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Media corruption and issues of journalistic and institutional integrity in post-communist countries: The case of Bulgaria

Lada Trifonova Price

Communist and Post-Communist Studies, volume 52, issue 1 (2019), pp. 71-79

"From a normative standpoint the media are usually seen as one of the pillars of a national integrity system, entrusted with the tasks of exposing and preventing acts of corruption and educating the public of the harm caused by corruption. Nevertheless, corruption continues to be one of the most sig ... more

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Media Influence Matrix: Kazakhstan. Funding Journalism

Adil Nussipov

Budapest: Data and Society (CMDS) Center for Media (2019), 26 pp.

"Only three of the ten most popular television channels in Kazakhstan are not government-owned. Former President Nursultan Nazarbayev directly or through his family, also owns television channels. For example, KTK, the second most watched television channel in the country is run by the Foundation of ... the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan-Elbasy. Another popular television channel, NTK, is owned directly by a Nazarbayev family member. Nazarbayev resigned in March 2019, but political analysts say that he did so to be able, before he dies, to supervise a smooth transition to a new regime that will continue his policies, ensuring centralization of political control and preventing criticism of authorities as Nazarbayev did during his 29-year tenure. When it comes to online news, the Government owns three of the 10 most visited websites: Kazinform.kz, Bnews.kz and 24.kz. In fact, none of the most popular news portals in Kazakhstan are independent and truly free of government control. For example, TengriNews.kz, one of the most read news websites is owned by the company Alash Media Group, which is known for promoting a strong pro-government narrative. The foreign influence in Kazakhstan’s media landscape is limited as foreigners can own only 20% of a media company. That being said, the Russian influence in the Kazakh media is notable. The most popular television channel in the country, Eurasia, jointly owned by the governments of Kazakhstan and Russia, is known for promoting a heavy pro-Russian agenda on world affairs. Another popular television channel, Channel 31 (31 Kanal) is co-owned by Bulat Utemuratov, a wealthy local businessman, and the Russian-funded STS Media Holding. Kenes Rakishev, another entrepreneur, owner of Channel Seven (Sedmoy Kanal), is also a partner in Fastlane Ventures, a prominent Russian venture fund that usually invests in internet companies. The Government is by far the largest funder in the media, with over €144m spent in cash dished out to media companies in 2017, more than the overall ad spend in Kazakhstan, according to industry estimates. Most of the government funding goes to government-owned media companies or privately held outlets that show support of the Government. For example, in television, the biggest chunk of government cash is spent on financing Khabar and Qazaqstan, two government-owned channels. In such a centralized media environment in which the Government plays a disproportionately big role, there is hardly any space for independent journalism. Owned by a civil society activist and journalist, Vlast.kz is arguably the sole truly independent news website among the 10 most visited websites in the country. There are other independent news media such as Azattyq, the local service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, but their audience is much smaller." (Page 4) more

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Fighting Words: Journalism Under Assault in Central and Eastern Europe

Meera Selva

Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2019), 30 pp.

"To understand the situation and examine what can be done to address it, we sent out a questionnaire to journalists in 16 countries in the region, asking them about the state of press freedom and the areas in which they felt their ability to work was being curtailed. We also asked them about sources ... more

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Media, Freedom of Speech, and Democracy in the EU and Beyond

Angelos Giannakpoulos (ed.)

S. Daniel Abraham Center for International and Regional Studies Tel Aviv University (2019), 158 pp.

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Media Captured: Elites’ Cohesion and Media Networks in Costa Rica and El Salvador

Francisco Robles-Rivera

Berlin: Doctoral Thesis Freie Universität Berlin (2019), vi, 186 pp.

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Control the Money, Control the Media: How Government Uses Funding to Keep Media in Line

Marius Dragomir

Journalism, volume 19, issue 8 (2018), pp. 1-18

"The media industry has been ravaged by the economic crises. Some media, mainly those covering tabloid fare and digitally savvier than others or those backed by deep-pocketed investors, are surviving or even thriving. But independent journalism outfits, particularly outside the Western world, have b ... more

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Media Ownership Monitor Albania

Reporters Without Borders; Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) (2018), 871 pp.

"The boundaries between media, politics and business have always been blurry in Albania. However, because of the small size and the high number of outlets the market was perceived by some local observers as vibrant and plural. However, a joint research project between Reporters Without Borders and t ... more

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Media Ownership Monitor Mexico

Reporters Without Borders; Centro Nacional de Comunicación Social (Cencos) (2018), 1547 pp.

"Mexico’s booming media industry is controlled by some of the richest businessmen on earth. While the sector grows at a rate three times that of the overall economy, an alarming concentration of media ownership goes hand in hand with the well-known lack of safety for Mexico’s journalists, many o ... more

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The Feasibility of a Public Service Orientation in the Western Balkans: Complications for a ‘networked Society’ in an Illiberal Context

Davor Marko

In: Public Service Media in the Networked Society

Gregory Ferrell Lowe, Hilde van den Bulck, Karen Donders (eds.)

Göteborg: Nordicom (2018), pp. 125-141

"This chapter analyses contextual factors that are common to the seven countries of this region that affect developing a genuine public service orientation in media policies and performance. By better understanding historical legacies, inadequate technological development and late entry into digital ... more

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Media Ownership Monitor Lebanon

Reporters Without Borders; Samir Kassir Foundation (2018), 1323 pp.

"The seemingly buzzing Lebanese media market is, in fact, controlled by only a few highly politicized owners that are either directly affiliated with political parties or belong to Lebanese dynasties. Additional threats to media pluralism arise from clear editorial lines defined by politics, close t ... more

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Media Leaks and Corruption in Brazil: The Infostorm of Impeachment and the Lava-Jato Scandal

Mads Bjelke Damgaard

London et al.: Routledge (2018), 222 pp.

"Analyzing the political consequences of the most extensive corruption investigation in recent Latin American history, Operação Lava-Jato, this book answers two central questions about the contradictory effects news media has on political systems. First, how can political actors in a seemingly wel ... more

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Paying the Piper: The Sustainability of the News Industry and Journalism in South Africa in a Time of Digital Transformation and Political Uncertainty

School of Journalism and Media Studies Rhodes University (2018), 108 pp.

"This report explores the recent trajectory of South African news with a specific focus on the economic sustainability of news media. Digital news consumption on mobile phone, and especially via Social Media on Smart Phones (SMSP) is fracturing audiences and reducing traditional sources of revenue. ... more

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Mass Media in the Post-Soviet World: Market Forces, State Actors, and Political Manipulation in the Informational Environment After Communism

Peter Rollberg, Marlene Laruelle (eds.)

Stuttgart: ibidem-Verlag (2018), 446 pp.

"This collection covers the major trends of the media environment of the post-Communist world and their recent development, with special focus on Russia and the post-Soviet space. The term ‘media environment’ covers not just traditional print and electronic media, but new media as well, and rang ... more

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Brought to You by Foreigners, Warlords, and Local Activists: TV and the Afghan Culture Wars

Wazhmah Osman

In: Modern Afghanistan: The Impact of 40 Years of War

M. Nazif Shahrani (ed.)

Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press (2018), pp. 149-176

"Without a doubt, the combined power of the public arena and broadcast media is a very efective social tool for collective action in Afghanistan. Yet there are serious limits to both the media’s self-advocacy and the public’s strong and unwavering support. Te media-related crimes and murders men ... tioned in this chapter are a few of the many. Yet no arrests are made and no one is prosecuted in most of these cases. Zoorawarah can continue to censor media makers with impunity and without fears of retribution. Broadcasting the incidents of violence and censorship against media personnel and the media writ large, as well as the subsequent protests and production of investigative and expository programs is indeed generative in creating dialogue and raising awareness about media rights and the important role of a free media in a society, but it is clearly not enough. Tus far, we have seen examples of two types of potential cultural imperialism. By aggressively promoting and offering their own media products, programs, and formats, at little or no cost, the argument can be made that foreign countries are impeding the development of Afghanistan’s own media industry, artistry, and media crafts. Additionally, we have seen examples of censorship, both from endogenous and exogenous forces, ranging from pressuring the government to ban programming or directly pressuring producers to do so. In extreme cases, we have seen an egregious third form of censorship becoming prevalent in Afghanistan. High-level media personnel and wealthy media owners who are ofen prominent public fgures, such as politicians, warlords, drug lords, religious leaders, and businessmen, hire body guards and live behind gated fortress mansions, while low-level television personalities and reporters are subjected to threats, physical attacks, and death for providing people with programming they want to watch and which gives them a platform to raise their voices. Hence, it is the mid- and low-level media professionals, not the owners of the television stations they work for nor the foreign governments that are the patrons of the stations, who bear the ultimate burden of media freedom and reform in Afghanistan. Caught between warring ideologies that range from Islamist to commercial to “developmentalist,” as brave as these Afghan media personalities and journalists are, and despite their high media a profile, their low socioeconomic status leaves them vulnerable to abuse and possible death." (Conclusion, page 168-169) more

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Pluralism Under Attack: The Assault on Press Freedom in Poland

Annabelle Chapman

Washington, DC: Freedom House (2017), 20 pp.

"Poland has become a crucial battleground in the drive by authoritarian-minded leaders to gain control over political discourse and limit media pluralism. The Law and Justice government has sought to control the media as part of a broader push to weaken checks and balances and silence independent vo ... more

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In the Service of Power: Media Capture and the Threat to Democracy
Top Insights

Anya Schiffrin (ed.)

Washington, DC: Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) (2017), 162 pp.

"In this volume of essays edited by Anya Schiffrin, media capture is shown to be a growing phenomenon linked both to the resurgence of authoritarian governments as well as to the structural weaknesses presently afflicting media markets. In this environment, political figures and economic elites are ... more

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Media Ownership Monitor Brazil

Reporters Without Borders; Intervozes (2017), 925 pp.

"Power in Brazil means family business, both traditionally and to this very day. Dynasties of landowners known as “Colonels” extend their territorial claims to the airwaves, combining economic and political interests with tight control of public opinion. Neither digital technology and the rise o ... more

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Media Ownership Monitor Ghana

Reporters Without Borders; Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) (2017), 567 pp.

"The Media Ownership Monitor (MOM) reveals a high level of audience concentration in various media sectors. An almost maximum concentration was found among the printed press, where the top four media companies (Graphic Communications Group Limited, New Times Corporation, Western Publications Limited ... more

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Media Ownership Monitor Morocco

Reporters Without Borders; Le Desk (2017), 618 pp.

"Nine of the 36 media companies involved in Morocco’s most influential media are directly linked to the state, the government or the royal family. Four of them – SOREAD, SNRT, EcoMedias and Horizon Press – are among the most important media companies in terms of turnover and show the potential ... more

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The Political Economy of Media Capture: What Influences Media Capture in Less Developed Countries (LDCs) and How Does This Present Opportunities and Challenges for Progress in Achieving Key Components of SDG 16?

Pamela Jiménez Cárdenas, Antony Declercq, Mandy Shi Lai, Nathan Rasquinet

London: Capstone Project London School of Economics (LSE) (2017), vii, 75 pp.

"In South Sudan, media capture, media market and audience segmentation are driven by: the ongoing civil conflict (since 2013), ethnic and linguistic divisions, a lack of rule of law, the legacy of clientelistic networks in the media and the government, a stark urban-rural divide, and a lack of infra ... more

In the Service of Power: Media Capture and the Threat to Democracy Top Insights

In the Service of Power: Media Capture and the Threat to Democracy
Top Insights