Freedom of the media

Joint Declaration on the Overall Environment for Media and Elections and on Public Media.

The report, written by Nic Newman and published by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism with the support of the Google News Initiative, starts straightforwardly: it declares 2024 as “another challenging year ahead for journalism.” Artificial intelligence, the disruptions it delivers to the media sector, critical elections taking place around the world, and the continuing wars force journalists and media outlets “to rethink their role and purpose with some urgency.” Journalism content will face radical distribution changes due to Search Generative Experiences and AI-driven chatbots that will reduce media outlets’ audiences. The report includes findings from a survey conducted between November and December 2023 in which over 300 digital leaders from more than 50 countries and territories participated. Despite the grim forecasts, the report still offers ways for journalists and media to adapt, “Embracing the best of AI while managing its risks will be the underlying narrative of the year ahead.” In this podcast episode of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, Nic Newman discusses the report’s findings and more.

“The Mapping Digital Media project examines the global opportunities and risks created by new and digital media. Covering 56 countries, the project assesses how these changes affect the core democratic service that any media system should provide – news about political, economic, and social affairs – and how they can help advance open society values. The Mapping Digital Media research confirms that digital television and the internet have had a radical impact on media businesses, journalists, and citizens at large. As might be expected, platforms distributing journalism have proliferated, media companies are revamping their operations, and citizens have access to a cornucopia of news and information sources. Other findings were less foreseeable: digitization has brought no pressure to reform state broadcasters, less than one-third of countries found that digital media have helped to expand the social impact of investigative journalism, and digitization has not significantly affected total news diversity. The Global Findings reveal other common themes across the world: 1) Governments and politicians have too much influence over who owns, operates, and regulates the media, 2.) Many media markets are rife with monopolistic, corrupt, or untransparent practices, 3) It’s not clear where many governments and other bodies get their evidence for changes or updates to laws and policies on media and communication, 4) Media and journalism online offer hope of new, independent sources of information, but are also a new battleground for censorship and surveillance, 5) Data about the media worldwide are still uneven, unstandardized, and unreliable, and are often proprietary rather than freely accessible. The 16 chapters in this report provide a unique survey of thematic and geographical trends, and provide new insight into how the information and communications revolution is shaping the new landscape of media and journalism.” 

As part of the International Press Institute’s World Congress this year, the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) hosted a panel discussion on AI and its impact on media pluralism and public interest information. The list of speakers included Julia Angwin, investigative journalist, David Kaye, former UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion, and Damian Tambini, Distinguished Policy Fellow in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE. This outcome report recaps the discussion in the form of colorful post-its and a concise summary of key opportunities and challenges that Generative AI presents. The report concludes with recommendations for the OSCE RFoM, states, and other stakeholders, calling for more “research, analysis and multi-stakeholder engagement” that the rapid technological development demands.

The Commission's proposal for the Regulation aims to safeguard media independence and promote media pluralism across the EU, in addition to establishing specific requirements for Very Large Online Platforms as defined under the Digital Services Act.

"This book explores the legal and regulatory systems governing public service broadcasters in eight different countries around the world, looking at the services they provide, the way in which their mandates are defined, their internal governance systems, mechanisms of oversight or accountability and funding. In selecting the various countries, an attempt has been made to ensure wide geographic representation, while including only countries that have a strong commitment to public service broadcasting. Special emphasis has been placed on the strategies that have evolved over the years to ensure that public service broadcasters are not undermined by two critical phenomena: external control (political or other), particularly over editorial output, and inadequate public funding. The book outlines tested approaches to resolving these key problems, but it also highlights innovative systems that are being piloted in different countries to address some of the new challenges that face public service broadcasters."

Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to member States on media pluralism and transparency of media ownership.

Traditionally the role of the media was to help shape the debate that would largely inform the electorate on issues of relevance to democracy. In recent times however, the media has come under attack for dereliction of its duty to inform and resorting to cheap gimmicks that target ratings. Essentially it is perceived, that the media is now seeking to “dumb down” viewers placating them with voyeuristic entertainment. In this article however Stockwell seeks to challenge this presumption that ‘infotainment’ is essentially negative. Deconstructing this inherent negativity attributed to ‘infotainment’, he posits that it actually offers a more.

In this report, Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, unpacks gendered disinformation - a phenomenon that, Khan argues, demands more clarity and research. The Special Rapporteur builds on her earlier reports on disinformation and gender inequality in freedom of expression, as well as her conversations with individuals who experienced online abuse and consultations with regional civil society representatives, governments, and companies. Defining and analyzing the concept of gendered disinformation, the Special Rapporteur turns to a feminist framework and applies an intersectional approach. The report stresses the “dual nature” of gendered disinformation, explaining it as “a strategy to silence women and gender-diverse voices” and noting it can be “a form of online gender-based violence in some situations.” Three more parts follow the phenomenon’s framing: “Survivors, harm, actors and vectors,” “Roles, responsibilities and responses: States,” and “Roles, responsibilities and responses: companies and civil society.” The report concludes with recommendations for states, social media companies, and other relevant actors.

“This study assesses the challenges, and the opportunities, for journalism today. It dovetails with the 2020 theme of World Press Freedom Day (“Journalism without Fear or Favour”), an annual calendar date that commemorates and celebrates the universal human right to expression in the public arena. Without press freedom, it is impossible to envisage editorial independence in the media, and without editorial independence as an essential enabler of professional standards, journalism cannot thrive. These are not “nice to haves”. Society depends on journalism for the vibrancy of democracy and informed responses to crises.  Without journalism, a huge gap exists in holding states accountable for realizing their commitment to achieving progress in the areas covered by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report provides a structured way of understanding the contemporary context of journalism in terms   of trends in editorial independence and professional standards. Each analysis constitutes the source of targeted recommendations at the end of the study. The report as a whole serve as a starting point for debate among and between governments, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, media actors, academics, internet   companies   and   other   stakeholders.   Such  discussions are key if independent journalism and its outputs are to persist and flourish as a matter of public good. The present report explores the above-mentioned themes and identifies relevant patterns and recent trends in how they have manifested themselves across the globe. It also seeks to give a sense of the responses from international and regional organizations, national governments, and other actors. While each of these three themes has its own distinctive dynamics and drivers, the interplay between them in relation to elections is particularly powerful.”