"The findings in this report highlight the struggles of print media in Samoa, which are experiencing a declining audience share yet remain the benchmark for “best-practice” journalism. Media also experience significant challenges associated with the digitalisation of the sector, including strugg
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les to monetise digital content, misinformation and disinformation, and a general lack of experience using digital technology. Finally, while Samoan media have been challenged by restrictions to freedom of speech and a lack of legislated right to information, JAWS and the Media Council can play a critical role in encouraging self-regulation and adherence to high journalistic standards." (Conclusion, page 35)
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"The findings from this report highlight the importance of social media and online content as the primary sources of information for Niueans, especially the significant diaspora communities that reside abroad. It also highlights the important role that the small Niuean media sector plays in cultural
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and linguistic preservation. There is a critical need for resilient media infrastructure and sustainable business models in the face of climate change vulnerabilities and acute staff shortages. Nauru’s small and closely-connected society poses a challenge for in-depth journalism, however information can be easily verified in such a tight-knit community. Lastly, the establishment of the Niue Media Association in 2023 signals promising opportunities to strengthen the media industry." (Conclusion, page 37)
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"The media landscape in Fiji has reached a significant milestone in its history as it embraces the freedom gained from the repeal of MIDA. Findings highlight ongoing opportunities for media industry bodies to provide targeted support for local media to effectively exercise this freedom." (Conclusion
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, page 37)
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"The findings in this report foreground the importance of improving access to rural communities, so media can adequately represent issues relevant to Vanuatu’s geographically dispersed audiences. The report also identified opportunities for media to increase awareness of gender, disability and soc
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ial inclusion through inclusive reporting on local issues. Local media specialising in Indigenous Ni-Vanuatu content expressed a desire for greater market protections to support scale and reach of their businesses. Finally, the report identified challenges around access to government information, despite Vanuatu having a Right to Information Act, in addition to media freedom concerns related to recent amendments to the Penal Code." (Conclusion, page 33)
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"Kosovo enjoys a relatively good legal framework when it comes to the protection of freedom of expression and freedom of the media. Laws concerning protection of journalism sources, protection of whistleblowers, and access to public information appear to be in line with European standards. The overa
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ll number of journalists has been increasing over the past decade. Their salaries have also improved compared to previous years, although the inflation rate has also significantly increased. The number of journalists is related to the increasing number of new media. Online news media have replaced print newspapers completely. Three different universities produce graduates in the field of media and communication studies. The public university alone has 250 students in the Department of Journalism.
One area that needs significant improvement, though, is enhancing media literacy skills. Kosovo currently stands at the bottom of the table for the Media Literacy Index score. The quality of education can contribute to the ability of young generations to critically engage with the media. The future of media and democracy in Kosovo depends on other factors, too. Significant improvements in the rule of law and fight against corruption are needed to ensure better prospects for the future of media and journalism in Kosovo." (Conclusions)
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"Ballesteros López nos ofrece una radiografía detallada del devenir radiodifusor católico, explorando las coincidencias que han marcado su desarrollo, los desafíos que enfrenta y las iniciativas que han surgido para garantizar su sostenibilidad en el mundo tanto analógo como digital. Con una na
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rrativa prolífica y esclarecedora, el autor nos invita a reflexionar sobre el impacto de estas emisoras en la vida de la iglesia como organización. En este libro, el lector encontrará un estudio profundo sobre la pluralidad informativa, el tejido cultural y social que las emisoras católicas han estructurado a lo largo del tiempo, así como la importancia de comprender su actualidad para fortalecer su impacto en la comunidad. Más allá de su papel como herramienta de evangelización, la radio católica en Colombia se ha convertido en un canal de orientación espiritual, promoción de valores y generación de espacios de diálogo y participación comunitaria a todos los niveles." (Prólogo, página 9)
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"Significant changes in journalism and the media have been unfolding in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), yet these shifts have not been accompanied by adequate policies or interventions. This report outlines key trends affecting journalism, media usage, and democracy, highlighting issues crucial for th
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e future of the profession:
• The number of journalism students has significantly decreased over the past decade, a trend which could lead to a shortage of qualified professionals in the long run.
• Although unemployment among journalists has declined in recent years, 2023 saw a considerable number of journalists lose their jobs due to the non-renewal of fixed-term contracts or being deemed surplus labour. Unionizing remains unpopular among journalists in the country and without protection mechanisms, journalism in BiH risks becoming even more unstable.
• Reports of attacks and violations of journalists’ rights have increased in recent years, reflecting a decline in BiH’s rankings on media freedom indexes.
• Despite rapid technological advancements, including the emergence of generative artificial intelligence, the media lack guidelines for their use or studies addressing potential abuses in the media. This absence of regulation and oversight increases the risk of misuse and potential harm.
• While regulatory and self-regulatory mechanisms exist, they fail to tackle a core issue in the media: biased reporting, which risks becoming normalized in journalistic practices.
• The digital era has brought a proliferation of media outlets, including new television channels. The growth of media outlets does not necessarily improve media pluralism, but could lead to smaller newsrooms, increased workloads of journalists and less quality journalistic content.
• Print media has been on the decline, and the country’s major political weekly magazines have ceased publication. Without strategic interventions, print media operations will be difficult to sustain in the future.
• Media ownership transparency remains unregulated further aggravating media capture. Media outlets are predominantly owned by companies or individuals with business interests beyond the media sector.
• The advertising market has grown slightly in recent years, likely influenced by inflation. However, it remains insufficient to support the growing number of media outlets, posing challenges to financial sustainability.
• Television still dominates advertising revenue, but online media’s share is steadily increasing, signalling that digital marketing will become increasingly dominant in the coming years.
• Public budgets and donor support remain important for sustaining media operations. Without proper regulation, financing from public budgets, however, bring risks to media independence.
• Media primarily serve the interests of the three major ethnic groups, excluding minorities from decision-making roles and positions in mainstream outlets, limiting media pluralism." (Executive summary)
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"Since the change of the long-standing DPS government in mid-2020, Montenegrin society has faced political crises. Frequent election cycles and instability in ruling majorities have affected the speed and quality of Montenegro’s integration into the EU, the work and functioning of institutions, an
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d the general social and political environment. After the reconstruction of Montenegro’s 44th government, anti-democratic and anti-European tendencies emerged. These tendencies are reflected in the advocacy for legislation aimed at changing the constitutional order regarding language and citizenship, suppressing criticism from the civil sector, and undermining relations with neighbouring Croatia, an EU member state. This has been accompanied by a decline in trust in key political institutions and an overall unsatisfactory political culture.
Although several international studies monitoring the state of democracy, the rule of law, corruption perception, and media freedoms show progress compared to previous years, the current situation in media and journalism is not encouraging. In recent years, institutions have attempted to strategically address the media sector through the adoption of a Media Strategy and amendments to media laws. However, these regulations have not adequately addressed some of the key issues affecting the media landscape, such as media ownership transparency, strong foreign influence in media ownership structures, unregistered portals, and the fight against disinformation. Additionally, they have not implemented new European regulations in this area, indicating that media laws will need to be revised again.
The significant increase in the number of media outlets in Montenegro has not led to greater media pluralism or improved journalistic standards. The media market is small, and the launch of new outlets lacks economic justification. The media scene is heavily influenced by foreign actors, predominantly from Serbia. Owners from Serbia control four out of five television stations with national frequency, and two out of three daily newspapers are foreign-owned. These media outlets inevitably influence public opinion and are used to expand political influence, which affects the quality of media reporting and threatens the survival of locally owned media outlets.
Year after year, the amount of public funds allocated to media outlets through the Media Pluralism Fund has increased, which is important for their sustainability. The Agency for Electronic Media and the Ministry of Culture and Media distribute the funds transparently, but mechanisms for evaluating the quality of financed projects need to be established.
The national regulator, the Agency for Electronic Media, has improved its communication with the public. Recent amendments to the law have expanded its jurisdiction, enabling it to impose measures of varying intensity. While it remains responsible only for electronic media, there is clear potential for the agency to develop into an independent and professional regulator that consistently applies regulations.
Current self-regulatory mechanisms in Montenegro’s media sector are not effective, but there is potential for further development in the new amendments to the law. These amendments require media outlets to develop internal self-regulation if they wish to receive funds from the Media Pluralism Fund. Implementing this legal provision must be accompanied by raising awareness among media and journalists about the importance of strong self-regulation. This will help citizens recognize self-regulation as an independent authority capable of improving the quality of reporting and providing a reliable platform for submitting complaints." (Conclusions, pages 28-29)
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"The Pacific media landscape has evolved significantly within the past decade with increased digital connectivity and infrastructure, vastly improving digital access and reach throughout the region. Media organisations have leveraged digital platforms and mobile telecommunications to continue delive
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ring news and information to their audiences. Despite the significant impact of the pandemic on the financial viability of media and challenges around staff resourcing, the sector has shown remarkable resilience and adaptability; a testament to its relentless commitment and passion towards serving Pacific audiences and communities." (Conclusion, page 40)
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"The findings in this report highlight the challenges associated with media access in FSM, which are amplified by the country’s dispersed geography. Internet is difficult to access outside of major population centres, however, the recent introduction of Starlink and expected completion of submarin
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e cable connections is changing this. In addition, FSM’s media sector is small and mostly homogenous, with reporting lacking diversity and critical discussion. Finally, media freedom is uneven in FSM, partially due to the lack of diversity in the sector and because freedom of information has not been legislated." (Conclusion, page 37)
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"The state of the media and democracy in Turkey faces critical challenges that hinder freedom of expression and pluralism, due to restrictive legal frameworks, economic instability, and cross-ownership in the media sector. Although digitalization has transformed news consumption, the government’s
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control over online platforms increases concerns about censorship and reinforces practices of self-censorship. Public trust in the media continues to decline, driven by perceptions of political influence and biased reporting. Similarly, democracy is plagued with issues, as global rankings point to decline in Turkish democracy, while concerns about judicial independence persist. While elections with high voter turnout do occur, this may only be interpreted as a pattern of practicing democracy rather than a sign of democratic strength. Urgent and comprehensive reforms are needed to ensure judicial independence, create a pluralistic media environment, increase transparency, and protect press freedom." (Executive summary)
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"The media landscape in Tonga is in a state of digital transition, as it adapts to increasing audience demand for digital content and associated challenges relating to misinformation and disinformation. The findings in this report highlight how increased internet access in Tonga has transformed the
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media landscape – where traditional formats such as print have been almost entirely superseded by digital publishing. Concurrently, there has been a rise of online misinformation and disinformation. Radio was found to play a critical role in emergency broadcasting, keeping Tongans connected in times of natural disaster, when submarine internet cables may be vulnerable. The report uncovered media freedom in Tonga is challenged by laws which have the potential to supress and criminalise free speech, while the absence of a right to information law results in an opaque relationship between the media and government." (Conclusion, page 38)
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"The Solomon Islands media continues to undergo significant developments as it adjusts to increased digitalisation and the use of social media. However, the findings in this report highlight the continuing importance of radio and print media as a trusted source of information for Solomon Islanders."
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(Conclusion, page 41)
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"Alongside the rise of new technologies and the evolving global conditions in the media industry, journalism and media in Serbia will face numerous challenges, particularly in the areas of basic media freedom and journalist protection, based on the findings of this research:
• There is no reliable
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data on the number of journalists in Serbia, or how many of them are women or members of marginalized groups.
• Media ownership in Serbia is highly concentrated, particularly in the television broadcasting sector, which affects media reporting. Channels with national frequencies often align their narratives with the government’s or ruling party’s agenda.
• The state and ruling party demonstrate tendencies to control the media. This is evident in the newly updated law that allows business companies engaged in electronic communications, such as the state-owned Telekom, to own media outlets. Additionally, findings indicate that some media owners at the local level are connected to the ruling party.
• Media financing is often misused to encourage biased reporting. Public calls for funding are corrupted by GONGO media organizations, which prioritize funding pro-government outlets; state advertising is not regulated by law, and the media community was left out of the discussion on new advertising laws; despite receiving the majority of its budget from citizens’ subscriptions, the national public broadcaster RTS is still perceived as one of the most progovernment outlets in the country; foreign donors, including the EU, US and UK, provide significant financial support for media projects in Serbia, but there is no transparent data on the total amount of money donated.
• National minorities are represented through media outlets funded by National Councils of National Minorities. However, journalists from some of these media outlets work under political pressures and engage in self-censorship. National minorities living in the northern province of Serbia, Vojvodina, are also served by the provincial public broadcaster RTV. RTS does not provide content in the languages of the Bosnian, Vlach and Bulgarian communities in Serbia’s eastern and western regions. Romani and Albanian communities are represented on RTS, but the amount of content is minimal.
• Television is the most commonly used source of news and information, with citizens watching up to eight hours of television daily. The most-watched TV news programmes are central-informative political shows on channels with national frequencies, which are widely considered pro-government.
• Only 30% of Serbian citizens trust the media. Social media is the least trusted media type, while television is the most trusted." (Executive summary)
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"Analysis of media in Albania and mapping of main trends through credible, regular, and complete data is a problematic endeavour. However, the data available show that it is safe to say that challenges for professional journalism remain formidable in Albania. Full formality of the media market has n
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ot been achieved, especially regarding online media, and to some degree print media. In addition, problems related to labour relations of media employees are still visible. Along with the interdependence of media owners from political and business interests, this certainly conditions the freedom of journalists to be independent and not to censor themselves accordingly.
Increasingly fewer students are choosing journalism and communication degrees, even though the number of online media seems to be increasing, at least where the online media are concerned. The concentration of major media groups owning several types of media outlets and the blurring of boundaries between new and traditional media in their staff and content production does not make it easy to see a visible trend in terms of journalists’ statistics. However, it is clear that there is considerable market pressure to follow similar trends in reporting and format in the main media outlets, including prioritizing speed of publication and sensationalism over professional standards and ethics. Efforts to self-regulate exist, but it is too early to see an impact in this respect." (Executive summary)
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"In conclusion, findings from this report highlight the pivotal role the national broadcaster, TVBC, continues to play in Tuvalu’s media landscape, with radio being a primary source of information for Tuvaluans. While infrastructure improvements have enhanced internet connectivity, the decline in
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pay TV subscriptions poses challenges for media viability. Finally, as the people of Tuvalu face increasingly frequent and severe climate-related threats, maintaining a functioning communications system will be critical to saving lives." (Conclusion, page 33)
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"• Engagement with traditional media sources such as TV, print, and news websites continues to fall, while dependence on social media, video platforms, and online aggregators grows. This is particularly the case in the United States where polling overlapped with the first few weeks of the new Trum
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p administration. Social media news use was sharply up (+6pp) but there was no ‘Trump bump’ for traditional sources.
• Personalities and influencers are, in some countries, playing a significant role in shaping public debates. One-fifth (22%) of our United States sample says they came across news or commentary from popular podcaster Joe Rogan in the week after the inauguration, including a disproportionate number of young men. In France, young news creator Hugo Travers (HugoDécrypte) reaches 22% of under-35s with content distributed mainly via YouTube and TikTok. Young influencers also play a significant role in many Asian countries, including Thailand.
• News use across online platforms continues to fragment, with six online networks now reaching more than 10% weekly with news content, compared with just two a decade ago. Around a third of our global sample use Facebook (36%) and YouTube (30%) for news each week. Instagram (19%) and WhatsApp (19%) are used by around a fifth, while TikTok (16%) remains ahead of X at 12%.
• Data show that usage of X for news is stable or increasing across many markets, with the biggest uplift in the United States (+8pp), Australia (+6pp), and Poland (+6pp). Since Elon Musk took over the network in 2022 many more right-leaning people, notably young men, have flocked to the network, while some progressive audiences have left or are using it less frequently. Rival networks like Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon are making little impact globally, with reach of 2% or less for news.
• Changing platform strategies mean that video continues to grow in importance as a source of news. Across all markets the proportion consuming social video has grown from 52% in 2020 to 65% in 2025 and any video from 67% to 75%. In the Philippines, Thailand, Kenya, and India more people now say they prefer to watch the news rather than read it, further encouraging the shift to personality-led news creators.
• Our survey also shows the importance of news podcasting in reaching younger, better-educated audiences. The United States has among the highest proportion (15%) accessing one or more podcasts in the last week, with many of these now filmed and distributed via video platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. By contrast, many northern European podcast markets remain dominated by public broadcasters or big legacy media companies and have been slower to adopt video versions.
• TikTok is the fastest growing social and video network, adding a further 4pp across markets for news and reaching 49% of our online sample in Thailand (+10pp) and 40% in Malaysia (+9pp). But at the same time people in those markets see the network as one of the biggest threats when it comes to false or misleading information, along with Facebook.
• Overall, over half our sample (58%) say they remain concerned about their ability to tell what is true from what is false when it comes to news online, a similar proportion to last year. Concern is highest in Africa (73%) and the United States (73%), with lowest levels in Western Europe (46%).
• When it comes to underlying sources of false or misleading information, online influencers and personalities are seen as the biggest threat worldwide (47%), along with national politicians (47%). Concern about influencers is highest in African countries such as Nigeria (58%) and Kenya (59%), while politicians are considered the biggest threat in the United States (57%), Spain (57%), and much of Eastern Europe." (Executive summary, page 10-11)
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"Die beschriebene Quellenlage stellt auch für die Länderanalyse eine Herausforderung dar. Afghanische Medien geben einen guten Überblick darüber, wie die Taliban sich präsentieren möchten. Auch neue Verordnungen und Erlasse der Zentralregierung sind so nachvollziehbar. Dies gilt jedoch nicht f
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ür die Situation in den Provinzen, aus denen es nur sporadische Berichte gibt. Afghanische Medien mit Sitz im Ausland geben auch vereinzelte Einblicke in Vorfälle von Gewalt und Verfolgung. Manchmal können internationale Medien zusätzliche Informationen liefern. Soziale Medien liefern Hinweise auf Protestbewegungen und selten auch Informationen zu Verfolgung und bewaffneten Auseinandersetzungen. Diese Informationen werden auf Grund der fehlenden Möglichkeit zur Verifizierung jedoch nur genutzt, wenn sie nach der Einordnung in die allgemeine Lage plausibel erscheinen. Insgesamt findet ein regelmäßiger Abgleich mit Berichten von internationalen Organisationen und deren Einschätzungen der Situation in Afghanistan statt. Nichtsdestotrotz ist die Informationslage zu allen oben genannten „unerwünschten Themen“ unverändert als sehr schlecht einzuschätzen." (Fazit, Seite 6)
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