There is widespread dismay at the spectre of former US President Donald Trump setting up his own social media app provocatively named TRUTH. A press release dated 20 October 2021 announced a merger between Trump Media & Technology Group and Digital World Acquisition Corp., stating that...
Understanding Global Warming of 1.5°C Intergovenmental Panel on Climate Change A Special Report by the IPCC on "the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate...
The last time a working journalist won the Nobel Peace Prize, Europe – and eventually nations around the globe - were on the brink of World War II. German editor Carl von Ossietzky won the prize in 1936, “for his burning love for freedom of...
Global internet freedom has declined for the 11th consecutive year, according to the latest report from Freedom House. “Freedom on the Internet 2021” focuses on surveillance, censorship, privacy legislation, and encryption. The report notes that “unequal access to the internet entrenches societal inequity” and calls for...
On 8 August 2021, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a major reportthat unequivocally links climate change to human activity and predicts more frequent and more severe heat waves, droughts, and floods over the coming years. The report, released ahead of...
Imagine a newsroom without women, where all staff, without exception, are men. Now imagine all newsrooms in an entire nation with men only, across all jobs, from the reporters, to the technicians, to the editing staff and managers. This threatens to be the future of...
The swift takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban following the withdrawal of foreign forces has shocked and appalled human rights defenders. It has led to wholesale urgent calls to assist Afghans – particularly women, journalists, and those who have worked for or aided humanitarian aid organisations...
By targeting monuments that celebrate historic figures who actively contributed to institutional racism and the oppression of marginalised peoples, Black Lives Matter and others have implicitly questioned the way collective memory is fashioned. Protests of this kind are an effective communication strategy for challenging political, social,...
Media Development 2021-3 DEMOCRATIZING THE PUBLIC SPHERE The “public sphere” is made up of overlapping influences, pressures, dominant and less dominant voices. It is also subject to technological change, marked most recently by the digital. An equitable, accessible, and balanced public communication sphere, underpinned by principles of...
[caption id="attachment_37706" align="alignleft" width="190"] MD 2021/3[/caption] The World Bank notes that the public sphere “is an ideal of good and accountable governance. Its requisites are free flows of information, free expression, and free debate. The ideal public sphere is truly participatory and the best protection against...