The Turkish top-selling opposition newspaper Zaman, which supports the opposition Gülen movement, will now be published in Germany

8 March 2016 / By NEOLine/GK. Published by NewEurope Editor-in-chief of Zaman Almanya (Zaman Germany), Sueleyman Bag, made clear that the Turkish opposition daily will still be published, even though it was taken over by the Turkish government in Turkey. Bag told Reuters on Monday: “As of today we are printing a version of Zaman…

Norway scraps tax on news to encourage media

28 January 2016 / By Donald O’Donovan. Published by http://www.independent.ie/ Norway is slashing tax on all news publications to zero, in line with the country’s policy of encouraging a diverse and healthy media sector. Norwegian authorities will introduce a zero VAT rate for electronic news services from March, bringing the country’s tax treatment of online news…

Be the media, know the media, change the media

18 February 2016 / By Des Freedman We’re facing a crisis at the heart of our media system – in other words with the dominant players across our media environment – on many different levels: of funding, of ethics, of representation and of legitimacy. The crisis is related, in particular, to the increasingly unequal distribution…

In Sri Lanka, media settle in for long march to change

1 February 2016 / By Scott Griffen, Director of Press Freedom Programmes. Published by International Press Institute One year after historic election, optimism mixes with sluggish pace of reform Just over one year ago, Sri Lankans chose Maithripala Sirisena to be their next president, in a surprise rejection of incumbent leader Mahinda Rajapaksa, the man who…

The Problem With “Illiberal Democracy”

January 19, 2016 / By Jan-Werner Mueller in Project Sindicate PRINCETON – Poland’s turn toward authoritarian rule has set off alarm bells across the European Union and within NATO. Since coming to power in October, Jarosław Kaczyński’s Law and Justice party (PiS) has attacked the country’s Constitutional Court, politicized the judiciary and the civil service, and…

Poland’s president signs disputed media law despite EU concerns

January 7, 2015 / By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA, Startribune.com A new wave of concern for media freedom in Poland rose among European Union leaders and independent journalists after Poland’s president signed a temporary new law Thursday that’s a step toward giving the government full control of state radio and television. The legislation will take effect Friday and…

Poland: Abolition of safeguards for pluralism and independence in public service media

January 4, 2016 / By Index on Censorship The undersigned press freedom and media organisations – European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Association of European Journalists (AEJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Index on Censorship – are outraged by theproposed bill, hastily introduced by the majority party in…

Ownership Concentration Puts Media Pluralism at Risk: Study

2 December 2015 / By Khmer Times/Chea Takihiro Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international journalism watchdog group, released a report on the ownership of media in Cambodia, highlighting the alarming amount of outlets owned or controlled by the government. The group conducted a study on Cambodia for its ‘Media Ownership Monitor’ project, which they say is…