Copyright issues persist throughout Africa, and media professionals are fighting a battle of protecting and monetizing their work. Journalists, in particular, are struggling with competing media outlets plagiarizing the articles they publish.
In an article published by the Ethical Journalism Network (EJN), Ghanaian journalist Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson describes the struggles print media faces: “We wake up in the morning at 6 a.m. and everything on the front page has been read out on the radio stations. Why would people pay to buy a newspaper when the radio station can give them everything?”
In Johannesburg, two rival media outlets have brought the battle over copyright to the courts. Moneyweb accused rival media outlet Fin24 of copyright infringement. The case brought attention to the outdated South African Copyright Act of 1978, and has sparked a conversation within the country about whether the government needs to overall their copyright laws.
In response to this epidemic, EJN, in partnership with the Federation of African Journalists and the Thomson Foundation, and with support from Kopinor Licensing Agency, created a training course to help journalists better understand their rights, as well as strategies for combating copyright challenges.
The course, “Copyright – how to protect it, how not to breach it,” is free and is provided on the Thomson Foundation’s website. It is led by Chris Elliott, CEO and director of EJN, with input from other copyright experts.
It has been republished with permission and available in Español and Português on the IJNET website.
EJN / ILO Labour Migration Fellowship: New podcast series and investigations
Supported by the EJN/ILO fellowship, Sowt has launched a podcast series “Migrant Rights, Our Responsibility” that tell stories that describe “the reality of hundreds of thousands of people who live with us and know a lot about us, but we know little about their experiences and daily battles.”
The first episode “Workers awaiting public amnesty” hears from domestic workers who are in a shelter waiting to be returned to their employers’ rights to be able to return home. Download and listen to the episode here.
The podcast will be released weekly for 6 weeks. The series is available on iTunes and SoundCloud.
Mazhar Farooqui, Features Editor – Special Reports, at Gulf News has uncovered an Indian job portal that reaps millions from a global recruitment racket.Read the full story on the Gulf News website.
Mazhar also followed up the story with articles about how Indian authorities investigated the allegations against Wisdom Jobs:
Reporting Hate Speech & Violence in the Caribbean - An Action Plan
An action plan for media practitioners, managers and owners from across the Caribbean create by the Public Media Alliance (PMA) in collaboration with the Ethical Journalism Network (EJN) and with the support of the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean is now available in English and Spanish.
Copyright issues persist throughoutAfrica, and media professionals are fighting a battle of protecting and monetizing their work. Journalists, in particular, are struggling with competing media outlets plagiarizing the articles they publish.
- Why ethical journalism matters for newsrooms and their audiences Following the EJN's session on good governance, self-regulation as a means to build trust with audiencesIJNETwrote a blog about the EJN's work with award-winning Jordanian new website 7iber over the last year using the EJN's Ethical Media Audit Process. You can also read the article inEspañol, Português, 简体中文, and عربى.
In December the Ethical Journalism Network'sTom Law held a training of trainers workshop on media literacy in human rights and citizenship education at the Centre for International Cooperation in Trento, Italy.
- Why do journalists need to care about blockchain? (Journalism.co.uk)
SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM
- Solutions-focused journalism can improve news audiences' mental health (Journalism.co.uk)
PLATFORMS & SOCIAL MEDIA
- Social media urged to take 'moment to reflect' after girl's death: Children’s commissioner for England writes open letter highlighting ‘horrific’ content (Guardian)
- Facebook accused by Brussels over 'patchy' attitude to fake news (Guardian)
- Facebook Moves to Block Ad Transparency Tools — Including Ours (ProPublica)
- Zuckerberg Plans to Integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger (NYT)
- How Facebook went from friend to frenemy (Conversation)
GENDER & MEDIA DIVERSITY
- Divided 2019: The Media Gender Gap (Women's Media Centre)
- Journalism has a gender representation problem. Bloomberg is looking for a solution (Poynter)
- An early, unsuccessful, attempt at #MeToo in Hollywood (CJR)
FUNDING JOURNALISM
- What’s Wrong with Philanthro-Journalism? (Nieman Lab)
- Facebook community news project officially launches with full list of 'under-served' locations for 82 (Press Gazette)
GLOBAL MEDIA ETHICS NEWS
AFRICA
NIGERIA: How fake news spreads, sowing distrust ahead of Nigeria’s elections (African Arguments) NIGERIA: Amnesty International raises alarm over increasing attacks on journalists (Guardian Nigeria) LIBERIA: Q&A: Rodney Sieh on how Liberia's press is faring under Weah presidency (CPJ) LIBYA: In memory of freelance photographer Mohamed Ben Khalifa (Rory Peck Trust)
AMERICAS
US: Has Fox News finally soured on Donald Trump? (Guardian) US: The media feel safest in the middle lane. Just ask Jeff Flake, John Kasich and Howard Schultz. (Washington Post) US: GOP candidates take page from Trump playbook in bashing media (Poynter) US: CNN joins MSNBC in shunning Sarah Sanders briefing (Washington Post) US: From fake news to enemy of the people: An anatomy of Trump's tweets (CPJ)
ASIA
CHINA:Under Watch: FCCC Annual Working Conditions Report 2018 (Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China) INDONESIA:BBC journalist Ging Ginanjar: A giant of Indonesia's battle for press freedom (BBC)
EUROPE
POLAND: Mayor’s murder pushes Polish media to look hard at itself (CJR) POLAND: The Magazines Publishing One Another’s Work (NYT) UK: NewsGuard changed its mind about The Daily Mail’s quality: It’s green now, not red (Nieman Lab) UK:Press freedom groups rally against new legislation that risks exposing journalists' sources (Press Gazette)
MIDDLE EAST
ISRAEL: Journalism, while often motivated by a desire to sensationalize or impact change, must still always be guided by ethical behavior. (Jerusalem Post) SYRIA: Syrian chiefs targeted Marie Colvin and then toasted her death (Times)
OPPORTUNITIES
- Reporters in the Field - The grant for your cross-border research (Robert Bosch Stiftung)
- Reporting on Vulnerable Children in Care (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
- Call for proposals: Media and Information Literacy for Civil Society Organisations in 5 Western Balkan Countries (SEENPM)
ETHICAL JOURNALISM NETWORK RESOURCES
Visit the Accountable Journalism database of codes of media ethics
