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Decline in attacks masks a deeper challenge for ...
In Pakistan, press freedom has ticked up amid a decline in attacks on journalists over the past year, but recent reports suggest the promising numbers mask a deeper challenge of self-censorship. One recent study by Media Matters for Democracy found that roughly 88 percent of Pakistani journalists ad... |
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Ethiopia is Unshackling the Media, but True Inde...
By Henok Fente Just a few months ago, Ethiopia was one of the countries with the highest number of imprisoned and exiled journalists. Now, a new prime minister is promising that his government will respect freedom of speech as part of a swift move toward democracy. “Building democratic institutio... |
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Who watches the watchdog? Why media ownership co...
When a small group of political or economic elites controls the mass media, they effectively monopolize the channels through which information circulates in society. In this way they can play an outsized role in shaping what gets covered by journalists and how it is covered. In the worst cases, they... |
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Defending Digital Rights in the Democratic Repub...
By Morgan Frost While the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the fourth largest country in Africa in terms of population, it has one of the lowest levels of internet accessibility across the continent. Weak democratic governance and the prevalence of several armed groups has left the DRC to f... |
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In the run-up to elections in Zimbabwe, social m...
By Alex T. Magaisa On July 30th, Zimbabweans will go to the polls to elect a president, parliamentarians, and local authorities. The forthcoming election is remarkable for at least two reasons. First, it will be the first time since independence that ousted leader Robert Mugabe will not be a candid... |
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Holding the Line: An Interview with Tanya Hamada...
The last two years have been a tumultuous period for Filipino democracy. Since the People Power Revolution in 1986, the Philippines became something of a beacon for democratic development in a region beset by authoritarian rule. But in the face of President Duterte’s violent so-called “drug war... |
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China’s Outward Propaganda Strategy Undermines...
At a press briefing during China’s National People’s Congress convened in March, a local Chinese journalist’s dramatic eye-roll in response to her fellow reporter’s softball question went viral after it was captured on China’s state-run CCTV broadcast. The momentary glimpse of a candid rea... |
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Gulf Journalism in Exile: An Independent Press S...
To say that Mohammed Alfazari is an unsung hero would be misleading; a reviled hero might be a more apt description. Through his online magazine Muwatin, he is trying to create a voice for critical journalism in his home country, Oman. For his efforts, Alfazari has been arrested and harassed by the ... |
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Fish, Water, and Global Media: Why Students Need...
“There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods and them and says, “Good morning boys, how’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit and then eventually one looks over at the other and goes, “What the [&hell... |
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Kenya’s Media Shutdown and the Political F...
By James Smart Dictatorship, authoritarianism, and despotism are the very big words that have been used to describe the state of affairs in Kenya these days after three private television stations were forced off the air by the government. They are the labels being used to expound upon long-standing... |