COMMENT BLOG
A remark, a critique, an opinion…
Why a gender lens in news coverage of violent crime is paramount
Whether inroads are made to reducing violent crime depends to an extent on the media. On 24 May 2022 another massacre of children in an American school took place, this time in Uvalde, Texas (1), Russia’s war on Ukraine raged on, (2) and a woman was beaten to death by...
Language rights and digital justice
Some 7,100 languages are spoken in the world today, of which only some 400 are spoken by the great majority of the world’s people. Every language is a uniquely important way to describe and make sense of the world. Every language and every dialect – the many local...
Independent media in retreat?
The war in Ukraine and Russian authorities’ move to close independent media and censor news and social media information in the country has been spotlighted in Western countries. In a letter to subscribers, the Guardian shared how it has joined other news agencies in...
Web3 – the Internet’s illusionary or visionary future?
Communication rights activists are calling for greater accountability from Big Tech and social media platforms. They also want a seat at the table when it comes to devising ways of regulating and monitoring social media content and use of personal data. Alternatively,...
Media Activism Against Extractivism
Social movements need to embrace participatory media practices to organize in their struggles against an extractivist economic model A hugely significant bill has been making its way through the Brazilian congress. According to Amazon Watch, Bill 191/2020 is a piece...
Information access under threat
A recently released UNESCO report confirms comprehensively what many of us have sensed: the rise of social media and digital communication platforms have created an existential challenge to independent media and journalism. “Journalism is a public good: World trends...
News media and disinformation in an unpredictable world
The 50th anniversary celebrations of NGO CSW/NY, which organizes the civil society side of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) commence this month. The civil society forum is the central stage for global advocacy to promote women’s empowerment, human...
Media “platforming” and the oxygen of publicity
In 1985, following the hijacking of a Trans World Airlines flight by a Shi’ite Muslim group, UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher accused the news media of providing the terrorists with the “oxygen of publicity”. Thatcher misconstrued the role of public interest media,...
Tackling Digital Colonialism
Civil Society in the South needs to be empowered to prevent a new “Scramble for Africa” as tech giants seek to access and monetize data in countries with weak data protection regimes The expression “data is the new oil” has become commonplace over the past ten years....
‘Journalist’ or ‘Activist’?
In a recent training session for current and would be journalists, a repeated question came up – can a journalist be an activist? Or – asked with even more urgency in the context of injustice – how can a journalist not be an activist? There is a long-standing dialogue...
New threat to human rights in Putin’s Russia
Russia’s supreme court has ordered the closure of Memorial International, the country’s oldest human rights group. Memorial has joined a growing list of investigative news outlets, journalists, and rights organisations classed as being an agent of foreign powers. Many...
Chile at a Crossroads
Optimism brought about by drafting of new constitution dampened by polarizing presidential election Chile, a country known for being among the most prosperous and politically stable countries in Latin America over the past 30 years, is at a crossroads. And like at...
PHOTO CREDIT: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance