Media Law Research Articles

The Role of Journalism Training Institutions in the Changing Media Dynamics of Tanzania

This study assessed the role of journalism training institutions in the changing media dynamics of Tanzania. Journalism training institutions are accredited higher learning facilities that offer diploma and degree certifications to those who graduate respectively after a two-to-three-year course of professional training in journalism in Tanzania. Media dynamics refers to the prevalent environment surrounding the media performance in Tanzania. These range from the media laws, policies, the regulatory frameworks, ownership, media pluralism, media diversity, market preferences and communication technologies. This paper is derived from the findings of a research dissertation submitted for award of a Doctorate degree in Mass Communication at St Augustine University of Tanzania. The study employed a descriptive survey design. A mixed method approach was employed to collect data from four news editors from two prominent media houses (Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation and Mwananchi Communications), six working journalists, four journalism lecturers and 150 journalism students from St. Augustine University of Tanzania Malimbe Campus. Interview data was thematically analysed and presented in a narrative form while the survey data was analysed using descriptive statistics with the help of SPSS version 23 and presented in tables, charts, and diagrams. The findings showed that, owing to the fast-paced technological advancement in the media houses, graduating journalists could not adapt smoothly in the newsroom. Moreover, the constant changes in media policies engineered mostly by political pressures were not communicated to the training institutions. Although the training institutions are competent and sufficiently equipped still, they cannot invest in the constant technological shift like in the media. This study recommends that stakeholders employ an intense collaborative effort to bridge the training to industry, such that journalism students are more engaged in a practical media experience during their course of study. Media houses should facilitate field attachment training opportunities to students in order for them to stay abreast of the current technological changes in their profession.

The Legal Framework for Ethical Principles Governing the Conduct of Journalists

Ethical principles refer to a system that guides and dictates journalistic work, media laws and legislation, which determines actions in a particular situation. It is based on personal, professional, social and ethical values and investment in building a system of ethical principles aimed at protecting the integrity of journalists is an investment of great importance. It can contribute to improving the image of journalists and contribute to increasing the chances of success of their press institutions and increase public respect for the profession. At the same time, these standards define the legal responsibilities and duties imposed on journalists, because the purpose of journalism is to achieve respect for human dignity of persons with full and responsible respect for their values, diversity and privacy, and respect for all the requirements of protecting public order. On the other hand, national legislation requires a journalist to adhere to the ethical principles governing the conduct of journalists, and it is obvious that these principles are behaviors that characterize a journalist

Assessing media mergers and acquisitions: The power pyramids of regulatory cooperation

Due to the media goods’ dual economic and cultural role, merger and acquisition (M&A) assessments are complex and differ from M&As in other sectors. An additional layer of complexity is added to the assessment when various authorities are involved. An even more complicated matter is when the authorities have different remits. These authorities mostly comprise National Competition Authorities that enforce competition law, focused on economic considerations, and National Regulatory Authorities that enforce and oversee the application of media law, focused not only on setting rules and limitations on the media market but also on considering non-economic elements such as plurality. In certain countries, ministries and government authorities can intervene in these assessments. There have been discussions on the need for cooperation between authorities, however, mostly at the international level. Thus, little is known about the current cooperation procedures at the national level. The article proposes a typology of cooperation at the EU member states level and the United Kingdom and introduces the concept of the ‘power pyramid’ to represent the hierarchical relationships between authorities. Cooperation proves that competition policy and media-specific regulation are intertwined and are complementary. Furthermore, the article shows that having more than one authority assessing media M&As leads to media pluralism being more often explicitly one of the criteria used in the assessments, and thus providing a more holistic approach.

Experimental Research on Seepage Law and Migration Characteristics of Core-Shell Polymeric Nanoparticles Dispersion System in Porous Media.

The nanoparticles dispersion system has complex migration characteristics and percolation law in porous media due to the interaction between the nanoparticles and porous media. In this paper, lab experiments were carried out to characterize the morphology, particle size distributions, and apparent viscosities of SiO2/P(MBAAm-co-AM) polymeric nanoparticle solution, investigate its migration characteristics in porous media, and probe its capability of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the reservoirs. Quartz microtubule, sand pack, and etched glass micromodels were used as the porous media in the flow and flooding experiments. Gray image-processing technology was applied to achieve oil saturation at different flooding stages in the micromodel for calculating the EOR of the SiO2/P(MBAAm-co-AM) polymeric nanoparticle solution. The results show that The SiO2/P(MBAAm-co-AM) polymeric nanoparticles are spherical with diameters ranging from 260 to 300 nm, and the thicknesses of the polymeric layers are in the range of 30–50 nm. As the swelling time increases from 24 to 120 h, the medium sizes of the SiO2/P(MBAAm-co-AM) polymeric nanoparticles increase from 584.45 to 1142.61 nm. The flow of the SiO2/P(MBAAm-co-AM) polymeric nanoparticles has obvious nonlinear characteristics and a prominent scale effect at a low-pressure gradient, and there should be an optimal matching relationship between its injection mass concentration and the channel size. The flow tests in the sand packs demonstrate that the SiO2/P(MBAAm-co-AM) polymeric nanoparticles can form effective plugging in the main flow channels at different permeability areas and can break through at the throat to fulfill the step-by-step profile control. Moreover, the profile control of the SiO2/P(MBAAm-co-AM) polymeric nanoparticles strengthens with an increase in their swelling time. The microscopic flooding experiment in the etched glass micromodel confirms that the SiO2/P(MBAAm-co-AM) polymeric nanoparticles can block dynamically and alternatively the channels of different sizes with the form of loose or dense networks to adjust the fluid flow diversion, improve the sweep efficiency, and recover more residual oil. The SiO2/P(MBAAm-co-AM) polymeric nanoparticles can achieve an enhanced oil recovery of 20.71% in the micromodel.

MEDIA AND DEMOCRATISATION: CHALLENGES OF THE 1990S

The 1990s were an important time for experimentation and change in media policy in the emerging Russian Federation. Informed citizenry was a stated goal, but it coexisted with other strong currents, concerns about excessive and overly critical accounts functioning to endanger democratic prospects. Media law and policy was then also shaped to burnish electoral mandates or to help support particular visions of the post-Soviet society. Important experiments included the Presidential Judicial Chamber on Information Disputes and the Treaty of Public Accord.

Accountability and Transparency of Journalism at the Organizational Level: News Media Editorial Statutes in Portugal

ABSTRACT Editorial statutes are standardizing documents that organize and structure the media. They are a legal provision allowing them to define their ethical principles and conduct, establish their identity and ideology, and create a communication pact with their audiences. Editorial statutes can thus be considered mechanisms of media responsibility, accountability, and transparency. In Portugal, such statutes are legally required and are often perceived as formal, general, and bland documents. This paper presents a study of sixteen editorial statutes of the Portuguese press, designed to understand the issues and values of these documents. Thirty-eight categories were identified across three key dimensions: self-definition, normative values, and ideological elements. While these dimensions seek to address the requirements set out in the Portuguese Media Law, this analysis defies the common concepts of superficiality and homogeneity of editorial statutes.

Learning with a digital escape room game: before or after instruction?

In this study, we investigated whether playing an escape room game after explicit instruction (instruction-first group, N = 20) is more effective to learn about copyright and media law than playing the game before explicit instruction (problem-solving-first group, N = 21). This is an important question as escape room games are complex, problem-based learning environments that can overwhelm learners and thus hinder the acquisition of knowledge and skills. According to cognitive load theory, preparing learners with explicit instruction before problem-solving activities can overcome this problem leading to better learning. However, in the productive failure paradigm problem-solving before explicit instruction is seen as more effective, especially when it comes to the application of newly acquired knowledge to solve novel problems. Based on these two theories, we conducted an experiment and found that playing the developed digital escape room game after explicit instruction was more effective for knowledge retention and domain-specific self-efficacy with at the same time lower cognitive load. However, we found no differences regarding the application of knowledge as both groups scored equally high on transfer tasks. The result is discussed considering previous productive failure studies mostly conducted in the science and engineering domain. In sum, the instruction first approach proved to be effective for both knowledge acquisition and knowledge application, leading to higher domain-specific self-efficacy and lower cognitive load. Therefore, we conclude that the implementation of escape room games after instruction is an effective instructional approach and better suited to promote learning than playing escape room games before instruction.

A Zoom Tetrad: Applying McLuhan's Laws of Media to Video Conferencing

Based on observations of video conference story slams, this article uses Marshall and Eric McLuhan's "laws of media" to propose a video conference tetrad The article also compares the resulting tetrad to a previous tetrad of video conferencing among mobile knowledge workers The purpose of the analysis is to better understand this medium and how it changes when used in different settings Story slam video conference extends the face and presence, retrieves (brings into new use) text, obsolesces (displaces) in-person performance, and reverses into facelessness and a lack of presence These findings suggest hosts should lean in to the opportunities for connection provided by video conferencing without overextending the medium This tetrad differs from the earlier one, illustrating the agency of humans when interacting with technology.

Study on the Grinding Law of Ball Media for Cassiterite–Polymetallic Sulfide Ore

To solve the problem involved in the grinding of cassiterite–polymetallic sulfide ore in which fine grinding causes the cassiterite to be overground or coarse grinding leads to inadequate liberation of sulfide minerals, the influences of the ball grinding medium on the size distribution of the grinding product were investigated. Two types of ball filling patterns, namely, single-sized and multi-sized ball grinding media, were adopted in wet batch grinding tests. The results show that increasing the grinding time resulted in a rapid increase in minus 0.038 mm particles and a slight increase in the Sn grade in this fine size fraction. The smaller the ball filling fraction was, the more obviously the ball size affected the size distribution of the grinding product, the variation of which with the ball size became complicated with the increase in the ball filling fraction. Obvious jumping phenomena in the plotting of the percentages of the discussed size fractions against the ball size were observed when the balling filling fraction was larger than 30%; the most obvious jumping phenomena took place at a 35% ball filling fraction. The results of the grinding tests with the multi-sized media show that the size distribution of the grinding product was closely related to that of the mixed ball sizes and their composition percentages.

SOCIAL MEDIA: THE IMPORTANCE AND SECURITY OF USER DATA

The existence and activity of social media are inextricably linked to the Internet. That is, most social media and information dissemination vehicles are owed to the advances of the information technology of the last century. Some social media platforms had a strong and influential presence in the world over the past decade and are use and use of media, in general, bring remarkable change and challenges for people around the world. One of the challenges is the lack of a definite definition of media laws in some countries. Because users of social media have more concerned about themselves, it has also caused a rupture. Hence, people's privacy is still unaffected, but the key challenge is whether users of this social media are aware of the importance and impact of their media. Initial data suggest that as cyber-crime rates rise while users of social media are expanding, but the users are unaware of the security of their data. In addition to introducing social media, categories, importance, and impact, this article also highlights the challenges of organizing social media.

Analysis of nonlinear effects in fluid flows through porous media

This article examines the nonlinear effects of fluid flow in a porous medium, governed by a new semi-analytical equation, from three aspects: equation derivation, experimental verification, and macroscale simulation modelling. The rigorous derivation of the new equation is presented with a semi-analytical approach in which the gas slippage effect and inertial forces are described. The latter effect is controlled by Fochheimer number, which is defined as a product of tortuosity and Reynolds number. The new equation successfully predicts the deviations from Darcy’s law in low-permeability media when the gas slippage effect occurs. The Klinkenberg gas slippage factor is obtained as a function of porous media’s structural parameter (porosity and intrinsic permeability) and gas property (mean free path of gas molecules). The equation validations are performed by core flow experiments for a wide range of reservoir properties, which yield good matching relationship between modelled and observed values. In addition, the proposed semi-analytical equation is used to simulate gas flow in the radial model.

PorousMultiphaseFoam v2107: An open-source tool for modeling saturated/unsaturated water flows and solute transfers at watershed scale

The first releases of porousMultiphaseFoam proposed an open-source software suite to solve the equations for multiphase flow (generalized Darcy’s law) in porous media or groundwater flows (Richards' equation) by taking advantage of OpenFOAM, a finite volume platform with automatic discretization on three-dimensional unstructured grids and good parallel efficiency. Recently, the porousMultiphaseFoam toolbox has been confronted with complex cases of fast water flows and solute transfers in realistic hydrological configurations with variable forcing conditions (heterogeneous infiltration and local tracer injection). Several developments have been carried out to make it possible to simulate those cases, which extend the toolbox with: (i) a set of solvers dedicated to groundwater flows, including coupled water flow and solute transport and simplified 2D approaches, (ii) improved numerical techniques for problems with strong non-linearities, (iii) libraries/executables for pre-processing of input data (geographical information and time-variable forcing terms) and (iv) passive or coupled scalar transport (tracer) with groundwater solvers that support any number of species. New solvers are validated on several (un-)saturated configurations by a direct comparison with a well validated finite element code. Program summaryProgram title: porousMultiphaseFoam v2107CPC Library link to program files:https://doi.org/10.17632/hphn58ksfy.1Developer's repository link:https://github.com/phorgue/porousMultiphaseFoam.gitLicensing provisions: GNU GPLv3Programming language: C++ / OpenFOAMJournal reference of previous version: Computer Physics Communications 187 (2015) 217-226Does the new version supersede the previous version?: YesReasons for the new version: Multiple new features of the toolbox dedicated to groundwater flows (with pre-processing tools)Summary of revisions:–Solvers:–groundwaterFoam/stationaryGroundwaterFoam: new unsaturated flow (transient/stationary) solvers in porous media (Richards' equation) using Picard or Newton's method for linearization.–groundwater2DFoam/stationaryGroundwater2DFoam: new 2D (transient/stationary) solver for saturated flow in porous media.–porousScalarTransportFoam/porousScalarTransport2DFoam: new passive multi-scalar transport solvers on pre-computed flow fields (3D unsaturated or 2D saturated fields).–groundwaterTransportFoam/groundwaterTransport2DFoam: new solvers coupling flow modeling (2D saturated or 3D unsaturated) with multi-scalar tracers transports.–Improved numerical techniques–Timestep management: time-stepping is now based on the temporal truncation of the time scheme used (backward Euler 1st and 2nd order, Crank-Nicolson).–Linearization techniques: problems of unsaturated flow with strong non-linearities can now be solved using an algorithm based on Newton's method.–Libraries:–numericalMethods: the EulerD3dt3Scheme class allows computation of the 3rd-order time derivative to estimate the truncation error and the JacobianMatrix class computes the Jacobian using finite differencing (expensive method used only for debugging).–toolsGIS: new dynamic library for managing GIS (Geographical Information System) files and event files. Events are variable and localized source terms for fluid or scalar transport.–Ippisch: an improved two-phase model for relative permeability and capillary pressure.–porousBoundaryConditions: several new boundary conditions have been added to handle heterogeneous pressure head boundary conditions and variable fluid or tracer injections (using event files).–Utilities:–setBoundaryHeadPressure: pressure head initializer for boundary conditions using uniform value of GIS files.–setFieldsFromDEM/setFieldsFromXY: heterogeneous initializer for internal fields, similar to the classical OpenFOAM setFields, but using ordered (DEM) or unordered (XY) grid files.–darcyFoam: simple utility to calculate a single-phase flow in porous media.Nature of problem: The porousMultiphaseFoam toolbox was initially released with generic two-phase solvers for flow in porous media. Developments were carried out to model more specifically hydrogeological flows by including a groundwaterFoam solver for Richards' equation. However, many features required to simulate realistic configurations, such as event management for variable and heterogeneous forcing terms (infiltration / scalar source term) or suitable numerical techniques for complex configurations (high rate injection for unsaturated flow for example), were still missing. Moreover, the 2D approach with integration of vertical properties (for flow and tracer) was not present even though this is an indispensable tool for groundwater flow modeling due to its ease of implementation and its low computation cost.Solution method: Improved numerical techniques have been developed to solve realistic flows by handling strong non-linearities with Newton's method, and a wide range of time scales with time-stepping based on time truncation errors. Various solvers for groundwater flows have been developed to handle cases under different assumptions, including the aforementioned 2D approaches. Variants of these solvers were also developed to simultaneously solve the passive transport of any number of scalars (tracers) by the flow. A dynamic library has been developed to pre-process input data: event information for variable conditions, GIS file for spatial information.Additional comments including restrictions and unusual features: porousMultiphaseFoam v2107 requires an installation of OpenFOAM-v9. Dedicated branches are available on the developer's repository for compatibility with other versions of OpenFOAM. The following versions are compatible with the current version of porousMultiphaseFoam: v7, v8, v1906, v2006 and v2106. Older branches may be found in the repository link but do not contain all features.

The end of the post-colonial era: The transformation in Israeli media law on the State’s 70th anniversary

Dramatic changes in media law and practice took place on Israel’s 70th year of independence: The Press Ordinance was abolished; the Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was replaced by the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (IBC); and the Second Authority Law (which governs commercial broadcasting) was amended, abolishing the “dual broadcasting model” established in the 1990s. What characterizes these changes is that they mark the breaking up of Israel’s media policy structure from its post-colonial roots. The new laws demonstrate for the first time in Israeli media policy history a unique Israeli structure.

Crimes of Communication: The Implications of Australian Espionage Law for Global Media

Espionage has emerged as a leading national security threat for the digital age. Far from traditional wartime spy tactics, espionage now includes actors—including journalists—accessing and publishing sensitive information online to a global audience. This threat must be addressed; however, overbroad espionage laws have the capacity to criminalize legitimate journalism and chill free expression. This article examines the implications of Australia’s expansive 2018 counterespionage framework for foreign media. It argues that this broad suite of offenses creates a complex risk environment for global media reporting on issues that impact Australia’s national interest or foreign relations. These risks are exacerbated for media organizations owned or controlled by foreign governments and their journalists, sources, and associates. We consider whether the practical and political likelihood of extraterritorial enforcement alleviates the potential impact of the laws and argue for targeted reform to protect press freedom on a global scale.

Media studies in scientific and educational discourses: in search of a research object

In 2019, the Borys Hrinchenko Institute of Journalism of Kyiv University began work on a new research topic "Media Studies in Scientific and Educational Discourses" (2019-2024), the relevance of which is due to: 1) the need to form a new direction in Ukrainian scientific discourse - media studies , which is in the process of finding its research object, delineating the boundaries of the field, formulating theoretical positions, defining practical areas of application, approval of its own metalanguage and methodology; 2) the need to combine in the educational process the theory of media studies and media practice; 3) the general tendency to carry out interdisciplinary and intersectoral integrated research; 4) the lack of Ukrainian scientific discourse not only special works on the formation of media studies as one of the youngest branches of science, but also generalizing theoretical research on the typology of media studies disciplines, which in teaching practice for several years in a row typological media studies. Evidence of this is, for example, the following list of disciplines at the Institute of Journalism: "Media Culture", "Media Education", "Media Policy", "Media Law", "Media Psychology", "Media Psychology", "Media Management and Media Marketing", "Media Economics", "Media Economics", "," Media Policy and Information Security "," Media Law and Protection of Intellectual Property "," Media Planning and Media Forecasting "," Mediarelationships "and others. (information as of December 2019).

A Whole Review of Academic Activities and Emerging Issues of the Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication on Media Law and Ethics

A Whole Review of Academic Activities and Emerging Issues of the Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication on Media Law and Ethics

Justice 'Gos Ta Roll': Selected Opinions of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's District Court Cases in Tort Law, Media Law, and Comparative Law

Justice 'Gos Ta Roll': Selected Opinions of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's District Court Cases in Tort Law, Media Law, and Comparative Law

THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNITY MEDIA IN UKRAINE

The ongoing globalization of mass media offers ample opportunities for citizen debate and pluralism of thought. One of the recent world media trends is the creation of different models of public media, which are an alternative to other means of communication. Public media might address issues of contemporary journalism, namely the quality and independence of media, ensuring that citizens receive accurate and impartial information. Ukraine has undergone tremendous changes since it has gained independence in 1991 but the political and legal systems remain unduly centralized, the economy weak, and the government attempts to limit freedom of speech and work of media. During both the Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Euromaidan 2013–2014, the need to deepen democratic freedoms was emphasized. Major advocates of the reform called for strengthening the rule of law, decentralization, denationalization of media, and the establishment of community media in the country, which will be created by the society, serve the society, and work under its control. Measures to increase the diversity of Ukrainian media are one of the practical means to guarantee freedom of speech and diversity of viewpoints. The diversity of media includes not only the diversity of content and multiplicity of media owners but also the variety of media types. Along with traditional models of public service media and private commercial broadcasting, community media emerged as the “third level” of media development that enhances freedom of speech. This article examines the legal aspects of community media implementation in Ukraine, their compliance with the standards and principles of the media law of European countries that govern the media community, and illustrates the development of community broadcasting in the world. It also provides an overview of the international standards for community media, which are backed by legislatures and regulators. Analyzing the Ukrainian media legislative draft, the author of the article offers improvements to the content and funding of community media in Ukraine.

“The concept of criminal responsibility in North Macedonian media law in the perspective of freedom of the press and media”

“The concept of criminal responsibility in North Macedonian media law in the perspective of freedom of the press and media”

Rzetelność zawodowa dziennikarza a bezprawność

Despite a difference in opinions held by the jurisdiction and the doctrine, the criterion of special care and reliability should be recognized as one of the circumstances resulting in finding a journalist’s activity lawful or unlawful. We could support the opinion according to which failure to maintain special care belongs to the sphere of unlawfulness (not guilt) since a valid legal system obliges a journalist to act with particularly special care. It is ofmost importance to create some rules of conduct, objective criteria, and more or less precise model of a journalist’s profession. By far a point of reference is necessary which would serve as a comparative scale for those accused of violation so that they could be formally charged. An action will be found blameworthy if a required level of care has not beenmaintained. If a journalist observed the rules of special care while collecting, verifying and publishing information, even though their conduct violated personal interests of a person described in the publication, such conduct will not be considered unlawful. A model of careful and diligent action is formulated by legal provisions, decorum or deontological principles. Journalists are required to be better prepared for their duties, which include not only proving subjective circumstances but also showing objective elements according to which someone’s behavior was consistent with the state of special knowledge and life experience. Such a person is obliged to constantly broaden their knowledge and professional skills. Journalists are obliged to perform all possible actions requiring specialist professional qualifications connected with seeking the truth reliably and conscientiously, with due criticism and care of details. Journalists may not disseminate false, unreliable or unverified information; otherwise their actions will be consider edunlawful. A duty of reliability means the obligation to seek for the truth and rational argumentation while making a negative evaluation. The above actions generally refer to the factual and legal state as well as the form of working. Remissness of due care and professional reliability may constitute the grounds for professional or civil liability (including criminal liability). The introduction of this requirement, which results from a journalist duty to seek for the truth, is justified by the protection of the object of special importance, which personal interests undeniably are. The obligation to maintain special care generally takes effect in truthfulness of presented facts. If the news appeared to be false, there is a possibility of applying a circumstance excluding liability if a journalist proved that in that case he had verified the authenticity of the news which was published. Thus liability is avoided and the proof of the news’ authenticity is replaced by the duty of its thorough verification, i.e. maintenance of the rule of special care. The resolution of the Supreme Court of 18th February 2005, which was criticized by the doctrine, abandoned a theory according to which an “objectively untrue” statement is unlawful. Nevertheless, this attitude is in line with the European Court of Human Rights’ way of thinking. Maintenance of special care and reliability while collecting and using press materials by journalists (Art. 12 par. 1 of the media law) excludes the feature of unlawfulness of a journalist action. Moreover, it should be noticed that proving that charges are right is not always a necessary and independent prerequisite to exclude liability of a person violating personal interests (e.g. in the sphere of privacy).