Media Pluralism Research Articles

Government repression disguised as anti-disinformation action: Digital journalists’ perception of COVID-19 policies in Hungary

During the first wave of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020, the Hungarian government has increased its control over the flow of official information. Its actions were justified with the aim of stopping the spread of misinformation and rumours that could jeopardize its efforts to successfully tackle the pandemic. However, media practitioners, watchdogs and politicians in Hungary and abroad criticized the measures for their adverse effects on the right to information, the freedom of expression, and especially for their potential chilling effect on the work of journalists. This interview-based study examines how journalists in digital newsrooms have perceived the measures imposed during the pandemic, and how those have impacted their daily work. As evidence from digital newsrooms shows, the malign policy had only limited adverse effects on the work of newsrooms. Media pluralism, however, was further decreased in the country through the governing political elite’s interference in the media economy.

Russia’s law ‘On news aggregators’: Control the news feed, control the news?

On 1 January 2017, a Russian federal law (№ 208-FZ) came into force that holds news aggregators liable for spreading fake news. Links to news items that originate from registered media outlets – a state-regulated category – are, however, exempt from liability. As a result, news aggregators, such as Yandex News, have revised their algorithms to avoid legal claims. This article argues that the law has created a mechanism of indirect media control enabling the Russian state to influence online news dissemination through existing media regulation structures. It conceptualises five ways in which this mechanism can affect media pluralism in Russia’s online news environment, given news aggregators’ function as algorithmic gatekeepers directing traffic to news websites. The article argues that the law ‘On news aggregators’ exemplifies the diversification of Russian regulation of online news from controlling content and targeting content producers towards governing the algorithmic infrastructures that shape news dissemination.

Understanding factors and barriers to alternative media development in emerging economies: Learning from the Check Global project

Check Global is a journalism and digital literacy development project (2019–2021) supporting countries and regions affected by conflict or state controls. In such contexts, expectations are set high for alternative journalism to accurately counter mainstream media narratives, controlled as they often are by the state; this article presents factors to be taken into consideration as a starting point for better understanding the challenges involved in developing journalism, e.g., through funded training initiatives. The article draws on interviews with prominent alternative and independent media outlets (some of them Check Global partners) from India, Latin America, Egypt and Lebanon, who therefore have operational experience of these issues. By viewing digital and social media through an anti-determinist lens, we challenge assumptions — especially prevalent following the 2011 Arab uprisings — that ‘open access’ and social media platforms can easily provide solutions to media plurality concerns. We explore factors such as the role of technology in alternative media, but also the main barriers faced by alternative media projects and outlets. This article therefore opens up a more honest discussion about the nature of alternative media projects in such contexts, and the ways in which digital literacy projects such as Check Global could support them.

Media outlets in Vojvodina and Slovenia: Demographic-economic indicators and media pluralism

The paper analyzes the relationship between demographic-economic indicators in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the Republic of Slovenia. Both societies have relatively organized regulatory and political frameworks for the development of media pluralism. It has been established that there is a clear cause-effect relation between the number of media outlets in certain local self-governments and the average net salary: the municipalities and towns with the highest average salaries also boast the highest number of media outlets. However, our analysis has shown that the criteria and mechanisms for identifying risks to media pluralism are not provided: the variety of population representing different political, ideological, cultural and social groups and the variety of interests and standpoints relevant to the local and regional community.

A Comparative Lens on Prominence Regulation and Its Implications for Media Pluralism. a Working Paper

Whilst the media freedom and pluralism implications of content moderation, takedowns, privatised censorship and down-ranking have been widely discussed in recent years, content curation practices like prioritisation, prominence, and discoverability started to raise concerns among policy makers only in the past few years. These are however, two sides of the same coin. The question of whether regulators or governments should create regimes of prominence online, or rather step back from the ongoing process of ad-hoc private construction of these regimes, raises complex questions at the intersection of freedom of expression, media freedom and media pluralism that demand our attention. Such questions are currently being addressed through different regulatory instruments in different countries, as we witnessed an acceleration of the institutionalisation of new prominence and discoverability regimes during the Covid-19 pandemic. Such developments are therefore leading towards an extremely fragmented regulatory landscape that is trying to solve shared challenges of platform governance systems. In this context, the objective of this paper is two-fold. Firstly, the research investigates the legislative measures and regulatory proposals used in different countries to regulate prominence and discoverability online; secondly, it questions the potential implications of such measures for media pluralism, understood as a plurality of content and information from sources independent of private and/or state-interference. To do so empirically, the paper applies a qualitative methodological framework with a document analysis of relevant literature and current legislative proposals and measures from a selected sample of countries. Based on this, this work discusses four approaches to prominence regulation, informed by the policy debates and legislative proposals of four countries, namely, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada and China. These countries were purposively selected because they present the most mature proposals in this policy area, and they are used as illustrative national cases that are compared on two dimensions: 1) the criteria used to determine which content and services should be granted preferential treatment and 2) the types of services and devices that should comply with new prominence and/or discoverability obligations.

Media Pluralism and Independence in Poland: Legal Assessments of the Agora/Eurozet and PKN Orlen/Polska Press Transactions

Media Pluralism and Independence in Poland: Legal Assessments of the Agora/Eurozet and PKN Orlen/Polska Press Transactions

Ethnification of the Ethiopian Media

This report looks into the issue of media and ethnicity in contemporary Ethiopia. As anyone can witness, there have been immense changes in the local media situation since Dr. Abiy Ahmed assumed leadership in April 2018. In just two years, the country has improved its ranking on Reporter Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index by 51 places, which is the greatest leap of any country anytime – by far. There is a lot to celebrate. At the same time, the press situation in the country is deeply disconcerting. The reason for this is that the media landscape is as polarized as never before and that parts of the media are being blamed for playing a pivotal role in the turbulence which has erupted in various parts of the country since 2019. The suspicion of many people is that the media are being exploited to propagate an ethnic agenda. Towards this backdrop, the intention of the study is to examine the role of the media in ethnic tensions in contemporary Ethio- pia. The methodology is twofold, combining in-depth interviews with framing analysis. For the interview part, we have met approximately 25 persons with key positions in all major parts of the media in the country. For the framing analysis, we have scrutinized the media coverage of eight crucial incidents of 2019 in ten different media outlets. We argue that the tendencies we’re ob- serving in the media can be described as an intensified ethnification process. By this, we mean that ethnic belonging and identity politics are gaining significance as central frames of reference in the current Ethiopian media discourse. Ethnicity is being employed as a key to interpreting media messages, and it outlines a frame for classifying media channels and personalities. We identify two major frames, annihilation and othering, which are indicative of the tendency of journalists to align with their ethnic background. We also find that many media practitioners are deeply concerned about the developments. Research data point towards a more pluralistic media society in Ethiopia (albeit segmented pluralism), but also significantly more polarization. The polarization is fuelled by ethnonationalic media of different origin and ownership, vis-a-vis pan-Ethio- pianist channels. The previous stronghold of the federal state media (EPRDF-supportive) has been overtaken by a fragmented state media structure with the growing significance of regional mass media agencies. Journalists are beginning to form alliances along regional and ethnic fault lines, as illustrated by the launch of the Amhara Journalists Association, Oromia Journalists Association, Tigray Journalists Association, and so forth. Journalists are highly inclined to use sources that support their own ideological interest, and avoid quoting sources from other ethnicities which could balance the story. When it comes to professional ideals, various channels practice a hybrid reporting style that blends acknowledged standards with an interventionist or activist agenda. We ar- gue that ethnic and political agendas are at risk of being at odds with media professionalism.

Moć bez odgovornosti

Rad sadržava pregled politika vodećih online-platformi u borbi protiv dezinformacija i infodemije kako bi se promislile njihove moguće izravne ili neizravne, kratkoročne ili dugoročne posljedice za medijski pluralizam i informirano građanstvo, uzimajući u obzir značenje platformi u oblikovanju informacijskog okruženja. Metoda istraživanja je analiza dokumenata koje su odabrane platforme objavile od početka koronakrize u veljači do 31. srpnja 2020. kako bi komunicirale promjene svojih politika moderacije sadržaja kao posljedicu te krize. Uključena su i izvješća, koja su u kolovozu 2020. dostavile Europskoj komisiji, o mjerama koje su primijenile kako bi ograničile širenje dezinformacija povezanih s bolešću COV ID-19. Analiza sugerira da su platforme nedvojbeno poduzele niz potencijalno korisnih mjera kako bi odgovorile na izazove širenja lažnih, obmanjujućih i štetnih informacija u pandemiji, ali gotovo svaka od tih mjera sadržava i potencijalan rizik za slobodu izražavanja i medijski pluralizam. Ti rizici ne proizlaze toliko iz samih inicijativa koliko iz nedostatka regulatornog okvira i neravnoteže između odgovornosti i moći koju platforme posjeduju.

The Media pluralism monitor: Conceptualizing media pluralism for the online environment

Media pluralism is an essential feature and pillar of contemporary democracies. It is a corollary of the right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed by European national constitutions, as well as by the Convention for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms (art. 10) and by the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union (art. 11). Ensuring a plural media environment is a precondition for democracy and may be seen as a policy goal. The availability and accessibility of diverse information and views create the conditions for citizens to form and express their opinions and participate in the democratic debate in an informed way. Due to technological developments and the rapid rise of digital platforms intermediating online content, the concept of media pluralism has been reinterpreted at both academic and policy level, taking into account the recent structural changes in the media sector. The Media pluralism monitor is a methodology to assess the risks to media pluralism, based on a set of 20 indicators covering a broad definition of media pluralism and, therefore, having a holistic perspective. The recent implementations of the tool have taken into account in particular the risks stemming from the online environment while maintaining a holistic approach to conceptualizing standards and benchmarks for the indicators.

Book review: The Role of Media Pluralism in the Enforcement of EU Competition Law, by CKonstantina Bania. (Paris: Concurrences, 2019)

Book review: <i>The Role of Media Pluralism in the Enforcement of EU Competition Law</i>, by CKonstantina Bania. (Paris: Concurrences, 2019)

After All This Time? The Impact of Media and Authoritarian History on Political News Coverage in Twelve Western Countries

Abstract Historical classifications of journalistic traditions are the backbone of comparative explanations for political news coverage. This study assesses the validity of the dominant media systems framework and proposes and tests a novel framework, which states that a history of authoritarianism affects today’s coverage. To facilitate a clean cross-national comparison, we focus on the same person and measurement in 12 Western democracies, that is, the use of the pejorative terms “sexist,” “racist,” “dictator,” and equivalents to describe Donald Trump. Our manually validated automated content analysis (2016–2018; N = 27,830) shows that content varies along with countries’ media and authoritarian history: pejoration is more common in countries with a polarized pluralist media system and former authoritarian countries than elsewhere. Newspapers’ ideology does not matter, irrespective of countries’ level of political parallelism or experiences with authoritarianism. Combined, we provide new methodological and theoretical handles to further comparative communication research in Western democracies.

Constructing the Millennial “Other” in United States Press Coverage of the Green New Deal

ABSTRACT Through a critical discourse analysis, this study finds that both The New York Times and Wall Street Journal portray the Green New Deal as a dangerous policy proposed by a cohort of extremist Millennial “Others.” Agonistic media pluralism is stunted. Instead, a uniform and moderate perspective guides reporting, analyses, and commentary. In place of a detailed and robust discussion of the Green New Deal through a multitude of different perspectives, the discursive strategies of “positioning,” “de/legitimization,” and “naturalization” cast supporters of the policy as a dangerous threat within an already rattled, post-2016 United States political landscape. Through this image of threat, the market-based carbon tax is elevated as the best and only way forward. Ultimately, this study finds that the construction of a threatening Millennial “Other” is leveraged to discredit the viability of the Green New Deal and to suppress a diversity of political perspectives.

The Airwaves Belong to the People: A Critical Analysis of Radio Broadcasting and Licensing in Zimbabwe

This article reports on a study that focused on the radio broadcasting and licensing scene in Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2020. The study interrogated the sincerity of the Zimbabwean government in advancing both media pluralism and diversity. Opposition political parties and civic organisations pressured Zimbabwe into adopting a liberal approach that they hoped would widen the political and media space. The study examined how the government has taken and implemented such a liberal approach. Drawing on the competitive authoritarianism concept, the study argued that the cosmetic application of contested and undemocratic media laws that pretended to be democratising the media was indeed gagging democracy. This is called a pseudo-progressive stance. The study gathered data using qualitative interviews with three media activists, three policymakers, two media professionals, and two media scholars in Zimbabwe. In total, 10 qualitative key informant in-depth interviews were carried out. The analysis revealed a silhouette of grandiose but empty media laws that have continued to impede democracy in Zimbabwe. Therefore, the study concluded that the monopoly of media influence and concentration of broadcasting media ownership within the ruling party is dire and not conducive to the development of diverse and creative content for the nation. Thus, collaborative efforts are needed for real change to be achieved in the broadcasting media in Zimbabwe.

Diversidade nas pautas jornalísticas

Este artigo apresenta os resultados da etapa quantitativa da pesquisa A produção de notícias a partir das periferias de São Paulo: perfil, rotinas e novas configurações do trabalho jornalístico, cujo objetivo era investigar o perfil dos jornalistas que produzem informação a partir e sobre a periferia de São Paulo em novos arranjos econômicos alternativos (Figaro; Nonato, 2017). Para cumprir esse objetivo, faz uma breve reflexão sobre a falta de pluralidade da mídia brasileira, analisa as aproximações e diferenças entre jornalismo local, comunitário, contra hegemônico e periférico e apresenta a metodologia adotada para a pesquisa. Como resultados iniciais, verificamos que os jornalistas são jovens, estão há pouco mais de cinco anos na profissão e não têm uma opinião clara a respeito do conceito de jornalismo periférico.

The Radio Jamaica and Gleaner Co Merger: Lessons for the Media-development Nexus and Safeguarding Pluralism and Community Radio in Small Societies

ABSTRACT The paper examines Jamaica’s most significant media merger and probes the implications for media pluralism and media-development nexus in densely populated small island contexts. The case highlights heightened tendency toward ownership concentration as a necessity and note alternatives, particularly for Jamaica’s traditionally pluralistic radio sector. It posits consolidation in small-developing states is significant and peculiar as it is deemed both a threat to culture and the ever-elusive development project that motivates developing societies. The paper highlights strategic partnerships and experimentations in the radio sector that offer the benefits of concentration without undermining pluralism and proposals to reimagine the media-development nexus.

Opening the gates: Plurality regulation and the public interest

This article sets out the emergent challenges and opportunities for developing effective and ‘future proof’ policy for regulating media plurality. This analysis is carried out against the backdrop of UK authorities’ 2018 public interest test of the proposed merger between 21st Century Fox and Sky, and the latest data on the UK media ownership landscape. That merger review established important precedents for plurality reform, particularly in its acknowledgement that digital intermediaries are not an inherently pluralizing force and that regulatory intervention is needed to prevent concentrations of agenda power, especially at the level of wholesale newsgathering. The article goes on to critically examine the existing regulatory approach to considerations of whether media mergers are in the public interest, especially in the light of mounting evidence of intensifying consolidation within and across news platforms. This article argues that effective plurality reform must start with new legislation that sets out indicative thresholds and detailed guidance on the meaning of plurality sufficiency. This will enable a proper assessment of plurality outside merger activity and could serve as the basis for periodic reviews, enabling regulators to respond effectively to the challenge of new technologies and dynamic market conditions. We also address problems in the plurality measurement framework developed by Ofcom, namely, the inclusion of digital intermediaries as news ‘sources’ in data collection and analysis. In light of findings from the Fox/Sky merger review, a more effective approach would be to reallocate consumption attributed to major intermediaries based on analysis of the actual news sources consumed via those platforms. Far from privileging intermediaries, this approach will provide a more robust basis on which to bring them into the fold of plurality regulation, namely, through the development of plurality standards for algorithm governance. Such an approach also reflects a new reality in which the interplay of gatekeeping and agenda power between traditional media and intermediaries is not a zero-sum game, amidst growing evidence that major intermediaries are serving to consolidate rather than diversify the news offer in favour of incumbent and mostly legacy publishers.

Finland: Media welfare state in the digital era?

The concept of media welfare state is a combination of the democratic corporatist media system and social democratic welfare state model, describing the distinctiveness of the Nordic countries and their media systems with four basic principles. Media welfare state is based on communication services understood as public goods, freedom from editorial interference, cultural policy and economic support for media pluralism as well as preference for consensual solutions involving cooperation between main stakeholders. However, identifying a joint media welfare state model in recent media and communication policy decisions made in Nordic countries on developing communication infrastructures, media delivery and universal access turns out to be difficult. During the last three decades, none of the four largest Nordic countries has strictly followed all the four principles. In most cases, Finland has ended up with different solutions than its Nordic neighbours and sometimes also in contradiction with the Media Welfare State model. There is evidence that the Nordic media markets have been losing their distinguishability over the years. But the main reason why the present-day Nordic countries do not fit into media welfare state model is that they no longer are welfare states – not at least in the same fashion as they used to be. In Finland, this transition from the welfare state to the competition state has been more rapid and extensive than elsewhere in the Nordic region, partly because of its geopolitical position. The Finnish economy has also been exceptionally dependent on a single mobile technology corporation.

The Voice of Nat Nakasa: Unconventional Journalists as Sense-makers in a “New Normal”

ABSTRACT Any situation on the brink of change requires guides to assist in navigating such a new shared social space. Journalism is one such form of guidance. However, just as societal conditions are constantly in flux, so are the conditions under which journalism is practised. This is particularly true for the current generation of journalists with the lines between mainstream and alternative forms of journalism almost completely obscured. While the journalistic landscape is fluid, lessons for navigating this world can be found in the work of journalists from previous eras. This article places the work of South African journalist Nat Nakasa, a member of the 1960s Drum Generation, in conversation with the ideas of existentialism to further an understanding of existentialism in a South African context, and for South African journalism. This is achieved by identifying themes in Nakasa’s work and linking these to some of the ideas of existentialism. The article argues that maintaining a public sphere within a democratic society requires a media sphere with space for mainstream and unconventional journalism. At the hand of an analysis of Nakasa’s work, the article presents a possibility of how unconventional journalism can be a vital element to a pluralistic media environment and to guide society through any period of change.

تكريس التعددية الإعلامية عبر تحقيق التنوع الثقافي في وسائل الإعلام الرقمية:

The media of all kinds have the task of introducing, expressing and objectively representing the cultures of different societies in various types and forms of press and media. The precept of media pluralism is the basis for freedom of expression &amp; the cornerstone of its realization. Therefore, it is linked to the establishment of several conditions and elements in order to establish it as a principle and practice. Issues of cultural diversity in media and cultural pluralism are one of the most important elements and indicators. So, this paper aims to shed light on the concept of media pluralism and related concepts within the framework of cultural diversity and multicultural indicators. Thus, highlighting the features of cultural diversity in digital media and its roles in promoting it in light of the characteristics and transformations that have touched many aspects of human life.

The National Communication Council: Opportunity or Constraint for Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression in Cameroon?

ABSTRACT This paper underlines the relevance of devising an effective legislative framework that sets out the organization of the National Communication Council (NCC), the main media regulator in Cameroon. It argues that the rules and procedures informing the functioning of the NCC should clearly affirm and protect its autonomy. The duties and powers as well as the ways of making the NCC accountable, the procedures for the appointment of its members and the sources of funding should be clearly defined in law. Equally relevant is the prevalence of a culture of independence, transparency and accountability, where lawmakers, government and the public respect the NCC’s independence without being explicitly required to do so by law. Drawing from a critical analysis of the law creating the NCC and complemented with an interview with the NCC chairman, I argue that independent media regulators (NCC) can have democratizing effects, but it can also limit the growth of press freedom, freedom of expression, opportunities for democratic engagement and the pivotal role that it is expected to play in creating a diverse and pluralistic media landscape. Also, public authorities should refrain from using their financial decision-making power to interfere with the independence of regulatory authorities.