"The Arab Media Outlook is the most comprehensive publication on the Arab Media Industry and represents one of the key knowledge development initiatives of the Dubai Press Club. The report serves as a reference point of the media industry in the region highlighting media trends across 17 markets and
...
providing both breadth and depth of coverage for the benefit of various industry stakeholders." (www.med-media.eu, October 26, 2015)
more
"Kosovo has marked a number of improvements in the legal provisions pertaining to the media sector with the establishment of the law on access to information, decriminalization of libel and improvement of the criminal code and law on RTK. Considerable work, however, still remains to be done in the p
...
roper implementation of the existing legislation and a mechanism to monitor the implementation is necessary. This is particularly important with the Law on Access to Public Documents, as non implementation is limiting journalist’s ability to factually document stories, making them susceptible to mistrusted sources and other pressure. Besides professional pressure, journalists are still subject to physical attacks and threats and more inconspicuous forms of pressure such as financial instability, lack of proper contracts and an inefficient judicial that can’t adequately protect their rights. Due to the economic conditions in the country and its impact on outlets, out of the job professional development for journalists can be unaffordable and lack quality. While some university level academic programs are trying to establish a foothold in the niche, they are still too young. In the meantime, non-academic preparation programs are few and far in between, often delivered by unprofessional trainers. The aforementioned issues are not aided by an overall fragile public broadcaster, who would in other instances be setting the benchmark of professional standards for all media. With financing problems making the RTK potentially susceptible to political and other forms of influence, the medium has lost its initial credibility. Nonetheless, as part of its financing problem has been resolved with a new law, it remains to be seen how well the public broadcaster will perform." (Conclusion, Page 21)
more
"Instead of defining a priori the types of websites to be included in a national web, the approach put forward here makes use of web devices (platforms and engines) that purport to provide (ranked) lists of URLs relevant to a particular country. Once gathered in such a manner, the websites are studi
...
ed for their properties, following certain of the common measures (such as responsiveness and page age), and repurposing them to speak in terms of the health of a national web: Are sites lively, or neglected? The case study in question is Iran, which is special for the degree of Internet censorship undertaken by the state. Despite the widespread censorship, we have found a highly responsive Iranian web. We also report on the relationship between blockage, responsiveness and freshness, i.e., whether blocked sites are still up, and also whether they have been recently updated. Blocked yet blogging portions of the Iranian web show strong indications of an active Internet censorship circumvention culture. In seeking to answer, additionally, whether censorship has killed content, a textual analysis shows continued use of language considered critical by the regime, thereby indicating a dearth of self-censorship, at least for websites that are recommended by the leading Iranian platform, Balatarin." (Abstract)
more
"Profit (and therefore entertainment) and politics drive media content and audience engagement in Cambodia, not public service values. Significant donor investment over the past 20 years has sought to redress the balance and overcome these challenges to improved governance in Cambodia. This investme
...
nt has included a focus on media and communication as a primary mechanism to achieve change, with very little research on its actual impact. This case study seeks to examine this investment in the context of evolving power structures and the media and communication landscape of Cambodia. It concludes that donors would be wise to continue to invest in impact research, maintain a strong focus on governance in their support, and pay greater attention to young audiences and the Internet as a growing source and focus of public dialogue." (Executive summary)
more
"Cambodia Communications Assistance Project (CCAP) is a two-year initiative (2012-2013) funded by Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) to contribute to the development of the media in Cambodia. The project is in its initial stage and is being implemented by ABC ID, in collaborati
...
on with three Cambodian Government Provincial Departments of Information (PDI) in Battambang, Kampong Cham and Kampot, and the Department of Media and Communication (DMC) at Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP). The objective of this research is to provide baseline measures and understanding of the current state of the media in Cambodia, with a particular focus on PDI in Battambang, Kampong Cham and Kampot. These measures will help track progress of the project outcomes and impact over the project lifetime and provide a clearly defined scope for the Cambodia Communication Assistance Project. The research design uses a mixed methods approach with focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and survey questionnaires for PDI staff and directors. This report examines understanding of governance issues within an audience and PDI context and assesses the capacity level of PDI staff and directors. More specifically it seeks to gain knowledge and perceptions on audience understanding of governance, transparency and accountability issues, and to determine audience perceptions on PDI content and issues concerning voice, transparency and accountability. It also assesses PDI knowledge on governance issues and skill development needs at the three targeted provinces. The findings are summarised into three key areas: understanding of governance and audience context from different perspectives; reflections on media environment; and PDI capacity needs assessment. Finally, key considerations are outlined to inform PDI activities and programs related to governance including both training and content activities which can be supported by CCAP." (Executive summary)
more
"This report reviews the situation in which media operate in the Middle East, specifically in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, and also including a short section on Tunisia [...] Part 1 explores the historical development of the media in the region, outlines their structural environment, and
...
probes practices of censorship and self-censorship. Part 2 looks into those developments of the past decades that have affected the monopoly on information by states and the access to information on the part of the public. Part 3 critically examines the function of guidelines for good journalistic practices in the region, and provides some samples of codes of ethics. Part 4 presents an overview of the recent situation of the media and freedom of expression in the region and provides some historical background. In general, this part seeks to survey the existing media, including the press, radio and television, the Internet, as well as media legislation in the individual countries. Due to specific local circumstances, some of the country sections are however structured in a slightly different manner. Part 5 compiles select training opportunities for journalists, as well as organizations and projects that are committed to networking, monitoring, advocacy and legal aid." (Foreword, page 8)
more
"The Global Journalist in the 21st Century systematically assesses the demographics, education, socialization, professional attitudes and working conditions of journalists in various countries around the world. This book updates the original Global Journalist (1998) volume with new data, adding more
...
than a dozen countries, and provides material on comparative research about journalists that will be useful to those interested in doing their own studies. The editors put together this collection working under the assumption that journalists' backgrounds, working conditions and ideas are related to what is reported (and how it is covered) in the various news media round the world, in spite of societal and organizational constraints, and that this news coverage matters in terms of world public opinion and policies. Outstanding features include:"Coverage of 33 nations located around the globe, based on recent surveys conducted among representative samples of local journalist, comprehensive analyses by well-known media scholars from each country, a section on comparative studies of journalists and an appendix with a collection of survey questions used in various nations to question journalists" (Publisher description)
more
"This Little Data Book presents tables for over 213 economies showing the most recent national data on key indicators of information and communications technology (ICT), including access, quality, affordability, efficiency, sustainability, and applications." (Abstract)
"Whether at a local, national, or international level, radio has played and continues to play a key role in nurturing or denying—even destroying—people’s sense of collective identity. The essays in this volume provide a historical and contemporary overview of radio in small nations. A number o
...
f representative small nations are featured: some grappling with new postcolonial identities and others still operating under repressive regimes; some struggling to find a new common purpose in the postindustrial age and others unifying previously ignored ethnic or language groups. As a whole, the collection strives to present diverse voices commenting on the influential and essential place of radio within these countries." (Publisher description)
more
"This report is the third in a series of comprehensive studies of internet freedom around the globe and covers developments in 47 countries that occurred between January 2011 and May 2012. Over 50 researchers, nearly all based in the countries they analyzed, contributed to the project by researching
...
laws and practices relevant to the internet, testing the accessibility of select websites, and interviewing a wide range of sources. This year's findings indicate that restrictions on internet freedom in many countries have continued to grow, though the methods of control are slowly evolving, becoming more sophisticated and less visible. Brutal attacks against bloggers, politically motivated surveillance, proactive manipulation of web content, and restrictive laws regulating speech online are among the diverse threats to internet freedom emerging over the past two years. Nevertheless, several notable victories have also occurred as a result of greater activism by civil society, technology companies, and independent courts, illustrating that efforts to advance internet freedom can yield results." (www.freedomhouse.org, January 14, 2013)
more
"En el presente informe exponemos la situación de las radios comunitarias en México en el tema de libertad de expresión, a la luz de los deberes y obligaciones signadas por el Estado Mexicano y las recomendaciones emitidas por diversos organismos de Derechos Humanos, particularmente de las Relato
...
rías para la Libertad de Expresión de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) y de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU)." (Introducción)
more
"Community radio in Europe is maturing more and more. However, in Central and Eastern Europe, in which countries are still coping with a fatal heritage of the totalitarian history, community radio is now struggling for its rightful place. This is also the case in Poland. Because of insufficient lega
...
l recognition of the community sector in media law, radio stations with non-commercial goals exist often outside the official licensed third sector of media. These are, for example, religious stations, student broadcasters as well as stations run by NGOs and local governments. Moreover, in some communities closed circuit radio stations play a significant role – for example, in prisons, at schools and student hostels. There are also a lot of internet radio initiatives in very diverse communities. In this article I would like to explain the legal situation of community broadcasting, to characterize the community media movement as well as to shortly present stations with non-commercial goals in Poland. Moreover, a research project about such stations in Poland will be discussed." (Abstract)
more
Examining Bangladesh’s booming and dynamic media sector, this report finds that there is an increasing tendency for political discourse to be based around personality rather than policy.