Category:

media notes 11.30-12.1.13

11/30/2013

For the weekend of November 30-December 1, 2013, here are some media stories of note:

The editor of a magazine in India that has pushed for an end to sexual violence has been arrested in a sexual assault case. The Associated Press reports Tarun Tejpal, editor of Tehelka, is accused of assaulting a female colleague earlier in November. He had earlier stepped down for what he said was a lapse in judgment.

Meanwhile, the Indian vice president has released a book on media ethics, a series of essays by prominent journalists and officials. Hamid Ansari indicates that a stronger form of media self-regulation is needed to restore credibility or there will need to be government intervention to effect improvements. He argues media have lost their way into excessive commercialism, glamour and sensationalism.

The government of Pakistan is indicating further measures are forthcoming on its freedom of information law. A code of conduct is also emerging in the country for its journalists. At a conference Friday, the government affirmed its commitment to free expression and to a strengthening of ethical practices.

media notes 11.28.13

11/28/2013

For Thursday, November 28, 2013, here are some media stories of note:

The travails for Asian journalism continue.

The latest measure in the crackdown by the Vietnamese government on dissent involves new fines for criticizing the government on social media. While not necessarily criminal, the criticism would fall into a category of "reactionary ideology" and "propaganda against the state" and be subject to fine of 100 million dong (about $4700), Reuters reports.

The Japanese lower house, meanwhile, has approved a bill that would stiffen penalties for public servants for leaking secrets or for journalists obtaining them. The bill identifies 13 areas that now are classified. Public servants face up to 10 years in jail for betraying secrets and journalists face up to five years for obtaining those secrets through "grossly inappropriate" means. BBC reports the bill now moves to the upper house, where it is expected to pass.

And China is boasting that it has cleansed the Internet of rumours and slander. Reuters reports one of the government regulator's top officials has stated that efforts have been effective in the fight. When social media becomes a platform for criticism, the government works with local Internet providers to delete user-generated content deemed to politically sensitive.

media notes 07.22.13

7/22/2013

Media notes for Monday, July 22, 2013:

Margaret Sullivan, The New York Times' public editor, reviews a recent study by former NPR ombudsman Alecia Shepard that concluded the Times' front-page sources were overwhelmingly of men. The study, conducted for the University of Nevada, looked at two months of front pages and found men were quoted three times more often than women. Sullivan notes the gains the Times has made in newsroom representation, argues that diversity to bolster numbers is "an empty piece of political correctness," but that the study may provoke discussion and ultimately produce a conversation that will assist change.

NPR Ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos conducted a study on his own of NPR's content to determine how it reflects America geographically and whether it was disproportionately focused on Washington. It did find that, unsurprisingly, but it also found that the coverage matched where the people were: New York and California, in particular. But Texas gets a slightly short straw.

Yavuz Baydar, the ombudsman for Sabah, writes in The New York Times of the corruption of media ownership and its impact on journalism in his native Turkey. "Dirty alliances between governments and media companies and their handshakes behind closed doors damage journalists’ role as public watchdogs and prevent them from scrutinizing cronyism and abuses of power. And those who benefit from a continuation of corrupt practices also systematically seek to prevent serious investigative journalism," he writes.

The International Press Institute notes the 19th anniversary today of rule in the Gambia by Yahya Jemmeh and the continual deterioration of free expression in Africa's smallest country. The Media Foundation of West Africa notes: " In the Gambia today, critical media reportage is literally outlawed, while other rights violations continue to be perpetrated by the government with gross impunity." A new law provides up to 15-year jail terms and fines for "publication of false news," a move the foundation believes will further stifle free speech.

TechCrunch writes about a Kickstarter project from a Huffington Post data journalist that automates U.S. Freedom of Information Act requests. The FOIA Machine will file and track the request when it opens for business (freely) to journalists later this year.

Paul Glader, writing for Ashoka (reproduced by Forbes.com), says activist and developing world journalists can learn much from traditional journalists. Standards, media literacy and an appreciation of media economics should be priorities, he argues. Mainly, though, the two entities have to listen to each other.

media notes 26.04.13

4/26/2013

Media notes for Friday, April 26, 2013:

South Africa pushed through contentious legislation Thursday that restricts access to information and imposes fines and penalties including jail time for journalists who publish what the government considers secrets. The Guardian notes there is widespread agreement that the bill's onerous measures have been reduced in the five-year debate since it was proposed, but critics believe there remains discretion for the government to curtail press freedom. Some see it as the first erosion of democracy since apartheid was eliminated in the country nearly two decades ago.

The English-language Egypt Independent closed abruptly Thursday. The New York TImes reports that the site, one of the most aggressive in chronicling political change in the country, was experiencing financial difficulties that investors said could not be surmounted. But it also notes that its staff believes there was a political motive in the closure because of the site's criticism of the president and the Muslim Brotherhood. That observation is shared in a commentary on Tahrir Squared.

A new law in England and Wales makes it tougher to sue. The New York Times reports that the bill passed Thursday does not switch the burden of proof from the defendant, but it offers some provisions to strengthen their position. They can, for instance, claim the information was published in good faith and that it was in the public interest. The bill also is aimed at reducing "libel tourism," in which people chose England as a litigation venue even when publicity of the information was minor there.

Supreme Court of Canada rules on access to information

6/18/2010

Public access to government information in Canada is defined by the laws at a federal, provincial and municipal level that assert public rights to disclosure. There are many exceptions to these rights and, more than three decades into the laws, there are few legal precedents to clarify the degree of rights.

For journalists, these laws fuel conduct in the field. They guide the degree to which journalists can claim records should be publicly disclosed. Canada's laws are largely considered outmoded in an era of greater pressure for institutional electronic release of records.

This week the Supreme Court of Canada declined to pronounce freedom of information as a constitutional right. Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin and Justice Rosalie Abella wrote in their decision that there is no "general right" to access to information.

The ruling does leave open the possibility to strengthen rights, though. It said future appeals might be able to argue that certain suppression of information constitutes an abrogation of free speech rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Canada: Access to Information Act reforms stall

10/15/2009

The federal Justice Minister, Rob Nicholson, answered a House of Commons committee's report on broadening the law granting access to government information quite clearly today.

No way, he said.

The law is a delicate instrument and the proposed changes from then-information commissioner John Reid would require extensive consultation or widen the mission of the Access to Information Act. Instead, the government proposes to continue its review of policies and roles in implementing them.

As a frequent user and critic of the act, I do not feel professionally bound to restrain my observation of the government's response today. One would hope it is out of step with public expectations and information practices (although there are not placards and protests calling for more public records).

A more cynical observer would suggest that, like all governments before it, this one prefers a tight lid on information taxpayers have financed to avoid substantial scrutiny of policies and functions. Its only effort to change the law has been minor in nature to add some Crown corporations and parliamentary administrative records to the institutions subject to it.

The law was created in 1983, before the Internet, before even Post-It Notes. Since its inception, significant reform has come but once, in the wake of the 9/11 security fears, when it was made even more restrictive. The electronic production (and destruction) of records has proceeded relatively unfettered.

The law has never been a reporter's true friend. It is a better tool of history than of journalism. It is cumbersome and costly to use, and there are hundreds of exemptions to withhold from release material that ought to be in the public realm.

But reporters are not entirely blameless, either. Very few press governments for the release of records. Of the universe of applicants, journalists comprise less than 15 per cent.

Organizations like the Canadian Newspaper Association, the Canadian Association of Journalists and many media companies have sought a stronger legal culture to permit greater access to information.

In the changing environment of newsrooms, there remains a strong need for unique material. The information laws can be large enablers of exclusive content. But today the federal government kept the door closed to any open-sourced approach on record-keeping.