"El libro que ahora tienen entre sus manos, resultado de meses de ardua coordinación e investigación en Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua y El Salvador, recoge con mucha preocupación la firme tendencia que existe en Centroamérica hacia una mayor concentración de la propiedad de los medios de comun
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icación en oligopolios mediáticos comerciales. Esta preocupación se vuelve más fuerte cuando los procesos de digitalización de las comunicaciones, ya emprendidos en estos países, apuntan a generar más concentración de medios en pocas empresas o familias, afectando directamente a la calidad de nuestra democracia. Los resultados que recogemos en este libro no presentan un panorama alentador, sobre todo porque las autoridades encargadas de conducir este proceso de transformación o convergencia tecnológica buscan digitalizar la radio y la televisión con los mismos marcos jurídicos que nos han llevado a la concentración de la propiedad de frecuencias en pocas manos. Esto no es bueno para la democracia centroamericana. Entonces, es urgente que nuestros gobiernos y legisladores/as enfoquen y le den un nuevo rumbo a la digitalización de las comunicaciones, que no es un asunto meramente técnico, sino pr ofundamente político, que tiene ver con el futuro de las nuevas generaciones en Centroamérica. Todavía estamos a tiempo de modificar este camino, amañado por las asociaciones y cámaras de radio y televisión, pues la multiplicación de canales o las frecuencias resultantes del dividendo digital deben ayudar a modificar el actual mapa de medios en la región." (Presentación, página I)
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"Among the many topics discussed here are the difference among specific media formats, including television, newspapers, radio, film and photography; policy issues; and the challenge that new media poses to governance in a developing nation faced with innumerable economic, social and political probl
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ems. Eschewing the currently dominant development communication model, the editors argue that market forces rather than planned state interventions will contribute to a more equitable communication environment." (Publisher description)
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"The institutionalisation of democracy in Ghana (1992) and Nigeria (1999) after years of military regimes facilitated the need to reform old media structures that supported authoritarian regimes into institutions that would facilitate the democratic process. The media reform initiatives embarked upo
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n by both countries liberalised the media environment to create a free and independent media that would support the transition process by offering a platform for public debate, aimed at enhancing political participation. Using policy analysis and elite interviews, this article examines the reforms in both countries, and the extent to which Western countries/ donors impacted on their policy formulation and implementation processes. The author argues that these countries’ historical, political and socio-cultural antecedents have affected the praxes of their media reforms, and as a result their objectives have not been fully realised." (Abstract)
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"This briefing argues that the Iraqi media landscape of 2013 may not be the free, plural and professional fourth estate that many in the West had envisaged in 2003 but that it has real strengths – as well as weaknesses – which reflect the reality and complexity of modern Iraq. The seismic shift
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in attitudes that the Iraqi media was asked to embrace in the reconstruction of the sector after Saddam Hussein’s fall was always likely to take time. It is suggested here that the prospects for Iraq’s media are less bleak than is often assumed." (Executive summary, page 4)
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"Quel que soit le pays ou le continent considéré, une interdépendance étroite existe aujourd’hui entre démocratie, liberté des médias et régulation de la communication. Une place cruciale revient en effet aux organes de régulation dans la procédure d’allocation de fréquences d’émis
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sions, dans la promotion de la diversité culturelle des contenus médiatiques, dans l’équitable accès aux ondes des courants politiques et de pensée, ou encore dans l’émergence de véritables médias de service public. Les organes de régulation des médias se sont partout ou presque imposés comme partie intégrante de l’appareillage institutionnel démocratique. En Afrique subsaharienne, les premières instances de régulation des médias ont été créées dans le sillage de la démocratisation, au tournant des années 1980/1990. Le rejet du système des partis uniques et la revendication des libertés civiles et politiques se traduisent notamment alors, dans le domaine de l’information et de la communication, par l’avènement de régulateurs dont la vocation est de couper le cordon ombilical entre pouvoir politique et médias. Le bouillonnement médiaticopolitique né de l’essor sans précédent de nouveaux supports écrits et audiovisuels privés, a, de par sa vigueur et, il faut bien le reconnaître aussi, ses excès, nécessité l’organisation de ces nouvelles libertés d’expression et de communication. Ce besoin d’arbitrage, justifié au nom de l’intérêt supérieur du public et de son droit à une information de qualité, a débouché sur la création d’instances de régulation des médias écrits et/ou audiovisuels. A l’heure où la légitimité de ces nouveaux acteurs indépendants semble globalement acquise, de nouveaux dangers les attendent pourtant : sauront-ils, par exemple, relever les défis que leur posent les nouvelles technologies de l’information et de la communication - notamment Internet – et parviendront-ils à gérer collectivement, en bonne intelligence et complémentarité, les images télévisuelles se déversant sur les Etats africains, en s’affranchissant de toute considération de frontières ?" (Description de la maison d'édition)
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"This report analyses current media legislation and regulation in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam and examines the opportunities for the development of public service and community broadcasting. The report also includes useful references to Singapore." (Preface)
"This article explores the emergence of a new landscape of local print and broadcast media in revolutionary Libya that is both the result of the dramatic changes that the country has undergone and one of their facilitators. This article analyses the political impact of these new forms of media durin
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g and after the 2011 Libyan uprisings, with an emphasis on how the role and the self-image of journalists and media producers has evolved alongside with Libya’s political transformation. It is demonstrated that the new Libyan media began their life as ‘partisan advocates’ and that different societal currents are now struggling to set the new role of media. It concludes with an analysis of the newly implemented legal framework and institutions which govern the Libyan media. It remains unclear if recent legislation will protect independent media from the authorities or, conversely, allow the state to exert censorship and consolidate its ownership over the media. This article analyses the various approaches to media jurisdiction prevalent in post-Qadhafi Libya as reflecting various degrees of state intervention. This discussion reflects the inherent contradictions of a society which, with very little preparation, has had to manage the change from conditions of absolute governmental control to conditions of relative anarchy." (Abstract)
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"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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"This article investigates the operation of the contested reply and correction provisions of the 2008 Slovak Press Act and their influence on journalism. I argue that apart from the ‘law-on-the-books’, we need to examine the interactions between the media, policymakers and judges in order to exp
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lain how law shapes journalism in the public spheres of Central and Eastern European democracies. Such interactions are based on the interests and experiences of the actors and conditioned by their particular historical, structural, cultural and international contexts. Our analysis thus needs to take them all into account when assessing the role of legislation." (Abstract)
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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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"Das Ziel dieser Einführung in das Medienrecht besteht darin, Journalistinnen und Journalisten einen Überblick über die rechtlichen Regeln zu geben, die den normativen Rahmen ihrer beruflichen Praxis bilden. Eine möglichst genaue Kenntnis dieses Rahmens ist zum einen vonnöten, um unerwünschte
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Folgen des eigenen Verhaltens zu vermeiden. Da die Neigung der von der Berichterstattung Betroffenen weiter zuzunehmen scheint, ihre Rechte einzuklagen und Journalisten sowie Medienbetriebe für negative Folgen der Berichterstattung schadensersatzpflichtig zu machen, kommt es darauf an, die rechtlichen Risiken des eigenen Tuns zu minimieren. Zugleich können solche Kenntnisse aber auch dazu dienen, ungerechtfertigte Einschüchterungsversuche zurückzuweisen und die durch Presse- und Rundfunkfreiheit gewährten Handlungsspielräume zugunsten von Lesern, Hörern und Zuschauern zu nutzen und so zu der freien öffentlichen Kommunikation beizutragen, die zu den zentralen Wesensmerkmalen einer freiheitlichen Gesellschaft gehört. Unter „Medienrecht“ werden hier in erster Linie die Teile der Rechtsordnung verstanden, die die Rechte und Pflichten des Journalisten im Berufsalltag betreffen. Das Organisationsrecht der elektronischen Medien wird nur insoweit berücksichtigt, wie es sich auf diese Rechte und Pflichten auswirkt. Die Rechtsbeziehungen zwischen Journalisten und ihren Arbeit- bzw. Auftraggebern werden nur behandelt, soweit es um die Nutzung ihrer urheberrechtlich geschützten Werke geht." (Einleitung, Seite 13)
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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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"Somalia is often described as ‘lawless’ or ‘the world’s most failed state’, a characterization that overlooks the way law and governance actually works in the absence of a capable central government. This article will explore the role of xeer law, or customary law, in regulating media, in
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cluding both older media, such as poetry, and newer media, such as mobile phones, in Somalia’s complex legal environment. While Somalia remains one of the most dangerous regions of the world for journalists, dozens of radio stations are broadcasting in South-Central Somalia and there is a competitive newspaper industry in Somaliland. In addition, the telecoms industry is booming with some of the best connections and lowest rates on the continent for the internet and mobile phones. Various authorities govern media and resolve conflicts across the Somali territories. To understand media ‘law’ in this region we must look beyond the formal state structures." (Abstract)
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