Mediastudiesblog

Tuesday 3rd May is World Press Freedom Day.   

 World Press Freedom Day marks the anniversary of the 1991 Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of principles calling for a free, independent and pluralistic media throughout the world. The Declaration affirms that a free press is essential to the existence of democracy and a fundamental human goal. It has become a day to raise awareness of press freedom problems worldwide, and to recognise the sacrifices that independent media and journalists make to keep their societies informed.  The theme this year is "Silence kills democracy...But a free press talks".

 

The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) has made materials available on their webpage.

City Press (26 March 2011) reports that the government is launching its own newspaper and it will be published by the head of ­government communications, Jimmy Manyi.        The  government’s bi-monthly ­maga­zine, Vuk’uzenzele, will be turned into a monthly tabloid newspaper with a print run of two million from next month. And Manyi’s plan is to publish it fortnightly by March next year.

The newspaper will be edited by former Beeld journalist ­Tyrone Seale, who is currently the managing editor of Vuk’uzenzele magazine and the GCIS’s chief director of ­content and writing.

Here's a response from Shepherd Mpofu, of Wits University's School of Journalism published on Bizcommunity.com. 

 

Starting this month,  the Press Council of SA will be holding public hearings as part of its review.     They invite anyone who like to give oral input on ways to improve and strengthen the SA Press Code, the Press Ombudsman's complaints procedure and the Constitution of the Press Council.

The Cape Town hearings are scheduled for 24 - 25 February on 26th Floor, Naspers Building, Heerengracht Street.

Those wishing to make oral submissions, should let the Press Council know by contacting  Taryn Mackay  (Tarynm at ombudsman.org.za).  Anyone is welcome to observe,  but seating is limited.

 

Here's the draft programme for the Power Reporting 2010: The African Investigative Journalism Conference which started on Monday 1 November 2010 and ends today 3 November 2010.    

Idasa has expressed concern that the Protection of Information Bill and the proposed Media Appeals Tribunal are not the same,  as their interchangeable use in the media has led many to believe. 

PIMS manager Judith February says: “The Protection of Information Bill will, if passed in its current form, have serious consequences for all ordinary citizens, not only journalists.”

Here's the link to the media statement.

 

 Mediagazer is a site that"presents the day's must-read media news on a single page."

<from the site>

The media business is in tumult: from the production side to the distribution side, new technologies are upending the industry. Keeping up with these changes is time-consuming, as essential media coverage is scattered across numerous web sites at any given moment.

 

Spotted on  Marcus P. Zillman blog.

 An opinion piece from Ebrahim Fakir (from the Electoral Commission of South Africa)  on media freedom and how the media should respond to threats to its independence. 

<snip>

Upon reflection, it is clear that both the ANC Youth League and the journalists appear to muddle the distinction between public and private actions, and institutions. The Youth League's behavior remains politically and ethically indefensible to be sure, but there are important lessons from this saga about how the media ought to be responding to these kinds of threats.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Thanks Celia!)

From the Pew Internet Project and the Project for Excellence in Journalism comes the "State of the News Media 2010"  [in USA]  

 

From the Introduction: 

Inside news companies, the most immediate concern is how much revenue lost in recession the industry will regain as the economy improves.

Whatever the answers, the future of news ultimately rests on more long-term concerns: What are the prospects for alternative journalism organizations that are forming around the country? Will traditional media adapt and innovate amid continuing pressures to thin their ranks?

And with growing evidence that conventional advertising online will never sustain the industry, what progress is being made to find new revenue for financing the gathering and reporting of news?

 

A study in Australia found that more than half of stories in mainstream newspapers were fed to them by PR entities. 

Spinning the Media, in conjunction with the University of Technology Sydney, investigated the role PR plays in making the media and found that nearly 55% of stories analysed were PR-driven.

Students had to analyse a five-day working week in the media across 10 newspapers. 

 Spotted on boingboing.net

Reporters Without Borders celebrates World Day Against Cyber Censorship on 12 March. This event is intended to rally everyone in support of a single Internet that is unrestricted and accessible to all. It is also meant to draw attention to the fact that, by creating new spaces for exchanging ideas and information, the Internet is a force for freedom. However, more and more governments have realised this and are reacting by trying to control the Internet.

Reporters Without Borders will mark the occasion by issuing its latest list of “Enemies of the Internet.” This list points the finger at countries such as Iran, China, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Tunisia that restrict online access and harass their netizens. A list of countries that have been placed “under surveillance” for displaying a disturbing attitude towards the Internet will also be released.

 

(1) Broadcast media consisting of Radio and Television;
(2) Print Media consisting of Newspapers and Magazines; and
(3) New Media consisting of online media (Internet) and mobile media.

Radio is the most accessible medium of communication, with 94.1% of the adult population having access to radio. According to AMPs 2008 Television has a population reach of over 83.8%¹. Whereas, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation 2008 (ABC), newspapers and magazines have a population reach of 48% and 40% respectively.

Of interest, is the fact that South Africa's mobile penetration exceedsthat of PC (computer) and internet penetration, and mobile internet penetration is still in its growth phase. South Africa is Africa's highest mobile website page impressions as measured by AdMob².

Spotted on various websites, blogs and in print.

A teenage intern, Matthew Robson,  at Morgan Stanley was asked how teenagers consume media.  His report so impressed the European Media Team at Morgan Stanley as "one of the clearest and most thought-provoking insights we have seen. So we published it."  

Here's the full report. 

 <snip>

Most teenagers nowadays are not regular listeners to radio. They may occasionally tune in, but they do not try to listen to a program specifically. The main reason teenagers listen to the radio is for music, but now with online sites streaming music for free they do not bother, as services such as last.fm do this advert free, and users can choose the songs they want instead of listening to what the radio presenter/DJ chooses.

 <snip>

No teenager that I know of regularly reads a newspaper, as most do not have the time and cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text while they could watch the news summarised on the internet or on TV. The only newspapers that are read are tabloids and freesheets (Metro, London Lite…) mainly because of cost; teenagers are very reluctant to pay for a newspaper (hence the popularity of freesheets such as the Metro).

 <snip>

 What is Hot?

•Anything with a touch screen is desirable.

•Mobile phones with large capacities for music.

•Portable devices that can connect to the internet (iPhones)

•Really big tellies

What Is Not?

•Anything with wires

•Phones with black and white screens

•Clunky ‘brick’ phones

•Devices with less than ten-hour battery life

 

 

Spotted on ResourceShelf.

From the Nielsen company  -   How Teens Use Media : A Nielsen Report on the myths and realities of teen media trends  which "argues once you look past the hype - American teens are not as alien in their media usage as you might expect. Sure, it might sound hip and trendy to suggest they’re too busy texting, Twittering or LOL-ing to be engaged with traditional media, but ultimately, the research proves otherwise" .

Spotted on Research Blogging which links to a posting on the Ecographica blog which in turn links to the first of three essays in Nature.   

Naturenews has, in the run-up to the 6th World Conference of Science Journalists in London next week, a special issue on Science journalism.  

<snip> 

In the first of three essays, Toby Murcott argues that the process of science needs to be opened up if journalists are to provide proper critique.

There is a rhythm to science news, easy to spot in the mainstream media and as familiar to every science journalist as breathing. It follows the publication cycles of the major peer-reviewed journals such as Science, The Lancet and Nature. As press releases describing research arrive in our inboxes they are scanned for stories, the most newsworthy picked, offered to editors and then reported.

In the second of three essays, Boyce Rensberger tracks the progression of scientific correspondents from cheerleaders to watchdogs, while the third essay by Nadia El-Awady looks at science journalism in Arab countries.

In an editorial, Nature says that science journalism is under threat.  The Washington Post's national environmental reporter Juliet Eilperin and its executive editor Marcus Brauchli discuss the future of science coverage in their newspaper.

Spotted elsewhere on Bad Science and Mind Hacks is an invitation to science journalists attending the World Conference to attend a fringe event (Troublemaker's Fringe)  with Ben Goldacre (of Bad Science), Vaughn Bell and Petra Boynton.

 

 

 

Spotted on bizcommunity.

<snip>

The World Young Reader Prize, an annual award from the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) to recognise newspapers that do the most to develop young readership, has added a press freedom category. This will honour newspapers that teach effectively about the fragility and importance of press freedom in a democratic society.

 The Award will be announced on 3rd May, World Press Freedom Day, and awarded at the World Young Readers Annual Conference  at the end of September in Prague.

 <snip>

In addition to the new Press Freedom category, WAN has created a new “Making the News” category that honours innovative projects that allow young people to try their hand as journalists. Other categories are: Editorial, Brand, Public Service and Newspapers in Education. Deadline for all but the Press Freedom category is 5 June.

The World Young Reader Prizes are awarded annually to innovative newspapers that have devised, in the judges' opinion, the best project or activity in the past 24 months in one or more of the main areas of young reader development. "Young readers" are defined as those under the age of 25.

 <snip>

 WAN is also reinforcing other initiatives that engage young people in the defence of press freedom and that encourage teachers to make sure that young people understand the importance of, and threats to, press freedom. These include:

• Creation of a Facebook group called “Show Your Face to Free Shi Tao”, where Facebook users are encouraged to download posters of the jailed Chinese journalist and upload photos of themselves posing with it and their local newspaper.
  
  
• Creating new exercises and materials on press freedom themes for parents and teachers targeting 12- to 16-year-olds, with the help of Newspapers in Education experts from Argentina, Belgium, Palestine and Denmark. The exercises incorporate WAN's 2007 - 2008 press freedom films, available on YouTube.