Journalism Difficult in Venezuela


Article in Citizens to Protect Journalists, 11/19/24

Headline:  “CPJ, partners document Venezuela’s intensified repression of journalists in new report”

“Venezuela has seen a sharp rise in journalist repression following the disputed July 28 reelection of President Nicolás Maduro amid fraud allegations, according to a new report published by the Committee to Protect Journalists with seven other press freedom groups.

“The report details a heightened environment of fear, stigmatization, and criminalization of independent voices, creating ‘news deserts’ where millions of Venezuelans lack access to reliable local news. From July 1 to August 28, 2024, six journalists have been detained, with four facing charges of terrorism and incitement to hatred under the 2017 Law Against Hate.”

https://cpj.org/2024/11/cpj-partners-document-venezuelas-intensified-repression-of-journalists-in-new-report/

Media Called “X” is Ghosted

Article in Raw Story by Agence France-Presse, 11/13/24

 

” ‘We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives,’ the left-leaning newspaper, which has nearly 11 million followers on X, said in a statement on its website.

“It added that its “resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere

.”This is something we have been considering for a while given the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism,” the statement noted.

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/guardian-quits-x-social-media-platform-citing-racism-conspiracy-theories-2024-11-13/

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Article In Al Jazerra, 11/13/24

Headline:  “The Guardian to no longer post on ‘toxic media platform’ X”

Subhead:  “The British news outlet quits X citing ‘disturbing content’ on the platform, including racism and conspiracy theories.”

“British news outlet The Guardian has announced it will no longer post content on X due to the ‘disturbing content’ on the ‘toxic media platform’, including racism and conspiracy theories.

“The Guardian wrote on its website on Wednesday that it had been considering the decision to stop posting on the social media outlet for a while, but the US election earlier in November “underlined” its decision.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/13/the-guardian-to-no-longer-post-on-toxic-media-platform-x

Reporter Behind Bars


Article from Committee to Protect Journalists, 11/11/24

Headline:  “Turkish journalist Furkan Karabay arrested over reporting on opposition arrest”

“The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Turkish authorities to immediately free reporter Furkan Karabay, who was seized from his home at dawn on Friday after he published a report about the arrest of an opposition mayor.

” ‘Journalist Furkan Karabay is the latest in a long line of journalists who have ended up behind bars in Turkey simply for publishing critical reporting and commentary,’ said Özgür Öğret, CPJ’s Turkey representative. “Karabay must not waste months of his life in prison, waiting to be indicted and tried. Turkey’s constant oppression of the free press is an obstacle to citizens’ rights to access information”.

https://cpj.org/2024/11/turkish-journalist-furkan-karabay-arrested-over-reporting-on-opposition-arre

Targeting Journalists

Article in New York Times by By Kavitha Chekuru, 11/10/24

Headline: “Israel Keeps Attacking Journalists. When Will the U.S. Intervene?”

“At least 129 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since the war in Gaza started last year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists; the Gaza media office puts that number much higher, at 188. This has been the deadliest year for journalists since the C.P.J. began recording the numbers in 1992. The group has said that in the first 10 weeks of the war, more journalists were killed than had been killed in any country over an entire year.

“The C.P.J. has also determined that five journalists who were killed, including one in Lebanon, were ‘directly targeted” by Israeli forces, and the organization is investigating more than 20 others.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/10/opinion/israel-war-journalists-killed-gaza.html

Australia’s Social Media Action


Article in the New York Times by By Eve Sampson, 11/7/24

Headline:  “Australia Moves to Ban Young Teens From Social Media”

Subhead:  “The proposed legislation would put the country at the forefront of regulating social media access for children.”

“Far-reaching legislation announced on Thursday would make the platforms that are the lifeblood of many teenagers — among them TikTok — off limits to anyone under 16.

“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared at a news conference. “I’ve spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online.”

The proposed legislation, which puts Australia at the forefront of regulating social media access for children, would hold platforms accountable for enforcing the new rules, Mr. Albanese said. There will be no exemptions for children with parental permission, he said, but neither underage users nor their parents will face punishment for violations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/world/australia/australia-teens-social-media.html

From AP:

” The Australian government announced on Thursday what it described as world-leading legislation that would institute an age limit of 16 years for children to start using social media, and hold platforms responsible for ensuring compliance.”

https://apnews.com/article/australia-social-media-age-limit-e8259408c0b1456f41967decd474782a

From UPI:

“Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday his government will introduce legislation to ban children under 16 years of age from social media.”

Media Didn’t Understand Latinos


Article in Poynter by Fernanda Camarena, 11/7/24

Headline:  “The mainstream media misunderstood Latino voters once again”

“The election results underscore how disconnected and oversimplified media coverage of this community turned out to be”

“While Trump lost the overall percentage of Latino votes to Vice President Kamala Harris, he jumped 13 percentage points from 2020 to a record high for a Republican presidential nominee, according to national exit poll data. As the media dutifully documented Trump’s insults, threats and rhetoric along the campaign trail, it framed his immigration and mass-deportation plans as game-changers (or “game over”) for Latino voters. But Latino voters ultimately demonstrated across the country, including within many key swing-state districts, that they believed a Trump presidency is a better bet for them than a Harris term.

“It’s clear that news organizations inaccurately reflected Latino priorities while leaning on assumptions about how they expected Latinos should react or feel about Trump’s aggressive immigration plans. The ‘garbage’ joke was essentially framed as the last straw.”

https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2024/latino-voters-trump-racism-tony-hinchcliffe-media/

Media Blackout in Gaza

Headline:  “”We are witnessing the final stage of genocide in Gaza”

Article in The Guardian by Arwa Madawi, 11/6/24

“I obviously have no idea how many people have been killed in Gaza. Partly that’s because – and I don’t understand why every single journalist in the west is not appalled by this – the foreign press is not freely allowed in. Meanwhile – and, again, I don’t understand why every single journalist in the west is not enraged by this – Palestinian journalists are being wiped out. There is essentially a media blackout. So it’s hard to assess the death toll. But what I do know is this: citing that official 43,000 figure without providing a long list of caveats feels like journalistic malpractice at this point.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/06/we-are-witnessing-the-final-stage-of-genocide-in-gaza

 

Social Media Politically Ghosting?

Article in Vox by Aja Romano, 11/2/24

Headline:  “Were Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin really shadow banned by Instagram and X?”

Subhead:  “What social media shadow ban rumors tell us about election anxiety.”

“In the lead-up to the election, allegations are flying that social media platforms have been “shadow banning,” or in some way filtering the political content of, celebrities. After multiple Latine stars spoke out against the racism and misogyny on display at last week’s Madison Square Garden rally, Ricky Martin posted an Instagram Story claiming that the platform was blocking a post he’d published on the subject. Users also speculated that their access to other public figures who posted about the rally, including Bad Bunny, was being somehow restricted.”

https://www.vox.com/culture/381925/instagram-shadow-ban-political-election-posts-ricky-martin-bad-bunny-twitter-x-censorship

Trump Media and Mexico


Article in ProPublica by Robert Faturechi, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski, 11/2/24

Headline:  “Trump Media Outsourced Jobs to Mexico Even as Trump Pushes “America First””

Subhead:  “On the campaign trail, Donald Trump threatened businesses that send jobs south of the border, while his own company that runs the Truth Social platform outsourced coding jobs to workers in Mexico, outraging some staff members. “

“ormer President Donald Trump’s social media company outsourced jobs to workers in Mexico even as Trump publicly railed against outsourcing on the campaign trail and threatened heavy tariffs on companies that send jobs south of the border.

The firm’s use of workers in Mexico was confirmed by a spokesperson for Trump Media, which operates the Truth Social platform. The workers were hired through another entity to code and perform other technical duties, according to a person with knowledge of Trump Media. The reliance on foreign labor was met with outrage among the company’s own staff, who accused its leadership of betraying their “America First” ideals, the person said.”

https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-media-outsourced-jobs-mexico-truth-social

Article In MediIte by Jennifer Bowers Bahney. 11/3/24

Headline:  “Trump’s Media Company Reportedly Outsourced Jobs to Mexico — Amid Trump Pledge to Impose Tariffs on Companies That Outsource Jobs”

Article in Raw Story by Robert Faturechi ,11/2/24

Headline:  “Trump Media outsourced jobs to Mexico as Trump pushed ‘America First'”

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-media-outsourced-jobs-to-mexico-zas-trump-pushed-america-first/

Social Media Good or Bad for Democracy?

Article in AP, 11/1/24

Headline: “Mauritius suspends access to social media ahead of parliamentary elections”

“JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The government of Mauritius on Friday banned access to social media websites ahead of parliamentary elections on Nov. 10 in which Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth is seeking a second term in power.

‘The directive was announced by the national communications regulator, which said social media sites will be banned until Nov. 11, the day after the election.

‘The unprecedented social media ban follows a wiretapping scandal which rocked the country last month when recorded conversations of politicians, business people, and members of civil society were leaked on social media.

‘According to media freedom advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, the recorded conversations of five well-known journalists were also published on social media.

https://apnews.com/article/mauritius-social-media-suspension-elections-pravind-jugnauth-2e4e13fcd2ab37c32f85e4d042726022

Article in Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mauritius-suspends-social-media-until-after-election-communications-regulator-2024-11-01/

Article in Al Jezerra

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/1/mauritius-blocks-social-media-until-after-election-amid-wiretapping-row