According to Soft Censorship: How Governments Around the Globe Use Money to Manipulate the Media, a new report published by CIMA and written by Don Podesta, moves by formerly authoritarian regimes toward greater pluralism have spawned an insidious form of censorship. In many such countries, manipulation of the news media now manifests itself as “soft censorship” – the practice of influencing news coverage by applying financial pressure on media companies that are deemed critical of a government and rewarding media outlets and individual journalists who are seen as friendly. Podesta examined the spread of such indirect means of censorship, where it is prevalent, its consequences, and how to address the problem. Panelists Joel Simon of the Committee to Protect Journalists and Silvio Waisbord from George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs provided their reactions to the report, as well as observations on how to promote greater transparency in government advertising.
Tue, January 13th, 2009