"The story of Kazakhstani media is of two contrasting dynamics: the increasingly controlled and innovation-shy offline space, and the vibrant, less-restricted digital environment. The rise of digital media has yielded benefits for citizens and democracy, albeit these are limited by the dominance of
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one political party and its leader. Nevertheless, media remain constrained and state interference remains prominent. As opportunities for working directly with policymakers in Kazakhstan are limited, the report calls for civil society organizations to step up their awareness-raising efforts and bring the threats stemming from restrictive legislation and the lack of regulatory independence to public and international attention. It also calls for a debate about the need to reform publicly funded broadcasters so that they serve the public interest." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"Two out of three Malaysians regularly use the internet (even though large areas of the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, where nearly a fifth of the population lives, pose logistical challenges regarding infrastructure) and a third of the population have a 3G mobile subscription. Broadban
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d household penetration in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, is 112 percent because many citizens have both fixed and mobile accounts. Nearly half the population is on Facebook with an average of 233 friends each, the greatest proportion in the world, all on social networks for an average nine hours a week. And they still seem to find enough time to watch television for three and a half hours a day and to listen to the radio for three hours. The outlook is for an expansion of internet and mobile-based platforms for news, comment, social networking, activism, and entertainment. However, a change of government is probably a prerequisite for the kinds of changes that would usher in greater diversity in broadcast and print, such as regulatory independence, repeal of the Printing Presses and Publications Act, and the dismantling of monopolies, rules on cross ownership, and political parties’ ownership of media companies." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"After a significant delay, the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting in Bulgaria is scheduled to be finished in 2013. While cable television appears to have peaked since 2007, satellite television continues to increase its penetration, more often through bundled services. On the other hand
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, Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is also growing, albeit from a low base. Although Bulgarians enjoy some of the fastest internet connections in the world, overall broadband penetration is low. However, except for the ubiquitous popularity of torrent trackers, there is a lack of e-government services and on-demand audiovisual content. Press and radio are declining in revenue, and the press in particular has welcomed investors with hidden sources of financing that use newspapers for their own business interests. Shedding more light on media ownership, prohibiting concentration, and securing sustainable business models for quality news outlets remain key." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"In online journalism, the virtues associated with ethics—accuracy, honesty, truth, impartiality, fairness, balance, respect for autonomy of ordinary people—are barely respected, largely because there is no effective way of policing this, and there are no legal penalties. Concentration of owners
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hip has increased in the last five years and transparency in ownership of media has improved only slightly over the past five years. The government controls media licensing—a process that is shrouded in secrecy, so that it is difficult to establish who owns which media house. The overall framework of policy and law is not yet adequate for digitized media in Kenya. The national ICT policy of 2006 committed the government to support and encourage pluralism and diversity. While this led to a proliferation of channels, it did not do much for content diversity due to the level of concentration of media. A lack of resources to build the digital infrastructure, consumer ignorance of what the switch means and whether the public can afford the end-user devices are some of the challenges faced in Kenya’s digital switchover." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"South Africa’s news media has become, in the post-1994 democratic era, among the most concentrated in the world, affecting the quality of its content and the sales of its newspapers. A significant decrease in international development support, and post-1994 changes to the nature of that support,
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has exacerbated that process. The few cases in which dedicated, targeted support has been provided have, in sharp contrast, contributed to the development of islands of investigative journalism excellence able to exercise influence both on other media and on broader South African society." (Preface, page 5)
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"Libyan media’s deficiencies are vast and cover all facets of production. For one, the media industry’s decades-long isolation from the Arab and international markets poses a particular challenge to its reconstruction by comparison to the transitional media industries in Egypt and Tunisia. Media
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reform in Libya therefore requires tailor-made solutions that can address the specific needs of the national mainstream industry. While most training available to media staff with little professional experience focusses on basic media practices, it is crucial that these courses provide programmes that are targeting media practitioners of different media platforms (print, magazine, television and radio) as well as different levels of media professionalism (junior reporters as well as senior managers). This process should be based on a deeper understanding of the needs and challenges facing the media industry. It is a must that these programmes target institutions and contribute to their development towards professionalism. In doing so, international and regional agents working in media development should base their operations on a deep understanding of the media industry, its needs and its challenges—a matter that necessitates direct connections with this industry. It is clear that most of the training programmes had targeted citizen journalists recruiting trainees through local centres. They must now focus on media institutions and therefore target their staff with specific training programmes." (Conclusion, page 68)
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"Media interventions by international organizations and NGOs in conflict and post-conflict situations seek to develop and shape a media system to contribute to specific political and social ends. The analyses and assessments that inform these interventions are often based on an overview of the forma
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l media and governance structures, such as mass media and state institutions, and overlook informal structures that may be instrumental for political and development goals. This article proposes a framework that can incorporate both the formal and informal modes of communication and participation that characterize a society. This framework encourages a ‘diagnostic’ approach centred around three areas: power, flows, and participation, and enables researchers to take into consideration features that are often overlooked such as customary law; a range of public authorities from politicians to Imams and local elders; information flows that may vary from poetry to mobile phones; and the culture of communication. Examples from the Somali territories, which are characterized by a weak central government, are employed to highlight how informal structures and actors intervene in shaping information flows and the importance of accounting for them." (Abstract)
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"El objetivo del estudio es conocer cuántos medios digitales tiene el Ecuador y determinar los niveles de actualización, secciones, hipertextualidad, multimedialidad, interactividad, redes sociales y herramientas multimedia que están empleando; esto permite comprender los procesos y lógicas de t
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rabajo de los medios de comunicación digitales [...] La muestra útil alcanzó 254 medios de comunicación, de los cuales la mayoría pertenece a medios tradicionales, periódicos, radios, revistas, canales de televisión y únicamente 34 medios de comunicación nativos digitales." (Resúmen, página 5)
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"There are over 250 radio stations in Mali, and two TV stations that serve a population of 16 million, of whom one of every five own a TV set. The author argues that Mali’s state broadcaster ORTM must use the opportunity of a new political dispensation and usher in urgent reforms if its rich histo
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ry of media proliferation, political pluralism and democracy are to be consolidated. He further makes the case for the urgent need by the new Malian government to revisit state policy on the digital switch over, an eminent process that Mali must undertake. Failing which, all the gains that the country has made could be lost." (www.afrimap.org)
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"Estonians have demonstrated a keen appetite for digital media uptake. More than three-quarters of the population accesses the internet regularly, and more than half of those are active on social networking platforms. Recent surveys suggest that nearly a quarter of internet users now connect via sma
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rtphones. As for traditional media, newspaper circulations have experienced a steady rather than dramatic decline over recent years, while television and radio audiences remain relatively stable. The press and news organizations remain in general relatively free of political influence, and although there is significant cross-media ownership and little opportunity for new entrants, digitization does not appear to have exacerbated this situation, and there remains a degree of competition and pluralism within all sectors. This report calls for the development of media policy that will incentivize television service providers to introduce the additional digital television services that were promoted during switch-over. They also call for long-term predictable funding mechanisms to ensure that public service media, Estonian Public Broadcasting (Eesti Rahvusringhääling, ERR) above all, provide quality output." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"This report represents an effort to help with the process of evaluating media laws in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. As governments consider what policies to set up to deal with new realities, this research should help provide an understanding of the current landscape. When examining
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this landscape, we examined several elements that can affect journalism and free expression in any nation: penal codes, media laws, regulatory bodies and the overall effect of these specifics. At times, we also address how similar problems are handled in countries with greater protections for the press. Every nation, of course, has struggled with these issues—how to empower journalists to fulfill their duty while also protecting individuals and the society from potential harm. No reform of journalism can occur solely from within the ranks of the profession. Local media law, court rulings and other government oversight greatly affect the type of journalism practiced. To create an environment in which journalists can fulfill their societal duty will require a revision of the laws that govern them." (Introduction, page 9)
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"Almost 300 news channels are currently available in Europe, of which more than 170 are established in the European Union. Private channels dominate the national TV news landscape with more than 80% owned by private companies. The pan-European channels with the widest distribution in Europe are CNN
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International, BBC World News, Al Jazeera (English), Euronews (English) and RT (Russia Today). The number of news channels available over free DTT channels has increased to 43, compared to 16 four years ago." (Website European Audiovisual Observatory)
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