"Media reporting of armed conflict and other situations of heightened violence has become increasingly perilous, with large numbers of journalists and other media personnel killed or deliberately targeted because of their professional work, including by government forces and non-government actors. T
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he serious risks to the safety of media personnel raise questions about the adequacy and enforcement of the international legal frameworks available to protect them. This article examines the range of complicated, interlocking normative and institutional frameworks which govern media personnel and media objects in international and non-international armed conflict, and in violent emergency situations beneath the threshold of conflict, with a focus on international humanitarian law and human rights law. The legal characterisation of a violent situation has important implications for the status and treatment of media personnel, whether they are ‘war correspondents’, ‘embedded’ reporters, or independent journalists. This article reviews and clarifies the circumstances in which journalists and their equipment are protected from hostilities and when they may lose protection from attack; the measures of security, detention or restriction to which they may be subject; issues of professional privilege and confidentiality; and the perennial discussion about whether journalists should receive a special status and emblem in conflict situations." (Abstract)
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"This Manual is primarily designed to be used as a resource for a training course for laypersons on the basics of freedom of expression. It is intended to be used course participants, as well as by the trainers delivering it. While it is largely selfexplanatory, at the same time training will work b
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etter if delivered by trainers who have been provided with inputs from freedom of expression experts, so that they have a broader set of resources to draw upon than are set out in the Manual itself. As a result, it is idea if the trainers have undergone a training of trainers session on how to use the Manual." (Pages 1-2)
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"This book is meant to present the basics of freedom of information or right to information, defined as the universal right to access information held by public bodies. It presents in an easy-to-understand and non-technical fashion the basic principles of freedom of information, such as maximum disc
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losure, obligation to publish, promotion of open government, limited scope of exceptions and the process to facilitate access. In this new edition, the introduction, the comparative chapter, and the section on international standards and trends, have been totally revised. The country chapters provide an in-depth-analysis to the right of access in Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, India, Jamaica, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, Uganda, United Kigdom and the USA. According to the author "since the last edition five years ago, we can now say that every region of the world has adopted right to information laws." (CAMECO Update 2-2008)
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"According to the introduction, this 'guide is intended as a tool for media reform particularly in developing and transitional democracies. At the same time, it should be useful anywhere people aspire to a deeper democracy. Building democracy is a process, often long-term, and promoting free, plural
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istic, and independent media should be a central part of it.' The book provides development practitioners with an overview of the key policy and regulatory issues involved in supporting freedom of information and expression and enabling independent public service media. Country examples illustrate how these norms have been institutionalized in various contexts. Specific chapters cover public service, community nonprofit and commercial broadcasting regulation. The study is complemented by a 122-page bibliographical annex." (CAMECO Update 5-2008)
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"Las prácticas y experiencias sobre acceso a la información y participación ciudadana que se reseñan en este documento reflejan ciertos avances hacia un fortalecimiento del sistema de control, lo que resulta imprescindible para una gobernabilidad incluyente. Sin embargo, el relevamiento indica t
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ambién que los estados no han dado pasos incontestables, sino que se trata de medidas aisladas que sólo logran conformar –aunque de manera incompleta– un cuadro cuando se las combina con las que han tomado los demás. La experiencia también demuestra que los poderes políticos no tienen incentivos para producir reformas integrales." (Observaciones finales, página 31)
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"The objectives of this handbook are as follows: to provide resources to civil society organisations in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) which are seeking to achieve independent broadcasting regulation and an independent public broadcaster; to share South Africa’s experiences of s
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etting up and running independent statutory communications bodies, focusing specifically on teh Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC); to provide a user-friendly but in-depth analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the South African ‘model’ in relation to independent broadcasting; to explore the role of civil society activism in amplifying the strengths, while addressing the weaknesses of independent broadcasting in South Africa; to explore whether a balance has been struck between independence and accountability in relation to the SABC, and to look at what the challenges are on both these levels; to develop recommendations on how to strengthen the South African ‘model ‘ of public broadcasting and broadcasting regulation, while avoiding its pitfalls. Each section of the handbook will end with a series of discussion points." (Page iv)
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"Amidst the fast-changing broadcast media landscape, the present book examined many “balancing acts” which stake-holders both in government and private sector have to undertake to establish and maintain an effective and credible broadcast regulation mechanism. For example, it requires a balancin
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g act to determine which aspects of broadcasting can be regulated to protect citizens rights but at the same time not to provide an opportunity for “powers that be” to curtail freedom. One needs to strike a balance between the independence of the regulator and the government’s own purpose to pursue public policy objectives; and as determining where the balance lies between the potentially conflicting rights of the broadcaster, society, and the individual. Another important contribution of this book is the discussion on new or emerging issues which may create some confusion in the regulatory system, such as jurisdiction issues for cable and telecommunication as carriers of broadcast programmes, issues on spectrum management; issues on broadcasting-related intellectual property rights and the role of the government in the digital switchover. Of special interest to UNESCO is the discussion on licensing community radio stations. UNESCO has always encouraged for allocating frequencies for community radios which serve the needs of marginalized groups. Policymakers, particularly legislators on the lookout for a model regulatory framework and mechanism will find the appended law outline most useful and adaptable because of its comprehensiveness despite its outline format. Meanwhile, a substantial section provides country experiences in terms of model regulatory objects." (Foreword)
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"The study showed that, in 2005, the contribution of the copyright-based industries (CIs) to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Ukraine amounted to 2.85 per cent or 12,583.54 million UAH. At the same time the total contribution of the core CIs constituted 1.54 per cent or 6,815.61 million UAH. The
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contribution of CIs to gross national production in 2005 amounted to 3.47 per cent, or 36,336.71 million UAH. The contribution of the core CIs to gross production constituted 2.07 per cent, or 21,714.34 million UAH. The total number of employees in the CIs in 2005 amounted to 360,412 persons or 1.91 per cent of the total working population of Ukraine." (Summary, page 4)
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