"The GeoPoll Afghanistan Media Audience Landscape Establishment Survey comprised of 2,000 Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) with respondents across the country, conducted in from December 2023 to January 2024. Based on the survey data, approximately 67% of the adult Afghan population wat
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ch television at least once a month." (Page 2)
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"The Mali Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) report presents the findings and recommendations of the Mali DECA. It outlines the key aspects of Mali’s digital ecosystem and provides 11 recommendations for creating a more inclusive, safe, and enabling environment. Guided by 3 USAID/Mali pri
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orities, which include i) improved governance for stronger democratic institution; ii) solidified and deepened development gains in targeted areas; and iii) improved outcomes across the humanitarian, development, and peace nexus to save lives and increase resiliency, the DECA process included desk research, consultations with USAID/Mali technical offices, and 63 key informant interviews with stakeholders from civil society, academia, and the private and public sectors. Key findings include: Mali has made great strides in building out its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure, but political instability and conflict hinder further investment; the Government of Mali’s commitment to digital development is aspirational, but existing services, policies, and governance are at an early stage; Mali does not have a central policy or regulation guiding the digitization of government services and systems; Mali’s civil society and media have enjoyed historical freedom of expression, but new policies threaten the freedom of the press and increase organizations’ needs for cybersecurity awareness and tools; insurgent groups are accelerating their use of social media for propaganda dissemination and Mali’s broader population needs better tools to counter disinformation; Mali does not have a policy framework for guiding the development of the e-commerce sector; Mali’s tech startup scene lacks true innovation or competition and operates informally in an unfavorable environment." (https://www.usaid.gov/digital-development)
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"The Honduras Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) report presents the findings and recommendations of the Honduras DECA. It outlines the key aspects of Honduras' digital ecosystem and provides 9 recommendations for creating a more inclusive, safe, and enabling environment. Guided by USAID/Ho
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nduras priorities, which include i) facilitating a systems change approach - social, economic, justice and security, environmental, education; ii) partnering and co-creating with the private sector to capitalize on shared values, forster innovation, and facilitating joint investment where interests align; and iii) generating opportunities for citizens - especially youth - to actively engage and invest in their future in Honduras, the DECA process included desk research, consultations with USAID/Honduras technical offices, and 76 key informant interviews with stakeholders from civil society, academia, and the private and public sectors. Key findings include: digital transformation is a priority of President Xiomara Castro’s new administration; an outdated telecommunications legal and regulatory environment is hindering connectivity expansion, affordability, and accessibility; efforts to digitize education are succeeding, but digital literacy lags and requires a concerted strategy; there are not effective data protection and cybersecurity regulations; the Government of Honduras lacks the capacity to prosecute digital crimes; there is a focus on countering mis- and disinformation by civil society, but a joint strategy is required for greater impact; the level of financial inclusion continues to be low due to systematic weaknesses, such as poor connectivity infrastructure, and supply-side factors, such as the lack of relevant traditional and digital financial services; e-commerce is slow to take off in Honduras, except in the two largest cities, Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula; the digital talent pool does not currently meet the labor market demand." (https://www.usaid.gov/digital-development)
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"The Guatemala DECA report presents the findings and recommendations of the Guatemala DECA. It outlines the key aspects of Guatemala’s digital ecosystem and provides nine recommendations for creating a more inclusive, safe, and enabling environment. Guided by USAID/Guatemala priorities: i) partner
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with the Government of Guatemala and other stakeholders to increase economic prosperity, inclusion, and stability in areas with high irregular migration; ii) partner with the Government of Guatemala and other stakeholders to strengthen effective and accountable governance to improve quality of life and reduce irregular migration; and iii) partner with the Government of Guatemala and other stakeholders to improve justice and security to reduce irregular migration, the DECA process included desk research, consultations with USAID/Guatemala technical offices, 76 key informant interviews with stakeholders from civil society, academia, and the private and public sectors, and five focus group discussions with USAID project participants. Key findings include: Guatemala does not have a central strategy or policy for the digitalization of government services or systems; while Guatemala is home to relatively high network coverage, gaps in internet use remain and innovative solutions face regulatory barriers; the digital divide persists across gender, geography, income, education and literacy, and ethnicity, and was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic; digital rights are insufficiently protected and disinformation and harassment are present in the online space; over the last decade, the Government of Guatemala adopted long-term policies to support the development of the digital economy; progress is unclear but data show there has been some impact on financial inclusion; although in its early days, there is unprecedented growth in Guatemala’s startup ecosystem, specifically FinTech." (https://www.usaid.gov/digital-development)
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"The El Salvador Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) report presents the findings and recommendations of the El Salvador DECA. It outlines the key aspects of El Salvador’s digital ecosystem and provides 10 recommendations for creating a more inclusive, safe, and enabling environment. Guide
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d by USAID/El Salvador priorities, which include i) security increased for likely migrants; ii) jobs and income potential increased for likely migrants; and iii) government responsiveness, accountability, and transparency improved, the DECA process included desk research, consultations with USAID/El Salvador technical offices, and 101 key informant interviews with stakeholders from civil society, academia, and the private and public sectors. Key findings include: digital transformation is a priority for El Salvador; a weak regulatory environment and the lack of clear government strategies have held back digitization efforts; stakeholders frequently cite improving digital connectivity and citizens’ digital literacy skills as recommendations for greater digital adoption; cybersecurity policy and initiatives are underdeveloped and the awareness of effective defense measures is low across the digital ecosystem; most Salvadorans are still unbanked. Sixty-four percent of Salvadorans have no financial institution (traditional bank or mobile money) account. Only 11 percent of Salvadorans had a mobile money account as of 2021; GOES embraced bitcoin in September 2021, spotlighting El Salvador on the world stage; the COVID-19 pandemic spurred digital uptake among micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)." (https://www.usaid.gov/digital-development)
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"The Bangladesh Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) report presents the findings and recommendations of the Bangladesh DECA. It outlines the key aspects of Bangladesh's digital ecosystem and provides 10 recommendations for creating a more inclusive, safe, and enabling environment. Guided by
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three USAID/Bangladesh priorities, which include i ) improved democratic systems that promote transparency, accountability, and integrity; ii) enhanced opportunities for an inclusive, healthy, educated society, and a robust economy; and iii) strengthened resilience to shocks and stressors, the DECA process included desk research, consultations with USAID/Bangladesh technical offices, and 81 key informant interviews with stakeholders from civil society, academia, and the private and public sectors. Key findings include: Bangladesh’s digital ecosystem has steadily evolved over the last decade; the Government of Bangladesh (GoB)'s Vision 2021 and Vision 2041 underscore the importance of Digital Bangladesh and have been drivers for digital transformation across the country. However, undefined roadmaps and uneven knowledge of digitalization among government officials undermine GoB’s efforts; limited digital literacy is a key barrier across all aspects of the ecosystem; connectivity is affected by poor quality of services and lack of affordable data; a growing ecosystem of locally relevant content is key to closing the usage gap; barriers in terms of funding and understanding user needs remain; Bangladesh ranks Number One in South Asia on the e-government academy’s National Cybersecurity Index (NCSI) in terms of the availability of necessary laws and policy, but there is significant room for improvement when it comes to the strength of implementation across the ecosystem; misinformation and disinformation are widespread in the digital sphere; mobile financial services are expansive in Bangladesh and increasingly inclusive; e-commerce and the tech startup environment have grown quickly due to an increase in international and domestic investments and an active private sector; an expansive digital talent pool exists, but they are not trained to their fullest potential, hindering their income potential and Bangladesh’s growth trajectory." (https://www.usaid.gov/digital-development)
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"The main objective of this article was to explore the political economy of mainstream TV channels in Ethiopia from the perspective of ownership and regulations. The study used a qualitative approach to document analysis. It also conducted an in-depth interviews with randomly selected media monitori
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ng experts and journalists working in the newsrooms of TV channels to augment the data. The results showed that media ownership and political power are closely intertwined in Ethiopia. It also indicated the private TV channels need reasonable subsidies to survive in an increasing market competition. The boundary between private and government ownership is hazy despite differences in the business models with parallel censorship conditions in both private and government-owned channels. There is diversity in TV ownership, with lower competition and sluggish development of TV infrastructure. Constricted control of TV channels by manifold and overlapping regulatory provisions are obstructing TV content and restraining freedom of the press characterizes the political economy of TV channels. This study suggests a need for the establishment of a system in which constitutional rights and regulatory frameworks would become compatible to protect press freedom and diversity of voices in mainstream TV channels." (Abstract)
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"We selected ten post-communist countries for this research. Eight of them are located on the Balkan Peninsula, from a geographical point of view. We added Romania and Slovenia for historical reasons. The main aim of research is to provide a model of the media system in each of them. We are interest
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ed in the political, societal, economic and technological situation, journalistic standards and media accountability. The important thing is to know how media systems evolve in each country, under the influence of political institutions and external stakeholders. We examined how political, media, economic and social systems co-work or influence each other and how they affect each other." (Publisher description)
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"In many countries, especially outside Europe and the United States, we find a significant further decline in the use of Facebook for news and a growing reliance on a range of alternatives including private messaging apps and video networks. Facebook news consumption is down 4 percentage points, acr
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oss all countries, in the last year.
• News use across online platforms is fragmenting, with six networks now reaching at least 10% of our respondents, compared with just two a decade ago. YouTube is used for news by almost a third (31%) of our global sample each week, WhatsApp by around a fifth (21%), while TikTok (13%) has overtaken Twitter (10%), now rebranded X, for the first time.
• Linked to these shifts, video is becoming a more important source of online news, especially with younger groups. Short news videos are accessed by two-thirds (66%) of our sample each week, with longer formats attracting around half (51%). The main locus of news video consumption is online platforms (72%) rather than publisher websites (22%), increasing the challenges around monetisation and connection.
• Although the platform mix is shifting, the majority continue to identify platforms including social media, search, or aggregators as their main gateway to online news. Across markets, only around a fifth of respondents (22%) identify news websites or apps as their main source of online news – that’s down 10 percentage points on 2018. Publishers in a few Northern European markets have managed to buck this trend, but younger groups everywhere are showing a weaker connection with news brands than they did in the past.
• Turning to the sources that people pay most attention to when it comes to news on various platforms, we find an increasing focus on partisan commentators, influencers, and young news creators, especially on YouTube and TikTok. But in social networks such as Facebook and X, traditional news brands and journalists still tend to play a prominent role.
• Concern about what is real and what is fake on the internet when it comes to online news has risen by 3 percentage points in the last year with around six in ten (59%) saying they are concerned. The figure is considerably higher in South Africa (81%) and the United States (72%), both countries that have been holding elections this year.
• Worries about how to distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy content in online platforms is highest for TikTok and X when compared with other online networks. Both platforms have hosted misinformation or conspiracies around stories such as the war in Gaza, and the Princess of Wales’s health, as well as so-called ‘deep fake’ pictures and videos." (Executive summary, page 10)
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"This is the first time that we have attempted to put together an overall picture of the community broadcasting sector of the Asia-Pacific region into one publication. I hope you – as a community broadcaster,advocate, teacher, and student of community radio, will find it interesting and useful. Th
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e publication is primarily based on information collected through two methods. A comprehensive survey was conducted in ten countries of the Asia-Pacific region. The survey sought to collect general information about community radios in terms of location, transmission capacity, staff situation, involvement of volunteers, broadcasting languages and formats, content types, and ownership model. The survey also included questions about gender and social inclusion, disaster preparedness of radio stations, and involvement of indigenous communities, Dalits, and family (small) farming communities in community broadcasting. Surveys were conducted in Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, and Timor Leste." (Introduction and methodology, page 5)
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"The report has, in summary, shown that although there are positive developments across the Southern African region, meeting the international standards is still work in progress and in some instances, states are regressing. There is evidence of a plethora of challenges that hinder the practice of i
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ndependent journalism and also the continuation of restrictive measures that do not promote press freedom. Journalists who face intimidation, harassment and other forms of violence, in most instances are confronted with the reality of impunity and diminishing political will to protect media workers. As a way forward, it is imperative for states in Southern Africa to adopt the necessary practical measures and implement the 2019 Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa. The calls on States to create a conducive environment for the exercise of freedom of expression, and ensure protection from interference both online and offline." (Conclusion, page 23)
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