Spyware: An Unregulated and Escalating Threat to Independent Media

The use of spyware poses safety risks to journalists and their sources, encourages self-censorship, and creates new financial and operational strains for news outlets. Media advocates, news outlets, and policymakers must articulate the irreparable harm spyware poses to independent media in order to develop a robust response.

The Untapped Potential of Regional Cooperation for Media Reform in Southern Africa

The 1991 adoption of the Windhoek Declaration in Namibia ushered in a continent-wide commitment to supporting independent media in Africa. Despite initial progress, including the establishment of the regional Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA), independent media in the region continues to suffer. However, there remains strong enthusiasm among media actors in Southern Africa to reignite a regional network to promote solidarity, address the myriad challenges independent media in the region face, and articulate an African vision and agenda for media development.

Youth and the News in Five Charts

As youth populations continue to grow in low-and-middle income countries, it is critical for independent media organizations to understand and respond to the changing news habits of younger generations. A snapshot of youth news consumption habits in Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, and Thailand highlights that the predominance of smartphones, and increasing access to the internet and social media, is fundamentally altering how youth access, interact with, and value independent news.

Local Radio Stations in Africa: Sustainability or Pragmatic Viability?

Despite the explosion of digital news outlets globally, millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa continue to rely on radio as the most accessible independent news source. However, radio stations across continent are facing unprecedented threats to their sustainability due to weak media markets, limited advertising revenue and intense competition. A more pragmatic understanding of viability and more flexible donor strategies can help these outlets stay on air and maintain their independence.

Tracking Media Development Donor Funding

International donors, both public and private, play an essential role in media development worldwide. Visit our Media Development Donor Profiles page for all of CIMA’s research on donor funding levels and strategic priorities.

What is Media Development?

The term “media development” refers to evolution and change in the fields of news media and communications. This evolution can be stimulated by donor support, private investment, or indigenous processes of change led by media owners, managers, journalists, or other players such as media industry associations, or other collective efforts.

CIMA's Most Recent

Publication

Spyware: An Unregulated and Escalating Threat to Independent Media

The unchecked growth of the commercial spyware industry is providing repressive governments with new tools to surveil, harass, and attack independent journalists and their sources in a new battlefront against the free flow of information. The chilling effect of this is strongest in countries with a ...
CIMA's

Events

Wednesday, September 29th, 2021

A New Battlefront: The Effect of Commercial Spyware on Independent Media

A New Battlefront: The Effect of Commercial Spyware on Independent Media Wednesday, September 29 10:...

Replay Event

Thursday, July 29th, 2021

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Shaping the Future of Global Digital Democracy through Localized Approaches

Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Shaping the Future of Global Digital Democracy through Localized ...

Replay Event

Thursday, July 15th, 2021

The Power of Data: A New Way to Measure International Media Development

The Power of Data: A New Way to Measure International Media Development Thursday, July 15 9:30 a.m. ...

CIMA's Blog

The Source

15
Sep
The New Censorship: Why Protecting Journalists Online from Harassment is Critical to Press Freedom

By Gideon Sarpong The rise of social media platforms provides many opportunities to the more than half a billion  inter...
1
Sep
Regional Collaboration in Southern Africa: Solidarity in the Age of Fragmentation

By the Media Institute of Southern Africa The landmark Windhoek Declaration, signed in Namibia in 1991, signaled Souther...
26
Jul
Armenia’s New Digital Disinformation Bills Threaten Free Speech and Press Freedom

By Meri Baghdasaryan In the wake of a recently reignited war with Azerbaijan in 2020, concerns about the spread of digit...