Sri Lanka faces enormous challenges, not only in the areas of conflict resolution and national integration, but also in the face of the crisis of governance and challenges which need to be addressed to ensure Constitutionalism, the Rule of Law and participatory democracy. One of the major weaknesses in governance in Sri Lanka is the absence of transparency, under a strong culture of authority and secrecy rather than a culture of justification and transparency. When the 2004 draft bill on the subject was endorsed by both major parties, the general assumption was Sri Lanka would be among the...
IPDC Project beneficiary type: Media training institutions
Media in Pakistan is passing through a critical juncture where security and safety of media and media persons have become a serious question. On the one hand, the media landscape is expanding – with over 70 television channels and over 130 private FM radio stations in existence today, and over 17,000 working journalists. On the other hand, the safety and security of journalists have emerged as major issues during this period. More than 80 journalists have lost their lives during past ten years in the line of their duty. Intimidation, harassment, threats and arrests of journalists have...
This IPDC project proposal seeks support to build the capacity of the community radio sector in Namibia through a practical training, support and mentorship programme that will benefit marginalised communities in Namibia through participatory programme production. Further to UNESCO’s intervention to promote and support the Namibian community radio network and to enhance the capacity of radio practitioners to drive the development agenda, this project will extend the results of the Namibian Community Network Stakeholders Meeting and take forward the findings of the Community Broadcasting...
In the last 20 years, Vietnam’s media landscape has expanded rapidly in terms of platforms, publications, journalists and audience figures. Though this represents an encouraging trend in terms of public access to information, the development has tended to be concentrated in the urban areas, with those living in remote, mountainous and ethnic minority communities being deprived of such improvement. Given this backdrop, since 2011, the Vietnamese Government has started to implement a “National Target Programme expanding information to remote, mountainous, border and islands areas” aimed at...
These include several regional, national and local channels with a constantly growing viewership. The print and electronic media in Pakistan has experienced a remarkable transformation in the last decade and now Pakistan enjoys a vibrant media scene with unprecedented diversity of opinion available in various ethnic languages. The electronic media can play an important role by highlighting local and national issues and performing a critical watchdog role. However, much of the new electronic media in Pakistan is relatively unsophisticated and most content revolves around entertainment....
The Government of Bangladesh adopted the Right to Information (RTI) Act in 2009 and makes provisions for ensuring free flow of information and people’s right to information. The freedom of thought, conscience and speech are also recognized in the Constitution as a fundamental right, with the right to information being a distinguishable part of it. Technological advancement in recent years has led to a boom in broadcast media: 20 private TV channels and 8 Radio stations have been established in the past couple of years while traditional forms of journalism remain strong.
...
The merits of Public Service Broadcasting institutions are widely and vigorously debated but guidance and knowledge is needed for broadcasters on how they should respond to creating Public Service Broadcasting for public interest with the convergence of new technologies. In this era it is important that broadcasters understand how PSB can be defined and redefined to perform its functions effectively. In May 2012 broadcasters from across South-Asia will gather in Bangkok, Thailand, for the Asian Media Summit. This provides an excellent opportunity to partner with AIBD, the host organization...
Latin America and the Caribbean is a very vulnerable region where the environment is concerned. The Dominican Republic is a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) where the impact of climatic change has the potential to be devastating for the environment. Unfortunately media workers and journalists often do not have specialist degrees, and they particularly lack knowledge and training on issues related to the environment. As a consequence, they are unable to reflect objectively such issues, and assume their role of surveying the negative impacts on the environment and educating citizens to...
The widespread access to Internet and to information and communication technology (ICT) today make possible the autonomous usage of resources for the creation, edition and publication of texts, videos and sounds of local and diverse content, fostering more than ever, an increase in the number of individuals, groups and communities producing and distributing their communication outlets in the digital world. In the specific context of Latin America and the Caribbean, these practices have a critical communicational value, especially regarding local and community radio. Relying on the high...
Intense politicization is the primary obstacle to improving professionalism standards in the Lebanese media industry. It mainly affects objectivity, the very conception of it by Lebanese journalists and their actual commitment to it. One such indicator is the fact that very few news outlets distinguish the difference between news and editorial desks. Fact-checking is another point of contention which causes imbalances in the ethics guiding this line of practice. Though very few subjects are off limits; “physical access to news events can be restricted according to the political leaning of...
Pages
