"The study analyses media freedom and pluralism in the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia) in light of the EU enlargement policy. Despite the different stages of their EU accession paths, these countries share si
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milar challenges, even if they are of different intensities. The study analyses the overall legal framework and its unsatisfactory levels of implementation, the role and the independence of PSB, the media market, and the status of journalists. It also outlines country-specific profiles, regarding these categories. The paper outlines and analyses the current EU policies and financial instruments to foster media freedom and media pluralism in the region, including the Stabilisation and Association Process and specific acquis. It also analyses the issues in the context of the EU ‘internal’ and ‘external’ policy on media freedom and media pluralism. The study outlines the complementary roles of the CoE and the OSCE as setting common standards on media freedom in Europe and the EU institutions as being the main engine and guarantor for their implementation. Finally, the recommendations point towards the EU establishing a more long-term, integrated and comprehensive strategy of external help, monitoring and capacity building." (Abstract)
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"Ce glossaire critique explore les relations qui lient la diversité culturelle et le numérique. Il aborde une soixantaine de termes, d'« agrégateur » à « virtuel » et propose des définitions des pratiques avec leurs usages. Véritable outil d'aide à la réflexion et à la décision, il s'a
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dresse à la fois au grand public et à l ensemble des acteurs et décideurs concernés par les questions de culture et d éducation, et plus largement de gouvernance du numérique." (Description de la maison d'édition)
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"The emergence of digital media in Indonesia coincided with the country’s transition to democracy beginning in 1998. In some ways, digitization has catalyzed the development of diverse and independent media. Market reforms in favor of liberalization have gone hand in hand with convergence and prol
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iferation to produce a radical increase in the number of media outlets. The number of national television channels has doubled since 1998; commercial radio stations have tripled; and the number of print newspapers has more than quadrupled. This has occurred alongside and in tandem with a rapidly growing online news sector populated by a mixed ecology of established brands and new entrants. In other ways, however, digitization has merely helped to shift the locus of concentrated power from the state to an increasingly consolidated media elite. Despite the growing number of outlets, new entrants in conventional sectors have been rare and have been hampered by policies that have tended to favor commercial incumbents." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"The purpose of this research is to empirically examine Indonesian media content, their workings and the factors influencing their work [...] There is no open diversity in content. Content analysis of television shows that the coverage of majority and minority groups is unequal. We find that content
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is heavily Jakarta-centric in terms of geographical context, Islam-centric in terms of religious orientations and Java-centric in terms of ethnic identities. Content with geographical identities is ruled 34.1% by Jakarta (69.6% by Java), content with religious qualities is dominated 96.7% by Islamic identities and content with any ethnic reference is led by Javanese identities by 42.8%. This does not only imply that there is a lack of open diversity, but more dangerously that there may be evidence of hyper-impositions of content favouring the majority over the minority. Our research concludes that the profit-led media industry has left citizens on the edge of the media sector. Homogenous content is a simple proof that the media regard citizens merely as consumers rather than a group of people with rights." (Executive summary, page 5)
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"Two out of three Malaysians regularly use the internet (even though large areas of the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, where nearly a fifth of the population lives, pose logistical challenges regarding infrastructure) and a third of the population have a 3G mobile subscription. Broadban
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d household penetration in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, is 112 percent because many citizens have both fixed and mobile accounts. Nearly half the population is on Facebook with an average of 233 friends each, the greatest proportion in the world, all on social networks for an average nine hours a week. And they still seem to find enough time to watch television for three and a half hours a day and to listen to the radio for three hours. The outlook is for an expansion of internet and mobile-based platforms for news, comment, social networking, activism, and entertainment. However, a change of government is probably a prerequisite for the kinds of changes that would usher in greater diversity in broadcast and print, such as regulatory independence, repeal of the Printing Presses and Publications Act, and the dismantling of monopolies, rules on cross ownership, and political parties’ ownership of media companies." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"After a significant delay, the transition to digital terrestrial broadcasting in Bulgaria is scheduled to be finished in 2013. While cable television appears to have peaked since 2007, satellite television continues to increase its penetration, more often through bundled services. On the other hand
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, Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is also growing, albeit from a low base. Although Bulgarians enjoy some of the fastest internet connections in the world, overall broadband penetration is low. However, except for the ubiquitous popularity of torrent trackers, there is a lack of e-government services and on-demand audiovisual content. Press and radio are declining in revenue, and the press in particular has welcomed investors with hidden sources of financing that use newspapers for their own business interests. Shedding more light on media ownership, prohibiting concentration, and securing sustainable business models for quality news outlets remain key." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"In online journalism, the virtues associated with ethics—accuracy, honesty, truth, impartiality, fairness, balance, respect for autonomy of ordinary people—are barely respected, largely because there is no effective way of policing this, and there are no legal penalties. Concentration of owners
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hip has increased in the last five years and transparency in ownership of media has improved only slightly over the past five years. The government controls media licensing—a process that is shrouded in secrecy, so that it is difficult to establish who owns which media house. The overall framework of policy and law is not yet adequate for digitized media in Kenya. The national ICT policy of 2006 committed the government to support and encourage pluralism and diversity. While this led to a proliferation of channels, it did not do much for content diversity due to the level of concentration of media. A lack of resources to build the digital infrastructure, consumer ignorance of what the switch means and whether the public can afford the end-user devices are some of the challenges faced in Kenya’s digital switchover." (Open Society Foundations website)
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"Digitization has had profound effects in Brazil. In journalism, information flows faster than ever, and from a greater number of sources; journalists have to adapt to an environment that demands immediate coverage of events, sometimes privileging speed over content. The internet has become the seco
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nd main source of news, and the number of people reading newspapers online has nearly tripled over four years. Brazilians are heavy users of social media and user-generated content platforms, with Facebook and YouTube being the second and fourth most accessed URLs in September 2013. Access to mobile telecommunications is widespread, and there are more SIM cards circulating in Brazil than there are Brazilians. However, serious gaps in internet regulation topics such as net neutrality, ISP liability, privacy, and user rights still have not been addressed by legislation. In an attempt to fill these gaps, the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet (Marco Civil da Internet), a draft bill produced through a process of public online debate carried out by the Ministry of Justice, was sent to the National Congress in 2011. The text faced strong opposition from some quarters, and the bill has not yet been introduced in Congress." (Publisher description)
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"This study has looked at the opinions of ordinary citizens (n=2000) as well as a small sample of decision makers at community level (n=200). Chapters 1 and 2 provide a background sketch and methodology for the survey, followed by a detailed overview of the findings for the general public and decisi
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on makers in Chapters 3 and 4. Overall, ordinary citizens and decision makers alike feel the Tanzania's media sector is growing and improving over time, and the sector is serving a news-hungry public that wants the media to keep those in positions of power accountable. However, this study also points to perceptions of shortcomings in the media, both in terms of the content it provides to the public and the quality of the services it provides." (Executive summary)
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