"A quick review of the media status in Palestine indicates that the restrictions and general measures that accompanied the spread of the epidemic will lead to the suspension of many independent/private media outlets, as a result of the interruption of their main source of income, represented in the
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already scarce advertisements. This will cause a serious blow to pluralism and undermine the contexts and trends of public media coverage of various issues, at the forefront of which the controversial issues, which may pave the way for a single-opinion media in Palestine.The matter here is not only limited to the opportunities of continuity and survival from the financial challenges that independent/private media organizations will face, but also extends to one of the most important pillars of press, pluralism and freedom. It is not possible to address the concept of free media apart from pluralism, which (if absent) will lead to the lack of accountability and criticism on the media’s agenda, and the absence of a very important platform for public debate, which will deprive the public of an important opportunity to participate and influence public issues and policies. Some of the general measures imposed during this crisis (not only in Palestine but in various countries) indicate a more difficult and limited working environment that the media may be influenced by once the emergency state and the crisis end. Among the important questions raised in this regard is that idolizing the Government and Security Services (even the health staff ) in connection with their role as part of their duty, will affect the opportunities for the media to account and criticize the Government, Security Services and the health sector after the end of the pandemic." (Pages 4-5)
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"Correspondents in nine countries – Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia – have analysed how the pandemic has affected to their work environment. Lockdowns have caused print media sales and advertising revenue to collapse. Media w
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ith wealthy benefactors or state support are better placed to survive impending economic hardships. Various emergency laws and provisions allowed governments increased control over public information. In several cases, these enabled officials to evade scrutiny and attack journalists whose reporting challenged official statistics and the effectiveness of crisis measures." (Page 1)
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"Für Journalisten gehört Honduras zu den gefährlichsten Ländern der Welt. Das gilt besonders für diejenigen, die sich für Menschenrechte und Demokratie einsetzen, wie die Mitarbeiter von Radio Progreso, eines der letzten unabhängigen Medien des Landes. Jeden Tag schweben sie in Lebensgefahr."
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(Seite 6)
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"This paper attempts to have insight into the media landscape of Balochistan and issues too. Balochistan is considered to be a conflict zone due to many religious and ethnic issues. The safety of journalists and media workers are a prime concern for journalistic bodies and government. The violence's
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against journalists leads them to self-censorship, and it has limited the topics and geographical access covered by media. National media is working as bureau offices only; Bureau Chiefs of the media outlet are working as reporters. Balochistan and issues related to Balochistan are wipeouts from national media, and it has brought a sense of deprivation among people of Balochistan. Less coverage to Balochistan is one of the threatening elements for journalists, and different pressure groups have threatened journalists and few even killed." (Abstract)
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"Even with a backdrop of political instability, Sri Lanka’s overall 2019 MSI score remained at 1.80, the same as it was the last time the study was conducted in 2017. This year, the Freedom of Speech objective just crossed the threshold into the near sustainable category due to continued improveme
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nt in the legal framework after the 2015 election and the fact that no major incidents were committed against the media in 2018. Professional Journalism (Objective 2) was the only objective to decrease this year, which panelists attribute to politicization of news media, self-censorship, and few resources to pay adequate salaries or invest in quality, investigative journalism. This study separately analyzed how the media serves the public in Objective 6, with panelists noting that the media tends to reflect the views of the government, media owners, or the elite, rather than the concerns or needs of the general public." (Page 5)
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"My focus in this chapter is on civil society mobilization in Tanintharyi Region in southern Myanmar, and particularly in Kanbauk, a village of about 1,500 households in the Tanintharyi Hills, eighty kilometres north of the regional capital, Dawei. In recent years, Kanbauk villagers have contended w
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ith Delco Ltd, a Yangon-based company that runs a tin and tungsten mine in their area in a production-sharing agreement with the government-owned Mining Enterprise No. 2. Villagers have been seeking to assert some influence over company practices, especially regarding the release of wastewater into local streams. Tensions intensified after an accident in September 2015 in which a tailing pond embankment collapsed causing a flash flood that led to the death of a child and the destruction of many villagers' houses. I discuss the resistance effort that emerged in the village and the company's strategies to suppress and dismiss it. Specifically, I focus on the work of a Kanbauk writer and activist, Aung Lwin, and an evocative essay he wrote, published in May 2016 in Tanintharyi Weekly, a small regional publication. Written from the perspective of a fish dying in a stream polluted by mining waste, Aung Lwin's essay offers a sardonic view of events in the village and hints at a possible arrangement between the company and local government officials. As part of its larger effort to quash local resistance to the mine, Delco filed (and won) a lawsuit against Aung Lwin for criminal defamation under Article 500 of the Myanmar Penal Code. The case reveals the complexities of the current moment in Myanmar and the uncertain spaces in which actors in civil society are operating. It reveals as well the fraught dynamics of media, as authoritarian forces remain active and unpredictable. Although this particular lawsuit was brought against the writer rather than the publication, it has wider implications for Myanmar media, especially for smaller, more vulnerable, regional outlets." (Page 152)
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"This article discusses the habit of politicians paying journalists per diem rates in exchange for media coverage. Although bribery and money incentives have been studied as practices that compromise the ethics of journalism in several African countries, this paper researches Guinea-Bissau as an exa
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mple and establishes a distinction. Unlike bribery, the widespread payment of these stipends is legal, but it is chronically damaging for freedom of expression and professional integrity. Drawing on interviews, focus groups and ethnographic observation with professionals from national, local and community media, this paper documents the precarious state of journalism in Guinea-Bissau, particularly the sector's acute lack of financial resources and meagre wages. News sources, and dominantly the government and parties, organise multiple events, attracting coverage in exchange for remuneration. Accepting these payments is, for many journalists, the only possible mode of subsisting, despite compromising their independence. News coverage is consequently saturated with propaganda, and forms of investigative journalism are rare. This article argues that the payment of per diem rates, accepted as legitimate and common practice in several other countries, has led to a pervasive control of journalism." (Abstract)
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"From a normative standpoint the media are usually seen as one of the pillars of a national integrity system, entrusted with the tasks of exposing and preventing acts of corruption and educating the public of the harm caused by corruption. Nevertheless, corruption continues to be one of the most sig
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nificant challenges that Europe faces, undermining citizens' trust in democratic institutions and weakening the accountability of political leadership. Evidence suggests that in fragile EU democracies such as Bulgaria, despite more than eight years of full membership and numerous preventive measures, corruption is rife and the press is hardly capable of exposing abuses of power or authority. On the contrary - drawing on in-depth interviews with 35 Bulgarian journalists - this paper argues that since communism collapsed in the late 1980s the media in post-communist societies such as Bulgaria has gradually become an instrument to promote and defend private vested interests, and is plagued by corruption. Senior journalists and editors cast serious doubt over the ability of the post-communist free press and journalism to act as a watchdog for society." (Abstract)
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"We present a classification of the types of censorship of media to frame the various issues that journalism and freedom of expression face in Mexico, which mainly include the role of the State in preventing or enforcing censorship, the monopoly of a few corporate groups that control most of the mas
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s media and dictate fixed editorial lines throughout all of them, the effect of violence on journalism and the issues that are emerging around the freedom of expression in social media." (Abstract)
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"Das Buch befasst sich mit der Rolle von Medien in einem politischen Ausnahmezustand. Bettina Haasen hat in Burundi Journalistinnen und Journalisten zu ihrem beruflichen Rollenselbstverständnis befragt und diese Aussagen unter Berücksichtigung ihrer sozialen Herkunft und den Zielen der internation
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alen Medienentwicklungszusammenarbeit (MEZ) kritisch in den Blick genommen. Mit dem gescheiterten Putsch im Jahr 2015 hat das Mediensystem in Burundi einen grundlegenden Wandel erlebt: Medienhäuser wurden vollständig zerstört, Hunderte von Journalisten leben im Exil und die Meinungsfreiheit wurde begraben." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"The constitution of Lesotho gives assurance to freedom of expression which is supposed to protect the rights of journalists in the day to day dispensation of their duties. The situation on the ground however shows the exact opposite. Recent history can show assassination attempts on practicing jour
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nalists to the extent that one newspaper editor received severe gunshot wounds that left him maimed for life. The situation is so dire for journalists to the extent that whenever there is political turmoil in Lesotho, journalists flock into exile together with political targets during the political unrest. This study therefore sought to establish perceptions of journalists, policy makers, legislators, media students and ordinary citizens on the consequences of this prevailing situation of suppression of freedom of expression by the state. The study used qualitative methods for gathering information, presentation and analysis of findings. Information was gathered through in-depth face to face interviews with various sources. The findings were presented and analysed thematically." (Abstract)
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"News media played a prominent role in perpetuating the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Since then, Rwanda has undergone impressive social and economic growth, but the media landscape during this redevelopment remains understudied. Qualitative interviews with Rwandan journalists reveal that reporters censor
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themselves to promote peace and reunification. Short-term, prioritizing social good over media rights might help unify the country, but ultimately it could limit development and reinforce existing authoritarian power structures. Findings suggest that McQuail’s development media theory and Hachten’s developmental concept maintain relevance but point to the need for a new or revised media development paradigm." (Abstract)
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"According to Freedom House’s Freedom in the World data, media freedom has been deteriorating around the world over the past decade, with new forms of repression taking hold in open societies and authoritarian states alike. The trend is most acute in Europe, previously a bastion of well-establishe
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d freedoms, and in Eurasia and the Middle East, where many of the world’s worst dictatorships are concentrated. If democratic powers cease to support media independence at home and impose no consequences for its restriction abroad, the free press corps could be in danger of virtual extinction." (https://freedomhouse.org)
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"The Handbook of Research on Combating Threats to Media Freedom and Journalist Safety is an essential reference source that evaluates how diverse threats impact on journalists wellbeing, their right to freedom of expression, and overall media freedoms in various contexts and assesses inadequacies in
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national security policies, planning, and coordination relating to the safety of journalists in different countries. Featuring research on topics such as freedom of the press, professional journalism, and media security, this book is ideally designed for journalists, news writers, editors, columnists, press, broadcasters, newscasters, government officials, lawmakers, diplomats, international relations officers, law enforcement, industry professionals, academicians, researchers, and students." (Abstract)
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"The 2019 Europe and Eurasia Media Sustainability Index (MSI) saw another improvement in the combined average score for the 21 countries studied: In 2018, the combined average score was 1.84, and in 2019 this increased to 1.86. In comparison with the previous year’s study, there were modest gains
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at the regional level in Objectives 1 (Freedom of Speech), 2 (Professional Journalism), and 3 (Plurality); the largest increase happened in Objective 5 (Supporting Institutions), which moved from 1.99 in 2018 to 2.04 in 2019. Objective 4 (Business Management) saw a slight decline, reflecting the financial and economic challenges media across Europe and Eurasia continue to experience. At the country level, Armenia moved into the highest ranking position (by overall score) of all countries studied by the MSI with an overall score of 2.60 – powered by, in the words of the chapter’s author, “[a] momentous revolution, dubbed “velvet” by its leader, Nikol Pashinyan, [that] changed the Armenian political landscape, turned the media world upside down, and made 2018 a truly unprecedented year in Armenia’s modern history.” Following Armenia, the top five highest ranked countries included Kosovo (2.53), Albania (2.49), and Montenegro and Romania (tied at 2.45)." (Executive summary, page ix)
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"Kosovo’s overall score for the MSI dropped slightly this year, in comparison to its overall score of 2.56 in the previous year’s study. Despite this decline, Kosovo remains in the “near sustainability” classification. The 2019 chapter for Kosovo shows drops in the scores for the freedom of
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speech, professional journalism, and business management objectives, and moderate increases in plurality of news and supporting institutions. Panelists noted that while Kosovo enjoys good diversity in media, the steady shift away from traditional print media to the online environment has seen ethical standards diminish." (Page 3)
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"A hostile takeover of Egypt’s media is under way, leaving the influence on public opinion to be controlled by the state, the secret services and a few wealthy owners loyal to the regime and with close ties to the former president Hosni Mubarak. In a move to gain influence over the State-owned med
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ia, the media giant Egyptian Media group signed several deals with the National Media authority on 20 January 2019 extending its control and increasing the influence of the General Intelligence over the Egyptian media landscape. The coordinated attack on media freedom and pluralism is facilitated by a set of new laws restructuring the media sector in 2018 and by the ongoing pressure on journalists and media workers by the state." (http://www.mom-rsf.org/en/countries/egypt)
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