"This books draws a comparative balance of twenty years' international media assistance in the five countries of the Western Balkans. The central question was what happens to imported models when they are transposed onto the newly evolving media systems of transitional societies. Albania, Bosnia-Her
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zegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia undertook a range of media reforms to conform with accession requirements of the European Union and the standards of the Council of Europe, among others. The essays explore the nexus between the democratic transformation of the media and international media assistance. The cross-national analysis concludes that the effects of international assistance are highly constrained by the local context. From today's vantage point it becomes obvious, that scaling media assistance does not necessarily improve outcomes. The experiences in the region suggest that imported solutions have not been very cognitive in all aspects of local conditions but international strategies tend to be rather schematic and lacked strategic approaches to promote media policy stability, credible media reform and implementation. The book offers valuable insights into the nature and effects of media assistance and the strategies deployed by international aid agencies, local political forces, media professionals, civil society organizations and other actors." (Publisher description)
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"By creating opportunities for microentrepreneurship, street papers have been tackling homelessness and poverty in U.S. cities since the late 1980s. Homeless or low-income vendors purchase these social justice-oriented publications for a fraction of the cover price, and then resell them on street co
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rners for profit. By 2015 the self-help model had spread to 35 U.S. cities, according to the International Network of Street Papers. These cities range significantly in characteristics such as population size, climate, geographic location and political atmosphere. Drawing on interviews with more than 20 editors, staff and vendors at North American street papers, I have identified five factors that tend to contribute to a paper’s success in any given city. These factors address both qualities of the host city, such as significant pedestrian traffic, and qualities of the paper itself, such as the support of a pre-existing nonprofit organization. I next considered these factors in the context of one case study: Groundcover News in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This case study in turn provided insight into the final aspect of the capstone: determining whether Syracuse, New York, could support a successful street paper. Based on analysis of census data, interviews with representatives from Syracuse-based social service organizations and the application of previously gathered information, I concluded that a street paper in Syracuse would face no insurmountable obstacles." (Abstract)
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"Macedonia and Montenegro saw the largest overall score increases this year, in comparison to 2017. The improvement across all objectives this year for Macedonia’s media sector can be attributed to political changes that prioritize media in democratic reforms. Although Montenegro’s score improve
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ment shows promising progress and puts it in the Near Sustainability category, weaknesses in the country’s media sector include low revenue generation, declining professional development opportunities, political biases, and low adherence to professional standards. Kyrgyzstan and Serbia saw the largest overall decreases in their scores. While Kyrgyzstan’s MSI score for the business management objective increased slightly, all other objective scores experienced a decline, moving Kyrgyzstan from Near Sustainability in 2017 to Unsustainable Mixed System in 2018. Serbia’s scores in all MSI objectives are indicative of a downward trend in the country’s media space. Among the factors feeding this spiral are: media content is more polarized now than at any time in almost 20 years; an increase in fake news; editorial pressure on media; and a poor overall economic operating environment." (Executive summary)
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"This article analyzes how journalists in the Western Balkans consider the roles of journalism in times of transitions in the region. Findings from the Worlds of Journalism (WJS) study reveal that journalists and editors in the Western Balkans perceive their roles to be broader than those in traditi
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onally western societies. They subscribe to traditional journalism values but also argue that the media has a broad responsibility to contribute to enhance transitions of societies after longer periods of conflict. At the same time, journalists have little trust in the institutions of society entrusted with the task of leading the countries through many issues of transitional justice. The article draws on empirical material from the WJS survey in 2014 and 2015 in Albania, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia." (Abstract)
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"This study examines the existence of criminal defamation and insult laws in the territory of the 57 participating States of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In doing so, it offers a broad, comparative overview of the compliance of OSCE participating States’ legislat
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ion with international standards and best practices in the field of defamation law and freedom of expression. The primary purpose of the study is to identify relevant provisions in law. Although the study does include examples of the usage of these provisions, it is not an analysis of legal practice [...] The study is divided into two sections. The first section offers conclusions according to each of the principal categories researched and in reference to international standards on freedom of expression. The second section provides the detailed research findings for each country, including relevant examples. As the study’s title suggests, the primary research category is general criminal laws on defamation and insult. However, this study also covers special laws protecting the reputation or honour of particular persons or groups of people (e.g., presidents, public officials, deceased persons); special laws protecting the ‘honour’ of the state and state symbols; and blasphemy and religious insult laws." (About this study, page 2)
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"The state has been for year the biggest advertiser in the country. Public money has been spent through its Ministries, institutions, republic agencies, bodies, local self-governments etc on different advertising and sponsorship contracts. The total value of state advertising still remains unknown d
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ue to the poor regulation of this sector. Most commercial advertising is placed with national media outlets. Outside the main cities, local economies are underdeveloped and advertising markets are very poor or nearly nonexistent. Under every government so far, owners of media buying agencies had close ties with the ruling party and politics. These connections have helped acentuate growing economic and editorial pressure on Serbian media. According to the latest available data which relate to 2016, the total value of the advertising market in Serbia was 174 million Euros. This amount of money is insufficient to sustain the survival of the curently active media in Serbia. There are more than 1600 active registred media outlets which are competing for their share of the advertising market." (http://www.mom-rsf.org)
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"This MeCoDEM working paper presents an overview of the main findings from a quantitative content analysis covering different types of democratisation conflicts (i.e., conflicts over citizenship, elections, transitional justice and distribution of power) in four countries: Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and S
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outh Africa. The sample involves 5162 newspaper articles and news stories in the four countries selected on the basis of two main criteria: the degree of independence of media outlets from government and political parties, and their relevance. The key findings from the content analysis are organised around several themes: causes of democratisation conflicts, portrayal of conflict parties, preferred solutions to conflicts, perceptions of democracy, role of the media, authoritarian past, and tone of reporting and polarisation. Although this paper focuses principally on description, we also speculate about the main factors that shape similarities and differences in media coverage of democratisation conflicts. The main finding from the content analysis is that cross-national variations that we found in media reporting of democratisation conflicts appear to depend on several factors." (Executive summary)
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"The structural conditions of journalism are shaped by legacies of the past (marked by non-democratic regimes and sometimes colonial rule) and persisting power structures. The state and powerful political actors are perceived to play an important role in the media sector, mirrored in different forms
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of political interference directed at newsrooms and individual journalists in the way of repressive legal frameworks, political ownership and advertising, economic censorship and blackmail, as well as threats directed at the physical and psychological safety of journalists. Journalists perceive the relationship between different communities in society to be reflected in the constitution of and atmosphere among newsroom staff. Even though journalists operate in a more liberal environment than under autocratic rule in Kenya, Serbia and South Africa, media privatisation has created new dependencies and pressures: Against the background of profit-making pressures in capitalist and highly commercialised media markets, journalists claim to work under precarious working conditions, marked by time constraints due to short-staffed newsroom and juniorisation, high professional insecurity and poor salaries arguably making journalists vulnerable to bribery and corruption. Challenges relating to journalistic professionalism also translate into insufficient training on conflict-sensitive reporting and safety measures for journalists reporting on conflicts, low professional organisation and self-regulation, as well as a lack of professional solidarity and prestige." (Executive summary)
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"Struggling to cope with structural societal changes, digitalized news production, and the modified habits of fragmented media publics, public service broadcasters are expected to redefine the logic of their operations in order to regain the trust of citizens and engage them. This paper looks at how
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public service broadcasters in seven countries of the Western Balkans have embraced new approaches, technologies, and online channels to foster interaction with their audiences. This includes the analysis of their structures, the popularity of offline programmes, and the use of online channels to reach the public, on the basis of evidence, experiences and specific findings collected during the period 2014-2016, as part of the project implemented by the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and the Centre for Social Research Analitika (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina)." (Abstract)
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"National and Regional Internet Governance Forums (NRIs) are the stars of the 2017 Global Information Society Watch. The story of NRIs began two years after the first global IGF held in 2006. In 2008, stakeholders from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda organised national forums and a subsequent Eas
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t African IGF, to prepare for and discuss common concerns in anticipation of the global forum held later that year in Hyderabad. Soon after, many other national and regional initiatives emerged, impacting the global forum from the bottom up, enhancing inclusiveness and the broad engagement of multiple stakeholders. Today there is widespread agreement that national and regional forums constitute an important part of the IGF process, that their rise has added significance to the global forum and, at the same time, strengthened national and regional initiatives in their quest for inclusive, participatory decision making on their home turf. This GISWatch edition is the first comprehensive look at national and regional IGF initiatives from a critical, civil society perspective. In all, 54 reports are presented, including seven reports addressing cross-cutting themes, 40 covering national IGFs, and seven examining regional initiatives." (Preface)
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"Journalists in many countries are experimenting with how to build trust and engage with audiences, and our report examines their efforts. In our study we profile organizations that are working to build bridges with their readers, viewers and listeners and deliver relevant news to local audiences. W
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e surveyed 17 organizations and conducted interviews with representatives of 15 organizations, one of which chose to remain anonymous. Among others we spoke to Chequeado in Argentina, GroundUp in South Africa, Raseef 22 in the Middle East, 263 Chat in Zimbabwe, Krautreporter and Correct!v in Germany, as well as Bristol Cable in the UK [...] Although the groups we surveyed are concerned by the broader phenomena of falling trust in media and media credibility, they are also, by necessity, focused on immediate fixes important to their organizations and readerships. Some believe that media credibility depends on engagement with readers. Some place more emphasis on journalism practices, including audience engagement, ethical standards and news gathering practices. The outlets we profiled use digital technology to communicate with audiences. Some also involve their readers in sourcing and sometimes verifying information. Some conduct focus groups and online surveys. Responding to comments online is part of their engagement efforts. Readers appreciate investigative reporting as well as stories that touch on their daily lives [...] There seems to be a tradeoff between audience size and the quality of content produced. Some groups with large followings (Hivisasa and 263Chat) promote headlines and short snippets rather than carrying out deep investigative reporting [...] Several groups said their audience is different from what their founders had originally expected. The reach of the outlets we surveyed is generally not as diverse as they had hoped. Their audiences tend to be educated and urban and, in some cases, include large diaspora communities. The outlets largely cater to niche audiences, but they have broader reach through their online presence and national influence when their stories are picked up by legacy media or other outlets." (https://gijn.org, accessed: June 8, 2018)
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"This booklet first presents as a case study an overview and analysis of the actual reporting during the May 2014 flood in Serbia from the gender perspective. This part contains examples of gender stereotypical portrayal of men and women, but also the lack of visibility of female contribution to the
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humanitarian response. The modern system of emergency management is essentially determined by a new security paradigm. This is important to the understanding of the gender perspective in emergency management and the main characteristics are described in part 2 of this guide. This is followed by a study of the media and its role and ethics concerning the reporting of emergency situations – covering the gender aspects of emergencies. This part includes recommendations for media action in accordance with the global as well as national approaches to strengthening the resilience of people and communities for a timely and effective accommodation and recovery from the effects of disasters." (Page 8)
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"This article examines how broadcaster B92, once the top-billed independent media in Serbia that resisted Milosevic’s authoritarianism, could not survive democracy. Although it withstood the crackdown and censorship of the war regime, it was eventually sunk by what could be considered ‘market ce
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nsorship’. B92 was forced into privatization because the international donors, who assisted it during the Milosevic regime, tapered their support on the assumption that in a democratic and marketbased environment, all media outlets should have an equal chance to grow and to become self-sustainable. The story of B92 illustrates how the rapid liberalization that occurred lead not to an ideal ‘marketplace of ideas’ furthering democracy, but to commercialization and the drastic loss of space on the airwaves for alternative voices and critical investigative journalism." (Abstract)
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"While a few much-needed improvements can be reported for the 2017 Europe & Eurasia Media Sustainability Index (MSI), overall there are signs of continued and worsening challenges facing those who wish to create and support a vibrant information system in the 21 countries studied in this volume [...
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] Apart from Belarus, there is not much in the way of positive news in this year’s MSI. Taken together, only nine objective scores, scattered among six countries, showed any meaningful improvement: Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine experienced improvement in two objective scores while Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Uzbekistan each had one objective show improvement. Belarus was the only country whose overall score improved by a tenth of a point or more. Five other countries showed only marginal overall improvement." (Executive summary)
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"This research project focuses on media reporting of and in crisis situations, with case studies of examples mostly from 2016. Political and social crises have been recurring in recent years, aggravated by unstable political environments, underdeveloped economies, ethno-national divisions and unreso
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lved legacies of war. They ranged from political clashes, government crises, through crisis involving citizen protests or pertaining to response to natural disasters, to refugee crises. As indicated by the national reports from five successor states of the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia) and Albania, in the analysed cases of crises, the media largely failed to fulfil their public service role and to an extent did just the opposite, providing sensationalistic stories, favouring particular sources (mainly official ones, from one political faction or one ethno-national group), sometimes accentuating security threats and possible conflicts, or simply by failing to provide relevant information or in-depth analysis necessary for substantive understanding of related public interest issues. In this research we start from the assumption that weaknesses of the media sector manifest themselves with particular severity in crisis situations. We also recognize the pivotal role of media in what the dominant framing of the crises is, by which they can contribute to, or thwart, democratic communication. The experience of media in former Yugoslavia in the 1990 is a reminder of how devastating the consequences can be." (Pages 2-3)
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"The integration of traditionally isolated Central/ Eastern Europe into larger, worldwide trends has fundamentally changed the way we look at the media in this region. This volume proposes to address the transition of the media and communication industries in the contemporary period. The contributio
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ns discuss, among other things, the obstacles that still remain for the media to play an effective watchdog role in the new democracies, and whether the advent of the Internet and social media has helped or hindered the transformation to a powerful, independent media. The discussion further examines whether advertising agencies have targeted postcommunist citizens differently than those in Western European countries and if the media markets in the post- communist region are fundamentally different than in Western Europe and North America. A second focus of the volume is the media coverage of social issues like domestic violence, which is intended to draw attention to these issues and influence policy in a more aware and open society. This establishes the trend of post- communist media following the example of western media practice." (Publisher description)
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"This book has presented a critical, historically grounded analysis of the role of the war correspondent. It has highlighted the risks, the problems and the failures that have defined the role but it has also given credit where that is due and acknowledged the inspirational example of correspondents
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such as William Howard Russell, Morgan Philips Price, Martha Gellhorn, Wilfred Burchett, John Pilger and Robert Fisk. Their work seems to bear testament to the ideal beloved of all journalists and writers, of ‘telling truth to power’. But as Arundhati Roy has argued, ‘Power owns the truth [and] knows the truth just as well if not better than the powerless know the truth’ (2004, page 68). In view of everything that has gone before in this book, I think she is right. Telling truth to power does not change or lessen the risks and dangers that accompany the journalist in the war zone. And as we have seen, the risks are not equal; the level of special training, protection and institutional support journalists receive depends on the size and wealth of their media employer." (Conclusion, page 214)
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"Given that the nature of civil society in different countries is different, and also often shifting in response to political changes, examining the relationship between civil society and media production (mainstream and alternative) in Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa involves being sensitive
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to both specificity and commonality. The types of civil society organisation across these country contexts are diverse, challenging the construction of a simple definition, with different types of activism emerging across time. Even as countries make shifts towards democracy, gains can be easily lost and recouped, as Egypt has shown in recent years. Unpacking the relationship between media and political activism is also complex, given that there are a range of activisms including social and political activism which also sometimes overlap. The terrain is currently extremely dynamic: while the mainstream media may follow old routines of news gathering, and may be subjected to both state and self-censorship, the new media terrains open to possibility for dialogue and exchange, but also for the spread of dissent. New forms of activism also challenge the mainstream media routines, such that, for example, the media workers also monitor social media for story leads." (Conclusion)
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"Instead of seeking to provide an objective definition of hate speech, the paper’s empirical approach highlights that context matters. More specifically, analysis of the political and socio-economic context in which the speech act occurs and consideration of the nature of the speaker and audience
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– including their impact and transmission – allows for a nuanced and informed approach to evaluate hate speech, and how this impacts democratisation processes. The paper presents: a general discussion of freedom of speech and its relationship with hate speech; a brief discussion on the definitions of hate speech and international legislation; a short discussion of hate speech in the four country contexts of the MeCoDEM project: Egypt, Kenya, Serbia and South Africa." (Executive summary)
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