Category Archives: Media Workers

labor issues and working conditions, censorship and citizen journalism

Accountability and Representation, Media Workers

MA Supports the Speak Free Act of 2015

May 30, 2016 Midnightschildren

The Speak Free Act of 2015 is a federal anti-SLAPP bill introduced in the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis by Reps Anna Eshoo and texas republican Blake Farenthold.

SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation and describe lawsuits filed primarily to discourage, harass and intimidate public participation and free speech.

Anti-SLAPP laws provide a way for those targeted via SLAPP suits get the suits dismissed fairly rapidly and avoid being drained by long and resource-consuming lawsuits designed not to prevail on the merits, but to exhaust the target into silencing themselves to get out from under the lawsuit.

Continue reading MA Supports the Speak Free Act of 2015 →

Backgrounders and Toolkits, Media Workers

World Press Freedom Index 2015

May 14, 2016 Midnightschildren

The Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index ranks the performance of 180 countries according to a range of criteria that include media pluralism and independence, respect for the safety and freedom of journalists and the legislative, institutional and infrastructural environment in which the media operate.

Quick Summary: Top of the list are three Scandinavian countries, Finland which has been in first place for five years in succession, followed by Norway and Denmark. At the other end of the scale, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea were the worst performers.

The United States ranked 49th, down three places from 2014.

2015 World Press Freedom Index

Accountability and Representation, Backgrounders and Toolkits, Media Workers

Who Makes The News: Global Media Monitoring Project 2015

May 14, 2016 Midnightschildren

This UN-Sponsored report has some limitations, but also some useful statistics about gender and global media in several parts of the world.

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Media Workers

Urban Habitat Suspends Publication of Race Poverty and the Environment

May 15, 2016 Midnightschildren

Urban Habitat has announced the suspension of Race Poverty and the Environment, their journal of 20+ years which chronicled movements for social justice across the Bay and across the United States.

Here is Media Alliance’s statement on the closure: Continue reading Urban Habitat Suspends Publication of Race Poverty and the Environment →

Media Workers

Al-Jazeera – Under Fire for Distorted Coverage

Video May 15, 2016 Midnightschildren

Al-Jazeera, the Qatar-funded international news bureau, has been accused by its own editors and reporters of intentionally distorting coverage of conflict in Syria and Libya.

Canada’s Real News Network did a 3-part interview with Ali Hashem, a Beirut-based reporter for Al-Jazeera who recently quit his job. An editor at the same bureau later supported Hashem’s allegation and left his position as well. Continue reading Al-Jazeera – Under Fire for Distorted Coverage →

Backgrounders and Toolkits, Media Workers

Designing for Impact: The Rise of High-Impact Social Justice Documentaries

May 14, 2016 Midnightschildren

This report, from the Center for Social Media at American University, provides 6 in-depth case studies of the documentary film process and how to evaluate impact.

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