In the last 20 years, Vietnam’s media landscape has expanded rapidly in terms of platforms, publications, journalists and audience. The media’s role as a government watchdog has increased and it now plays an important role in the fight against corruption. However, despite laws purportedly protecting the freedoms of speech and of the media, journalists cannot work safely and independently without fear of being threatened or even killed.
This project aims to promote the safety of journalists by developing:
(i) a so-called Guidelines for Peer Assistance for the Safety of...
IPDC Project scope: National
Although China’s media sector has grown explosively over the past few years, the legal framework under which the media operates remains underdeveloped. It is therefore essential to pay more attention to the development of China’s legal framework for media and freedom of expression.
In 2013, a round of the annual Price Media Law Moot Court Competition was successfully held in China. Established in 2008, this Programme aims to foster interest in, and informed debate about, international law governing freedom of expression issues. It serves as a training exercise, requiring...
The Ethiopian media is a very recent phenomenon, mainly consisting of state-controlled radio and television. Addis Ababa City Administration Community Media (FM 96.3) is one of the few community radio stations in the country. It serves 1.5 million people across a 105 km radius, providing 18 hours of daily transmission in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia. However, its journalists lack professional skills.
The proposed project aims to address this gap by training volunteer journalists, reporters, editors and technicians at FM 96.3 to be able to produce high quality...
Although Mongolia has a plethora of media outlets (more than 400), few are community-owned and run. The internationally-accepted concept of community media is not recognized under Mongolian law and no spectrum is reserved for community broadcasters. It was only between 2011 and 2012 that the first ten self-defined community radios were established (thanks to a UNESCO project). However, a complex license application process hinders spontaneous community initiatives, which may prevent the further growth of community media in Mongolia. Furthermore, most community media outlets are registered...
Fesmedia Africa's 2010 media barometer reveals that the journalism training at the University of Antananarivo does not include refresher programmes even though graduating students experience difficulties due to pedagogical shortcomings and gaps in the content of the initial training programmes. Furthermore, among the media professionals, the vast majority (more than 700) are trained on the job. One consequence of this is the plethora of articles based on sensationalism and a dull report of facts. This project aims to strengthen the capacity of a national pool of instructors from 6 public...
There have been many recent cases of the Nepalese media failing to comply with norms of pluralism and gender equality. As a result, Nepal’s marginalized groups (namely women and ethnic/religious minorities) lack trust in the media and often feel their issues are not dealt with fairly. This project will therefore train journalists to promote gender equality and pluralism in the Nepali media so that they can provide balanced coverage on issues regarding marginalized and excluded communities. This project will contribute to a more objective, free, pluralistic and progressive media that will...
There is a severe lack of information in the Rwandan media concerning the environment and the effects of climate change on agricultural production. Community radios have the potential to play a decisive role in filling this gap but lack the technical capacity to do so. If this skills shortage were addressed, educational radio programmes on the environment and climate change could reach more than 4,000,000 people from 15 radio stations, including rural communities, decision-makers and local leaders, enabling them to fully participate in environmental protection and take appropriate measures...
Nepal’s media sector is large and growing rapidly. However, many people are entering the sector without even basic journalism training. This is because there are few journalism training institutes in Nepal. To address this shortcoming and thereby improve the quality of the media sector in Nepal, this project will train new journalists from five districts of Nepal.
Bangladesh’ campaign for the right to information (RTI) has ensued for many years, sustained by the efforts of journalists, development workers, human rights activists and members of civil society. It resulted in the passing of the RTI Ordinance in 2008, a major step towards enabling access to information and promoting freedom of expression and of the press, good governance, and transparency. However, no significant efforts have been made to either raise awareness about or effectively implement this Act, and access to information remains limited in Bangladesh.
A media...
Although the media in Rwanda is developing fast, professional standards and product quality are not. Journalists lack the training required to carry out investigative journalism and instead focus on topics such as entertainment, sports and event reporting. A 2013 report by the Media High Council of Rwanda (MHC) highlighted journalists' overreliance on the voices of leaders (49%) to the detriment of other citizens (10%), in particular the police (6%) and other anti-corruption/crime bodies (3%). As such, one of the report's recommendations is for media practitioners to be trained in...
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