"[...] Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban has imposed a new media control regime, which has three key features: restriction, gender-discrimination, and repression with impunity. First, the Taliban has passed several media policies, imposing extreme constraints on press freedom and
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media rights. Any sort of critical reporting on topics related to the government or the public is banned. The Taliban regulate the content of publications and broadcasts, imposing broad, vaguely worded prohibitions. For example, under the new regulations, media content that contradicts “Islamic values,” “Afghan values,” and “public interest” is prohibited. No operational definitions have been provided for these terms, nor an objective standard for assessing and determining breach. This has caused uncertainty and confusion about what the media can and cannot publish and broadcast, often resulting in precautionary media self-censorship. The new rules also give the Taliban sweeping powers to directly control the media and news output, barring broadcast and publication of matters and content that has not been officially sanctioned by Taliban official/s. These restrictions and interferences limit the right and ability of the Afghan media to seek, receive and impart information freely and independently.
Second, the Taliban has passed policies specifically targeting Afghan women in the media. These restrictions give the Taliban control over women’s attire and the nature and scope of their involvement in the media, restraining their freedom of expression and movement, as well as their ability to perform their tasks effectively. The general travel restrictions on women and girls make it almost impossible for women to work, in particular, limiting the ability of female journalists from gathering information or contributing to field reporting. The Taliban’s antiwomen media policies and practices are aimed towards excluding Afghan women from the media and public life.
Third, the Taliban treats the Afghan media and media-related affairs as a security threat. The Taliban security and intelligence agencies are increasingly involved in controlling media affairs. Taliban operatives use repressive measures against members of the Afghan media in claiming to enforce the new regulations. Afghan journalists and other members of the media have been subjected to heavy surveillance, intimidation, and arbitrary arrest and detention. Cases of beatings, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings have also taken place." (Executive summary, pages 1-2)
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"Media, during Taliban five years period from 1996–2001, had been totally suffocated. Only limited number of print media would publish to spread the propaganda of Taliban Emirate under Sharia Law. Post-Taliban era, media landscape obtained new image with the establishment of democratic government.
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Independent media were allowed to operate in accordance with the formation of new constitution of 2004. Since the two decades of war after 9/11, media have still been maintaining its responsibility in Afghanistan to rise and promote the voice of right, equality and justice, defend human rights and spread public awareness in order to serve for social responsibilities. Despite continued challenges media outlets and journalists have made tremendous progress which it has resulted in harm of their personal life from time to time due to threats of insecurity, war, warlords, strongmen, corrupted actors in government as well as in attacks of Taliban and ISIS insurgents. Hence, media outlets and journalists have been carrying on their responsibilities despite of availed risks to them and their families. In this paper, it has been viewed the status of media freedom, process of development and continued challenges to media freedom and journalists." (Abstract)
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"En este libro Carlos Rivadeneyra Olcese analiza el desarrollo y el estado actual de ese ecosistema comunicacional al que llama la podcastfera peruana. Para ello aborda las similitudes, diferencias y tensiones entre el podcasting como medio nativo digital y su pariente análogo más cercano: la radi
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o. Echa, además, una mirada al contenido de los podcasts peruanos y al papel de los amateurs y de los grandes medios de comunicación en la configuración de una tipología de nuestros podcasts. Y nos explica las posibilidades, a veces aprovechadas y a veces no, del transcasting. Con este estudio, Rivadeneyra Olcese deja en claro que el podcasting ha venido para quedarse y que está alcanzando su primera madurez entre nosotros. El estudio ofrece una inicial mirada a este nuevo medio de comunicación y traza las líneas que han de seguir, de aquí en adelante, los estudios que lo aborden." (https://www.ulima.edu.pe/publicaciones)
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"This fourth Fairwork report for South Africa continues to chart the evolution of the national platform economy. In South Africa, digital labour platforms hold the potential to reduce the extremely high levels of unemployment and inequality. However, the annual South African Fairwork ratings also p
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rovide evidence that platform workers, as in so many countries worldwide, continue to face unfair work conditions and lack the benefits and protections afforded to employees." (Executive Summary)
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"The commercial advertising industry in Sierra Leone is in a parlous state – unstructured, uncoordinated and unregulated. The shambolic nature of the industry stems from three major shortcomings – a lack of policy regulation, a limited market, and poor professional practices. Existing policy whi
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ch exists only at the level of the Independent Media Commission (IMC) - the body tasked with regulating the media, public relations and advertising practices in accordance with the Independent Media Commission Act, 2020 – is limited to ethical considerations. Just one section (Section 4) of the Media Code of Practice is dedicated to the advertising industry. In the context of the advertising market itself, Sierra Leone has a modest economy with little competition, especially in the private sector. Brand advertising opportunities are few and far between and the government, which is among the leading advertisers in the country, is regarded as a bad debtor, particularly where paying fees to the media industry is concerned. Furthermore, rather than seeking to get value for money, government ministries, departments and agencies are widely suspected of using a system of political patronage and kickbacks when allocating and/or distributing advertising contracts to the media." (Executive summary)
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"The Global Handbook of Media Accountability brings together leading scholars to 'de-Westernize' the academic debate on media accountability and discuss different models of media self-regulation and newsroom transparency around the globe. With examination of the status quo of media accountability in
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forty-four countries worldwide, it offers a theoretically informed, comparative analysis of accountability regimes of different varieties. As such, it constitutes the first interdisciplinary academic framework comparing structures of media accountability across all continents and represents an invaluable basis for further research and policy-making. It will therefore appeal to scholars and students of media studies and journalism, mass communication, sociology and political science, as well as policy-makers and practitioners." (Publisher description)
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"L'éducation aux médias apparaît comme une des clés indispensables pour comprendre nos sociétés dont les usages numériques sont devenus prépondérants. Elle intéresse le monde de l'éducation, les familles et les politiques. L'Union européenne a, ces dernières années, fortement encourag
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ses états membres à transformer les cursus scolaires en ce sens. Qu'en est-il aujourd'hui ? De quelle manière les États ont compris cet appel ? Cet ouvrage propose au lecteur un voyage dans dix pays européens montrant la prise de conscience de l'importance de l'éducation aux médias, les réalisations pédagogiques innovantes, les perspectives et les défis qui demeurent." (Description de la maison d'édition)
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"Since gaining independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has lurched along an unsteady path toward accountable democratic governance. Yet despite the country's volatile politics and the escalating conflict with Russia leading up to the full.scale invasion of Ukraine in
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February 2022, Ukrainian reformers and their allies have made significant progress in reshaping the country's media climate." (Page 1)
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"International assistance actors have played an important role in supporting media reforms in Ukraine. Their long-term, continuous efforts planted the seeds for groundbreaking media environment changes during Ukraine’s democratic transition. International donors’ sustained engagement in Ukraine
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laid the groundwork for the major transitions, primarily by facilitating the emergence and development of the vibrant and powerful local civil society. Notwithstanding the prolonged periods of “lost hope” and stagnation, which might have discouraged some other activists from policy development and advocacy, Ukrainian CSMOs have managed to pursue their strategic priorities even under challenging circumstances and quickly consolidated their efforts at a crucial moment in Ukraine’s modern history — right in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity, in the spring of 2014. Ukrainian CSOs were ready and courageous enough to step in when the state and its institutions were extremely weakened and to assume their roles in certain fields. Both the CSMOs and donors jumped at the opportunity presented by the revolution: several innovative media reforms, which had been drafted and redrafted over many years, were adopted in a matter of few weeks in the spring of 2014. That success would have been impossible without the preparatory work done during the preceding years." (Conclusion, page 20)
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"We sought to better understand Russia's disinformation on social media and generate recommendations to better meet and counter this evolving threat. We relied on an analysis of Russian military literature, investigative efforts, official reports, academic and policy literature, media reporting, and
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expert interviews. We also conducted a case study in Ukraine, interviewing a variety of key experts in the Ukrainian government and in the nongovernmental sector who are involved in confronting Russian information warfare." (Summary)
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"In a country like Ethiopia which is rich in languages, politics, cultures, and values and which experiences an exponentially growing population, media and the access to plural information is crucial for peace and development. This study finds, however, that the number of media and the diversity of
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their contents have not grown commensurate with the country’s character, while public trust also remains low. The independent journalism and media self-regulation are also in their early stages. This country report formulates data-driven, context-specific, and actionoriented recommendations to the government, journalism schools, civil society organizations, development partners and the media to achieve a strong Ethiopian media landscape that is supportive of freedom of expression and journalist safety, as well as conducive to the development of free, independent, and pluralistic media." (Back cover)
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"To illustrate the dynamics of the digital information ecosystem and how disinformation is seeded within this environment, Rappler explored cascades around the following themes: war on drugs, attacks against the press, and messaging around Martial Law and authoritarian rule. The themes were selected
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based on prevailing issues that have confronted the Philippines and the Duterte administration over the past 6 years. These are findings of the study specific to the Philippine context: Already addicted to social media, Filipinos became more deeply immersed in the internet due to the pandemic; [...] At least 1 in every 3 Filipino internet users is new to digital, is potentially unfamiliar with how it works, and vulnerable to disinformation and online manipulation techniques [...] News organizations are still among the most followed information sources online. But they are increasingly drowned in social media noise [...] Trustworthiness is the primary consideration in following groups, pages, and channels on social media. But entertainment value and agreeableness are also major considerations, making audiences vulnerable to sources that deceptively use celebrity content to build online following [...] Majority (78%) of survey respondents say they can distinguish between real news and “fake news,” but focus group discussions (FGDs) reveal that some believed previously debunked claims [...] There are similarities between disinformation in the Philippines and the “Firehose of Falsehood” Russian propaganda model ..." (Executive summary, pages 7-12)
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"This report explores the social media habits of Iranian netizens and how the Islamic Republic is repressing the online space." (Publisher description)
"The State of the Media-topical study is an in-depth presentation of selected issues affecting the media’s operating environment in a given period. This edition covers the period January-June and highlights various issues that had potential to affect the role of the media in the period under revie
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w. The rationale of the study is the nexus between a good operating environment for the media and the facilitation of democratic governance, access to information and freedom of expression." (Executive summary)
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"After nearly 20 years of international investment and successful efforts to build a diverse media landscape and strengthen journalism standards, the Afghan media sector has fundamentally changed for the worse since the Taliban (also referred herein to as the de facto authorities) takeover on 15 Aug
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ust 2021. Before mid-August 2021, dedicated initiatives and investment focused on increasing the number of women working in the media across a diversity of roles, training and equipping them with valuable skills and expertise, as well as a substantive focus on women’s rights and gender equality in the media content, including on how gender inequality is a driver of conflict. The Taliban has sought to bring the Afghan media under its control, prohibiting broadcasts and publications that criticize Taliban rule and/or are incompatible with the group’s interpretation of Islamic and Afghan values. There is no universal experience across the changed media environment as the level of subnational variation is notable. The position of individual de facto leaders on media freedom varies according to their personal viewpoints and relationship to the media in the past, and their perception of the value of media to extend the credibility and authority of the Taliban in the eyes of the target audience. Despite subnational variations, nationwide trends are becoming increasingly discernible, clear and solidified. Although in some cases the level of discretion may be higher, rules and practices are consistent and congruent – continuous harassment, attacks, and detention of journalists, the requirement for women journalists to cover their face when on air, and various tactics which combined lead to self-censorship and exclusion of women from the media. This indicates a systematic and coherent effort to
muzzle the media and exclude women – their faces, perspectives, and experiences – from public spaces." (Summary)
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"This Media Landscape Guide provides a snapshot of the current media in Ukraine, including the historical background to the media, media trends and freedoms, languages in the different media, media access and barriers for different groups in the community, audiences and their preferences. It conside
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rs why people use the different types of media and what content they consume. The guide looks at the impact of fake news and misinformation and the role of the media in addressing these. It also considers the role the media is playing in facilitating two-way communication in Ukraine. Finally, it gives an overview of each media sector, including digital and social media, radio, television, print and other traditional forms of mass communication." (Introduction)
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