"The fifth edition of the AI Index Report includes data from a broad set of academic, private, and nonprofit organizations as well as more self-collected data and original analysis than any previous editions, including an expanded technical performance chapter, a new survey of robotics researchers a
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round the world, data on global AI legislation records in 25 countries, and a new chapter with an in-depth analysis of technical AI ethics metrics." (Introduction, page 2)
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"Using lessons learned from the work of the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth and Reconciliation (GIJTR), this policy brief gives an overview of the opportunities and challenges that arise around media coverage of transitional justice processes, and recommendations for activists who wish to engag
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e with journalists and less traditional media figures around issues of memory, truth and justice." (Introduction)
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"UNDP's Digital Strategy builds on the momentum created by the first strategy launched in 2018 and lays out a long-term vision for UNDP to 'help create a world in which digital is an empowering force for people and planet'. It outlines three interconnected objectives through which UNDP will support
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countries in reaping the benefits of digital technology while mitigating the risks. Digital Strategy 2022-2025 is intended to maintain and accelerate the momentum that has already been generated across UNDP and among its partners. Indeed, many of the components are already in place such as the Accelerator Labs, the Digital Advocates Network, a comprehensive IT transformation, and the Chief Digital Office. Continuing to build the capabilities of UNDP's workforce to imagine, plan, and implement integrated digital approaches has the potential to truly generate a multiplier effect on its support to partners." (Publisher description)
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"The traditional business model of the news media has been deeply eroded by a shift in advertising revenues to online platforms. Media outlets must intensify efforts towards more inclusive journalism, alternative business models and diversified revenue streams. Urgent action from other actors is als
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o required in order to save – and ideally expand – the range of news providers serving the public. Injections of essential revenue for trustworthy journalism can come from donors, public subsidies, and financial support from tech companies. But such investment should come without strings attached. Multi-stakeholder task-forces or commissions of inquiry can tailor solutions – and help to prevent new funding from compromising editorial independence." (Key trends, page 1)
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"In 2021, ARTICLE 19 set out to make sometimes invisible practices more visible, building on our existing programmes on the safety of women journalists worldwide. We undertook original research globally and specifically in six countries, three in Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) and three in
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Latin America (Brazil, Chile, and Paraguay), all of which ARTICLE 19 is publishing separately, guided by the questions: What might feminist approaches to the protection of journalists look like, and what benefits might they bring? Our research findings form the basis of this report, which aims to: explore how feminist practices have been, are being, and can be applied to improve all women journalists' safety worldwide; bridge international legal and policy frameworks on the safety of journalists with the practical approaches being adopted on the ground; and catalyse a conversation about how - together - we can move towards feminist approaches to the safety of journalists. From national organisations to grassroots networks, this report documents women's monumental efforts to make structural changes, tackle entrenched patterns of gender-based discrimination and violence, and enhance the safety of women journalists. The initiatives showcased here are a testament to the creativity and resilience of those working on the feminist frontlines." (Introduction)
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"This research has shown that in the midst of the complex and diverse cultural context of Indonesia, growing use and misuse of social media in the country, and the complexity of ‘grey-area’ problematic content in the country, there has been a lack of meaningful and continuous dialogue between pl
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atforms and leading and peripheral civil society groups. Civil society groups and lay users have been battling individually, instead of coordinating, against the content moderation decisions of platforms. Most of them do not know how to appeal against the platform’s decisions. Meanwhile, the leading civil society groups in their capacity as the official partners of platforms have often felt powerless in the negotiation process with platforms. Platforms usually hold the final decision-making power, while not displaying sufficient understanding of the complexity of the local context. Accordingly, there have been cases of over and under content moderation in the country, that either hurt freedom of expression or the safety of individuals and public. When we submitted the idea of a local Coalition on Freedom of Expression and Content Moderation to the interviewees, most of them responded positively. To be clear, there is already a number of multi-stakeholder groups and civil society alliances working on issues of Internet governance, freedom of expression, and social media ethics in the country, but only few have shown interest, resources, and commitment to develop work on the issue of the contribution of local actors to content moderation on social media." (Recommendations, page 57)
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"In terms of the pastoral challenges presented by ICT, this paper demonstrates the need for the Church and her pastoral leaders to skillfully and wisely navigate the realm of technology in order to put this gift granted by God to the best use. This demands that pastoral leaders and faith communicato
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rs have a good grasp of the various dimensions if ICT - the social, economic, political, ecological and spiritual short-term and long-term implications for the Church and for the world." (Conclusion, page 40)
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"This ground-breaking three-year global study on gender-based online violence against women journalists represents collaborative research covering 15 countries. It is the most geographically, linguistically, and ethnically diverse scoping of the crisis conducted up until late 2022. The research draw
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s on: the inputs of nearly 1,100 survey participants and interviewees; 2 big data case studies examining 2.5 million social media posts directed at Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa (The Philippines) and multi award-winning investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr (UK); 15 detailed individual country case studies. The Chilling illuminates the evolving challenges faced by women journalists dealing with prolific and/or sustained online violence around the world. It calls out the victim-blaming and slut-shaming that perpetuates sexist and misogynistic responses to offline violence against women in the online environment, where patriarchal norms are being aggressively reinforced. It also clearly demonstrates that the incidence and impacts of gender-based online violence are worse at the intersection of misogyny and other forms of discrimination, such as racism, religious bigotry, antisemitism, homophobia and transphobia. Further, it identifies political actors who leverage misogyny and anti-news media narratives in their attacks as top perpetrators of online violence against women journalists, while the main vectors are social media platforms - most notably Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube." (Exexutive summary)
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"This note provides suggestions for Member States on how to word the recommendations for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in the field of freedom of expression, safety of journalists and access to information. The background and recommendations below can also assist UN Country Teams, National Hum
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an Rights institutions (NHRIs) and civil society in relation to UPR submissions and follow up." (About this guidance note, page 1)
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"The Multi Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists focuses on two thematic areas with the objective of enabling a free and safe environment for a free, independent and pluralistic media, freedom of expression, access to information and the safety of journalists – what UN
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ESCO considers key components for the achievement of SDG 16. Through this, Member States can expand their typical interventions on Freedom of Expression, Safety of Journalists, Access to Information, Gender Equality in Media, MIL media viability and pluralism, and countering hate speech and disinformation to also address strategic elements at the sector-wide level. While this is not mandatory, it is expected that this more flexible approach to planning and delivery will strengthen UNESCO’s position at the country level and allow the Programme to be more reactive to country needs." (Page 4)
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"This paper will discuss the challenges and opportunities of addressing both online and offline hate speech through education and recommend comprehensive approaches for effective educational strategies. Incorporating context-based teaching and learning practices that promote responsible global citiz
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enship are important first steps that must be accompanied by a whole school- and community-based approach to creating civic spaces that embrace different perspectives and opinions, respect difference and work towards a shared sense of belonging." (Introduction, page 3)
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"The relationship between journalism and whistleblowers has been generally beneficial for both. Whistleblowers – whether they go to the media or directly to the authorities – must have guarantees that their actions do not lead to negative consequences, such as financial sanctions, job dismissals
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, undermining their family members or circles of friends, or threats of arbitrary arrest. When whistleblowers approach journalists, they sometimes require the protection of their identity. For this to happen, journalists need to respect the professional ethic of confidentiality and they need to not be subject to legal sanction for refusing to reveal their sources. Blowing the whistle should be understood as an exercise of the right to freedom of expression, not only as an instrumental tool to fight corruption or expose human rights violations." (Key findings)
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"Among principles that should underpin policy choices are: a focus on systemic impact; particular attention on the areas where information poverty is greatest; platform-neutrality, while preferring platforms used most commonly; ongoing monitoring of developments in and around media at local levels t
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o deal with problems that may arise. Taking these principles into account, areas of possible support for local and community media include: 1. The development of an enabling environment, including legal and regulatory measures and the provision of back-end support in areas such as research, training and others. 2. Strengthening funding mechanisms, including a. indirect subsidy such as tax relief and the zero-rating of news websites; b. direct public funding, as exists for media in several countries; c. the fair use of government advertising, often a major factor in media economies in the Global South; d. commercial income and ways to support the access of local and community media to advertising markets; e. responding to the power of digital platforms, who need to make a fair contribution to local information ecosystems; f. improved co-ordination among international donor agencies in order to deliver greater impact, including support for the new International Fund for Public Interest Media; and g. the development of new business models that draw on diverse sources of income, with particular focus on direct audience support." (Summary)
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"It seems that it is not easy for media companies to be more diverse. But it is important. A few companies are trying to appear more diverse in public but there is still much to be done. In the United States, Europe or Germany, minority groups are underrepresented throughout. Here are some of our ke
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y findings: There is a significant lack of studies on diversity in the media industries besides studies on gender diversity; the distribution of money in the media industry is biased; the media indsutry is lacking bipoc and women; white males are defining the media industries; there needs to be diversity in management before there can be diversity in content." (Key findings, page 37-41)
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"To summarise, three factors define information manipulation today in the observed countries. First, there is continuous enhancement of disinformation technical abilities to overcome the measures taken by IT platforms and make disinformation look more trustworthy, especially using AI. Second, grand
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strategies and narratives for disinformation become more complex, as the narratives and tactics are used for an amplified psychological effect, such as creating mistrust, raising doubt, etc. They are used similarly to pre-propaganda and propaganda itself. The third factor remains the underlying traits of human nature, as in lazy thinking, the tendency to consume more emotional content, etc. There are two main streams of discussion that look into the future of tackling disinformation. The first one suggests that the most promising tool for fighting disinformation is empowering societies through continuous media literacy and overall improvement of the media environment quality. Incentivising high-quality journalism and supporting civil society are a few primary things. Another debate comes with working towards the growing quality of the content circulated on platforms, including social media. Adding to continuous investment in content moderation, another recommendation is to prioritise authentic and high-quality content." (Analysis and Conclusion, page 17)
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"This report details the urban-rural connectivity gap in nine low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and what that means for their potential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals [...] Across all nine countries [Colombia, India, Indonesia, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique, South Af
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rica], roughly only one in ten people have meaningful connectivity. In urban areas, this increases to one in seven. In rural areas, the ratio drops to one of every twenty. This disparity becomes even worse in the two LDC countries in our study: in Mozambique and Rwanda, fewer than one in every fifty people in rural areas have meaningful connectivity. This should alarm policymakers because as a share of the world’s rural population, one in four lives within an LDC country: as part of the world’s online population, only one of every twenty users connects from an LDC country." (Executive summary, page 3)
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"1. It is of utmost importance to provide wider access to data sources on the sector, many of which are still confidential. This is particularly the case for baseline studies and ex-post evaluations of projects. The sector's learning process is hampered by limited access to data and contact persons
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[...] 2. In order to broaden the perspective, it is necessary to put an emphasis on learning from on-site actors. “Local ownership”, “trust”, or “participation”, for instance, are popular terms that hardly anyone involved in international media development cooperation projects would be opposed to [...] 3. It is also a priority to make failures much more visible and to be able to share not only successes, as a good principle of learning method. This makes it possible not only to react to rectify them but also to value them and act creatively [...] 4. While the online and offline lived realities can no longer be separated, research has to increasingly take into account digital spaces and practices as well as their interaction with offline spaces and practices (Schmidt-Lux & Wohlrab-Sahr 2020). Media development cooperation research, through its cornerstone "the impact assessment“, is trapped in the quantitative-qualitative methods debate [...] 5. More broadly, theoretical perspectives should also be renewed with critical and plural approaches: Who is theorizing media development cooperation, how and for what? The legacy of colonial hierarchies, and continuing postcolonial tensions are not only a topic in practical media development cooperation and in the collaboration between partners from different countries." (Lessons learnt and recommendations, page 9-10)
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"Esta publicación presenta información sobre el mercado actual de los medios de comunicación en Guatemala; sobre cómo la población percibe estos medios y cuáles son los hábitos de la audiencia en el consumo de la información. Además, ofrece recomendaciones para mejorar la viabilidad de los
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medios [...] Los resultados presentados abajo se refieren a las respuestas obtenidas de las 752 personas que participaron en la encuesta. Las audiencias se informan de preferencia en periódicos digitales y televisión, seguido por redes sociales. Prensa Libre es más leído, seguido por elPeriódico. La información que más se consume es la nacional, internacional y política. Un 86 por ciento lee noticias mínimo una vez al día, 65 por ciento incluso varias veces. Generalmente bien temprano o en la noche y sin preferencia para algún día en particular. El 78 por ciento lee noticias en el celular. El medio de comunicación que las personas encuestadas consideran más confiable es elPeriódico, seguido por Prensa Libre, Plaza Pública, Soy502, Ojo con mi Pisto y Agencia Ocote. Los primeros canales de televisión se encuentran en el noveno y el décimo puesto. Se confía principalmente por la presentación de noticias objetivas e información verificada y veraz, la independencia del medio, el profesionalismo de sus periodistas y la investigación." (Resumen ejecutivo, página 4-6)
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"Esta publicación presenta información sobre el mercado actual de los medios de comunicación en El Salvador, sobre cómo la población percibe estos medios y cuáles son los hábitos de la audiencia en el consumo de la información. Además, ofrece recomendaciones para mejorar la viabilidad de lo
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s medios [...] Los resultados presentados abajo se refieren a las respuestas obtenidas de las 1074 personas que participaron en la encuesta. Los periódicos digitales y las redes sociales son los medios más preferidos para informarse, seguidos por la televisión. Las notas nacionales, internacionales y de política son la información más consumida. Un 68.5 por ciento manifiesta leer noticias varias veces al día; ocho de cada diez no tienen preferencia en cuanto al día. El celular es el dispositivo preferido para leer noticas con el 73 por ciento de respuestas. Los medios más consumidos son El Faro, La Prensa Gráfica y El Diario de Hoy. La televisora mejor posicionada en el ranking es TCS. El periódico más confiado es El Faro. Las principales razones para confiar en un medio son la imparcialidad, objetividad y su capacidad de investigar y transmitir noticias reales. El Faro, Gato Encerrado y Revista Factum son considerados los más independientes de grupos de poder político o económico, aunque 16.4 por ciento opina que ningún medio es independiente." (Resumen ejecutivo, página 4-6)
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"This learning brief aims to summarise key issues, evidence and trends on media and gender and help PRIMED partners identify opportunities to empower women as both media consumers and content producers as well as to amplify the voices of women in the media. It explores the links between improved gen
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der equality in the workplace and the sustainability and viability of the media (a business case of gender equality). The brief also considers content formats which can promote gender equality in the public sphere and examines the role of self-regulation in ensuring that women are more fairly represented in media outputs." (Introduction)
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