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.
CAMEROON: Cameroon clamps down on the internet, and anglophones
The Economist: A bust-up over language has exposed new tools of repression
ETHIOPIA: Ethiopia Takes Huge Step to Digitize Broadcast Service
Via All Africa
KENYA: Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Services May Face Devolution
Broadcasting & Media Africa: In a bid to drive its media development agenda, the Kenyan Government is planning to decentralise the services of Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).
KENYA: Media regulator disputes CA directive on election coverage
The Star (Kenya): The Media Council of Kenya has said it is not possible to provide coverage for all political rallies as directed by the Communication Authority of Kenya.
MOROCCO: Reforms in the Moroccan Media: Gains and Uncertainties
MEDMedia: The reforms shaping Morocco’s media sector since the beginning of the millennium have been characterised by a unique set of features which differentiate them from similar experiments in the Southern Mediterranean.
NIGERIA: Nigeria’s broadcasting commission clamps down on licence fees
PMA: The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) of Nigeria has issued a stern warning to broadcasters with outstanding licence fees, threatening them with sanctions and shutdown if they do not comply.
NIGERIA: National Broadcasting Commission Withdraws 54 Broadcasting Licenses
Broadcasting & Media Africa: Nigeria’s broadcasting regulator the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has cancelled the licenses of 54 broadcast stations for refusing to pay their fees within the 60-day range.
South Africa: ICASA Tells SABC – Editorial Policy Amendments Not Valid
Broadcasting & Media Africa
SOUTH AFRICA: Social media regulations ‘an abuse of power that threatens democracy
News24: The Right2Know Campaign (R2K) and the Democratic Alliance on Tuesday lashed out at State Security Minister David Mahlobo, who at the weekend said the regulation of social media in SA was being discussed at government level.
UGANDA: Ruling against journalist’s attacker a rare victory for press freedom
Amnesty International
UGANDA: Wakaliwood: Uganda’s action-packed movies
Deutsche Welle: In the middle of Wakaliga, a slum in Uganda’s capital Kampala, Isaac Nabwana has been shooting low-budget action films for eight years. He is now an international star.
AFGHANISTAN: Journalism Watchdog Opens Center For Women Journalists In Afghanistan
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Reporters Without Borders has launched a center to protect women journalists in Afghanistan, the second-most dangerous country for female reporters after Syria.
CHINA: Xinjiang police say media have no right to ask questions
IFJ
INDONESIA: Radio Digitalisation is progressing rapidly throughout Indonesia
ABU: Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) has today 92 stations spread across the huge archipelago consisting of 17,000 islands. Managing radio infrastructure and services to reach more than 250 million people is not an easy task.
JAPAN: High demand for Sign Language Programs in Japan
ABU: Due to the increase in demand for sign language programs in Japan, NHK is presently expanding its sign language broadcasting services.
JAPAN: Reliance on Online Media Grows in Japan
eMarketer: But trust in those sources is in decline.
JAPAN: SXSW Will Feature 8K Video Virtual-Reality Motion Ride That Requires No Headset
Variety: The two-seat ride is produced by a group of Japanese media and entertainment companies, led by NHK Enterprises and NHK Media Technology, which are affiliates of Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK.
MALAYSIA: BBC Player launches in Malaysia
Advanced Television: BBC Worldwide – the commercial arm of the Corporation has launched BBC Player in Malaysia, the second country to receive the service following its successful launch in Singapore in 2016.
MALDIVES: Raajje TV sets up ‘defamation fund’ after hefty fines
Maldives Independent: Raajje TV has set up a “defamation fund” after the broadcasting regulator slapped an MVR200,000 (US$13,000) fine on the opposition-aligned station and an MVR50,000 (US$3,200) fine on a journalist last week.
MYANMAR: ‘Insulting’ Thai palace soap opera angers Myanmar
BBC News: A Thai soap opera that appears to depict Burmese palace intrigue has angered some in Myanmar including a descendant of Myanmar’s last king.
PAKISTAN: Pakistan, social media and blasphemy (Audio)
BBC News: The interior minister has threatened to block all social media that have blasphemous content hours after a Pakistani court ordered the government to open investigation into online “blasphemy”.
PAKISTAN: PM directs to block blasphemous content on social media
GEO TV: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday directed Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali to take all possible measures to block blasphemous content on social media.
PHILIPPINES: Duterte wants Moros, reds to use state-run TV to air grievances
ABS-CBN News: President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday said he wants state-run television network PTV-4 to cater to public concerns, including those of the “Moros and communist rebels”.
SINGAPORE: Broadcast laws to be updated this year
Via Asia One: Singapore will update its laws to ensure that overseas content – which has become more readily available – is in line with local values.
SOUTH KOREA: Fake News? Maybe Not, but Trust in Media Declines in South Korea
eMarketer: Confidence in traditional media drops 16 points in five years.
SOUTH KOREA: How South Korea’s Fake News Hijacked a Democratic Crisis
Gizmodo
THAILAND: Transmitters shut down, BBC ends relays from Thailand
Bangkok Post: Britain’s BBC has announced it is ending its shortwave transmissions from Thailand after 20 years of operation because it failed to reach agreement with Thailand’s military government on a renewal of its operating permit.
GENERAL: Broadcast operations are not immune to Cybersecurity Threats
ABU: This is becoming a very serious concern for broadcasters since quite recently major American and European television networks were hacked.
AUSTRALIA: ABC to Invest AUD$50 Million in Transformation Program
Content + Technology: The ABC will invest $50 million in new content and create 80 new jobs in rural and regional Australia under a new strategy and transformation program.
AUSTRALIA: Australian network ABC is under fire for ‘women only’ broadcasting
Stuff: Australian state network ABC has come under fire for removing male presenters and djs for one day, to celebrate women.
AUSTRALIA: One Nation exclusion of ABC an ‘attack on role of media in a democracy’
ABC News: The ABC has expressed concern about the exclusion of its journalists from a One Nation function on WA election night, saying it could be seen as an attack on both the broadcaster and the role of media in a democracy.
FIJI: Prosecutors consider sedition charges against Fiji Times publisher and editor
Asia Pacific Report
NEW ZEALAND: Merger decision due, media chief out
RNZ: [Simon Tong’s] departure date will come just two days after the Commerce Commission is due to rule on a proposed merger of Fairfax Media and rival publisher NZME.
NEW ZEALAND: New television channel to launch in New Zealand
Scoop: A new television channel featuring locally-produced content and targeting New Zealand’s Chinese community, as well as Kiwis and Asian Kiwis interested in Chinese culture, is being launched on Sunday 19 March.
NEW ZEALAND: Online news start-up off to cracking start
RNZ MediaWatch: A new online news service launched this morning with a headline-making scoop about eggs. It is led by two experienced news editors who promised to cover “the things that matter”. Will Newsroom.co.nz deliver?
REGIONAL: IFJ calls for action to defend women’s voices online in Asia-Pacific
Pacific Media Centre: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its Asia-Pacific affiliates today demanded meaningful action against the growth of online harassment of women journalists in the region.
EASTERN EUROPE: Eastern European journalists’ ongoing battle
DW Akademie: Journalists working in Eastern Europe and Russia face the double digital security threats of targeted surveillance and hacking attacks by cybercriminals.
GERMANY: Germany to crack down on social media over fake news
Financial Times: Berlin wants fines of up €50m on sites failing to delete slanderous or hateful content.
GERMANY: In A Crucial Election Year, Worries Grow In Germany About Fake News
NPR: Breitbart News has yet to launch its proposed German-language website, but it’s already causing confusion in Germany.
IRELAND: RTÉ to introduce new service to target listeners in UK
The Irish Times:
ITALY: The government to Rai: “less news programs and less channels”. The subscription fees will be paid if the targets are met. (Italian)
La Repubblica: The Council of Ministers gives the green light to the decree which assigns to Viale Mazzini the public broadcasting for the next ten years. News programmes available even in English. Relays companies encouraged to create transmissions systems with private broadcasters.
ITALY: Rai bets on the web: Rai 24 is born and will be directed by Gabanelli (Italian)
La Repubblica: It’s the tenth news programme for the public broadcaster, with 120 journalists and 40 web technicians who will come from Televideo, from the web version of Rai News 24, from Tg2 and Tg3.
POLAND: Polish media caught between government, advertisers and Donald Tusk
Euroactiv: The Polish media sector is struggling to innovate under increasing government pressure.
POLAND: Polish pay TV providers slam government plan to levy licence fee
Digital TV Europe: The Polish government has unveiled controversial proposals to collect TV licence fee payments using the subscription databases of cable and satellite DTH providers.
RUSSIA: Russian security services detain journalists in border city, order them to leave
CPJ: Security services have detained at least three journalists who had traveled to report from the northwestern city of Svetogorsk, on Russia’s border with Finland, in the past two days (7 March)
SERBIA: “Journalist need institutional solidarity to fight safety risks”
B92: Address of Veran Matic, head of Serbia’s Commission for the Investigation of Murders of Journalists and news editor-in-chief for B92 at the OSCE’s Freedom of the Media in the Western Balkans conference.
SPAIN: First victory for journalists against Spain’s ‘gag law’
IPI: Government decides to drop fines against journalist, citing formal errors.
SPAIN: RTVE returns to profit
Advanced Television: For the first time since 2009, Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, operator of La 1 and La 2 among other channels, has climbed out of the red with a profit of €800,000.
SPAIN: José Pablo López: “We will renew Telemadrid to boost our own production” (Spanish)
elEconomista: José Pablo López, the new general director Of Telemadrid, tells the elEconomista his plans.
SPAIN: Podemos opens the debate on the broadcasting of Masses on public television (Spanish)
El País: Unidos Podemos ask to eliminate the broadcasting of the mass on La2, but the PP and the PSOE defend their continuity, while TVE remembers that other confessions have their space.
SPAIN: TV3 employees believe that Sanchis has been appointed as a director to keep the broadcaster “under control”. (Spanish)
El Diario: The SPC asserts that the director has been imposed in a sectarian way, and has always been aligned with pujolismo and with the CDC.
SWITZERLAND: Public broadcaster faces political pressure
Swiss Info: Parliament is debating the role of public broadcasting in Switzerland. The political right and private media claim it has a monopoly position while the head of the` Swiss Broadcasting Corporation argues the SBC is essential for maintaining cohesion in the multicultural country.
UK: BBC Board Wales candidate vetoed by Welsh Government
BBC News: The Welsh Government has vetoed the preferred candidate to represent Wales on the new BBC Board.
UK: BBC focus too middle aged and middle class, says Ofcom chief
The Guardian: Sharon White tells media audience that corporation needs to do more to address diversity and does not rule out quotas.
UK: Channel 4 News editor Ben De Pear: ‘I see no end to Jon Snow. He’s immortal’
The Guardian: The C4 news programme is flying high with a host of awards, but De Pear sees plenty of challenges ahead, from Trump to Facebook.
GENERAL: European publisher collaboration shows reality of refugees and migrants
European Journalism Centre
GENERAL: Never give in, never give up: OSCE media representative’s final message at Permanent Council
OSCE: OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović reflected on her seven years in office today while presenting her final report to the OSCE Permanent Council.
ARGENTINA: Direct attacks on freedom of expression decrease in Argentina during 2016, according to FOPEA
Knight Center: Journalism in the Americas: The Forum for Argentine Journalism (Fopea) recently presented the report Monitoring Freedom of Expression 2016, in which it recorded and analyzed the 65 direct attacks and aggressions the Argentine press suffered during the year.
BRAZIL: Approval of MP 744 does not end fight in defense of EBC, says FNDC (Portuguese)
Rede Brasil Atual: Entity denounces dismantling of public communication, says provisional measure is unconstitutional and that EBC is being transformed into a company to serve the interests of the government on duty.
CUBA: Experiences of and criteria about journalism converge in Santiago (Spanish)
Upec: Colleagues from various provinces of the country held an exchange this Monday in Santiago the Cuba about their journalistic work in the radio, television, print media and the digital newsrooms.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: CDP, Trade Union and media ponder the impact of digital journalism and cyberjournalists (Spanish)
El Caribe: The topics were discussed during the workshops of Taínos Ciberperiodistas, held in the CDP.
ISRAEL: Government proposal could see more political control over public broadcaster
The Times of Israel: New plan would repeal key reforms aimed at ensuring editorial independence for state-regulated media outlets. `
TURKEY: Declaration of joint international emergency press freedom mission to Turkey
ECPMF: Severe concern expressed by ECPMF following international press freedom mission to Turkey.
TURKEY: UN HRC must address freedom of expression crisis
Article 19
US: Facing loss of state funding, West Virginia Public Broadcasting plans for layoffs
Current: A proposed state budget that would eliminate support for West Virginia Public Broadcasting is already having an impact on the station.
US: Funding woes prompt PBS to kill off ‘Mercy Street’
Current: PBS said in a statement Thursday that it couldn’t secure funding for a new season.
US: NBC chief to Trump: We won’t be intimidated
Montreal Gazette: The chief of NBC News has a message for President Donald Trump: We’re not going to be intimidated.
US: Public broadcasting cuts would hurt rural communities, media landscape
The Durango Herald: We have been here before. Six years ago, Republicans in Congress, led by Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn, introduced legislation to eliminate federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
10 best free digital storytelling tools for journalists
Hackastory: There are plenty of tools and resources to help storytellers build their digital stories. This is a selection of the 10 best free and easy to use digital storytelling tools.
A news app aims to burst filter bubbles by nudging readers toward a more “balanced” media diet
Nieman Lab: Read Across the Aisle is taking the Fitbit approach to popping filter bubbles.
OPINION: ‘Fake news’: the best thing that’s happened to journalism
London School of Economics: Polis: Fake News has upset a lot of people and caused real damage but it’s been good news for journalism analysts like me. I’ve never had more interest in a media issue than this. I’ve never been busier talking and researching a topic and it’s consequences.
Space journalism: a new frontier for computer-assisted reporting
Google Earth & Earth Engine: Excitement about the about the innovative ways newsrooms across the world have leveraged Google Earth Engine for data journalism.
ECPMF: ECPMF has launched an alarm centre for female media workers, where they can inform the Centre about attacks against them and seek help or advice.
‘We’re all in this together’: Tips from Vice for women starting out in journalism
Journalism.co.uk: Journalism still has “a long way to go” before it adequately represents the audience it is serving, Zing Tsjeng, UK editor of Broadly, Vice’s women channel, explained during a workshop (7 March)
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