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New Reports Detail Little Progress in Fight Against Soft Censorship

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Soft censorship continues to be a major threat to press freedom and the governments of Hungary, Mexico and Serbia appear unwilling to follow recommendations that would guarantee a non-discriminatory allocation of public funds and government advertising across the media.updates-and-logo-w

This is the common conclusion of three new reports examining soft censorship practices in Hungary, Mexico and Serbia launched today by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) in Washington D.C.

Official soft censorship, or indirect censorship, is defined as “an array of official actions intended to influence media output, short of legal or extra-legal bans, direct censorship of specific content, or physical attacks on media outlets or media practitioners.”

Published with the support of the Open Society Foundations and research partners Mertek Media Monitor (Hungary), BIRN Serbia, and Fundar (Mexico), the three new reports provide an updated analysis of the situation as uncovered in detailed country studies conducted in 2013.

By using financial power to pressure media outlets, punish critical reporting and reward favourable coverage, biased government intervention in media sectors across the three countries not only distorts the market, but also makes it difficult for media to exercise their essential watchdog role.

“Articles of Asphyxiation: Soft Censorship in Hungary 2015 Update” shows that pressures on free and independent media
in Hungary are accelerating and that the Fidesz government is enacting new and ever-broader laws and regulations that aim to control media output. The introduction of an advertising tax and other recently passed laws, together with the unfair and opaque allocation of government advertising show that intervention in the media market aggressively increased throughout 2014 and the first half of 2015.

“Media Reform Stalled in the Slow Lane: Soft Censorship in Serbia 2015 Update” highlights small improvements to the media-related legal framework in Serbia, such as thenew Law on Public Information and Media which regulates financial relations between the state and media outlets. However, as reiterated by the new report, efforts to reform legislation alone will not suffice if the Serbian government does not fully respect these regulations.Biased subsidies to media outlets, selective government advertising contracts, and manipulation regarding licensing continue to persist in the country.

“Breaking Promises, Blocking Reform: Soft Censorship in Mexico 2015 Update” (also available in Spanish) concludes that despite presidential promises, soft censorship – most conspicuously in the form of the partisan allocation of government advertising – remains a powerful impediment to a free, independent and pluralistic media in Mexico. Despite President Enrique Peña Nieto’s 2012 pledge to create a body to oversee government advertising, regulation of the sector remains weak. Lawmakers have failed to meet deadlines to establish a legal framework, while new legislation proposed by members of the Mexican Congress to regulate government advertising has not progressed. While positive developments such as a General Law on Transparency and Access to Public Government Information promises broad access to government advertising data, compliance has so far proven extremely weak.

Through more detailed research into soft censorship practices globally, WAN-IFRA and CIMA are drawing attention to the kinds of widespread and deleterious problems facing independent media that rarely generate the same level of international outrage as direct attacks on the press. The findings and recommendations of the soft censorship research series aim to contribute to the implementation of fair and transparent rules that are necessary for the development of independent media sectors around the world.

Country reports detailing soft censorship practices in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Montenegro are currently being finalised and will be published later in 2015.

Governments are reinventing censorship in the 21st century

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Censorship is flourishing in the information age and governments are reinventing censorship in the 21st century, according to the journalists Moisés Naím and Philip Benet in “The Anti-Information Age”.

The authors describe how “the scope of censorship is hard to appreciate (…) [because] some tools for controlling the media are masquerading as market disruptions”: “Today”, they say “in Hungary, Ecuador, Turkey, Kenya, and elsewhere, officials are mimicking autocracies like Russia, Iran, or China by redacting critical news and building state media brands. They are also creating more subtle tools to complement the blunt instruments of attacking journalists”.

In Venezuela and elsewhere, they denounce that “the state’s methods include gaining influence over independent media through purchases using shell companies and phantom buyers”.

Using examples of Pakistan, Turkey and Russia, and quuoting the WAN-IFRA report on soft censorship in Hungary, the report points to the indirect methods that governments around the world are using to favor positive coverage and silence critical media.

As Tamoa Calzadilla, the former investigations editor at the Venezuelan newspaper Últimas Noticias, describes: “This is not your classic censorship, where they put a soldier in the door of the newspaper and assault the journalists. Instead, they buy up the newspaper, they sue the reporters and drag them into court, they eavesdrop on your phone and email communications, and then broadcast them on state television. This is censorship for the 21st century.” Calzadilla resigned last year after anonymous buyers took control of the paper, and she was pressured to change a story to align with government views, the authors report.

Source: Benet, Philip and Naím, Moisés: The Anti-Information Age, 16 February 2015, The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/02/government-censorship-21st-century-internet/385528/?utm_content=buffer1f052&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

A report denounces how soft censorship practices increasingly affect jornalism around the world

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The Ethical Journalism Network has released “Untold Stories: How Corruption and Conflicts of Interest Stalk the Newsroom”, a report that covers 18 countries and exposes how financially-stricken news media are being overwhelmed by political and corporate forces.

The report finds that in countries both rich and poor, there are ‘dark arts’ at work in newsrooms: media managers are doing deals with advertisers to carry paid-for material disguised as honest news; reporters and editors accept bribes and irregular payments; and a culture of dependence on political and corporate friends makes it increasingly difficult to separate journalism from propaganda and impartial reporting from public relations.

Although the report notes that the major threats come from outside media, with governments, unscrupulous politicians and corporate communicators increasingly shaping the news agenda and taking advantage of newsrooms weakened by cuts and restructuring of the media economy, it also highlights how many wounds are also self-inflicted. It notes that many of today’s media owners do not buy into journalism for commercial reasons, but mostly to promote their own business and political agenda.

The survey concludes that a toxic mix of political and business pressures are leading to systematic disregard of ethical journalism principles, and includes a series of recommendations for authorities and media professionals necessary to promote ethical journalism and information in the public interest.

 

Source: White, Aidan (editor): “Untold Stories: How Corruption and Conflicts of Interest Stalk the Newsroom”, Ethical Journalism Network 2015

http://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/assets/docs/220/136/92a87dc-d968188.pdf

 

New Challenges, Familiar Tragedies – 3 May, World Press Freedom Day 2015

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The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum appeal for improved physical protections for journalists, an end to censorship and other pressures facing news media as 3 May, World Press Freedom Day marks yet another tragic year for the profession and reveals growing threats to freedoms from new challenges worldwide.

20 journalists have been killed so far in 2015 in direct relation to their work, including eight in connection to the 7th January attack on the newsroom of French satirical weeklyCharlie Hebdo. Those numbers follow at least 61 journalist deaths in 2014.

“WAN-IFRA uses the occasion of 3 May, World Press Freedom Day to repeat the call that ‘enough is enough’ when it comes to the killing of journalists and demands that more is done to better protect the profession,” said WAN-IFRA Secretary General, Larry Kilman. “TheCharlie Hebdo attack was a wake-up call to many that critical views even in democratic societies are under severe threat – already a fact, sadly, on a daily basis in many other parts of the world.”

“But it is not simply through the horrendous criminal acts of fanatics that the press is silenced. We are witnessing an alarming rise in attempts to undermine the independence, financial stability and digital security of news organisations from multiple sources, which is something that should be of deep concern to us all. A critical press is more essential than ever in denouncing all forms of attack on freedom of expression in order to hold the powerful to account.”

While killings, physical attacks and jailing continue to dominate the headlines and provide the most shocking reminder of the fragility of the profession, more subtle and often overlooked forms of censorship are fast eroding media freedoms worldwide, often with equally devastating consequences for freedom of expression.

On 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, WAN-IFRA invites media houses, editors and journalists to denounce one of the most sophisticated forms of interference in the media sector worldwide: indirect government censorship, or ‘soft censorship’.

Less visible than more traditional forms of harassment against media professionals, the term soft censorship refers to indirect or under-the-radar abuses of financial, regulatory and other government powers to punish critical reporting and reward favourable coverage. Where the financial leverage of governments and their cronies is used against media, it often leads to unbalanced reporting and promotes a culture of fear among media professionals, finally spiralling into self-censorship.

Launching officially on 3 May, a new WAN-IFRA website www.softcensorship.org and accompanying twitter account @softcensorship / #SoftCensorship have been created to help expose government interference with a free press.

Through its new online platforms, WAN-IFRA aims to denounce cases of unfair official advertising allocation, biased distribution of subsidies, paid “news”, bribery and payments to journalists and editors, and other administrative pressures such as licenses, import restrictions, excessive tax bills and audit procedures that contribute to strangling a free press worldwide.

Media are invited to use the resources to expose instances of soft censorship and contribute to a broader understanding of the phenomenon as a means to better protect transparency and independence.

“While we must use every means available to prevent the killing of journalists and better protect those most at risk, equally, we cannot afford to ignore challenges to independent media from elsewhere,” said Larry Kilman. “Left unchecked, these threats will grow to undermine the work of our colleagues who have sacrificed their lives in the name of freedom of expression. All attacks on a free press have the goal of silencing critical reporting, and we must be alert and ready to denounce them, wherever and however they arise.”

As part of WAN-IFRA’s 3 May resources, an editorial addressing press freedom concerns is available to freely download and publish from http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/129940/

 

Together with the Open Society Foundations (OSF), Washington D.C.-based Center for Media Assistance (CIMA) and in-country research partners, WAN-IFRA has analysed the use of soft censorship practices in Hungary, Serbia, Mexico and Malaysia. In addition, the first global review, collating examples of soft censorship practices worldwide – Soft Censorship, Hard Impact – reveals that, regardless of the levels of market development or political freedom, media around the world consider economic pressure to be a major challenge to editorial independence and financial survival.