mediadev library

"Independent media institutions are crucial for genuine democracies. The most important institutions are national and regional public service media and regulatory bodies that are responsible for the allocation of frequencies and licenses to private media, media market regulation, and protection of m ... edia independence. For this reason, it is essential to ensure the political and economic independence of public service media and of new regulatory bodies for the audio-visual sector. A key factor is the composition and function of the governing bodies and the procedures for the selection of chairpersons and general directors. In a worst-case scenario, the government is mandated to appoint members of the boards of regulatory bodies and the public service media. This jeopardises media independence and limits media’s ability to hold the government accountable towards the public. It is slightly better when members of the Parliament choose the members of these ruling bodies, because opposition parties at least will have a minority influence in the decisions. However, this type of procedure makes independent regulatory bodies and public service media accountable to political parties rather than to the public. A third procedure for choosing members to the governing bodies is used in the Western Balkans. As part of their decade-long preparation for membership of the European Union and their compliance with EU standards, the six potential candidates in Western Balkan have implemented improved media legislation and regulatory measures with regards to the ele ction of board members for public service media and regulatory bodies. The measures to protect the political independence of these institutions constitute a promising step forward but do not fully prevent undesirable politicisation. Characteristically, the potential Western Balkan EU-members (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia) explicitly define what public or civil society organisations are eligible as nominators of candidates for the governing body. In most cases, a parliamentary committee invites these nominating organisations to nominate candidates. In one country, the nominating organisations may propose four times as many candidates as the number of available seats in the governing body, whereas only the required number of candidates are nominated in other places." (Page 1) more

"This report provides a useful basis to understand the broad nature of media freedom, and gauge the Status of media freedom and development from a legal, policy and professional perspective. Being the first of its kind to be produced by RMC, we attach special value to this product because it sets th ... more

"Media have contributed significantly to the escalation of violent conflicts, but also have a strong potential for contributing to peace building and conflict transformation. The sooner the first steps are taken towards changing the existing media the cheaper and more efficient this process will bec ... more

Overview of the Ethiopian Media Landscape

How to Ensure Independence of Public Service Media and Regulatory Bodies

The State of Media Freedom in Rwanda

From Early Warning to Early Action? The Debate on the Enhancement of the EU's Crisis Response Capability Continues

Media in Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Strategies

UN-Led Strategies for Media and Communications in Conflict Prevention and Peace Building

Media and Communication in Conflict Prevention and Peace-Building: Exploring Strategies for International and UN-Led Conflict Transformation