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Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2023

Nic Newman, Richard Fletcher, Kirsten Eddy, Craig T. Robertson, Rasmus Kleis Nielsen (eds.)

Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2023), 158 pp.

"Across markets, only around a fifth of respondents (22%) now say they prefer to start their news journeys with a website or app – that’s down 10 percentage points since 2018. Publishers in a few smaller Northern European markets have managed to buck this trend, but younger groups everywhere are ... showing a weaker connection with news brands’ own websites and apps than previous cohorts – preferring to access news via side-door routes such as social media, search, or mobile aggregators. • Facebook remains one of the most-used social networks overall, but its influence on journalism is declining as it shifts its focus away from news. It also faces new challenges from established networks such as YouTube and vibrant youth-focused networks such as TikTok. The Chinese-owned social network reaches 44% of 18–24s across markets and 20% for news. It is growing fastest in parts of Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America. • When it comes to news, audiences say they pay more attention to celebrities, influencers, and social media personalities than journalists in networks like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat. This contrasts sharply with Facebook and Twitter, where news media and journalists are still central to the conversation. • Much of the public is sceptical of the algorithms used to select what they see via search engines, social media, and other platforms. Less than a third (30%) say that having stories selected for me on the basis of previous consumption is a good way to get news, 6 percentage points lower than when we last asked the question in 2016. Despite this, on average, users still slightly prefer news selected this way to that chosen by editors or journalists (27%), suggesting that worries about algorithms are part of a wider concern about news and how it is selected. • Despite hopes that the internet could widen democratic debate, we find fewer people are now participating in online news than in the recent past. Aggregated across markets, only around a fifth (22%) are now active participators, with around half (47%) not participating in news at all. In the UK and United States, the proportion of active participators has fallen by more than 10 percentage points since 2016. Across countries we find that this group tends to be male, better educated, and more partisan in their political vie ws. • Trust in the news has fallen, across markets, by a further 2 percentage points in the last year, reversing in many countries the gains made at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic. On average, four in ten of our total sample (40%) say they trust most news most of the time. Finland remains the country with the highest levels of overall trust (69%), while Greece (19%) has the lowest after a year characterised by heated arguments about press freedom and the independence of the media." (Summary, page 10) more

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Mapping the Media and Communication Landscape of Central Asia: An Anthology of Emerging and Contemporary Issues

Elira Turdubaeva, Evangelia Papoutsaki (eds.)

Lexington Books (2023), xiii, 365 pp.

"Central Asian post-independence media and communication industries, professional practices, education, persisting and evolving values, and traditions remain critically understudied with a notable scarcity of research and scholarly publications on the complex and increasingly changing communicative ... more

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Communication Science in Türkiye: How Communication Research and Education Developed Over the Years

Füsum Alver, Aynur Sarisakaloglu

Publizistik, volume 68 (2023), pp. 89-108

"In Türkiye, communication science falls under the category of social sciences and is regarded as an interdisciplinary scientific field focused on empirical research. The field is influenced by communication science developments of the West in terms of developing theories and methodology, and it fa ... more

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Communications in Turkey and the Ottoman Empire: A Critical History

Burçe Çelik

Champaign: University of Illinois Press (2023), 287 pp.

"The history of communications in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey contradicts the widespread belief that communications is a byproduct of modern capitalism and other Western forces. Burçe Çelik uses a decolonial perspective to analyze the historical commodification and militarization of communicatio ... more

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Uncensored journalism in censored times: Challenges of reporting on Azerbaijan

Arzu Geybulla

Journalism, volume 24, issue 2 (2023), pp. 313–327

"Azerbaijan is an authoritarian regime, whose government maintains a tight grip over the media landscape. Independent and opposition media are regularly persecuted, with journalists and their family members intimidated by law enforcement agencies via arrests, beating, threats and other forms of pers ... more

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Understanding safe digital space: A study of perspectives of young people in Georgia

Mariam Tskhovrebashvili, Tamar Gagniashvili, Mariam Tsutskiridze

RNW media (2023), 60 pp.

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Russian Anti-Western Disinformation, Media Consumption and Public Opinion in Georgia

Ralph S. Clem, Erik S. Herron, Ani Tepnadze

Europe-Asia Studies, volume 75, issue 9 (2023), pp. 1535-1559

"States have learned how to use media as a means of propagating disinformation in the furtherance of their geopolitical goals. Often these efforts employ conspiracy theories that target other countries, whether as direct adversaries or in third-party states. Russia has a well-deserved reputation for ... more

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Digital innovation profile: Georgia. Digital innovation ecosystem: Strategies and recommendations for accelerating digital transformation

Geneva: ITU (2023), vi, 41 pp.

"This digital innovation profile, developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and the Georgia Innovation and Technology Agency, aims to accurately assess the country's digital ecosystem capacity and maturity to help Georgia and its stakeholders navigate the di ... more

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Ranking Digital Rights in Central Asia

Public Fund Civil Internet Policy Initiative (CIPI) (2022), 74 pp.

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Media Environment and Safety of Journalists During the Crisis in Georgia: Threats and Supportive Instruments

Mariam Gersamia, Maia Toradze

Environment and Society, volume 5, issue 5 (2022), 1 pp.

"Viable, free media is a crucial component of democratic progress in Georgia. Thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and gaining independence, the safety of journalists while carrying out professional duties continues to be one of the critical indicators of progress in the country's med ... ia democracy. This research was triggered by the actualization of the acute and, in some ways, spontaneous media threat that arose during the pre-election period. More specifically, on July 5, 2021, two months before Georgia's local self-government municipal elections, media workers fell victim to a premeditated attack by pro-Russian radical groups during the coverage of demonstrations. As a result, 52 journalists from more than ten media outlets, camera operators, and photographers were assaulted. A TV Pirveli cameraman, Lekso Lashkarava, died a few days later due to severe injuries received during the demonstration. The research aims to distinguish the traits prevalent in the media environment during times of crisis and, even more specifically, during the pre-and post-election periods (particularly during the 2021 local government elections in Georgia). The research also responds to how political polarization and crises affect media and the macro and micro threats they reveal. The study identifies these media threats and assesses the reality of the media environment as seen through journalists' eyes. The research covers topics recommended by UNESCO (Towards a Research agenda on the safety of journalists) and examines seven of those ten recommended issues. A mixed research methodology was chosen for research design, more specifically, a sequential explanatory design. The research was conducted in two phases: the first phase involved the accumulation of quantitative data (through an online survey of 183 respondents from 56 media sources) and analysis, followed which the second phase involved qualitative research (3 focus group discussions). The research answers the questions as follows: How safe do media workers feel when performing their professional duties? What kind of threats have emerged during the 2021 pre-election media environment, and what are the expectations? What are some of the support mechanisms for improving the media environment, and what needs to be done to create a safer environment for media workers? Macro (4) and micro (6) media threats were identified during the research process. They are analyzed in sub-chapters in greater detail. These threats are interconnected and have their structure and aims. Media threats, which emerged during the discussion, contribute to self-censorship and escalation of fear, media credibility, reduction of support, and destabilizing media institutional viability. Political polarization and polarization between media organizations were identified as major macro media threats. Micro threats that were identified as a result of polarization are: Stigmatization of journalists and media (labeling them as biased towards certain political parties) and attempted smear campaigns; They are disrupting the execution of journalist duties. Among such actions are creating obstacles to providing a balanced narrative and bringing a quality media product to the public, primarily reflected in a premeditated restriction to sources and surveillance to disrupt the work process. One macro threat that emerged from the online survey and focus-group analysis was the incitement of physical and verbal violence towards journalists (this includes hate speech and the use of aggressive rhetoric by the state). These media threats reinforce self-censorship and fear, destabilize media institutions' viability and negatively affect the demonstration of solidarity and support toward media. One identified macro-threats towards journalists was the lack of investigation of crimes committed against journalists and impunity as an encouraging factor. Additionally, we could consider the malign nature of the Russian propaganda and malign influence in general as an additional factor, which serves as a leitmotif for the entire discussion on another macro threat. As a result of this study, recommendations have been put forward for various stakeholders. Implementing these recommendations will help create a supportive media environment, encourage solidarity, and improve coordination between different stakeholders during and after crises. Research conducted is by the Media and Communication Educational and Research Center (Georgia) with support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation’s South Caucasus Office and the Federal Republic of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office." (Abstract) more

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Media Literacy and Disinformation Perception Survey

Tamar Kintsurashvili

Tbilisi: Media Development Foundation (MDF) (2022), 37 pp.

"The aim of this research was to study media consumption habits among different age groups and geographical areas, as well as the public's vulnerability to various disinformation and manipulative narratives disseminated in Georgia. The first part of the research concerns media literacy competencies, ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: A Methodology for Tracking Digital Authoritarianism Around the World

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2022), 71 pp.

"This briefing document provides an overview of key developments in digital authoritarianism in 11 countries and explains the theoretical framework and methodology behind The Unfreedom Monitor project. The document also provides a basis for expanding this research to other countries to deepen our un ... more

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Religious Populism, Cyberspace and Digital Authoritarianism in Asia

Ihsan Yilmaz, Raja M. Ali Saleem, Mahmoud Pargoo, Syaza Shukri, Idznursham Ismail, Kainat Shakil

Brussels: European Center for Populsim Studies (ECPS) (2022), 43 pp.

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Global Sceptical Publics: From Non-Religious Print Media to ‘Digital Atheism’

Jacob Copeman, Mascha Schulz (eds.)

London: UCL Press (2022), xix, 359 pp.

"Global Sceptical Publics is the first major study of the significance of different media for the (re)production of non-religious publics and publicity. While much work has documented how religious subjectivities are shaped by media, until now the crucial role of diverse media for producing and part ... more

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The Global Handbook of Media Accountability
Deep Insights

Susanne Fengler, Tobias Eberwein, Matthias Karmasin (eds.)

London; New York: Routledge (2022), xviii, 614 pp.

"The Global Handbook of Media Accountability brings together leading scholars to 'de-Westernize' the academic debate on media accountability and discuss different models of media self-regulation and newsroom transparency around the globe. With examination of the status quo of media accountability in ... more

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Evaluation Report: Evaluation of Media Literacy Projects in Europe and Eurasia

Social Impact Inc.

U.S. Department of State (2022), xvi, 136 pp.

"The United States (U.S.) Department of State Bureau of Europe and Eurasia/Office of the Coordinator of Assistance to Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia (EUR/ACE) contracted Social Impact, Inc. (SI) to conduct a performance evaluation of nine media literacy (ML) assistance projects in Europe and Eura ... more

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Journalism safety and the actuality of achieving gender equality in the media landscape of Uzbekistan

Mukarram Otamurodova

European Scholar Journal, issue December (2022), pp. 13-15

"Uzbekistan faces socio-political changes in the last years and the impact of these turnouts are reflected in the media landscape of the country. Several cases show that the issues of gender equality and the safety of journalists are becomingmore threatening. Some journalists suffer from political p ... more

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The Unfreedom Monitor: Turkey Country Report

Amsterdam: Global Voices Advox (2022), 27 pp.

"Since its ascent to power twenty years ago, the ruling AKP has tightened the screws on all forms of freedom of expression, both online and offline. It has introduced draconian laws, imposed internet restrictions, blocked content, and has arrested and intimidated critics on an unprecedented level. I ... more

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Solidarity Through Cynicism? The Influence of Russian Conspiracy Narratives Abroad

Scott Radnitz

International Studies Quarterly, issue 66, sqac012 (2022), 14 pp.

"As conspiracy theories have become a popular form of political discourse worldwide, states have promoted conspiratorial ideas to advance their foreign policy goals. Yet, despite recent attention to the spread of propaganda abroad, scholars have not addressed whether and how conspiracy theories spre ... more

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Kazakhstan’s Bloody January: Digital Repression on the “New Silk Road”

Raushan Zhandayeva, Rachael Rosenberg

Tokyo: Toda Peace Institute (2022), 24 pp.

"In January 2022, Kazakhstan’s government shut down internet access for several days while enacting a violent crackdown on initially peaceful protests triggered by hikes in fuel prices. This policy brief examines Kazakhstan’s internet and media landscape, the (re)actions of civil society and the ... more

The Global Handbook of Media Accountability Deep Insights

The Global Handbook of Media Accountability
Deep Insights