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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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Human Development Report 2025: A Matter of Choice. People and Possibilities in the Age of AI
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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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Independent Evaluation of the Media Freedom Coalition

Aida Al Kaisy, Daniel Skillings, Ivana Jiménez Barrios

Paris: Aleph Strategies; Media Freedom Coalition (2025), 62 pp.

"The evaluation found that the MFC has made notable contributions to media freedom and journalist safety over the past five years. It has played a role in encouraging some Member States to strengthen their media freedom policies and legislation. The MFC has also influenced state actors through diplo ... matic and advocacy efforts, maintaining high-level political attention on media freedom. Direct interventions, legal guidance, and engagement with embassy networks have contributed to journalist protection efforts at the local level. Furthermore, the MFC has strengthened multi-stakeholder coordination, bringing together governments, civil society, and legal experts. However, the evaluation also identified several areas for improvement. While the MFC provides a platform for dialogue and cooperation, its engagement with members on domestic media freedom policies is voluntary and lacks a structured approach for supporting and tracking commitments. Joint advocacy statements have a greater impact locally than internationally and are often perceived as lacking boldness and clear outcomes. While the MFC has addressed high-profile cases, its focus has sometimes overshadowed broader, systemic media freedom challenges. Engagement with Rights-Holders and organisations working on the ground has been limited, impacting the relevance and sustainability of its strategies. Coordination and collaboration within the MFC are foundational, particularly through diplomatic networks and the development of emergency visa schemes. However, decision-making is often reactive, affecting stakeholder trust. The MFC’s membership is perceived as predominantly Northern-led, and there is potential to leverage its diverse membership more effectively. Knowledge management and information-sharing need strengthening to ensure a deeper understanding of media freedom issues among Member States. The high-level legal expertise of the HLP is underutilised. Clarity around decision-making processes among Member States varies, influencing trust-based collaboration. While engagement at the local level through embassies is effective, it requires more structured guidance and support. Coordination between Member States, the CN, and the HLP remains limited in some areas. In terms of sustainability, the current governance model, particularly the annual rotation of Executive Group co-chairs, can present challenges for knowledge retention and continuity. Funding modalities are complex, leading to perceptions of uneven distribution and impacting trust and coordination. While the MFC has developed working relationships with similar coalitions, more formalised collaboration could maximise resource efficiency. The limited engagement with Rights-Holders influences the visibility and perceived effectiveness of the MFC’s work." (Key findings and conclusions, pages 2-3) more

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International Disinformation: A Handbook for Analysis and Response
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Robert Kupiecki, Filip Bryjka, Tomasz Chłoń

Leiden: Brill (2025), vii, 283 pp.

"Dive into the world of disinformation with this groundbreaking book. Uncover how Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) shapes modern politics and society, and how it impacts your own life. Explore answers to key questions: What are the origins and characteristics of disinformatio ... more

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The Index on International Media Freedom Support 2025

Martin Scott, Mel Bunce, Shannon Maguire, Mary Myers

University of East Anglia, Centre for Journalism and Democracy; City St George’s, University of London (2025), 30 pp.

"The Index on International Media Freedom Support (IMFS) evaluates and ranks states based on their support for media freedom beyond their borders. It does this by analysing the contributions that countries have made to international diplomatic, financial and safety / protection initiatives that prom ... ote media freedom. The IMFS Index includes all states that are members of both the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) (30 countries). These countries have pledged to promote media freedom internationally, and the IMFS holds them accountable for these commitments. The Index draws on data from the previous calendar year (2024), except for the ODA figures, which are for 2023, due to the time lag in reporting. The IMFS Index is produced by an independent research group and is a joint project between City St George’s, University of London, and the University of East Anglia. The results of the 2025 IMFS Index highlight several well performing states: Lithuania (1st) is the highest ranked country, largely due to its diplomatic efforts, including its leadership of two multilateral initiatives. Sweden (2nd) spent a far higher proportion of its Official Development Assistance (ODA) on media development in 2023 than any other country (0.91%). It is the only country to get close to the benchmark of 1.0%, as recommended by the Forum on Information & Democracy. France (5th) is the only country to award funding to all four qualifying multilateral pooled funds in 2024. Latvia (9th) is the only country to have both an active emergency visa scheme dedicated to supporting journalists at-risk and to support a national initiative that promotes the protection and safety of media workers in exile. The IMFS Index also identifies several less encouraging trends and performances: No country performed consistently well across all three areas of diplomacy, funding and safety / protection. Almost two thirds of the 30 countries qualified for the lowest, bronze category, earning only 10 points or less. This includes four members of the G7: the United Kingdom (equal 12th), the United States (equal 12th), Italy (equal 24th) and Japan (28th). The lowest ranked countries were Japan (28th), Slovenia (equal 29th) and South Korea (equal 29th), due to their relative lack of support for diplomacy, funding and safety / protection. However, South Korea and Japan do provide support for the wider enabling environment for media freedom in their ODA spending, which is not measured by this Index. On average, the 30 states in the IMFS Index allocated just 0.16% of their ODA to media development in 2023. Thirteen countries awarded less than 0.1%, including three – Latvia (9th), Greece (21st), and Slovenia (29th) – which reported giving 0%. Only five countries had an emergency visa scheme for journalists in 2024, and only five hosted an assistance programme for journalists in exile. Twenty-one countries had neither." (Executive summary, pages 3-4) more

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Media Literacy for the Communication Ecosystem : A Theory of Change for a Healthier Futurre

Julian McDougall

Cham: Springer (2025), xli, 278 pp.

"This book shows how media literacy can improve the health of communication ecosystems amid information disorder. It makes the case for media literacy as a human right and a foundation for civic resilience and curates research and best practices to show how media literacy can counter misinformation, ... more

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Press Freedom Index 2015: Regimes seeking ever more information control

Berlin: Reporter ohne Grenzen (2015), 4 pp.

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Die Landkarte der Zensur: Erzählungen, Reportagen und Essays für die Freiheit des Wortes aus Index on Censorship

Heinrich Böll Stiftung, die tageszeitung (eds.)

Berlin: Ch. Links Verlag (1998), 205 pp.

"Die Freiheit des Wortes ist eines der Fundamente jeder Demokratie und ein generelles Menschenrecht. Doch nicht nur in den Diktaturen ist dieses Recht gefährdet. Auch in modernen Demokratien wird die formal garantierte Redefreiheit immer wieder auf subtile Weise unterlaufen. Zensurmaßnahmen publik ... more

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2025 Technology and Innovation Report: Inclusive Artificial Intelligence for Development

New York: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2025), xiii, 168 pp.

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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
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Jacob Poushter, Maria Smerkovich, Moira Fagan, Andrew Prozorovsky

Pew Research Center (2025), 71 pp.

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Internationale Daten Jugend und Medien 2022

Heike vom Orde, Alexandra Durner

München: Internationales Zentralinstitut für das Jugend- und Bildungsfernsehen (IZI) (2025), 105 pp.

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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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Technology-Enabled Learning in the Commonwealth Countries: A Research Synthesis

Kaushal Kumar Bhagat

Burnaby, British Columbia (CA): Commonwealth of Learning (COL) (2025), iv, 50 pp.

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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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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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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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Measuring digital development: The affordability of ICT services 2024

Geneva: ITU (2025), iv, 27 pp.

"This edition’s findings highlight important progress: in 2024, mobile broadband services have become more affordable in most regions and for most income groups, and a growing number of countries are meeting the Broadband Commission’s target of entry-level broadband services costing less than 2 ... 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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The Sustainability Imperative in Media Development: A Critical Analysis of a Self-Serving Myth

Michel Leroy

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2025), xxiv, 396 pp.

"This book critically examines how the media assistance and broader "development" sectors have appropriated the catch-all concept of sustainability, originally rooted in economic and environmental fields, to suit their agendas. Analysing 289 project evaluations conducted globally between 1999 and 20 ... more

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Global Communication: A Multicultural Perspective
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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

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

International Disinformation: A Handbook for Analysis and Response Top 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 Top Insights

Global Communication: A Multicultural Perspective Top Insights

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

International Disinformation: A Handbook for Analysis and Response
Top 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
Top Insights

Global Communication: A Multicultural Perspective
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