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Under pressure: Report on the situation of threatened cartoonists around the world 2023-2025

Paris: Cartooning for Peace; Cartoonists Rights (2026), 48 pp.

"Between June 2023 and June 2025, Cartooning for Peace recorded eighty-seven cases of threats against cartoonists around the world. The types of attacks recorded reveal a predominance of legal proceedings and cases of censorship. This typology indicates that more insidious repressive mechanisms are ... developing, creating a climate of fear and self-censorship, while circumventing the international attention attracted by more obvious, physical repression. Over the past two years, Cartooning for Peace has recorded twenty-two cases of legal proceedings2 brought against cartoonists in several countries, including Türkiye, India, Malaysia, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. In addition, there have been fourteen cases of censorship targeting cartoonists, taking various forms: editorial censorship, political censorship, etc. In India, the authorities criminalise and censor critical positions by relying on new information legislation, which is used to silence journalists, cartoonists, human rights defenders, and anyone expressing criticism of the authorities. More and more cartoonists are subjected to judicial proceedings that instrumentalise repressive laws – often those ostensibly addressing cybercrime, dis- and misinformation, sedition, extremism and/or terrorism – in an attempt to censor them. In Egypt, pre-trial detention is becoming a new weapon used by the regime to muzzle those who report and debate, through the abuse of anti-terrorism laws. Türkiye is not spared from the growing criminalisation of the media and journalists. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has made clear his desire to silence all dissenting voices, and political cartoonists are being directly targeted. While we are sadly familiar with the list of regimes long-known to be most repressive (Russia, China, Uganda, Nicaragua, etc.), others are shifting towards what some political scientists refer to as competitive authoritarianism’. These hybrid regimes are characterised by the coexistence of democratic institutions and authoritarian practices that violate democratic rules (Türkiye, Hungary, India, the United States, Israel, etc.). On the African continent, cartoonists are increasingly seen less as commentators and more as activists, with political leaders perceiving the visual codes of editorial cartoons as incorporating forms of mobilisation. As youth social movements organise themselves online, cartoons often become rallying symbols, making cartoonists early and visible targets of repression." (General overview, pages 7-8) more

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World Disasters Report 2026: Truth, Trust and Humanitarian Action in the Age of Harmful Information
Deep Insights

Charlotte Lindsey Curtet (ed.)

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (ICRC) (2026), 372 pp.

"The World Disasters Report 2026 calls on governments, humanitarian actors, media, technology companies and communities, to recognise that the trustworthiness of information is a matter of life and death. Just as we plan for logistics, shelter and health care in emergencies, we must also plan for th ... e information environment. This requires investing in community engagement, prioritizing listening over speaking, building resilience against harmful narratives and consistently upholding humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence in every interaction and message. In 2024, 32 Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers and staff were killed while on duty; in 2025, a further 27 lives were lost. This is a painful reminder of the risks borne by those who put humanity first, often in the most dangerous circumstances. Their deaths underscore the urgent need to protect humanitarian staff and volunteers, and to safeguard the space they need to save lives. Anything that deepens mistrust, fuels hostility or turns the emblem of protection into a target must be confronted with urgency. Honouring their memory compels us to meet this crisis with urgency and resolve. Hope must also be part of our response. Harmful information thrives on fear and confusion, but hope – rooted in trust, solidarity and human dignity – can be just as contagious. Balancing threats with hope and fostering narratives of agency and possibility offers a vital counterforce. Around the world, communities respond to crises not only with resilience but also with creativity and compassion, often leading the way in finding solutions. By amplifying authentic stories and voices, we do more than counter falsehoods: we inspire action, strengthen trust and remind people that even in the darkest moments, there are paths forward. The IFRC and its member Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have always worked at the heart of communities, earning trust through presence, transparency and respect. In today’s information crisis, this role matters more than ever. Our commitment is clear and unwavering: act with humanity and based on evidence, uphold trust and put people in need first – so that in moments of fear and uncertainty, the voices that carry furthest are those that heal, aid and protect. Each of us has a role to play. By staying informed, questioning, verifying and amplifying only what is trustworthy and constructive, we strengthen the information environment and ensure that hope speaks louder than harm." (Foreword) more

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Challenges in Environmental Communication: A Global Perspective

Bartłomiej Łódzki, Justyna Arendarska

London; New York: Routledge (2026), xiv, 111 pp.

"This book offers a comprehensive examination of the multifaceted roles of communication in addressing global environmental challenges. The overarching framework connecting all chapters is the belief that environmental communication is at a decisive moment, as effective communication interventions a ... more

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Quadrennial Report 2022-2025: Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists

Antonia Eser-Ruperti, Ka Kio Mok, Xu Jing, Olivier Van Bockstael (eds.)

Paris: UNESCO (2026), 63 pp.

"[...] the Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists (MDP) has proven critical in providing long- and short-term responses to the threats against information integrity. It strengthens the rule of law through empowering judges, prosecutors, and parliamentarians in prote ... more

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The State of Media Development 2026: Funding, local ownership and adaptation in international media development

Ines Drefs, Rose Kimani, Dennis Reineck, Martin Scott

Bonn: Deutsche Welle DW Akademie (2026), 85 pp.

"With resources drying up, not least because the U.S. administration has pulled the plug on international development funding, a rise in authoritarianism and another large-scale tech reset looming with AI, media development organizations are struggling to meet the challenges. According to data colle ... more

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Digital Progress and Trends Report 2025: Strengthening AI Foundations

Washington, DC: World Bank (2025), xix, 111 pp.

"The recent rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) has outpaced society's ability to fully grasp its implications. Unlike technological shifts that have unfolded over decades, AI's integration is accelerating at an unprecedented speed and scale. Along with AI's immense opportunities come ne ... more

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20 Years of Networking for Independent Media Worldwide

Forum Media and Development (fome) (2025), 31 pp.

"Twenty years ago, representatives from a handful of organisations involved in media development cooperation established the Forum Media and Development (fome). Some could draw on nearly 40 years of experience, some were newbies in the field of media development assistance. However, it was only thre ... e years earlier that all these actors had met for the first time to share information about their specific work and common challenges. After a few meetings and a jointly organised conference — known today as fome symposium — the founding members decided to collaborate more closely to sustain this exchange and their commitment to shared goals. Meanwhile, 31 organisations and institutions from Germany and Switzerland have been forming a stable network for years. Instruments and focal points have evolved over the past 20 years; the shared goals and, consequently, the ongoing tasks have remained consistent for fome members: learning from one another and from partners; coordination of joint action and collaboration; promotion of media support within development cooperation. In fact, media development has gained a significantly stronger presence within German development assistance over the last decades. In the early years of fome's existence, media was one of several cross-cutting themes, for which four hours of the responsible staff member's time were allocated in the governmental administration. Currently, two staff members are responsible for media assistance within the BMZ — the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation. A fixed title has been established in the budget plan since 2015: ’Promotion of media, access to information, and freedom of expression in partner countries’. Over the years, this amount increased to €30 million. However, the sum was not increased in the fourth year, which ultimately signifies a slight decline, as personnel and material costs have risen during the same period. The challenges in media assistance, however, increased over these 20 years. Digital media caused the breakdown of traditional funding business models, and especially local communication spaces are becoming more vulnerable.Never before have so many journalists faced such severe threats — being murdered in war zones, imprisoned by authoritarian regimes, and subjected to hate speech and open threats on social media. Digital media serve as tools of hybrid warfare, and the ways in which propaganda and misinformation influence democratic elections and societal debates have increased. AI will further boost the potential of deepfakes. Therefore, combating disinformation remains a key focus of German media support. However, fighting disinformation also involves backing credible media organisations and making independent journalists as resilient as possible against various forms of attack. It also involves identifying the most effective ways of publishing and accessing information, as well as exploring the potential of AI in journalists' professional environments. The most effective approaches to achieve this have been the subject of learning and discussion in the fome network during the last 20 years, and they will be explored within the fome network over the next 20 years. Some of the member organisations featured in this brochure highlight one of their projects, which they implement with media professionals in the so-called Global South. The individual articles also demonstrate the diversity of the member organisations and their various areas of activity across different regions of the world." (Introduction by Sofie Jannusch) more

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Who Makes the News? Progress on a Plateau. Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) Special Edition: 30-year Findings on Change in Gender Equality In and Through the World News Media
Deep Insights

Sarah Macharia, Maximiliano Dueñas Guzmán, Rodrigo Molina et al.

Toronto: World Association of Christian Communication (WACC); Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) (2025), 123 pp.

"This report presents the findings of the seventh iteration of the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) global snapshot, based on 30,049 news articles containing 58,563 people and 26,708 news personnel in 94 countries on the 7th global monitoring day, May 6, 2025. Key Findings: 1. Thirty years a ... go, the report of the first GMMP called for a shift in coverage beyond the male-dominated realms of political and economic power. Not only has the hierarchy of “hard news” in legacy media persisted across time, it has also crossed over into digital outlets. 2. Digitalization did not bring a radical break from the patriarchal norms of traditional journalism. Instead, it continues to reinforce and amplify a news hierarchy that privileges spheres and issues centred on power, namely, those dominated by men. The challenge is threefold. First, to dismantle the “hard news” bias, second, to integrate more intentionally spaces and issues of greater concern to women, and third, to enable visibility and voice to women present in traditionally male-dominated spaces. 3. After a period of slow but steady improvement, progress toward gender parity in the news has flatlined since around 2010, failing to reach 50% in any media type. Thirty years after Beijing, women are 26% of those seen, heard, or spoken about in legacy news (29% on news websites). The needle has shifted 9 points in legacy media since 1995, and 4 points in online news during the past 10 years. Minority groups are five points more likely to be present in digital news than in legacy media. The probability of minority women being featured in the news as the main protagonists or as interviewees is two in a hundred in traditional media (3% for men) and 4% on news websites (5% for men). 4. Women’s visibility in political and economic news beats has increased significantly – by 15 points each – over the past three decades. The severe underrepresentation noted in 1995 (7% in political news, 10% in economic news) has improved. Women’s presence in sports news is abysmal, at only 15% of news subjects and sources. 5. The proportion of women providing expert testimony has grown remarkably over the decades, showing the highest increase (+7 points) in digital news since 2015. In legacy media, the gender gap in authoritative roles as experts and spokespersons has closed at a slower pace than for persons providing testimony based on popular opinion and personal experience – ordinary roles that require no specialized knowledge. 6. Patterns of gender-biased portrayal endure despite decades of change in women’s roles in the real world. Women have remained about twice as likely as men to be portrayed as victims since 2010. Historically, women were most often portrayed as victims of accidents or poverty. This pattern was overturned in 2025, with “other crime” and “domestic violence” (by intimate partners and family members) becoming the top victim categories. Women depicted as survivors in legacy media were most likely to have survived “accidents, natural disasters, poverty, and disease” in previous GMMP studies. In 2025, they are most frequently portrayed as domestic violence survivors in equal proportion to accident/disaster survivors. The over-representation of women as homemakers/parents decreased from 81% in 2000 to 73% in 2025, indicating some progress, albeit a persistent journalistic bias toward defining women by domestic roles, despite women’s current unprecedented engagement in work outside the home. Underrepresentation in occupations and in positions of power has remained consistent. The tendency to describe women by their age and physical attributes has also persisted. They have been photographed more often than men (a 7–9-point difference) over the past two decades, with qualitative analysis continuing to show patterns of sexualised portrayal [...]" (Key findings, pages 2-3) more

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Free Expression Seen as Important Globally, but Not Everyone Thinks Their Country Has Press, Speech and Internet Freedoms: Made-up news and information seen as pervasive across the globe
Deep Insights

Jacob Poushter, Maria Smerkovich, Moira Fagan, Andrew Prozorovsky

Pew Research Center (2025), 71 pp.

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An overview of digital service taxation

raul Katz

Geneva: ITU (2025), xi, 36 pp.

"The study’s first major conclusion is that taxes imposed both on operators and on consumers remain in place in many countries around the world. At least 74 countries impose taxes on service providers, whether environmentally related, import duties on equipment or VAT on equipment purchases. Simil ... arly, 145 countries impose VAT on mobile services, while 74 apply import duties on mobile devices. Secondly, some nuanced geographic patterns in terms of taxation approaches can be teased out from the data. The group of countries exempting equipment purchases from taxation include advanced economies and some less developed countries. This would indicate that this group is not only composed of countries that do not require equipment taxation to increase revenues but also countries that prioritize maximization of network coverage (stimulated by lower equipment taxes) over tax collection. That said, there appears to be countries, mostly concentrated in the developing world, with some middle-income economies, that still prioritize tax collection from import duties on equipment. Thirdly, unlike with network equipment, many countries were identified that exempt consumer devices from import duty or device-specific taxes. Furthermore, several developing countries were found to tax the import of devices at an extremely high rate. However, some countries have established consumer device taxation approaches aimed at reducing the purchasing acquisition cost. At the other end, some countries appear to have imposed high taxation on consumer devices. In addition to taxes on devices, affordability of telecommunications/ICTs for consumers is affected by VAT paid on mobile telecommunications services, a fairly common practice across countries. Of all services to which VAT is applied, the most prevalent service is outgoing international traffic, where rates range between 2.75 per cent and 20 per cent. Finally, many countries have enacted a digital service tax to address perceived gaps in corporate income-tax systems. This approach imposes a tax on gross receipts derived from digital advertising, data mining and other types of digital platform revenue. A few countries have already implemented national approaches aimed at tackling profit shifting by digital platforms. While many countries did not report the application of digital service taxes in the ITU Tariff Policies Survey, of the 115 nations that provided a response, only 17 reported applying a digital service tax, and the percentage applied varies from 3% (Fance) to 21% (Argentina). This limited evidence prevents us from understanding what the current trend is in this domain." (Conclusion) more

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Freedom in the World 2025: The Uphill Battle to Safeguard Rights

Yana Gorokhovskaia, Cathryn Grothe

Washington, DC: Freedom House (2025), 29 pp.

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Global Communication: A Multicultural Perspective
Deep Insights

Yahya R. Kamalipour (ed.)

Lanham et al.: Rowman & Littlefield, 4th ed. (2025), xxxiv, 443 pp.

"Twenty-four highly accomplished and prominent media scholars representing ten countries provide a survey of international communication, public relations and advertising, implications of globalization, international law and regulation, global culture, propaganda, transnational media, the shifting p ... more

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Measuring Digital Development: The ICT Development Index

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 36 pp.

"I am pleased to present the 2025 edition of the ICT Development Index (IDI). This is the third edition based on the revised methodology adopted by Member States in 2023. The current IDI is anchored in the concept of universal and meaningful connectivity (UMC), a term coined by ITU in 2021 that has ... more

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2024 Assistance report: Protecting exiled journalists is crucial for press freedom

Victoria Lavenue, Maxine Singeot, Coline Raffaelli, Emmanuelle Dareys, Matéo Pellerin

Paris: Reporters Without Borders (2025), 15 pp.

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Determinants of watchdog journalism: A global empirical approach

Basyouni Ibrahim Hamada, Abdel-Salam G. Abdel-Salam

International Communication Gazette, volume 87, issue 3 (2025), pp. 191-216

"This article introduces and examines a hierarchical model of influences that identifies the variables affecting the watchdog role of journalists at three levels: the societal (press freedom and democracy), the organizational (media ownership), and the individual (editorial autonomy and perceived in ... more

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Where publishers are seeing AI’s real value – so far

Frankfurt am Main: WAN-IFRA (2025), ?? pp.

"Based on a Q2 2025 survey of more than 100 media leaders and 10 detailed case studies, the report explores how publishers are applying AI to workflows, products and audience engagement – and where its value is proving hardest to measure. Our findings show that AI’s impact is strongest behind th ... e scenes. While only 9 percent of publishers can point to direct revenue gains, 75 percent report efficiency improvements, 64 percent better content production, 55 percent faster publishing times, and 44 percent improved resource allocation. In other words, AI is already changing how news is produced and delivered, even if the financial payoffs are still emerging. “Revenue generation gets all the attention, but it’s often the wrong metric for AI in media. Cost reduction, quality improvements, speed gains, and better resource allocation deliver value faster and more measurably,” noted Ezra Eeman, Director of Strategy & Innovation at NPO, and Strategic Advisor for WAN-IFRA’s AI Initiatives. Here is a summary of the case studies in the report: The Hindu, India, Hard ROI: AI-driven recommendations for content, push notifications, and newsletters boosted CTRs, session durations, ad impressions and subscriptions. Schibsted, Norway, Hard ROI: A machine learning model for real-time personalisation lifted front-page subscription sales by 75 percent, while scaling across multiple newsrooms. United Daily News, Taiwan, Hard ROI: AI optimisation of ads, curation, and recommendations, drove 200 percent growth in ad performance, subscription conversions, and engagement. Financial Times, UK, Soft ROI: FT’s Storyfinding team applies AI to surface patterns in large datasets, streamlining investigative workflows and supporting scalable newsroom tools. NTM, Sweden, Hard and Soft ROI: Toppnyheter, an AI-powered audio news service, delivers real-time summaries while extending editorial oversight and audience reach. La Nación, Argentina, Soft ROI: A custom AI pipeline analysed President Javier Milei’s speeches, structuring 739,961 words to track rhetorical patterns. Legit.ng, Nigeria, Hard and Soft ROI: AI halved translation times, expanded Hausa-language coverage, boosted output, and improved fact-checking and distribution. “For us, AI is not about replacing journalists – it’s about giving them more time to do real journalism,” noted Rahaman Abiola, Editor-in-Chief. Gannett, USA, Hard and Soft ROI: Gannett, the parent company of USA Today, is transforming its 200-plus publications into an AI-ready organisation by embedding the technology across workflows, training and tools. “The real risk isn’t AI replacing you. It’s someone using AI replacing you,” remarked Jessica Davis, Vice President of News Automation and AI Product at Gannett. AsiaOne, Singapore, Hard ROI: An AI classification model improved ad targeting, boosted revenue by 20 percent, cut sales staff by 40 percent, and freed resources for higher-level strategy, while also providing shared insights across editorial, analytics and business teams. South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, Hard ROI: AI summarisation, editing, translation, and investigative tools save 300+ hours monthly while enhancing accuracy and reach." (https://wan-ifra.org) more

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AI for Good Innovate for Impact. Interim Report 2025

Geneva: ITU (2025), xxxiv, 828 pp.

"Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the way we address complex societal challenges, offering new possibilities in areas such as healthcare, climate resilience, education, and digital inclusion. The Innovate for Impact project was launched in 2024 to identify, support, and showcase practical A ... more

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Human Development Report 2025: A Matter of Choice. People and Possibilities in the Age of AI
Deep Insights

Pedro Conceição et al.

New York: UNDP (2025), xi, 307 pp.

"This year’s Human Development Report examines what distinguishes this new era of AI from previous digital transformations and what those differences could mean for human development (chapter 1), including how AI can enhance or subvert human agency (chapter 2). People are already interacting with ... more

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The impact of digital transformation on the economy: Econometric modelling

Raul Katz, Fernando Callorda, Juan Jung

Geneva: ITU (2025), xiii, 69 pp.

"This research applies econometric modelling techniques to examine the economic contribution of fixed and mobile broadband as well as digitization around the world. Building on a series of studies published by the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) it provides significant evidence on the ... more

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Cosmopolitan Communication Studies: Toward Deep Internationalization

Carola Richter, Melanie Radue, Christine Horz-Ishak, Anna Litvinenko, Hanan Badr, Anke Fiedler (eds.)

Bielefeld: transcript Verlag (2025), 318 pp.

"This book aims to contribute to a “deep internationalization” of media and communication studies by offering insights and guidance on how to integrate a cosmopolitan perspective in our discipline. Building onthe debates on de-Westernization and cosmopolitanism in the decades since the 2000s, th ... more

World Disasters Report 2026: Truth, Trust and Humanitarian Action in the Age of Harmful Information Deep Insights

Who Makes the News? Progress on a Plateau. Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) Special Edition: 30-year Findings on Change in Gender Equality In and Through the World News Media Deep Insights

Free Expression Seen as Important Globally, but Not Everyone Thinks Their Country Has Press, Speech and Internet Freedoms: Made-up news and information seen as pervasive across the globe Deep Insights

Global Communication: A Multicultural Perspective Deep Insights

Human Development Report 2025: A Matter of Choice. People and Possibilities in the Age of AI Deep Insights

World Disasters Report 2026: Truth, Trust and Humanitarian Action in the Age of Harmful Information
Deep Insights

Who Makes the News? Progress on a Plateau. Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) Special Edition: 30-year Findings on Change in Gender Equality In and Through the World News Media
Deep Insights

Free Expression Seen as Important Globally, but Not Everyone Thinks Their Country Has Press, Speech and Internet Freedoms: Made-up news and information seen as pervasive across the globe
Deep Insights

Global Communication: A Multicultural Perspective
Deep Insights

Human Development Report 2025: A Matter of Choice. People and Possibilities in the Age of AI
Deep Insights