Digital media are disrupting every aspect of modern society, rebooting traditional practices and jumpstarting new disciplines ranging from telemedicine to robotic assembly lines. Along the way, they are rattling hierarchies, making blunders, and fomenting miracles.
Topic:
Development, Government, Science and Technology, and Mass Media
Is there a link between a free media and good governance? Does the existence of a responsible, balanced press reduce corruption? Is the state more accountable in countries with a pluralistic media? Is the media democracy's magic bullet?
Topic:
Corruption, Democratization, Development, Mass Media, and Governance
For two years running, Pakistan has been ranked by international media monitors as the most dangerous place on earth for journalists. Media workers have been kidnapped, tortured, and beaten to death for delving into the nation's potent military apparatus and spy agencies. Bodies have been found with throats slit and flesh punctured with electric drills by Islamic militants, political extremists, and gangsters who take umbrage at what they write.
Topic:
Security, Political Violence, Torture, Mass Media, and Fragile/Failed State
The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA), at the National Endowment for Democracy, works to strengthen the support, raise the visibility, and improve the effectiveness of independent media development throughout the world. The Center provides information, builds networks, conducts research, and highlights the indispensable role independent media play in the creation and development of sustainable democracies. An important aspect of CIMA's work is to research ways to attract additional U.S. private sector interest in and support for international media development. The Center was one of the of the main nongovernmental organizers of World Press Freedom Day 2011 in Washington, DC.
Topic:
Development, Science and Technology, International Affairs, Communications, and Mass Media
In early 2011, the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) and the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) launched a research project to explore shifts in funding patterns for international freedom of expression activity. Twenty-one major donors responded to a survey, which was supplemented by eight in-depth interviews with donors and additional research on trends in Europe and the United States.
Topic:
Civil Society, Human Rights, International Affairs, Mass Media, and Foreign Aid
A local reporter details allegations that a ruling party official had demanded bribes from local businesses; ten days later, police conduct their own interviews and arrest the official.
Topic:
Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Mass Media, and Foreign Aid
Freedom of expression and of the press in much of Latin America are under sustained attack by numerous authoritarian governments in the region, as well as non-state armed actors such as drug trafficking organizations and paramilitary groups. These attacks have made Latin America one of the most dangerous places in the world in which to be a journalist. Overall, the region, with the exception of the Caribbean, has suffered an almost uninterrupted deterioration of press freedoms over the past five years, reaching its lowest point since the military dictatorships of the 1980s.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Mass Media, and Governance
The legal environment in which a media outlet operates is a crucial factor in its success. Rules and regulations can hinder or enable the growth of media and restrict or promote particular kinds of content. A liberal and empowering legal regime will allow media to publish hard-hitting investigative reports and fulfill their function as watchdog of democratic society without fear of legal sanction, thus helping to make governments more accountable. This is a public good lost to citizens of countries with restrictive legal regimes.
Topic:
Development, Terrorism, Third World, Mass Media, and Law
The audience for, and access to, news media has grown across the globe. Economic development in formerly impoverished countries, the spread of mobile and Internet technologies, and the loosening of censorship have fueled this expansion. However, many media businesses are unable to take full advantage of this growth because of their lack of management skills and inexperience in developing effective business models. Compounding this is a lack of media development assistance targeted to media managers, the expansion of economic constraints on media businesses, and a lack of access to investment capital.
The connected society reached a milestone at the end of 2010: More than 4 billion people paid for mobile phone service. That's six of every 10 people on the planet. During a period of unprecedented technological innovation, the spread of a decades-old technology may seem like an obvious achievement. That is until you consider that the hand-held device has become the hub for thousands of innovations that are changing the way the world communicates.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Education, Science and Technology, and Mass Media