"This report is a qualitative study focussing on Zimbabwe’s failure and/or refusal to license community radio stations since 2001, despite existing legal frameworks providing for such. It looks at the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the Broadcasting Services Act, the two key pieces of legislation whi
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ch provide the legal framework for the licensing of broadcasting services. The report also looks at the country’s obligations under international human rights law, experiences of people attempting to obtain community licenses and identifies the gaps that exist between policy and practice. The report is based on field visits to Zimbabwe by Amnesty International delegates conducted in August, September and October 2014 and in March 2015. A total of 29 activists involved in advocacy for establishment of community radio stations were interviewed in Bulawayo, Gweru, Harare, Kariba, Kwekwe, Lupane and Masvingo." (Page 5)
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"In the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on the role of community media in promoting social cohesion and intercultural dialogue passed on 11 February 2009 by the Council of Europe, stations run by religious institutions were explicitly excluded from the community media definition, as being
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too dependent on the Church. But the reality seems to be far from this definition. In practice, in many countries the religious radio stations officially belong to—or even dominate—this sector. In 2011 a new period began for community broadcasting in Hungary. While most of the former community media broadcasters could not find resources with which to operate, the community media landscape was dramatically overwhelmed by religious broadcasters both on regional and local levels. The legally-recognised third tier of broadcasting in Poland called ‘social broadcasting’ is actively and exclusively used by religious radio—seven stations broadcast locally and one is a powerful nationwide radio station called Radio Maryja. The authors gathered information and points of views from radio experts, organizations and activists living and working in different EU and non-EU states about the place of religious broadcasting in the community media sector. Two case-studies (Hungary and Poland) may be of interest for countries considering the introduction or reorganisation of regulations regarding community broadcasting." (Abstract)
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"Auch wenn es in Brasilien heute mehr als 4.000 Community Radios gibt, empfinden viele der Radiomachenden die gesetzlichen Rahmenbedingungen nicht als adäquate Übersetzung des »Rechts auf Radio«. Sie setzen den legalen Einschränkungen ihres Medienmachens deshalb ein wirkmächtiges Konzept entge
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gen, nämlich das medialer Legitimation. Die vorliegende Arbeit zeichnet diese Strategien und ihre spezifischen Akteur_innen auf interdisziplinärem Terrain nach. Mithilfe eines explorativen mapping des brasilianischen Radionarrativs zeigt sie, wie etablierter Akteur_innen in ihrer Monopolstellung herausgefordert werden, welche spezifischen Vorschläge eines »anderen« Radiomachens gegenüber dem staatlichen script von Community Radio formuliert werden und schließlich, anhand von 17 Fallbeispielen, wie Sendekollektive sich situativ zu legitimieren suchen. Dabei wird ein zentrales Dilemma sichtbar: Es gibt in Brasililien derzeit keinen Ort, an dem alle relevanten Akteur_innen zusammentreffen, um eine konsensuelle (Neu)Bestimmung von »Rundfunk« vorzunehmen zu können. Auf theoretischer Ebene leistet die Arbeit einen Beitrag zu medienpolitischen Debatten in Brasilien und Lateinamerika. Sie fokussiert dabei auf die Frage medialer Legitimation und zeigt, wie unterschiedliche gesellschaftliche Akteur_innen sich dieses Konzept aneignen. Der Ansatz der Akteur-innen-Netzwerk-Theorie im Rahmen einer (multi- sited) Medienethnografie trägt dazu bei, statische Definitionen und Kategorisierungen des Rundfunks zu überwinden, die einer breiten gesellschaftlichen Aushandlung und Aneignung des Mediums abträglich sind." (Zusammenfassung)
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"L’objectif de ce diagnostic est de mettre en lumière les derniers développements du secteur des radios communautaires et associatives tunisiennes, leurs points de force et les points de faiblesse. C’est aussi l’occasion pour avoir une vision globale sur l’approche des institutions qui rè
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glent le secteur." (Introduction)
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"Within a few short years, the Press Council of Kosovo (PCK) and the Independent Media Commission (IMC) have successfully established a model of media regulation and selfregulation familiar to Western democracies. This follows a historic period of state or partisan influence in print media and broad
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casting. The achievements of the IMC and PCK should not be underestimated. However, both organisations now face a series of significant challenges. All leaders of the media industry and civil society interviewed for this study believe public awareness of the Press Council of Kosovo and the Independent Media Commission is poor, especially in the case of the IMC. Continual funding crises limit their effectiveness and capacity for future development." (Page 4)
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"This chapter explores the South African experience in attempting to achieve a more diverse and representative media that articulate the aspirations of the country, after decades of apartheid which skewed the media towards white people. South Africa has not developed a diversity measurement tool, su
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ch as the one developed for the European Commission to assess risks to media plurality in member states.1 A key problem the country faces in tracking the extent of concentration and diversity is that it has no ‘objective’2 means of assessing the extent of diversity, which up to this point has simply been ‘read off’ the number of existing media outlets. While a plurality of outlets may arguably be a necessary condition for diversity, it is by no means a sufficient condition." (Abstract)
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"This is a book about free speech narratives. Stories about how imagination and rational thinking in wildly different cultures capture, imagine, and conceptualize what freedom of speech means. 1989 and 2011 are only two recent (in historic perspective) turning points when freedom of speech and freed
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om of the press emerged, or at least powerful efforts were made to support its emergence, although disheartening backlashes followed in several countries. This book also tells many other free speech narratives that emerged, or evolved outside the frames of 1989 and 2011, also with several troublesome repercussions. The fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the year of largely velvet revolutions (in the words of Vaclav Havel), brought freedom of speech to Central Europe and Eastern Europe. It also increased the hope that freedom of speech and democracy can prevail in more and more countries on the earth. This book examines, in some historic perspective, to what extent this hope has become reality since and prior to 1989, also in light of the Arab revolutions of 2011." (Introduction, page 1)
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"During the last decade, the image of war correspondents in the news has shifted dramatically. Reports are no longer full of cheerleading stories of embedded journalists. Instead, stories of war reporters being attacked, kidnapped or injured prevail. Sadly, the former heroic witnesses to war have be
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come victims of their own story. In this book, Nina Burri provides the first comprehensive analysis on how international law protects professional and citizen journalists, photographers, cameramen and their support staff during times of war. Using examples from recent armed conflicts in Iraq, Libya, Gaza and Syria, Burri explores the means, methods and risks of contemporary war coverage and examines the protection of news providers by international humanitarian law, international criminal law and human rights law." (Abstract)
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"Montenegro’s government should support openness and informed debate in making and implementing public policy decisions. Instead, information concerning matters of public interest is often withheld or distorted by government and by pliant media outlets favoured with official assistance. State fund
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ing and selective advertising are used to reward positive media coverage, and withheld to punish media outlets that question official policies or practices. This soft censorship is quickening an already serious erosion of the independence of the many Montenegrin media outlets for which state funding is necessary for survival. It embeds self-censorship, and has further polarized media coverage and encouraged poor quality journalism that is of little service to public discussion and diminishes media credibility overall." (Conclusion, page 19)
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"En el marco del proyecto “Mejora del Empoderamiento Ciudadano y la identidad Nacional a través de Comunicaciones Estratégicas para la inclusión Social“ del Banco Mundial este informe realizará aportes para la elaboración e impiementación de políticas públicas de comunicación en el marc
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o de los estándares internacionales en materia de libertad de expresión y la Convención Americana de Derechos Humanos ratificada por la República del Perú. Para ello, se abordarán estos aspectos: importancia de la diversidad y el pluralismo en la actual agenda internacional de protección y promoción de la libertad de expresión; desarrolllo conceptual sobre la necesidad, obligación, potestad y límites de la intervención estatal en este tema; propuesta de agenda prioritaria de temas de políticas públicas de comunicación que Perú debería abordar, y sus fundamentos; recomendaciones de algunas políticas públicas a desarrollar de acuerdo a los más altos estándares interamericanos y ofreciendo como referencia las mejores prácticas regionales y recomendaciones internacionales." (Página 115)
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"How has broadcasting governance affected broadcast media development in Uganda during the Museveni years? The main approach was content analysis of relevant legislation and policies, and key informant interviews with major stakeholders. The key finding is that in the period under examination, Ugand
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a adopted a piecemeal approach to legislation, and to a great extent relied on laws rather than policies to govern broadcasting. Broadcasting diversity and independence remained elusive, and little development of the sector beyond growth in numbers (multiplicity of outlets) was experienced. There is a need to review existing frameworks." (Abstract)
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"There are a multitude of UN legal instruments which pertain to the rights of freedom of expression and information, and this book is the first to comprehensively map them and their function. It details the chequered history of both rights within the UN system and evaluates the suitability of the sy
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stem for overcoming contemporary challenges and threats to the rights. Leading scholars address key issues, such as how the rights to freedom of expression and information can come into conflict with other human rights and with public policy goals, such as counter-terrorism. The book's institutional focus comprises five international treaties, UNESCO and the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression." (Publisher description)
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"Der Beitrag befasst sich mit der Situation des Medienrechtes in Polen, 25 Jahre nach dem Ende der kommunistischen Herrschaft."
"By illustrating the rise of neoliberalism as a case in point, the study hypothesises a neoliberal influence on the measurement of freedom of information. To test such assumption, the work describes three ideal typical models of freedom of information – the liberal, egalitarian and neoliberal mode
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ls – and their connection with specific conceptions of democracy. Then, the article focuses on the Freedom of the Press Index by Freedom House, that is the most used and recognised instrument for measuring freedom of information. Though the Freedom House contends to measure a liberal conception of freedom of information, the analysis of the indicators of the Freedom of the Press Index shows that they mirror the neoliberal model at least with respect to the role of state and market on media systems, and the conception of media pluralism. The results bring into question the uncritical acceptance of the Freedom of the Press Index as the universal yardstick of freedom of information." (Abstract)
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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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"The Guidelines explain the international human rights standards on freedom of opinion and expression and provide political and operational guidance to officials and staff of the EU Institutions and EU Member States for their work in third countries and in multilateral fora as well as in contacts wi
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th international organisations, civil society and other stakeholders. The Guidelines also provide officials and staff with practical guidance on how to contribute to preventing potential violations of freedom of opinion and expression, how to analyse concrete cases and to react effectively when violations occur in order to protect and promote freedom of opinion and expression in the EU’s external action. They also outline how and in what strictly prescribed circumstances the freedom of opinion and expression can be limited." (Page 2)
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