"[...] En este informe confirmamos que si bien existen avances en algunos países, la mayor parte de ellos mantiene un sistema regulatorio y políticas públicas de radio y televisión que violan la libertad de expresión; que se traducen en prácticas discrecionales y discriminatorias en la adjudic
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ación de frecuencias; que no establecen límites reales a la concentración de medios; que imponen barreras a las comunidades indígenas, las organizaciones sociales y otros medios no comerciales al acceso equitativo, y que, además, disponen limitaciones técnicas y económicas que impiden su desarrollo, lo que deriva en el silenciamiento de voces disidentes y diversas e impacta gravemente a la democracia, situación que se ha venido agudizando con los procesos de convergencia y transición tecnológica. Estos procesos, que avanzan rápidamente, podrían –y deberían- ser una gran oportunidad para garantizar el ejercicio de la libertad de expresión en condiciones de pluralidad y diversidad. Sin embargo, existe una preocupante tendencia hacia una mayor concentración de medios de comunicación por efecto de la expansión de servicios de quienes ya cuentan con frecuencias del espectro radioeléctrico, por lo que consideramos conveniente que la CIDH determine estándares específcios que permitan tanto el artículo 13º de la Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos, como la Declaración de Principios sobre Libertad de Expresión, de 2000, en materia de regulación de servicios de comunicación audiovisual y radiodifusión, tanto en lo que toca a los entornos existentes como a la transición a los soportes digitales, previa a la adopción de normas nacionales para garantizar una distribución y asignación de espectro compatibles con el Estado de Derecho y el pluralismo." (Introducción)
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"This research project was undertaken with the purpose of exploring the ways in which government mandated programme production schemes may contribute to the capacities and sustainability of the community radio sector. The study involved a critical policy analysis of the Irish Sound and Vision Scheme
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as well as an international comparative analysis of funding schemes as organised in five other jurisdictions [...] The five jurisdictions that were selected for comparison were Austria, Canada, Denmark, France and New Zealand. The choice of schemes was shaped by the ‘method of agreement’ principle, which allows for the selection of varied national contexts (political culture and longevity of scheme, etc.) combined with the relative comparative nature of the policy under consideration. It is important to note the structural differences between the funding schemes. In Denmark, France and Canada the schemes were initiated as dedicated community media/radio production funds and legislation and policy evolved accordingly. In Austria the scheme was legislated for and developed as a dedicated community broadcasting production fund alongside a dedicated fund for the commercial broadcasting sector. In New Zealand the scheme was legislated for as a generic ‘local content’ production fund (open to community, commercial and public television and radio broadcasters) and adapted to enable a dedicated funding policy for access/community radio production within the wider scheme. In Ireland the scheme originated from legislation for a ‘national content’ production fund, open to broadcasters (community, commercial and public) and independent producers. The scheme is ‘generic’ and open to all of these sectors and is thus not a dedicated community media scheme, nor does it contain a separate scheme for community media production funding." (Executive summary, pages v-vi)
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"This report provides an overview of the different kinds of laws that affect the media and explains how they are used in many countries to influence the operations of news outlets and the information they offer. It focuses on restrictive laws more than on those of the enabling and empowering variety
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, for the simple reason that enabling laws are–unfortunately–relatively rare. It also considers how Internet-based outlets are affected by laws, and how the legal regime in a country affects the ability of individual bloggers or citizen journalists to hold their governments to account. This is a particularly significant area of inquiry as the reach of digital media spreads around the world, increasing in importance as the means by which citizens receive their news and information. While the focus of this report is on the impact of laws on media in the developing world, it also considers the use of laws–particularly on terrorism and libel–in other parts of the world. Many countries have inherited their libel laws from Britain or France, for example, and legal developments there continue to be influential elsewhere. Similarly, many countries have taken a copycat approach to introducing new anti-terrorism laws from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Western Europe and have applied them to clamp down on those who criticize the government." (Introduction, page 4)
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"The Department of Communications (“DoC”) Community Radio Support Programme (“CRSP”) was initiated in 1998 and includes a range of categories of support: Infrastructure rollout to provide technical equipment to stations; Signal distribution and upgrade; Programme production support on specif
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ic areas capacity building and training; and Satellite network infrastructure support. The CRSP project has played an important role in assisting in the growth and sustainability of the community radio sector since its inception. It has helped stations to get on air by installing studios in stations and increased their sustainability through subsidising signal distribution costs, giving support for programming and providing training (both workshops organised by the DoC and through support for the National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa (“Nemisa”). The CRSP was launched before the establishment of other public entities focused on supporting the sector such as the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (“USAASA”), and the Media Development and Diversity Agency (“MDDA”), and therefore filled an important gap in assisting communities to exercise their rights to own their own media." (Executive summary, page 7)
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"A través de la recuperación de la tradición histórica boliviana basada en las experiencias radiofónicas sobre comunicación para el cambio social, el trabajo busca establecer los últimos cambios legales y políticos referentes a la comunicación comunitaria, sus futuras líneas de trabajo y e
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l papel de las redes de medios alternativos sobre su cambio o su consolidación." (Resumen)
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"This book offers a rigorous, theory-based, and uniquely comprehensive, analysis of European and international legal standards shaping minorities’ right to freedom of expression. The analysis pays particular attention to the instrumental role played by traditional and new forms of media in ensurin
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g that the right to freedom of expression of persons belonging to minorities is effective in practice. The relevant international legal framework is set out in detail, including a careful examination of the relationship between generalist and minority-specific international human rights instruments. Due attention is paid to the historical circumstances in which key instruments were developed and the contemporary context in which they are now being interpreted. The analysis is also informed by an awareness of institutional and political dynamics. All of this forms the basis for the book’s central objective: to mount a critical evaluation of the existing international legal framework governing freedom of expression for minorities, while drawing on theoretical insights gained from human rights scholarship and communications science. The first major focus of the evaluation is the regulation and restriction of expression to protect minority rights, in which issues such as pluralism, tolerance and “hate speech” feature centrally. Its second major focus, the regulation and facilitation of expression to promote minority rights, explores cultural and linguistic rights and media access questions." (Back cover)
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"The Law, published on 22 December 2010, is an amendment to the 2004 Law on Social Responsibility on Radio and Television. The 2010 amended Law extends the power of the state to control electronic media in the same way as traditional broadcasting. The Law aims at “establishing social responsibilit
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y” for all participants and “to set a balance between their duties, liberties and rights”. While these purposes are recognised as legitimate by international law, ARTICLE 19 is concerned by four aspects of the law. Firstly, the Law includes no safeguards against disproportionate and arbitrary restrictions on freedom of expression. In particular, there is no requirement for restrictions to meet the three-party test established by international law. In light of the severity of the provided sanctions, and the unnecessarily intrusive nature of certain restrictions, such an omission has troubling implications for freedom of expression. Secondly, the Law fails to secure the independence of the broadcast regulators. While several regulatory bodies are established to implement the law, all are either part of the government or controlled by the government. This contradicts international standards and further exposes media regulators to arbitrary and politically-motivated decisions. Thirdly, the Law contains some unclear prohibitions – with sanctions in place for “[encouraging] anxiety amount citizenry”, or “[disregarding] legitimate authorities” - which risk being used arbitrarily to place broadcast media under political control and to limit media pluralism. Finally, the Law contains broad provisions for state control over the internet, with electronic media being regulated in the same way as traditional broadcasting. Such an approach to Internet regulation impedes both the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy." (Executive summary)
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"This book, through five case studies in India, explores communication rights movements here. It encompasses pivotal areas of movements, such as, Right to Information, Free and Open Source Software, Women and Media, and Community Radio and Citizen Journalism. The complexity of specific agendas in In
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dia, such as, rights of women, citizen activism and role of media is analyzed while placing the subject in a broader theoretical context. The author makes a strong case of the right of people to be able to access information. He also explores processes through which ordinary citizens are able to develop spaces for self-expression; a concept synonymous with media democratization in this century. The author highlights the need to ‘localize’ communication rights struggles in those places facing real communication deficits daily." (Publisher description)
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"Those working to develop and reform media often draw on human rights discourse, especially in areas of political violence. Yet discourse reflecting globally dominant conceptions of individually based human rights can have detrimental effects. This study illustrates how militarization and this disco
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urse of human rights can be mutually reinforcing, and explores the impact of this phenomenon on media and reform efforts. We examine as case studies the efforts to reform and develop media in the Philippines and Burma (Myanmar), both militarized states with severely constrained political discourse. As a result, media freedom and reform efforts tend to center on the safety and individual rights of journalists rather than on media as a public service, a political and social force accessible to all." (Abstract)
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"This publication is the first independent, large-scale study of music, film and software piracy in the developing world, with a focus on Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, Mexico and Bolivia. Based on three years of work by some thirty-five researchers, the study tells two overarching stories: on
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e tracing the explosive growth of piracy as digital technologies became cheap and ubiquitous around the world, and another following the growth of industry lobbies that have reshaped laws and law enforcement around copyright protection. The report argues that enforcement efforts have largely failed, and that the problem of piracy is better addressed as a failure of affordable access to media in legal markets." (Back cover)
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"The monitoring of Iraqi media reveals that inflammatory coverage does not necessarily consist of a direct call to violence, but instead takes the form of indirect or coded terminology that still has dangerous potential to foment conflict. Current regulatory and self-regulatory efforts designed to p
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revent media incitement to violence have, thus far, been insufficient. Lessons learned from post-conflict Bosnia, Kosovo and Sri Lanka can assist Iraqis in creating their own legal and self-regulatory mechanisms to limit inflammatory media coverage. There are a wide range of measures to mitigate inflammatory media coverage, including targeted training for media and government officials, broad support for a professional code of conduct, a full review of existing legislation relating to incitement, and the creation of a lexicon of inflammatory terms with guidelines for the proper use of these terms." (Abstract)
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