"It is too often assumed anyone can communicate via the internet or share in the benefits of easily available newspapers and free-to-air television or radio; this is not always true. Lower internet penetration and mobile broadband access in countries like Egypt and Tunisia, for example, stand in sha
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rp contrast to that of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. The 2016 report brings some good news about a narrowing digital divide between these countries, along with significant gains in internet connectivity in every country studied except Tunisia, where internet access has stagnated since 2014. Six in 10 Egyptians now use the internet, considerably more than the share of Tunisians online, but just three in 10 Egyptians have access to, or choose to use, mobile broadband. It is ironic that the two countries most closely linked to the Arab uprisings—Tunisia, where the uprisings began and Egypt, the location of the most publicized revolution—are still struggling to be fully enfranchised into the digital age." (Introduction, page 8)
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"Lo que hace algunos años era un escenario de polarización entre medios de comunicación anti-Chávez y pro-Chávez sumamente tendenciosos, lo cual era el reflejo de una sociedad dividida, se ha convertido en un escenario de control gubernamental, directo o indirecto, sobre la mayor parte del disc
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urso público [...] Sin embargo, en medio de este panorama desolador para la libertad de expresión, hay rayos de esperanza: han surgido nuevos medios de comunicación independientes y en su mayoría digitales que están determinados a enfrentar las dificultades y contar la historia de lo que realmente está ocurriendo en Venezuela. Sus reportajes han sido finalistas o ganadores de varios de los premios de periodismo más prestigiosos del continente; uno de estos reportajes documenta precisamente la compra de medios de comunicación por parte de amigos del gobierno, y el consecuente cambio en la línea editorial que obligó a muchos periodistas y editores a renunciar. Las recomendaciones finales de este documento incluyen un llamado para una reforma urgente del marco legal en el que los medios de comunicación operan; el acceso pleno a la información pública y a los funcionarios públicos; y un mayor apoyo para que el periodismo de investigación y los medios independientes en Venezuela se relacionen con colegas en el continente y aumenten su capacidad para informar de manera factual acerca de la situación crítica que vive el país." (Resumen)
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"Incidents of physical violence and – worse still – impunity for those who commit such acts continue in Croatia, an unacceptable situation for an EU member state. On the other, legal provisions such as the country’s criminal defamation and shaming laws have been abused to punish investigative
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journalists for doing their jobs. Such trends can and must be reversed. But it is also clear that ‘informal’ limits to free expression, which can be more easily disguised and hence denied, are at work in Croatia. These limits include excessive political influence in the media as well as politically motivated discourse that seeks to undercut critical journalism by singling out its practitioners as “activists” or even “traitors”. These patterns have an impact both on the production of content, through direct pressure or self-censorship, and on the reception of content by the public. The most glaring example of recent political influence is the recent government’s obvious interference at the public broadcaster HRT." (Conclusion, page 15)
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"Much has been made of the role of various media in the shaping of conflicts and political agendas in today's Arab world. This volume examines this topic with interdisciplinary contributions that range across media studies, anthroplogy, religious studies, and political science and explore both new a
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nd older media forms." (Publisher description)
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"Using the case of the hybrid media system of Uganda and Schimank’s approach of agent-structure dynamics, this article argues that media freedom and journalists’ autonomy first and foremost depend on society’s expectations of the media system. Closely linked to those informal structures of exp
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ectations which are path and time dependent, journalists’ room for manoeuvre is limited by the resources allocated to individual and collective media actors. In a first step and following Schimank’s approach, the article presents a category system that could drive the analysis of media freedom in Uganda and beyond. The empirical study is based on research material consisting of 30 expert interviews, two elite round tables on site in Uganda and documents. This material shows that both journalists’ working conditions and (related to this and even more important) their perception among the ruling elites, public administrations and those governed, limit media freedom. It is precisely the media’s relative societal position which allowed the government to implement a system of media laws and media regulation authorities which creates arbitrariness and, therefore, a feeling of insecurity within the profession." (Abstract)
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"Global press freedom declined to its lowest point in 12 years in 2015, as political, criminal, and terrorist forces sought to co-opt or silence the media in their broader struggle for power. The share of the world’s population that enjoys a Free press stood at just 13 percent, meaning fewer than
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one in seven people live in countries where coverage of political news is robust, the safety of journalists is guaranteed, state intrusion in media affairs is minimal, and the press is not subject to onerous legal or economic pressures. Steep declines worldwide were linked to two factors: heightened partisanship and polarization in a country’s media environment, and the degree of extralegal intimidation and physical violence faced by journalists. These problems were most acute in the Middle East, where governments and militias increasingly pressured journalists and media outlets to take sides, creating a “with us or against us” climate and demonizing those who refused to be cowed." (Page 1)
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"Global press freedom declined to its lowest point in 12 years in 2015, mainly due to political, criminal, and terrorist forces that sought to co-opt or silence the media in their struggle for power (Freedom House, 2016). As of 2015, only one in seven people around the world lived in a country that
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had a free media system, a country in which the coverage of news was robust, and the safety of journalists guaranteed. The rest have been living in countries whose press was either “partly free” or “not free” (Freedom House, 2016). As one of the most dangerous places in a world that has seen a recent upswing in violence against journalists, in Mexico, for example, even a car crash is not a simple car crash. “You have to call somebody to make sure you can write about it,” one journalist said, “because it might actually not be an accident but a purposeful vehicular homicide organized by the cartel” (Priest, 2015). And while journalists are aware of how the government and cartels are controlling news stories, self-censoring has become a common tactic. The situation of journalists in Mexico is the rule rather than the exception. Journalists in Russia, China, Turkey, Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, and many other countries from around the world work also under severe and difcult circumstances." (Abstract)
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"[...] la présente brochure analyse le cadre juridique dans lequel s’inscrit la collaboration du pouvoir judiciaire avec les autres structures institutionnelles et non institutionnelles engagées dans le domaine de la liberté de la presse. Elle explique ensuite l’importance de l’information,
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d’une information indépendante et plurale dans le renforcement de la démocratie et dans la construction des Etats de droit. Examinons, dans un premier temps, le cadre juridique qui régit la liberté de la presse en RDC ainsi que la réforme qui est en cours pour réformer et adapter ledit cadre au contexte national." (Introduction, page 12)
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"This report details how the criminal law is used to limit peaceful expression in India. It documents examples of the ways in which vague or overbroad laws are used to stifle political dissent, harass journalists, restrict activities by nongovernmental organizations, arbitrarily block Internet sites
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or take down content, and target religious minorities and marginalized communities, such as Dalits. The report identifies laws that should be repealed or amended to bring them into line with international law and India’s treaty commitments. These laws have been misused, in many cases in defiance of Supreme Court rulings or advisories clarifying their scope. For example, in 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that speech or action constitutes sedition only if it incites or tends to incite disorder or violence. Yet various state governments continue to charge people with sedition even when that standard is not met. While India’s courts have generally protected freedom of expression, their record is uneven. Some lower courts continue to issue poorly reasoned, speech-limiting decisions, and the Supreme Court, while often a forceful defender of freedom of expression, has at times been inconsistent, leaving lower courts to choose which precedent to emphasize. This lack of consistency has contributed to an inconsistent terrain of free speech rights and left the door open to continued use of the law by local officials and interest groups to harass and intimidate unpopular and dissenting opinions." (Summary, page 2)
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"Journalisten leben in Ruanda gefährlich. Für Kritik am Regime riskieren sie Prügel oder ihr Leben. Von einem, der sich nicht einschüchtern lassen wollte." (Einführung)
"This publication will contribute to ensuring that the breadth of human rights violations in Eritrea becomes known, and that the issue of human trafficking migrates more strongly upwards into the public eye." (Back cover)
"Seit der Unabhängigkeit 1991 ist in Kasachstan ein Mediensystem entstanden, das formal viele Gemeinsamkeiten mit den Mediensystemen in konsolidierten Demokratien aufweist. Die Verfassung garantiert Meinungs- und Pressefreiheit, auf dem Medienmarkt herrscht Vielfalt, das Internet gewinnt zulasten d
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er Printmedien an Bedeutung, und das Fernsehen erreicht nahezu jeden Haushalt. Doch tatsächlich ist die Lage anders. Der Staat kontrolliert und zensiert die Medien, die Pressefreiheit ist eingeschränkt, Medien haben kaum Zugang zu Informationen. Außerdem fehlen Organe der Selbstkontrolle der Presse oder eine Berufsvereinigung der Journalisten. Diese Strukturdefizite sollten behoben werden. Nötig wären freie Medien, die objektiv und umfassend informieren und den Bürgern Meinungsbildung zur Innen- und Außenpolitik Kasachstans ermöglichen. Davon würde auch die Staatsmacht profitieren." (Abstract)
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"The three countries that this year experienced a decrease in overall score—Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan—were ones last year that had showed small but unexpected increases. Last year’s Executive Summary indicated that such increases were unlikely to be part of a larger upward trend; pan
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elists’ scores this year for all three ended up placing the three more or less where they stood in 2014. A similar phenomenon occurred this year with Tajikistan. Panelists there gave scores that increase the overall score in the country by 0.18 despite the fact that many serious threats to the media sector exist, including government pressure and harassment of critical voices, concentration of media control, poor quality reporting, and difficulty for independent media in raising revenue. Except for Objective 3, Plurality of News, all objectives received higher scores. Reading the chapter text, however, one does not get the impression that much positive is happening to improve the ability of Tajik media to serve as the Fourth Estate." (Executive summary)
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