The Media4Democracy Podcast: Recent Episodes
Media4Democracy
A series of conversations about confronting the crisis for independent media in the digital age. In this series, we talk to six international experts in the fields of media freedom and media independence to hear their insights into the profound crisis facing media today and what they think are the priorities for governments, tech companies and powerful players - including the EU - to help media move through the crisis.
Media4Democracy talks to Marius Dragomir, Director of the Center for Media, Data and Society at the Central European University to understand the growing phenomenon of media capture in the 21st century. He explains why and how governments capture media to gain political power and win elections. Marius highlights the important role the international community – including the EU – can play at this critical moment in addressing media capture to protect media independence, and the role of global tech companies in protecting spaces for independent, public interest journalism.
Topics
- Media Capture
- Elections
- Regulatory Capture
- Public media capture
- Private media capture
- Control of state advertising budgets
- Oligarchs
- Independent Media
Links mentioned in this episode Centre of Media Data and Society
Media4Democracy talks to Guilherme Canela from his unique global perspective as UNESCO’s chief of section of Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists at their headquarters in Paris. He talks about how the wide range of financial, technological, legal and political threats to independent media combine to create the perfect storm, but he also remains optimistic that stronger multi-stakeholder action and data-driven policy can help media weather the storm and play a vital role in upholding democracy and provide citizens with independent news and information.
Topics
- Journalist safety
- Disinformation
- Regressive legislation
- Freedom of Expression
- Access to Information
- Independent Media Viability
- Impact of COVID on independent media
Links
- UN Action Plan on Safety of Journalists and Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists
- UNESCO’s flagship Judges Initiative
Media4Democracy talks to Professor Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Director of the Reuters Institute for Journalism at the University of Oxford, where he leads research into the changing nature of the news industry. Rasmus explains why he thinks the best analogy for the current media crisis is the climate crisis, and discusses the recent global report – A New Deal for Journalism – which calls on governments to implement policies to protect media freedom and to support the financial sustainability of independent media
Topics • Sustainable media businesses • Government policies • Financing public interest news • New Deal for Journalism • Public media • Private media • Not-for-profit media
Links
- A New Deal for Journalism
- International Fund for Public Interest Media
- Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
In this episode, Media4Democracy talks to Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC about the increasingly complex threats journalists face because of their work and the legal tactics governments are using to silence journalists. Drawing on several prominent recent legal cases, she highlights how she and her colleagues are working together to step up legal protections for journalists to hold governments to account for crimes against journalist and fight back against the culture of impunity in many countries.
Topics
- Crimes against journalists
- Legal threats to journalists
- Lawfare
- Defending journalists
- Inter-American Court of Human Rights judgement on Colombia
- Daphne Caruana Galizia
- Maria Ressa
- Judith Bedoyo Lima
Links
- International Media Defence Panel
- Inter-American Court of Human Rights
In this episode, Media4Democracy talks to David Kaye, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression where he set the agenda in debates about the role that powerful tech companies and social media platforms should play in promoting and protecting freedom of expression, and the need for governments to do more politically and financially to protect media independence in the digital age.
Topics
- Business and Human Rights
- Internet Governance
- Online content regulation and self-regulation
- Government transparency in online content governance
- Tech platform transparency in online content governance
- Social Media Councils
Links mentioned in this episode
- UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
- Article19 Social Media Council
- Oversight Board (Facebook)
In this episode, Media4Democracy talks to Maria Ressa about how she set up Rappler - the successful digital news platform in the Philippines - and then became subjected to a coordinated campaign of online abuse on social media, and the target of legal and political intimidation by the government of the Philippines. She talks about her work as an international advocate in the fight for media freedom and the need to reign in the power of digital authoritarians and the tech companies in order to protect freedom of expression and independent journalism, which led to her being awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize along with her co-laureat, Dmitri Muratov.
Topics
- Independent journanlism
- Rappler.com
- Digital News Platforms
- Newsroom innovation
- Disinformation
- Media freedom
- Lawfare
Links mentioned in this episode
- https://www.rappler.com
- https://informationdemocracy.org/working-groups/concrete-solutions-against-the-infodemic/
- https://www.ifpim.org