, on 22 July to cover Mali’s presidential election on 29 July, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the authorities to guarantee the safety of media personnel and not obstruct election coverage.
NAMIBIA: CRAN urges broadcasters to come up with a local content policy
NBC: The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) wants broadcasters to come up with a local content policy. The policy would provide for 15% of music on radio, 10% of commercial television programmes, 15% of community television programmes and 1,5% of subscription television to be local.
NIGERIA: Google is boosting internet access in Nigeria’s biggest cities with free public wifi
Quartz: As it has done in four other countries—India, Indonesia, Mexico and Thailand—where the service has been launched, Google will partner with local service providers for infrastructure and locations while it offers a cloud-based platform and devices to provide and manage hot-spots.
NIGERIA: Nigeria Senate Asked to Put ‘Draconian’ Press Bill on Hold
All Africa: Media stakeholders are urging the National Assembly to scrap the media bill which it described as unconstitutional, anti-people, anti-business and anti-free speech.
SOMALIA: TV journalist shot dead in cold blood murder by policeman
IFJ: Iman, aged 20, is the first journalist killed in Somalia in 2018. However, his murder is the latest of a series of attacks against journalists in Somalia, a country ranked as one of the most dangerous places in the world for media workers.
SOUTH AFRICA: SABC insists CEO’s dual roles will benefit editorial
Business Day: The SABC appears determined to retain its controversial policy of assigning the CEO the responsibility of editor-in-chief, despite several objections.
TANZANIA: Tanzania mulling length of suspension for China’s Star Media
Reuters: Tanzania’s telecommunications regulator is considering for how long it should suspend Chinese multinational media company StarTimes’ local subsidiary after saying it failed to stick to its license obligations.
UGANDA: Uganda’s social media tax will harm business, deter investment: executives
Reuters: Uganda’s new social media tax will damage business and the economy and cool investor interest in its new IT sector that has wooed global giants Facebook and Google, industry executives said on Monday.
ZIMBABWE: A vicious online propaganda war that includes fake news is being waged in Zimbabwe
The Conversation: Fake news is on the upsurge as Zimbabwe gears up for its watershed elections on 30 July.
ZIMBABWE: In the run-up to elections in Zimbabwe social media plays a larger role than ever
CIMA: Social media has been important for the political opposition in Zimbabwe because it allows them to bypass traditional media, 90 percent of which is controlled by the state or elements linked to the state and is biased toward the ruling ZANU PF party.
BANGLADESH: Bangladesh: Abuse of cyber law finds no limit
IPI: Journalist with IPI member The Daily Star warns of new threat to press freedom from proposed ‘digital security’ law
BANGLADESH: Is Bangladesh’s media freedom deteriorating?
DW: An attack on a prominent Bangladeshi editor, along with increased incidents of hacking and censorship, are all signs of an “imperiled” political environment in the run-up to Bangladesh’s general election this autumn.
CAMBODIA: Cambodian politician caught bribing reporters at polling station as ‘sham’ election gets underway
ABC: Cambodia’s Information Minister has been seen giving local journalists $US200 just minutes after voting in an election labelled a “sham” by rights groups. The ABC confirmed that Cambodian reporters and camera operators received $US20 each after Khieu Kanharith cast his ballot at Toul Kork Primary School in Phnom Penh.
IFEX: On 29 July, Cambodians will go to the polls under the shadow of a relentless attack on critical voices. The IFEX network condemns these actions, which have deprived the election of all credibility, and calls for the full restoration of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country.
CAMBODIA: Cambodia blocks websites critical of govt
NHK: The websites of several foreign media outlets, which have been critical of the current Cambodian government, have become inaccessible in the country ahead of Sunday’s general election. The websites, including Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, have carried articles in the local Khmer language.
CHINA: Chinese Ambassador to India meets Prasar Bharati Chairman
The Times of India: Three months after PM Narendra Modi and Chinese PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s informal summit in Wuhan, Chinese ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui visited public broadcaster Prasar Bharati and emphasised the “high importance” China attaches to mass outreach in India.
CHINA: Chinese political cartoonist sentenced to six and a half years in prison
RSF: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges for immediate release of Chinese political cartoonist, Jiang Yefei, who was sentenced on July 13 to six and a half years on charges of “subversion of state power.
CHINA: Is Western Media Biased Against China?
Asian Correspondent: CHINA has asserted from time to time that Western media, especially the liberal ones, are biased against China. This topic has also been raised on question-and-answer platforms such as Quora.
HONG KONG: HKJA launches annual press freedom report, calls for FOI law
IFJ: Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) launched its annual press freedom report, an overall assessment of the state of freedom of the press and speech in Hong Kong. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the HKJA have called on the Hong Kong Government to take immediate action to enact Freedom of Information legislation, and demand Chinese Authorities respect and protect journalists working on the mainland.
INDIA: Growing unrest at All India Radio and Doordarshan
National Herald: The protesting employees have slammed Prasar Bharti for not spending enough on content creation and recruiting non-professionals to head key programme posts, denying them time-bound promotions.
INDIA: Modi govt may turn DD and AIR into public sector firms, disband Prasar Bharati
The Print: Move raises concerns of increased state interference. Centre to cite Prasar Bharati’s ‘inefficiency’ as the reason for its dissolution.
MALAYSIA: Malaysia drops sedition case against political cartoonist
Rappler: Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque was repeatedly targeted under the former government for his cartoons, which often mocked ex-prime minister Najib Razak and his luxury-loving wife. Some of his collections were banned.
MYANMAR: Dying Myanmar media faces great challenges
Myanmar Times: The role of media has been fading since the elected civilian government took power in 2016. There is more depression in the media industry and more oppression through the electronic law and others.The state-owned media is unchanged and still undeveloped under the new government. State-owned newspapers are still competing with private newspapers.
PAKISTAN: Silence from Judiciary Increases Self-Censorship, Pakistan’s Journalists say
IPS: When it comes to the military and the judiciary, Pakistan’s journalists are “between a rock and a hard place,” Zohra Yusuf, of the independent non-profit Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told CPJ.
PHILIPPINES: Journalists attacked, threatened and arrested covering strikes in the Philippines
IFJ: Several journalists were attacked, threatened and arrested as they covered the strike of workers at the NutriAsia factory in Marilao, Bulacan in the Philippines on Monday, July 30.
REGIONAL: Journalists are being crushed in South-East Asia
The Economist: Rulers with much to hide hate hacks
AUSTRALIA: Does the ABC crowd out other media?
ABC: As part of its submission to the government’s Competitive Neutrality Inquiry, the ABC commissioned competition specialist, RBB Economics, to examine whether the ABC was ‘crowding out’ audiences available to other media operators, and whether the national public broadcaster may be bringing any benefit to the sector.
AUSTRALIA: Nine-Fairfax merger likely to lead to a cascade of media deals
The Guardian: One possibility is a sell-off of Fairfax’s 160 regional newspapers to News Corp, giving it a near-monopoly
AUSTRALIA: Starter’s gun goes off on new phase of media concentration as Nine-Fairfax lead the way
The Conversation: The Nine-Fairfax Media deal, billed as the biggest shakeup in the Australian media landscape for decades, was widely anticipated once the Turnbull government repealed the main anti-concentration laws in 2017.
AUSTRALIA: ‘Unprecedented hostility’: Murdoch, the government, and an ABC under attack
The Guardian: The existential threat to the national broadcaster has perhaps never been greater.
NEW ZEALAND: Māori TV workers to strike over discriminatory treatment claims
RNZ: Workers at Māori Television will strike for 24 hours next week.
NEW ZEALAND: TV watershed. Should we keep it clean before 8.30pm?
RNZ: The Broadcasting Standards Authority is considering a shake-up of the way it helps parents regulate their children’s viewing on free-to-air television. It is also considering whether it should adopt the same classification labels as pay TV.
CROATIA: Journalists’ society rejects police criticism over migrant crisis reporting
Total Croatia News
DENMARK: Cuts to funding threaten the future of Denmark’s public service journalism
Mapping Media Freedom: Known across Europe for its journalistic quality and as an exporter of hit political dramas, Danish state broadcaster DR will this autumn be forced to make unprecedented layoffs in what some are calling an act of “revenge” by the government.
GERMANY: Broadcasting contribution is essentially constitutional (German)
Die Zeit: The broadcasting fee, which is the most important source of income for public service broadcasting, is compatible with basic baw. However, the Federal Constitutional Court objected that persons with two apartments pay the fee twice.
GERMANY: Facebook deletes hundreds of posts under German hate-speech law
Reuters: Facebook said it had deleted hundreds of offensive posts since a law banning online hate speech came into force in Germany at the start of the year that foresees fines of up to 50 million euros ($58 million) for failure to comply.
FRANCE: Senate rejects the bill on “fake news” without even discussing texts (French)
France Info: Senators passed two motions of rejection even before the debates began, justifying them with doubts about the effectiveness of these laws and the risks of undermining freedom of expression.
IRELAND: What are the Government’s public media funding options?
The Irish Times: Eight choices for reforming support for Irish broadcasting in a global media business.
ITALY: Rai, Lega-M5s reach an agreement: Salini ad and Foa president. Salvini: “It’s just the beginning”. Pd: “Wild allocation” (Italian)
La Repubblica: Protests against the nominations for the state TV management. Usigrai: “The government violates the law on the president’s nomination, now is the Board’s turn”. Senatori dem: “Foa is a sovereignist, offends president Mattarella on Facebook, it’s a wild allocation”.
LITHUANIA: After three decades of relative freedom, Lithuania’s media is is being reined in (Interview)
Index on Censorship: In the 28 years since Lithuania gained independence, the country’s media has generally enjoyed high levels of freedom. However, while initiatives by the country’s current ruling coalition haven’t seen the press attacked on the same levels as neighbouring Poland, for example, the government’s resolve is clear: the media must be reined in.
RUSSIA: Russian journalist Denis Suvorov killed in Nizhny Novgorod
IFJ: Denis Suvorov, 27 year old, worked as a host and online editor at Rossia Nizhny Novgorod, which is broadcast by the state-run VGTRK media holding. The company released a statement Monday expressing its condolences to the deceased journalist’s family members and friends.
SPAIN: At least 25 candidates stand for public contest to chair RTVE (Spanish)
RTVE: With a project to chair RTVE, they will be evaluated by a council of experts and elected by the Parliament
SPAIN: Rosa María Mateo intends to “recover the credibility” of RTVE and turn it into a “reference point for information” (Spanish)
InfoLibre: Within the corporation it is expected that her plans will include a change in the direction of the news.
UK: Britain, Can We — Really — Talk About This Weather We’re Having? (Opinion)
The New York Times: Something looms in the background of our spectacular summer. Time to bring it into the light.
UK: Ofcom: UK broadcasters failing to deliver for older children
Digital TV Europe: Older children are being let down by UK broadcasters, according to Ofcom research showing that major channels aren’t broadcasting programmes specifically made for 13-15 year-olds.
ARGENTINA: Video: The emptying of public media and the situation of private media, in focus (Spanish)
InfoNews: The news program of TV Pública made by its staff is issued by different alternative channels every Saturday since February 3. This happened after the decision to remove it from the air on weekends.
Knight Center: One in five Brazilians live in municipalities that do not have newspapers and local news sites or TV and radio stations. The “news deserts” corresponds to just over half of the Brazilian municipalities, where 40 million people live that are not served by local news coverage.
Poynter: Facebook is ramping up its efforts to cut down on misinformation ahead of Brazil’s election this fall. On Wednesday, the technology company announced that it had removed a network of 196 pages and 87 accounts, many with members of the right-wing movement Movimento Brasil Livre (MBL), in Brazil that violated its authenticity policies “after a rigorous investigation.”
COLOMBIA: Public media in Colombia will create the radio of the future in Latin America (Spanish)
Radio Televisión Nacional de Colombia: This laboratory will seek to develop multimedia applications with social impact and that also involve the historical archives that rest in the audiovisual and sound archive of the Public Media System.
COLOMBIA: Public Television is ‘cool’ / The other side (Opinion – Spanish)
El Tiempo: Public Television is where the best Latin American audiovisual stories are being produced, those that are not on Netflix, nor on Caracol, nor on RCN, nor on cable. Public television is cultural sovereignty. Their programs, formats, voices and aesthetics are very Colombian, they are the heritage of our way of being, stories of our human and natural resources.
MEXICO: Public TV, the only alternative to commercial content: Carrillo Lavat (Spanish – Interview)
El Financiero: The president of the Public Broadcasting System of the Mexican State explains that this system allows the development of entertainment formats with high informative, educational and cultural value contents.
MEXICO: The second journalist killed in Quintana Roo in less than a month (Spanish)
IFJ: This is the journalist Rubén Pat, director of the weekly Playa News , who was executed at dawn on Tuesday, July 24, in the tourist state of Quintana Roo, just 26 days after José Guadalupe Chan Dzib, a reporter from the same media , also be killed.
Knight Center: Nicaraguan press workers organized a sit-in in Managua as detentions of and attacks on journalists continue, with two detentions in the past week. Independent journalists gathered at a roundabout in Managua on July 30 to demand respect for press freedom from the government of President Daniel Ortega.
Knight Center: In less than a week, authorities demanded up to three times that the news site reveal its sources and deliver material from its most recent journalistic investigation into the judicial system, which has led to the resignation of at least nine officials.
Knight Center: The newsletter uses collaborative writing, where nobody signs a piece (in the style of The Economist) which, according to Sosa, is vital to obtain high levels of information and creativity.
MADA: Mousa al-Rimawi, General Director of the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA), participated in the 38th regular session of the Human Rights Council- agenda item 3, were he presented an oral intervention before the council on the systematic Israeli violations against journalists and media freedoms in Palestine.
PALESTINE: 5 female Palestinian journalists held in Israel jails
Middle East Monitor: Palestinian writer Lama Khater became the fifth female journalist to be held in Israeli jails, Safa news agency reported a monitoring group saying.
PALESTINE: Palestinian security forces arrest Palestinian photojournalist in West Bank
CPJ: The Committee to Protect Journalists today expressed concern about the arrest of Huthifa Abu Jamous, a Palestinian photojournalist and opinion writer for the Hamas-affiliated Quds News Network.
SAUDI ARABIA: How free expression is suppressed in Saudi Arabia (Interview)
The Economist: A self-exiled journalist reflects on his country’s direction
TURKEY: Turkey’s public broadcaster TRT put under direct control of President Erdoğan
SCF: Turkey’s public broadcaster, the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), has been subordinated to the president’s office, according to a new presidential decree issued on Tuesday.
TURKEY: Report: 315 Turkish journalists face 47 life sentences plus 3,034 years in jail
SCF: The report stated that in 33 trials in April, May and June, the courts handed down two aggravated life sentences without the chance of parole and 137 years, two months and 19 days in prison to journalists on charges of supporting a failed coup in 2016, disseminating terrorist propaganda, membership in a terrorist organization, defying state institutions or insulting the president.
CANADA: ᐊᐃᓐᖓᐃ ! Hello!
CBC/Radio-Canada: Every evening, Inuktitut speakers can turn to CBC North for Igalaaq, a program featuring a televised newscast, radio news and current affairs programming in Inuktitut. On July 3, they took it one step further with their first web publication translated entirely into Inuktitut syllabics.
CANADA: CBC’s Tait to speak at Content Canada
C21 Media: The first woman to lead the broadcaster will take part in a fireside chat to discuss her vision for the CBC and offer her thoughts on Canada’s role in the global content industry.
CANADA: Journalism programs struggle to adapt to changing times
University Affairs: As news media navigate a time of unparalleled disruption, training the next generation of journalists has never been more of a challenge.
US: As more Native media-makers tell stories of their people, public TV’s pipeline flourishes (Subscription)
Current: ‘Native America’, PBS’ first deep dive into Native culture in a decade — and its most ambitious — will air this fall amid a surge of diverse Native American content across public, commercial and digital media.
US: Audiences are shrinking for Hispanic- and black-oriented U.S. news media
Nieman Lab: In a fact sheet released this week, Pew looks at how “news media made by and for the two largest racial/ethnic minority groups in the United States — blacks and Hispanics” is performing and finds that, as with news media in general, audiences are shrinking.
US: CNN reporter banned: Fox joins outcry after exclusion from White House event
The Guardian: A CNN reporter has been excluded by the White House from a press event after asking Donald Trump about Vladimir Putin’s postponed visit and the Michael Cohen tapes.
US: Editor’s Note: Creating a more diverse newsroom is a never-ending journey (Opinion)
St. Louis Public Radio: “Put simply, a largely white newsroom might miss, or misunderstand, what many in our community are saying.”
US: New York Times Publisher and Trump Clash Over President’s Threats Against Journalism
New York Times: President Trump and the publisher of The New York Times, A. G. Sulzberger, engaged in a fierce public clash on Sunday over Mr. Trump’s threats against journalism, after Mr. Sulzberger said the president misrepresented a private meeting and Mr. Trump accused The Times and other papers of putting lives at risk with irresponsible reporting.
US: What happened to the truth under President Trump
PBS NewsHour: Judy Woodruff takes a closer look with Peter Wehner, who served in the last three Republican administrations, Lara Brown of George Washington University and Domenico Montanaro of NPR.
Google’s Digital News Innovation Fund selects a new round of projects to fund
Neiman Lab: Google’s Digital News Innovation Fund announced on Tuesday the 98 media projects it will be funding for Round 5 of applications. The media projects chosen in this round of DNI funding hail from 28 European Union countries, including the U.K., Spain, and France, but also Lithuania, Slovenia, and Poland.
NiemanLab: “There is no Wirecutter for low-income individuals.” Fiona Morgan and Jay Hamilton talk about their research into information ecosystems and the media market.
More than two dozen resources journalists can use for mentoring, sourcing, invoicing and more
Poynter
Resources for covering migration and refugees
IJNet: The challenges at border crossings today are formidable. Migrants are often afraid to talk to reporters or be identified, and once they are bused to detention centers, opportunities for interviews or follow-up stories are slim. To shed light on the process, IJNet pulled together a list of resources that provide best practices, guidelines and expert advice on covering migration.
The Media’s Failure to Connect the Dots on Climate Change
The New Republic: Why are some major news outlets still covering extreme weather like it’s an act of God?
Journalism.co.uk: The programme, run by the anti-harassment group The Second Source, aims to support women who feel under-represented in their teams
PSM Weekly is available via email. You can subscribe by signing up to our mailing list at the bottom of the page or email editor@publicmediaalliance.org.
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: TV-Studio. Credits: freie-kreation/istock.
Sign up to PSM Weekly
Subscribe to our weekly round-up of public service media headlines as well as news on our training and exchange projects
Related Posts
