Orange Magazine 2016 - DW Global Media Forum Edition by Orange Magazine

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ORANGE MAGAZINE

MEDIA. EDITORIAL

FREEDOM.

As the first scribes of history, journalists provide an important role in shaping society’s discourse and dialogue. Achieving the right balance of openness to different voices as a means to promote diversity in voices and the ethics in knowing how to secure the values attached to freedom of speech is essential. In this edition of the 2016 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum, an international team of young journalists looked at the forum theme on Media. Freedom. Values. Looking Beyond Boundaries and how journalism is evolving, especially in a digitally connected world. Editor-in-Chief Anna Valmero, Philippines Editors Anna Romandash, Ukraine Triin Ilves, Estonia Design / Layout Melody Da Fonseca, France www.melodydafonseca.com Project Coordinator Jana Fintova, Slovakia Photographers Alison Klein, USA Thanaa Hazem, Yemen Gabriel d’Alincourt, Brazil Timmy Hung-Ming Shen, Taiwan Videographers Felipe Camara, Brazil Olumide Adeleye, Kenya Writers Sarah A. Harvard, USA Rana Khaled Abol Fotoh, Egypt Emnet Assefa Degafe, Ethiopia Burak Sayin, Turkey Sheikh Saaliq, India Catalina Dumbraveanu, Moldova

Financial pressures continue to hurt the profession in terms of shrinking newsrooms and layoffs in different parts of the world. Global think tanks have even predicted that the profession may become extinct in just two decades. Interestingly, new media outlets are rising up to fill in the gaps in terms of under-served audience, underrepresented regions and uncovered topics. As traditional media models break down to integrate digital and social elements in news, there is more space to experiment. And this is where news reporting calls for the core values and ethics of what makes good journalism.

Social Media Mayra Báez Jimeno, Colombia Writings and comments of any contributor do not necessarily reflect that of Orange Magazine. Find more on orangemagazine.eu

VALUES. In an era where dialogues are shaped by is entertaining, sexy and novel, there is a call for more journalists to ask the deeper questions to make people think and look for questions that will shape discourse into one that can impact society. Journalism is not an easy profession but it is this very challenge that journalists should strive to build understanding instead of feeding on fears and transforming the agenda setting function of the practice as another way to grab readers’ attention with sensational news. It is not enough to ask questions and follow what is popular at the moment. Asking the right questions and ensuring a diverse, representative and objective presentation of facts in a properly framed context is a good way to go forward. And learning from mistakes, from the past and the present will eventually shape the future of journalism that looks at the big picture and at the same time, presents the details in proper focus.

Anna Valmero Philippines

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European Youth Press The European Youth Press (EYP) is an umbrella organisation for young journalists in Europe. The EYP reaches more than 60,000 young journalists across Europe with 25 member organisations and several working groups, forming a solid volunteer and professional infrastructure. It is a democratic, non-profit organisation founded and managed by young media makers all between 20 and 30 years of age. The European Youth Press aims to enable young people to give voice to their opinion on issues in their country and how it relates to the global media landscape by providing access to attend and cover global conferences.

6 THE INDOMITABLE MARCH OF KASHMIR’S ‘ALTERNATE MEDIA’ 10 LOOKBACK: HOW ROOKIE JOURNALISTS REPORTED ON THE 9/11

Orange Magazine Orange Magazine was a journal founded by the European Youth Press in 2004. It caters to an international audience of English readers to address the gap of limited content produced by young Europeans that can be shared with youth outside the region. It is available in both print and online editions. All print and online editions of Orange Magazine are published on www. orangemagazine.eu, with PDF copies of print issues available for download, too.

15 FIELD NOTES: REPORTING FROM COLUMBIA’S CONFLICT ZONE 24 AEHAM AHAMAD TELLS STORIES OF WAR WITH A PIANO 32

Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum The Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is an annual gathering of media practitioners hosted by the international broadcasting company and longtime partner of the European Youth Press and Orange Magazine.

CAPTURING STORIES FROM THE STREETS OF BRAZIL

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BROWN ENVELOPE JOURNALISM: HOSPITALITY OR INDUCEMENT ? 2015 WAS A BIG YEAR FOR NIGERIA: it was the year of federal and state elections. With many predicting that these were the break-or-make elections for Africa’s most populous country, political gladiators did all they could to take over the reins of power. Politicians, who needed their public images laundered, engaged in an unprecedented scale of mudslinging. As a result, the press became a crucial part of the election build-up and before long, accusations on the exchange of brown envelopes arose. Brown envelope journalism refers to the presentation of monetary gifts to journalists or media houses by parties, who have a stake in the publication (or otherwise). It is not uncommon in the developing world. In Nigeria, it is one of the most controversial subjects among journalists. While many agree it is a form of bribery, there are some opposite views on the matter. “There is nothing like that,” says Aanuoluwapo Omorinde, a Nigerian broadcast journalist. “It is a culture, a Nigerian culture and is not peculiar to journalists only. If people visit you at home and you offer them money for their transport fare, it’s not as if they are being bribed to do or kill a story.” Aanuoluwapo is referring to a tradition in many parts of Nigeria where kola (a nut used for entertainment of guests) must be offered to visitors as a show of hospitality. He believes that when journalists cover stories and are given “brown envelopes,” it often is mere “transport fare” and is not meant to influence media coverage.

But what if the “kola” amounts to thick wads of currency notes? Print journalist Olawale Franklin presents a different angle. “Journalists in Nigeria are not well paid,” he says. “What is paid is not commensurate with the work one does. This tends to influence the journalist to abandon certain ethics. Remember that they are also the breadwinners of their families. It all boils down to the individual, though. I uphold the ethics of the profession regardless of whose ox is gored.”

“WHAT IS PAI D IS NOT COMMENSURATE WITH THE WORK ONE DOES. TH IS TE N DS TO INFLUENCE THE JOU RNALIST TO ABAN DON CE RTAI N ETH ICS.” YINKA ADENIRAN, JOURNALIST

Another print journalist, Yinka Adeniran, relates the brown envelope issue to giving a tip to a waiter at a coffee shop. He disagrees that it has any impact on the final story. “If I give a tip to the waiter, it is not so that he can give me extra coffee or sugar. I have carried out some research on this and discovered, that if your story is not good enough, an envelope cannot get it published.” 4

Yinka, however agrees that journalists are generally poorly paid. “You can imagine a situation, where you are not paid for months and sometimes years,” he says, “It (journalism) is not a profession you want to come into just because of the pay. If you see people thriving in this profession, it is because of the passion they have for it.” Yinka’s argument indeed brings to mind a widely publicized story about one of the largest broadcast organizations in Nigeria, which was alleged to have received billions of Naira in payment to mudsling the presidential candidate and leaders of a political party during the 2015 elections. More mind boggling, however, was the revelation that this large media outfit owed staff salaries running into almost one year. Yinka suggests that government should regulate entrepreneurs seeking to venture into the business of journalism. He suggests that there must be minimum business capital requirements and strict employment codes to ensure that their staff of journalists are well taken care of. Similarly, Aanuoluwapo advocates for better salaries and life insurance for journalists. “Media proprietors and executives should be ready to pay good money,” he says. He also believes that journalists deserve better recognition for their daring efforts.

Olumide Adeleye Nigeria

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JOURNALISTS TO GO EXTINCT IN THE US ? It’s Wednesday in the middle of Seattle’s rainy winter. Josh Kelety, a student at Seattle Central College, pedals several miles through the wet city to his newsroom internship. It’s unpaid work five days a week. It’s grueling. And the number of paying job opportunities out there—once he’s wrapped up his education and internships—have been declining since the year 2000. That’s almost the entire time he’s been alive. Kelety is part of this generation of youth who still want to tell stories despite the massive changes in the industry. They’re defiantly embracing a profession that takes a beating year after year, and America needs them more than ever due to increasing challenges in the media landscape. It’s no secret that the news industry has turned upside down in the last 20 years. When we look at the statistics, the reports get direr: The U.S. has lost about 1,350 reporters a year since year 2000—purging the numbers from 65,000 to 45,000 people who call themselves reporters, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Using these statistics for further predictions, it’s possible to assume that journalists will be extinct by the year 2050 unless anything changes in the industry. Considering these numbers, it almost doesn’t make sense that thousands of talented and driven young people are graduating from journalism and communications schools each year, entering the fray, determined to become reporters no matter how doom-and-gloom the numbers are. Take Grace Lee, a journalism student at the University of Washington: “I want to make

an impact. This is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do,” she says. Just like Grace, other youths are determined about the profession. They want to thrive in this industry and help make things better. Just because there are no entry-level jobs at, traditional media does not mean fresh graduates cannot publish their stories and work as journalists. Young people are honing their craft in nontraditional ways using social media such as

“TH E KI DS WHO ARE COM I NG OUT OF COLLEGE TODAY ARE SO M UCH BETTE R PRE PARE D TO CREATE TH E N EXT GREAT TH I NG ON DAY ON E,” EVAN SMITH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE NEWS NONPROFIT THE TEXAS TRIBUNE

Medium, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook as personal publishing platforms. Beyond that, online-only news operations are growing. “While there have been major cuts to print jobs, there has been a substantial amount of hiring on the digital side, and there has been a slew of new publications, from BuzzFeed to Vox to ProPublica,” says David Abel, a journalist at the Boston Globe. 5

“Young journalists need to be persistent in writing and pitching. They have to make themselves known,” says Mike Rosenberg, a 31-year-old reporter from California. Indeed, there are more ways than ever for people to make themselves known. “The kids who are coming out of college today are so much better prepared to create the next great thing on day one,” says Evan Smith, editor-in-chief of news nonprofit The Texas Tribune. “The barriers to entry have been obliterated.” The tools, data and platforms that are available to students today are either daunting or liberating. For this reason, journalism education is critical. By encouraging students to innovate and by teaching them how educators play perhaps the most important role of all. “No matter how hard it is to get a good journalism job these days, the skills remain vital,” says Abel, “particularly now in this digital transition, when ideally more people will be trained to tell stories thoughtfully, deeply, with skepticism and nuance.” The health of democracy depends on these young people. A shrinking reporter population and a public that by-and-large does not trust the media is proof of the uphill battle that we face. However, the young people swimming upstream in spite of it all instills a great sense of hope and underscores the need for all to educate and encourage the new generation. Alison Klein USA

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THE INDOMITABLE MARCH OF KASHMIR’S ‘ALTERNATE MEDIA’ The saying, “In war, truth is the first casualty,” holds true to Kashmir. A disputed region between India and Pakistan, Kashmir has remained a flashpoint for the sub-continent for more than six decades. It is a heavily militarised zone, with more than half a million stationed troops.

magazine, The Counselor, points out the reason behind the rise of these websites. “There was censorship during 2010 with newspapers gagged and journalists beaten,” he says. The alternative media, however, managed to overcome the censorship.

Despite the ongoing conflict— which has claimed nearly 90,000 Kashmiri lives since 1990, when the armed insurgency began— the region receives little media attention. To resolve that, alternate media in Kashmir came into force.

“I chose to work for a platform, which not only lets people tell their stories, but also acts as a catalyst for healthy debate and discussion on events in Kashmir,” Aaqib says. Journalist and social activist Mudasir Iqbal believes that with alternate media, the chance of burying critical information is reduced.

Many believe the rise of alternate media in Kashmir happened in 2010, when a mass movement started against the Indian military rule resulting in more than 120 civilian killings. During the fivemonth protest, the Kashmiris and those living outside the region used the virtual sphere to air their sentiments on the conflict. Fahad Shah, an independent journalist from Kashmir, turned his blog into a full-fledged alternate media website called The Kashmir Walla. He says the alternate media is the medium for the people and run by the people. “It reports what mainstream media cannot report because of its limitation.” Shah’s website came from a need to write about Kashmir for his nonKashmiri friends, who knew little of the conflict. “We wanted these untold, unheard stories to be told and re-told. [Mainstream] media often fails to follow up few [of these] stories,” says Shah. Peerzada Aaqib, a journalist who works for an alternate news

“I N WAR, TRUTH IS TH E FI RST CASUALTY”

“Here, the power of releasing the information does not lie with a corporate,” he says. Haziq Qadri, a part of the fouryear-old website, The Vox Kashmir, believes repeatedly reporting on Kashmiri suffering to Kashmiris does not make much sense now, and that it is time to highlight these issues on a wider platform so it reaches the larger global community. The main selling point of these websites goes back to its content and how it is organized based on the priority given to the stories which talk about the Kashmir conflict and the daily human rights violations. 6

Adil (name changed), who runs a satirical website with critiques on the government, believes the political narrative in Kashmir has changed since the emergence of alternate media. “The set notions about Kashmir and the people of Kashmir have been changed. In India also, the discourse set by the mainstream media is being challenged and this is all because of the alternate media,” he says. Paramita Ghosh, a journalist with the Hindustan Times, who has extensively reported on the alternate media in Kashmir and India, believes that the inception of these websites is because of the lack of the counter-narrative. “These websites not only have given people a vent to share their political ideologies but steadily developed into important forums of public debate and discussion. Stories which were hidden all these years have started to surface. People are writing and discussing,” says Ghosh. But being ‘alternative’ comes with its own work pressures: the daily hustle of presenting news at an angle different from the mainstream, the job of keeping up the commentary in periods of lull when most of the news is either being filtered by the state or being completely gagged, and most of all, to change the perception and processes of newsmaking.

Sheikh Saaliq India

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FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS IMPORTANT MORE THAN EVER “WE WANT FRE E DOM OF SPE ECH TO BE A U N IVE RSAL RIGHT.”

“Since 2013, the global indicator of media freedom has fallen by 14%, and this global trend doesn’t stop within European borders,” says Michael Roth, Minister of State for Europe. An example is political satirist Jan Böhmermann, sued in Germany by Turkish President Erdogan for reading an allegedly insulting poem about the president on his show.

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This was the core message of Peter Limbourg, Director General of Deutsche Welle at this year’s Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum.The central topics the forum wants to get across are digitalisation, global reporting, international crises and the way media cover them. there are right-wing populists, who promote intolerance and racism through the media. “In the heart of the EU, press freedom cannot be taken for granted,” Limbourg continues. “The end of the freedom of expression is also the beginning of the end of democracy. There are simply no more excuses when this point is reached.”

©THANAA FUROQ

Among the biggest problems media face today is the increasing pressure on journalists, and the continuing struggle for liberty and freedom. With journalists facing new challenges each day, they have to adapt to the expectations of the digital age while remaining However, Turkey is not the only example of media freedom violations. “Even here in Germany, the enemies of press freedom are at work,” says Limbourg. Among them,

independent and balanced in their coverage. The other issue the journalists face is the new wave of fake news and propaganda, which surfaces the media today. 7

“There is a growing distrust in the public toward the established standards of the traditional media.The question is how can media reestablish trust with the public?” says Vice-President of European Parliament, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff. He says media propaganda is a big issue and it cannot be addressed with counterpropaganda. “Media diversity is also declining due to economic constraints, and all of us are called upon to confront this problem,” says Franz-Josef Lersch-Mense, Minister for Federal Affairs, Europe and the Media in the Federal State of North RhineWestphalia.

Burak Sayin Turkey

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ADVANCING YOUTH RIGHTS THROUGH MEDIA IN MOLDOVA a quarter of the population in

moldova are young people, aged between 16 and 30 years old.

their rights, usually approached in the general context of

human rights system, should be

enhanced, in order to ensure the empowerment and development of young people.

The Moldovan Strategy for Youth Sector Development from 2014 to 2020 followed a rights-based approach so that young people with fewer opportunities would be included in the whole set of interventions proposed by the strategy. However, in 2015 the Ministry of Youth and Sports was estimating that only around 6% of youths benefit from state programs. One of the partners in implementing the strategy is the National Youth Council of Moldova (CNTM). This is the largest platform of youth NGOs, representing the young and advocating for their rights at national and international level. During the last years, it has done more research on the rights of young people and has identified areas of increased vulnerability. Igor Ciurea, Secretary General of CNTM, elaborates on these vulnerabilities: “The rights of the young are closely linked in a system, we can not talk about full compliance of a right and the denial of others. Under certain conditions, local young people are more vulnerable when it comes to political rights and the right to work.” These discrepancies arise because of difficult economic

grounds that Moldova is facing and also because of the lack of an educational system that truly supports and promotes the development and empowerment of the young in politics. The paradigm needs to be changed and the capacity and potential of youth should be supported and used today. “The young can come up with solutions and answers to the problems that they face. It should be done by creating a context in the spirit of youth rights development in which every young regardless of demographics has the opportunity to develop and affirm in the society,“ CIurea says. How involved are young journalists as partners of civil society? “The quality of the media directly reflect the quality of democratic processes in the society at a time of development, which is an indicator of respecting the rights of young people in this space,” Ciurea adds. “More and more investigative journalism products are made by young journalists. The activity of the civil society is only important if it is transparent and opened to wider public debates, its activity comes as reaction and necessity to solve public problems. The collaboration between journalists and civil society can provide that degree of transparency and public pressure on policy makers in order to ensure a government agenda, which corresponds to the real needs of the young,” Ciurea says. 8

According to the results of 2015 national census of youth media published by Young Journalist Center, more youth-led media creating content for young people exist today such as #diez, a popular news portal for youth created in 2013 “On the Moldovan media market, we were the first to have the youth as our target niche audience,” says Alexandru Lebedev, CEO and founder of #diez. Reflecting on how the portal became relevant, it all boils down to understanding its audience needs. “We try to talk to our readers, to crowdsource for information and in the same time to have a social media presence in every social bubble we know users are in. We like to answer questions before the questions appear. We focus on the needs of the user and this way, we stay relevant.” In spite of existing challenges such as the lack of financial resources and training for editorial teams, most of media covering youth issues in the country stimulate youth engagement, which in turn can spark dialogue with institutions and promoting opportunities for a larger set of the population.

Catalina Dumbraveanu Moldova

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CITIZENS FOR THE PARK. CITIZENS OF MEDIA FREEDOM Albania, a country still unknown to many. Isolated for many years and emerged from a particularly brutal strain of communism only in 1991, Albania has been since trying to catch up with the rest of the Eastern Europe. Today, granted with the EU’s candidate, all political forces want to pass a message that keeping the European agenda is a national priority. Even though there is a still long way ahead, Albania continues to fight against corruption, organized crime and for fundamental rights and follow through with the judiciary reform. Democracy goes hand in hand with the free media. According to the Albanian Media Institute Research Coordinator Ilda Londo, the ownership structure of traditional media in Albania affects largely the state of the media freedom. Reporting is strongly influenced by the economic or political interests of the media outlet owners and journalists‘ working conditions are not favourable at all—there is a lack of contracts and for many it is just a formality, she added. Thus, the costs for keeping a stable job are very high and often result with self-censorship and editors’ dictate.Government’s policy spurs a wake-up call among Albanians. The media freedom in Albania was recently questioned by a municipality’s plan to build a children’s play area in the public park of Tirana. This triggered a wave of protests by the citizens

who were against the project that would have destroyed another green area.Notwithstanding the fact that the protest was met with clashes between the police and the protesters, several protesters being arrested illegally, the issue has received minimum media coverage.

“EVE N THOUGH SOM E OF US WE RE ABLE TO EXPRESS OU R VI EWS I N TH E M E DIA, I N TH E E N D, TH E M E DIA PORTRAYE D TH E WHOLE ISSU E AS TH EY WANTE D”

“Even though some of us were able to express our views in the media, in the end, the media portrayed the whole issue as they wanted,” said Alida Karakushi, public policy analyst, civil society activist and a protester who actively reported on the issue online. “We have been often labeled as “vandals” or part of the opposition Democratic Party.A perfect way how to shift the attention of the public opinion,” she added. 9

“There have been many cases in Albania where reporters have recorded the controversial issues that never reached the viewers. In many cases, reporters just prefer to put down the camera and behave like nothing happened,” Karakushi explained. Make the space for the citizen media. The citizen-led protest turned into a strong citizen initiative: a community called “Qytetarët Për Parkun – Citizens for the Park” with over 12 000 followers on Facebook. The community reported and livestreamed from the Park, remaining almost the only coverage of the events. “With Facebook Live Stream, we managed to reach 2000 views per day,” noted Alban. Facebook nation Alban continued: “User-generated content will challenge traditional media very extensively, especially in a country like Albania, where traditional media is not free and the people are aware of it.” With the growing number of 4G and social media platform users, Albania is definitely one of the emerging “Facebook nations.” Many hope that online media and user-generated content—even if not an immediate answer—are the only mediums that have the potential to fight against the media bias and pave the way towards free media in Albania. Jane Fintova Slovakia

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LOOKBACK: HOW ROOKIE JOURNALISTS REPORTED ON THE 9-11 “It was one that came as a complete surprise to everyone. No one was prepared for it,” said LynNell Hancock, a professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She, at the time, led a class of about 15 journalism students who just enrolled for a month when the aircrafts hit the towers in New York City. During the morning on September 11, 2001, an important political story was going on in the city. It was the mayoral primary, and Hancock assigned her students all over the city to do exit polling.

fifteen years have passed after the twin towers crumbled to the ground in new york from terrorist attacks.

media critics have said that american press has shown patriotism and nationalism in their coverage since the 9-11 attacks. that?

But

how serious is

what was the situation really like when 9-11 happened in

2001?

The instinct of a journalist is to want to be in the middle of the action. When there is a huge story, your curiosity kicks in, said the lecturer. However, lower Manhattan remained dangerous, while the fires were going and the smoke was toxic. “It was definitely a war zone,” said Hancock. One of her students walked all the way from east New York, crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and reached what’s now called ground zero. Another student went straight to the hospital. “You saw a lot of people just walking like zombies, covered in white and dust, stunned and traumatized,” said Hancock. The young journalists were traumatized as well. It was hard for anyone and especially for new students who hadn’t been reporters for long to approach people and ask them what their stories were.

©TIMMY H.M. SHEN

“You certainly don’t want that to happen, but it was an incredible teaching moment,” said Hancock. “We could instantly talk about ethics, about trauma, about what the role of the journalist is.”

“Our plan was that we were all getting together at about 5 p.m. in the journalism building for the discussion of the exit poll coverage,” she said. That’s what was supposed to happen. Hancock was on her way to the city when the planes hit. However, the authorities closed down George

Washington Bridge, forcing her to turn back. “I spent the next two days trying to find where all my students were,” she said, adding that the telecommunication went down for days. “It was really a trial by fire,” said Hancock, raising her voice. “I couldn’t give them any direction about what to do.” 10

This was what Hancock told her students: what you are as a journalist is the first draft of history. “We were needed more than anything,” she said. Hancock pointed out that, unfortunately, the forces of patriotism and nationalism took over and 9-11 became a negative

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influence on politics. New York City had become a really different place after the attacks. “There was a sense that we’re all together. We’re all under attack.” NBC set up all kinds of flags behind the anchor desk. Anchors also wore pins on their outfits. The coverage, in general, was not reflective.

©TIMMY H.M. SHEN

There was a real reluctance to question any of the political leaders, according to Hancock. “[They] did not question the pentagon, did not question the federal government as much as they should’ve,” she said with a sigh. “We [have] since been very critical. We [have] since realized that the press played a huge role in the invasion of Iraq.” Now, there is more reasonable, smarter coverage, but it was not skeptical enough coming out of 9-11. With technology and the help of social media nowadays, journalists are able to cover conflicts and disasters in a totally different way. Before social media became such a big force, the media companies had been the main gatekeepers for the news. It was very difficult for an ordinary person sitting in his apartment to get control and get his voice out, independent of being filtered through large media organizations.

Then, news went social and the whole balance changed. “What we’ve tried to do in the journalism school is to say technology should be used to serve journalism, not the other way around,” said Hancock. “It should be just another tool in our reporting toolbox that we can’t ignore.” Journalism schools are trying to find a way in the modern world that could help journalists cover conflicts.

“There’s a whole democratic move out there that I think is both worrying and chaotic but also exciting and destructive in a good way,” said Hancock. “We haven’t figured it out yet.”

Timmy Hung-Ming Shen Taiwan

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RESTORING AN ‘ERODED’ MEDIA FREEDOM IN ‘NEW TURKEY’ turkey is once again in the spotlight due to press freedom issues. the country balances between increasing political pressure and refugee crisis while trying for more cooperation with the eu.

Under 13-year AKP rule (Erdogan’s Justice and Development party), Turkey met the concept of ‘New Turkey’, promising change from the country’s old ways. However, the current politics show little change. The recent attacks on journalists prove this reality. Cumhuriyet Daily’s editor Can Dundar and Ankara Bureau chief Erdem Gul were accused of terrorism, espionage, and releasing state secrets for publishing a story of allegedly MIT (Turkish Intelligence Agency) trucks carrying weapons to Syria in January 2014. It’s still unknown, who received the weapons since the court cases surrounding the issue, including Can Dundar’s and Erdem Gul’s, have become state secret. The journalists were sentenced to seven years in prison, reduced to five years and 10 months, on the charges of revealing state secrets. They were acquitted on espionage and terrorism charges. Media companies are also under threat. In March 2015, the Istanbul court ruled that Zaman, the country’s popular newspaper with nearly 1 million daily copies sold, supported an alleged terrorist organization, Fettullah Gulen, led by an Islamic preacher living in the US. The court ruled that state trustees take over Zaman’s managerial and editorial boards.

The event was followed by the Cihan News Agency takeover, targeting one of the biggest news agencies in Turkey. The other big agencies are state-owned Anatolian News Agency, and Dogan News Agency, owned by Dogan Media. Its owner, Aydin Dogan, is going to be on trial in July for charges of “forming a criminal organization” and might face 20 years in prison. Before AKP, Turkish media landscape consisted of officially unrecognized political party media and mainstream media, owned by big holdings. “After AKP came to power, it changed everything for the mainstream outlets. They can’t broadcast or write anything

“TU RKEY HAS MADE IT I NCREASI NGLY DI FFICU LT TO M E ET ALL OF TH E REQU I RE M E NTS TO WORK AN D LIVE TH E RE AS A JOU RNALIST. ” oppositional to AKP either out of the fear, or because they were sold to pro-AKP owners,” says Ozgur Ogret, correspondent at Committee to Protect Journalists. 12

Media ownership has always been a central issue in achieving media freedom in Turkey. Dispossession, a collective data compiling and mapping project, recently released a map showing that almost all of the media owners in Turkey are taking government contracts or investing in government-controlled construction and energy businesses. “Under those circumstances, being a journalist requires ‘heroism,” Ogret says, “By 2016, there is nobody working in the mainstream media, who can even propose a piece, slightly critical to AKP.” The media pressure extends to international journalists. In April, five foreign journalists were denied entry into the country, fueling the discussion about possible a “black list” for independent journalists. Censorship without borders “Turkey has made it increasingly difficult to work and live there as a journalist. Failing to do so increases the risk of being detained or deported,” says an international correspondent, who prefers to stay anonymous. “I’ve been threatened with detainment by the police for going to certain places. Several journalists received calls from government officials ‘correcting’ their coverage on controversial issues.” Turkey holds the 151th place in the 2016 World Press Freedom Index. It states that the attacks on the media are systematic, journalists are harassed, and the Internet is censored. The regional context – the war in Syria and Turkey’s offensive against the PKK Kurds – is

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increasing media pressure. “The most obvious methods against independent journalists are stifling opposition outlets like Zaman and arresting journalists on charges of supporting terror groups or insulting Erdogan,” says the anonymous journalist, “However, there are less obvious methods such as targeting journalists through phone calls and online.” EU-Turkey deal Despite Erdogan’s controversial image, the EU continues its cooperation with Turkey in relation to the ongoing refugee crisis and further EU integration. European leaders agreed on a deal with Turkey to stop irregular migration

to Europe. The deal will grant visa-free travel for Turkish citizens in the Schengen Zone, and Turkey will take back all asylum seekers landing in Greece. The EU will also give 6 billion euros to help improve the conditions of 2.8 million Syrian refugees residing in Turkey. In case Erdogan secures the deal, he will use the visa-free deal to improve his rates; and if the deal fails, the state-owned media will present it as EU’s fault. This message resonates strongly among AKP supporters with the party having 49% of the votes. “I believe the things will change but I am not extremely hopeful,” says Spyros Sofos, a researcher 13

at Center for Middle Eastern Studies. “Turkish government uses propaganda for above 30y.o. audiences since there is no independent newspaper that could reach every village. If you want the plurality of voices, you need to convince the older generation.” Burak Sayin Turkey

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FIELD NOTES REPORTING FROM COLUMBIA’S CONFLICT ZONE daniel suárez pérez, 28, knows the risks of reporting on the conflict in colombia.

Journalists

reporting on the conflict are in the line of fire

–

literally,

in the field, and figuratively, whenever they write an article

unfavourable to one side. ùore than 150 journalists have been assassinated in the country since

1977, showed data from press freedom group flip.

His investigative reports on the conflict and its impact on civilians have put him on the frontline of battles between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group and the government, sometimes endangering his life. Suárez now works developing apps that help fight corruption and promoting education. Q: What challenges do Colombian journalists face in terms of press freedom? A: Each week at least one journalist is assaulted in Colombia. The players in this are diverse—they range from illegal players to legal ones. Sometimes it’s the mayors who put journalists at risk, sometimes it’s armed groups like the FARC guerrillas who don’t like when journalists report on attacks against the population. Journalists always are at risk if we end up investigating something. We’re in the middle of a conflict and anything related to the conflict involves someone who has perpetrated violence, or an armed group. For example, whenever a journalist investigates corruption , threats, intimidation and assassinations will follow. Q: Have you ever felt the need to self-censor when you’re reporting on sensitive topics for this reason? A: If one is courageous and wants to show the realities, and wants 14

to exercise this power that we get from journalism to make visible many things that happen in society, encourage transparency and hold people accountable — preferred over self-censorship, which is what one does to protect oneself, is to say things carefully. There are very courageous journalists in Colombia who want to do this kind of hard work, and what’s really needed here is for public institutions to protect them. Q: Have you ever worried about possible repercussions from your reporting? A: Rather than censoring yourself, what you ask yourself is: ‘What will happen after? What am I trying to achieve with this? What guarantees do I have to publish it?’ (You ask) whether it’s worth waiting on, or if it’s something (that if published) quickly could put the sources at risk. Q: What are the challenges for the media if a peace accord is eventually signed? A: We’ll have to continue to be courageous, to tell stories, to be imaginative and creative, to reach more people and to find how to make people want to learn about the story of the conflict. I think it’s necessary that people know about the conflict. In order to look for a solution, we must all find it together.

Mayra Báez Jimeno Colombia

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HOW CAN MEDIA HELP PREVENT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ? In most Arab societies where women are being blamed for sexual and domestic violence they experience, the media can both help to disseminate gender equality norms or completely obliterate them. Jaafar Abdul Karim, TV host of the popular political talk show ShababTalk, discussed how media can play a crucial role in promoting women’s rights. In his opinion, TV series and filmmakers must be blamed for disseminating the unequal image.

it will keep harming our society. In the end, women are half of the society,” he added. Gender equality at work Although it’s not easy for any Arabic girl to enter the media field, Abdul

“Accepting and supporting women’s rights is part of our responsibility. Women can travel, cover protests, hold cameras and do their job just like the men. Having female bosses in the media organizations will help change this perspective I’ve been travelling to many different countries in the Arab world and talked to women everywhere and I know they have great potentials but they are still waiting for a chance and space,” he explained. To overcome this discrimination, women colleagues must step up for their rights and say no if they are treated differently.

“If you look at the TV drama during Ramadan, you will find a lot of trailers and stories showing how women are being beaten and how they are portrayed as a victim or a weak persons. Some of them even justify the violence against women and make them appear sorry and guilty if they do something the man doesn’t like,” he said. He explained that some TV dramas, music videos and movies use good-looking women to get more viewers. “Instead of underestimating women, producers and directors must say no – stop domestic violence and sexual violence and stop letting women feeling humiliated. If you keep promoting this kind of image,

In some cases, adding a social worker to media institutions can also help. “Men dominate media fields everywhere and this affects the type of messages they convey. That’s why we should open the door for education and discussion. JAFAAR ABDUL KARIM THE TV HOST OF SHABABTALK

Karim believes that changing the general attitude towards women may lead towards a more open society where women can show their talents and capabilities.

If you are a part of masculine society, you have to understand that giving the women more rights doesn’t mean that you will have less,’’ he concluded.

Rana Khaled Egypt 15

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IS ONE EUROPEAN INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING POSSIBLE ? is one european international broadcasting media possible?

the context of a common

euforeign policy and growing sense of european identity,

the need of a single voice for europe is questionable.

A pan European media institution could advocate the issue of the Union amongst its citizens and abroad. The views on this topic are divided and as a possibility – it is critically seen among European public media institution leaders. Peter Limbourg, Director General of Deutsche Welle, Germany’s international broadcaster and one of the largest companies in Europe, believes that a single European broadcasting can only exist in an ideal world. “It’s not possible in this realistic world,” Limbourg said, after discussing the challenges of managing media establishments. In his opinion, closer collaboration with local media and constant search for new partners might work better to broaden the impact. The importance of having an individual continental voice shouldn’t be forgotten. “We are together [in the EU] but we are different,” said Cécile Mégie, Director of Radio France International. She noted that diversity and plurality are the values staying at the core of their work, as international broadcaster.

Jean Philip De Tender, Director of Media at the European Broadcasting Union also shared the view that the multiple opinions are crucial in the European democracy. “This plurality of voices is what makes European Union stronger, we debate and argue on our differences,” he added. In the context of global information, the importance of international broadcasting stays in the contribution it can bring to the societies, impacting on people. Arguing on the fine line between public diplomacy and propaganda, the leaders emphasize their mission of presenting a reliable source of information. “Our mission is to reflect plurality around the world,” stated John F. Lansing, CEO and Director, Broadcasting Board of Governors, USA. “Plurality of opinions and facts is not propaganda”, he added. While a growing number of European citizens seem to question EU’s policies and many local voices express stronger positions against the EU, the responsibility of international broadcaster’s increases. Their impact can be measured through analyzing how their audience sees the world. It is crucial to connect with this audience at domestic level and engage much more people in the media process, offering space for debate. 16

“The job actually starts when you publish the content”, de Tender noted. Only afterwards you have to engage the public by using a plethora of digital tools. Moreover, citizen’s journalism can be a powerful resource for providing local insights, broaden perspectives and influence political sphere.

“PLU RALITY OF OPI N IONS AN D FACTS IS NOT PROPAGAN DA”, JOHN F. LANSING CEO AND DIRECTOR, BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS, USA.

In the age of high speed internet and global information, finding balance between breaking news and providing context is more necessary than ever. The public international broadcasters have the capacity to achieve this goal, without the need of compromising their voices to a single, European one.

Catalina Dumbraveanu Moldova

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FREEDOM OF SPEECH AWARDS GOES TO ERGIN The editor-in- chief of Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, Sedat Ergin, has received a GMF 2016 Freedom Of Speech award.

Hurriyet is a major newspaper in Turkey, well-known for its liberal and secular views, which go in opposition to the ruling party. In September, the newspaper’s office has been attacked with AKP (Turkish ruling party) supporters, who threw stones in the building and burned its flag. Abdülrahim Boynukalın, an AKP Istanbul MP and the head of the AKP’s youth organization led the protest. During the attack, Sedat Ergin went live on CNN Turk, located next to Hurriyet, saying, “‘We are under attack”. The incident was connected to the previous criticism of Erdogan, which appeared in the paper. Upon receiving his award, Ergin spoke about the new global problem related to the media freedom. “I am talking about cases where all the formal requirements of a democracy are present in appearance, but in practice, freedom of expression and freedom of the press are actually restricted,” he says adding that such cases are happening throughout the world

“Following the physical attacks against our newspaper last September, and a beating suffered by one of our leading columnists, my newspaper had to allocate an armored car for me. It cannot be common for the editor-in- chief of the biggest newspaper of an EU candidate country to go about with a body guard in an armored car,” he says. despite the level of democracy and media influence. Turkey has been under scrutiny for the decline of freedom of press in recent months. Sedat Ergin was one of the many journalists targeted by the ruling AKP government. He is now facing 5 years in prison for insulting the president Erdogan. TURKEY’S KURDISH ISSUE Hurriyet has been recently heavily criticized for the coverage of Kurdish issue after the conflict between Turkish security forces and PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party) started back in June 2015. Recently, the newspaper laid of its senior correspondent in Diyarbakir, a Kurdish populated city in the southeast of Turkey, and hired progovernment column writers. Orange Magazine asked Ergin about allegedly biased coverage of the issue. “Hurriyet had a crucial role in peace process having public 17

support, and we should not forget we were also strongly criticized for our support of this process by progovernment side,” he says. Southeast of Turkey is a problematic region where the Kurdish minority lives. AKP started a ‘peace process’ to stop the 35 year-old armed struggle between internationally recognized terrorist organization PKK and Turkey. However, the peace process failed after the election in 7th of 2015. “Everything has changed after the elections. I would like to see the peace process starting again. Guns and violence are never a solution,” concludes Ergin.

Burak Sayin Turkey

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EXILED ETHIOPIAN JOURNALISTS KEEP WORKING Recent global reports from Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) found that in 2010-2015, 57 Ethiopian journalists fled their country. In 2014 alone, six independent publishers in Ethiopia got closed due to government’s harassment and intimidation. Ethiopia is ranked 142nd in 2016 world press freedom ranking. CPJ’s report on the conditions of exiled journalists says that only 17 percent of journalists in exile continue working as journalists. Financial problems and security threats are among the challenges, which prevent these people from practicing journalism in exile. “Getting sufficient financial and technical support is one thing, and sustaining one’s life is another. These are two difficult choices between your profession and your daily bread. Unless you have a mechanism to support your project or livelihood, you can’t manage working as a journalist,” says Argaw Ashine, a prominent Ethiopian journalist, who currently lives in exile after being threatened. Back home, Argaw has been forced to disclose his sources from one of the cases he was working on. In Ethiopia, Argaw worked as a radio reporter and regional correspondent for Nation Media Group for 16 years. Currently, he is an Editor-in-chief of an exiled online media Wazema Radio based in the US and Sweden. Exiled journalists live in a constant fear of being followed and threatened. According to Reporters Without Borders, almost all journalists in exile report being watched or threatened by intelligence forces from their native countries.

“Starting with inappropriate comments on social media to direct online threats, I receive warnings telling me to stop writing” says Yetneberk Tadele, another Ethiopian journalist living in exile. He, too, left Ethiopia after threats in connection with his work as a journalist. Yetneberk currently writes stories about Ethiopia for his own website and social media. “I receive emails with viruses and bugs; it’s really scary at times. I am always careful about my surroundings, I plan all my moves carefully,” he adds. Role of exiled media Exiled media play an important role providing information that is unavailable in the mainstream media. Ethiopia, where selfcensorship and tough restrictions are a common practice, exiled media are the main sources of information. Satellite TV station ESAT, online radio WAZEMA and various websites are some of the media many Ethiopians subscribe to in search of information about important social issues and politics. “The role of exiled media is getting clearer, so the next step is sustaining them by designing a sustainable financial strategy and strengthening their capacities,” says Argaw. “Information is power, and that is what I give my readers and followers,” Yetneberk says. Practicing journalism in exile gives him more freedom to express himself since he does not go through self-censorship or editorial bureaucracy. Yetneberk praises social media for connecting people and giving them not easily accessible information.

“I use social media to share my views on governmental policies, social issues, and state activities,” he says. Currently Yetneberk has over 25,000 followers, both Ethiopians in diaspora and at home, “I do not have any political affiliation, but I stand against those wanting to take away my freedom,” he says. Staying Professional Exiled media get lots of criticism for their ethical reporting. Reports in exiled media are often described as sessional, unverified, and of low quality. “For me, ethical standard is bringing factual and accurate info to the audience,” says Argaw. He admits the problem of unethical reporting in some exiled media. Argaw believes there is a room for improvement the media can reach through training. One of the reasons for poor reporting is the lack of sources back home, says Argaw. “People don’t want to talk with someone exiled and seen as ‘the enemy of the state’. You cannot witness the events and verify the facts quickly, or you may miss the context and depth working from distance,” he adds. “All the information you find is from secondary sources. You can verify some of it, but not all,” says Yetneberk. The journalist suggests being extra careful with information one receives. “As long as we remain professional, we have all the freedom to write about what we want,” he states. Despite the existing challenges, journalists continue with their tasks in hopes of improvement in their native country. Through their work, they challenge existing laws, which limit media and pressure citizens, and create a major platform for public discussion. Emnet Assefa

Ethiopia

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THE UPHILL BATTLE FOR WOMEN IN US MEDIA in the united states, more women are becoming journalists and some are even shattering glass

ceilings in the media industry. but at what cost ?

According to a 2015 report by the Women’s Media Center (WMC), only 37% of women write print stories. Despite the existing biases, many female journalists are launching their own media initiatives. Disruption as Empowerment In a 2005 report titled The Glass Cliff: Evidence that Women are Overrepresented in Precarious Leadership Positions, researchers S. Alexander Haslam and Michelle Ryan coined the term “glass cliff” to highlight the disadvantages and obstacles women face when trying to achieve leadership positions and break glass ceilings. They found that in the media industry, women are only considered for leadership positions when their company faces financial trouble—mainly because of stereotypes toward women as ineffective leaders. Jenan Matari, a 25-year-old media entrepreneur, founded Miss Muslim, a feminist Muslim-focused online publication. Matari launched it when she noticed the lack of opportunities for female voices— specifically Muslim women—in the American media industry. She attributes this culture into a society, where women are put in a disadvantage for engaging in leadership qualities. “We’re taught to tip toe and almost be submissive to our male counterparts because we’re told they know more, and we only speak when asked or when spoken to rather than creating our own

dialogue out of fear of being pressured into silence,” Matari says. “Empowered women are seen as emotional and aggressive rather than simply powerful—and if we get too powerful, we’re cut off out of fear of damaging the male ego,” she adds. Fight for equality With international networks like Binders Full of Women Writers (Facebook support group providing resources and advice for veteran and aspiring female journalists), there’s a mission to disrupt the traditional or white male dominated publications. However, even with a strong network and camaraderie, female journalists are still having a hard time making their way through an industry when executives and editors are largely made up of men. In the U.S., editors mainly have a roster of steady freelancers—many of whom belong to an all boys’ club—resulting in the lack of interest in new-to-them writers. But when there’s a need or public pressure to incorporate more female voices, these female journalists are offered paid lower rates and are assigned soft stories on topics about women’s issues. This can be seen in simple statistics from the 2015 WMC report: 67% of coverage on criminal justice; 65% of domestic political stories; 64% of world politics and 63% of science coverage are all dominated by male journalists. Joy Bager Cruz, a 32-year-old New York City former Scholastic editor, decided to become a freelance journalist after seeing what was only a temporary breakthrough for women in U.S. Media. She noticed 19

a lack of skilled female editors as a cause for the lack of opportunities for female journalists. “As much as we’ve advanced in media, there are still fewer editors who are women—which is a real problem. And in issues in which sensitive information is delivered, we still don’t have allies in the newsroom, who will help us publish these pieces with dignity,” Cruz says. A lot of this disregard for female voices is based on misunderstanding for the need of female journalists. But with new editorial projects, like The Skimm, a newsletter with a highly-dominated female audience, women are becoming on of the biggest consumer of news. Cruz believes that it is imperative for the media industry to promote women’s voices if it wants to survive and remain relevant.

“Why is it important for us to publish more women voices? Because we consume the news and often make it,” she concludes. Sarah Harvard USA

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THANAA FAROQ “As street photographer I learned to capture people’s lives with not only the camera but with an open eyes to the possibilities this country has to offer. I noticed the irony of such environment where people laugh even in their darkest moment, have affection and enjoy the little details that compensate for the ones that they were not privileged to have. These series are inspired by everyday life in Yemen where I focus mainly on women behind the headlines and tribalism. Each of these women has her own unique story in challenging the the society. They are not just an ordinary women, they are warriors.. work and fight for their girls to have a better and equal life with men in the society.”

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AEHAM AHAMAD TELLS STORIES OF WAR WITH A PIANO

This is a story of a man who wants to bring a message of hope after a tumultuous war. Aeham Ahmad, a pianist in a Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, took a piano with him to the bombed-out streets of his Syrian neighborhood to play music in the middle of the ruins. Before the conflict, children used to gather around and sing with him. “They used to love the music. It used to make me so happy,” said Aeham, who played during the opening ceremony of the Global media Conference 2016 in Bonn.

When he plays, Ahmad found that the people shared their stories of the war after listening to his music. That’s when he found a powerful story of how music can bring a message of hope even in the face of war, famine and bombs. “The media in Syria was not showing the actual reality of the war because of government censorship. Through my music, I used to tell the stories of the war that killed many. It was my humble contribution for my people,” Ahmad said.

After the conflict started to escalate in Syria in 2011, the Yarmouk camp was put under blockade. Ahmad’s family had to survive with no food and water, as people die around them. Thinking about facing an inevitable death, Ahmad decided to face it with dignity by lighting up hope among the camp’s inhabitants with music. “I put my piano on a wagon and pulled it onto the street, where I would play songs I composed, inspired by the situation in the camp and in Syria,” said Aeham. Ahmad considers himself an artist, somebody who is trying to tell stories of war and terror in the conflict-ridden Syria that today is. “People say I am a star. I am not a star. I am a refugee. I am a refugee artist who is trying his best to tell his story and the story of his people,” Aeham said. “I am a story teller—a pianist who tells stories with his music.” Aeham caught immediate attention of the international media with his singing and piano-playing skills in the middle of Syria’s rubble. During the worst of Syria’s violence in 2011, people used to post videos of the demonstrations to YouTube. That’s when Ahmad’s videos of playing the piano started flourishing Youtube. “I didn’t know in the beginning that so many people will listen to my music through the Internet. I thought only few in Syria listen to me but it was not so. That’s the power of

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“PEOPLE SAY I AM A STAR. I AM NOT. I AM A RE FUGE E ARTIST WHO IS TRYI NG H IS BEST TO TE LL H IS STORY & TH E STORY OF H IS PEOPLE”

©TIMMY H.M. SHEN

AEHAM AHAMAD

Internet and media. It helped tell my story and the story of Syria to the whole world,” said Aeham.

family and “sought to bring comfort to the residents of the asylum seekers in Germany.”

Aeham thought of moving out of Syria in the late 2014 after the Islamic State militia burnt down his piano saying it’s un-Islamic. He crossed Homs in central Syria, intending to continue on to Turkey, Greece and finally, Germany. But he was arrested in Homs for nine days, and had to let go of his wife and kids back to the camp in Damascus. He later arrived in Germany in 2015 without his

In Germany, Ahmad has played piano in as many as 120 concerts. “All of these songs bring up deep, mixed emotions inside me, bitter memories and sweet memories of Syria which people around the world should know about,” said Aeham. Ahmad said that he will continue playing piano not because he loves to do it, but he has to do it. 25

“I will tell the story of Syria everywhere. [For] people to write about Syria or tomake films on it. My channel of spreading information about Syria is music,” Aeham said. When asked how he sees his future and the war in Syria, Aeham exclaims: “I don’t need a war. Nobody needs it. The war came to us. It came to me. And it will end.”

Sheikh Saaliq India

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HOW ONE JUDGE’S ACTIONS CHANGE THE COURSE OF BRAZILIAN POLITICS in the last couple of years, some men have stepped up to bring to the light information they believed was

public

interest.

names

like julian assange and edward snowden are now well-known. with both critics and supporters, actions

governments.

strongly

affect

“Such leaks were very interesting from the world political point of view,” says the political scientist Anelise Gondar, “In a way, they showed that the governments still spy in a classic way. The governments are interested in knowing what the other governments do,” she adds. Since 2013, Brazil has been in a turmoil. Part of the population went to the streets to protest against corruption, the World Cup, the Olympic Games… and the government. The Car Wash Operation, led by the Judge Sergio Moro, investigated money laundering and corruption in Petrobras, state-controlled oil company. The investigation led to giant repercussions in the Brazilian politics when the police started to arrest politicians. This led to Judge Moro becoming some kind of a national hero among government opponents. The arrested politicians started to denounce their colleagues in a snowball that reached the major names of Brazilian government like the former President Lula. At the same time, President Rousseff started to face an impeachment process; the President was accused of manipulating the government budget.

©GABRIEL D’ALINCOURT

their

Beware of the Ides of March The crucial week in this whole story was in the middle of March. Former President Lula woke up with a Federal Police task force in his house to take him for questioning about an ongoing investigation on him, and the government party didn’t like that. Two days later, more than 3 million people took the streets to protest against Lula, Rousseff, and the corruption. The following day, President announced that the former President Lula, who was under investigation, would become her Chief of Staff. According to then President Rousseff, that was a political move, so she could have more ways to talk with the congress. For others, however, it was a clear move to give Lula protection from justice because under Brazilian law, cabinet members can only be tried by the Supreme Court. Things got worse when Moro made 26

public a conversation recorded on the same day between Rousseff and Lula. That sparkled riots all over the country asking for Rousseff’s resignation. “What Moro did was to break up with the passivity of Brazilian people,” says Raquel Guerra, a Brazilian lawyer, “We (the Brazilians - FC) were always uninterested about the political situation, and he made society concerned with politics.” “From the juridical point of view, he crossed the line. But like I said before, he put the public interest higher than the fundamental rights. So, that was the idea, he purposely offended the fundamental rights, the privacy rights, to think in a bigger plan for society as a whole,” Guerra adds. The political party and the government said that this “leak”

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“It’s evident that when you bring to public a conversation between the former president and the president of the country, breaking any kind of secrecy of investigation, and worst, when this is released in a conversation recorded in time, when justice couldn’t record anymore, and it was recorded because of the system flaw, you imagine: “what a bomb!”... and you think how to solve that,” Garritano adds.

“This specific audio caused a great fury in the population,” Gondar says. The continuing fight against corruption Almost two months after the events, President Dilma was withdrawn from the presidency and has to wait for the impeachment process to reach an end to see whether her presidency is over. Former President Lula is still under investigation. Many other politicians are either being arrested or under investigation, and each week, a new conversation between politicians under investigation reaches the press, with similar discussions as the one between Rousseff and Lula. And this fight against corruption is reaching every level of Brazilian society.

“For the first time, we have a process of investigation against corruption, that is having results. In the last years, we are getting used to see the big figures responding criminally for actions, that lead to corruption. So, without a doubt, fighting corruption is something positive,” Gondar adds. Garritano also commented on the investigations: “In a long term, this movement against corruption, which made people protest on the street and imprisoned people we never imagined could be caught, can become a new page in Brazilian political history.”

BRAZILIAN POPULATION WENT TO THE STREETS TO PROTEST AGAINST PRESIDENT DILMA’S GOVERNMENT

©GABRIEL D’ALINCOURT

was illegal and a threat to national security. “It’s a conversation that, for some people, is very strong, and for others, is interpreted as just a conversation between colleagues.” says the Brazilian journalist Paulo Garritano, “We need to discuss if what Sergio Moro did was ethical or not, if he could or couldn’t do what he did. At least he had the dignity to take this material and make it available for all the communications vehicles of Brazil.”

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Q&A

BOBS WINNER NASTIKER DHARMAKATHA What is like to live in a country, where atheists are being killed? In Bangladesh, a country, where in 2015, four atheist bloggers were killed, non-Musalim bloggers fear persecution. We spoke with BOBS-award winning, who uses penname Nastiker Dharmakatha (“Religious Speech of an Atheist”) about his film “Razor’s Edge” on religion-based persecution in his home country.

What is your project all about? I have been blogging in Bangladesh for a long time, writing about my atheism and religious discrimination in the country. In the recent years, it grew much bigger, with bloggers being persecuted and beaten simply because they were atheists and spoke about it openly. 2015 was especially horrifying year, when the fellow bloggers I knew were killed; some were murdered on the street, and one was killed in his house. All of these people simply defended their beliefs online. I was writing about atheism, too, so I got terrified after the incidents. The company I worked for helped me leave the country. I decided to collect the stories of the victims of persecution when I left Bangladesh. So with help of the other activists, I interviewed the parents of the killed bloggers and some active bloggers. The final result is the movie “Razor’s Edge” about the situation with free-spirited bloggers and radical attacks on them in Bangladesh.

What is the next step? I cannot come back to Bangladesh. Although I never use my real name, there were times, when I was less careful, so I am afraid I may be recognized back home. So for now, I will stay in Europe and try to spread the word about the horrors taking place toward the bloggers. It is not just atheists, but also Christians and other religious minorities. The same happens to people, who differ from the majority. I wish my film helps the world to see what is happening in Bangladesh. So my main goal is to tell the story, and also improve the conditions of the bloggers in Bangladesh.

BOBS WINNER ALOK DIXIT Every year, more than 500 acid attacks take place in India, mostly targeting women. We spoke with Alok Dixit, the founder of “Stop Acid Attacks” campaign, that won Best of Online Activism Award for Social Change.

How does the project work? We launched the project in 2013, on International Women’s Day, to help victims of acid attacks. They often have a hard time communicating and integrating into society because of the incident. The society tends to victimize and ignore them, and they receive a lot of jokes and criticism. Such women often cannot get married because of their looks, but the damage goes beyond physical because it leaves huge moral impact on the women. 28

We wanted to unite the victims and help them get the skills, so they could lead normal lives after the attacks. It all started as a blog, but quickly, it became an offline movement. When I started writing about it, the victims joined the campaign and began sharing their stories. We have decided to launch a café where victims work; they use the profits from the café to live, and they also stay together. We are opening more cafes to help more victims. So far, we have helped more than 100 women. Why acid? When we started the campaign, there was no law in the country against acid attackers. So if they were charged, those were minimal charges. With our campaign, we pushed for a law against acid attacks, so now, the people, who do it receive severe punishment. The acid is something you can buy everywhere, so we are trying to limit the places it can be bought. However, I think this weapon is just a medium, so if not acid, people can attack women with other tools. The reason for the attacks is the gender issues. Women in India get more opportunities recently, which angers many people. This is a social issue, that needs to be addressed. If we change social attitudes, it would be easier. What’s next? I want to start working on some educational projects after this campaign. I wish to improve the education in India. I think it will take a few years to stabilize this campaign, when the girls currently involved can learn everything to continue it. Then, I want to move on to the education sphere.

Anna Romandash Ukraine

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MORE DIGITAL AND COLLABORATIVE INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING FOR THE FUTURE In this digital world where news travels fast, the global broadcasting industry has seen several changes that transformed it. At the heart of this transformation is the expansion of international broadcasters.

Limbourg, General Director of Deutsche Welle. He says “the benefit collaborations between new distribution platforms and international broadcasting is mutual. They need content and we

America says partnership with local broadcasters—besides expanding coverage for the international broadcaster—has a great role of promoting investigative and interactive journalism, fields of journalism that have impacts which can easily be seen to governments who put funds to support these broadcasters.

The other trend that is mostly seen in the broadcasting world is the digitalization of the industry. Several technology initiatives are being introduced in the industry. Most of these publicly funded international broadcasters have to go in that path of digitalization to remain relevant. “We have to go where the listeners are, so we are now on the Internet, we are also on mobile apps,” says Cécile Mégie, Director of Radio France International, RFI. She also says that the costs of getting digital are high and impact is an important factor in securing funding. Several new content distributors have joined the game, increasing their influence in the industry. Technology giants such as Google and Facebook have facilitated this transformation both in the production and distribution ends of the spectrum. Following these changes and transformation over the past few years, it is interesting to see where the international broadcasting heads to and the role of international broadcasters in promoting the value of democracy. Many international broadcasters agree that collaboration with new distribution platforms, local broadcasters, and network providers will be common trends in the industry. One of the people who is optimistic about these collaborations is Peter

need better and advanced digital distribution methods. They should not be seen as the enemies rather as partners.” According to him, collaborations with local media establishment will greatly be used to expand the coverage of these international broadcasters. Deutsche Welle recently announced a collaboration with a Nigerian environmental magazine, Eco@Africa to support the production of contents on environmental protection issues. Eco@Africa also collaborates with Voice of America, one of the oldest American international broadcasters funded by the American government. John F. Lansing, CEO and Director of Broadcasting Board of Governors, a corporation that operates Voice of 29

Growing incidents related to global concerns such as terrorism and refugee crisis were also seen as reasons for increasing the popularity of international broadcasters among local audience. International broadcasters like Deutsche Welle, for example, had an increased number of the local audience during the refugee crisis following the arrival of thousands of refugees to Germany. All in all, international broadcasters are optimistic about the future. “The international broadcasting is becoming more digital and collaboration will be a greater part of it,” says Peter Limbourg. Emnet Assefa Ethiopia

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VOICES AT THE FORUM The Global Media Forum gathers hundreds of journalists and media specialists representing diverse backgrounds every year in Bonn, Germany. This year, the topics of freedom and values have given us many opinions and analysis to bring back home to our newsrooms. This is part of what the participants had to say during the sessions of the first day regarding press freedom, the changing media landscape, sustainability, war and more.

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DRIVE TO EDUCATE AND COMMUNICATE THROUGH ART HAS TAKEN HIS WORK FROM THE ATELIER TO THE PUBLIC SPACE; HIS MURALS ARE AS MUCH ABOUT HIS OWN ARTISTIC EXPRESSION AS THEY ARE GENERATING AND CONTRIBUTING TO A LARGER DIALOGUE WITH THE PUBLIC.

31 © GABRIEL D’ALINCOURT

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profession in brazil are good and

guarantees the freedom of speech, according to maurício santoro, a political scientist from rio de

janeiro state university (UFF). but a big difference lies between the book and what happens on the streets.

CAPTURING STORIES FROM THE STREETS OF BRAZIL There is a huge economic and political tension in the country over the three last years, with persistent and voluminous dismissals, which makes even more complex for journalists to keep objectivity and the intellectual fairness. Brazil is the third deadliest nation in the world for journalists, after Syria now in civil war and France following the Charlie Hebdo’s terrorist attacks. Most of the crimes take place in small cities far from the capitals, where journalists

working for radios or websites denounce local politicians and business man’s crimes. This violence is feed by impunity, for a public prosecutor and police who can’t investigate and a justice system that doesn’t promote fairness. Without this institutional support is very hard to have freedom of expression in these less monitored areas. Currently, there is not a strong movement to improve the situation.

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the laws regarding the journalism

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©GABRIEL D’ALINCOURT

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There are no censorship laws in Brazil. But soft power commonly used to discourage journalists.

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The media market in Brazil is more like an oligarchy, with giant conglomerates that control all communication platforms, including websites, radio, TV and newspapers. They have good relations with aligned political parties, however one cannot see any political articulation from these companies in order to decrease the violence against journalists. According to Santoro, the most important action to improve this situation is to work on small cities level, developing partnerships between unions with public institutions.

Big media companies’ ideological positioning have strong links with the political elites – some of them are owners of local media, all affiliated with a big company – and can use lawsuits as ways to intimidate journalists, a very common technique in the country.

Gabriel d’Alincourt Brazil

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BLAMING MEDIA WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING ELSE TO BLAME Although being a journalist is not an easy task in any place in the world, it’s considered a big challenge in a country like Egypt. Journalists there encounter a number of challenges varying from access to objective information to everyday issues such as low salaries.

Quantity vs Quality

“Because there is no law for regulating the free flow of information, journalists are usually trapped between the official and non-official data,” said Adham Youssef, a senior political reporter at Daily News Egypt.

Although he thinks that Egypt has a big number of qualified journalists in governmental, private and partisan newspapers, there are still a number of factors that influence the quality of their work.

“When they cannot get a permission to acquire authentic information from the official institutions, they usually resort to depending on anonymous sources who may deny giving the information after that. This is a double-edged weapon that can send the journalist to jail,” he added. “Under the war of traffic, reporters are asked to collect as much information as possible and post more stories on the website. Sometimes, they are also asked to cover protests and conflicts without any adequate previous training,” said Mohammed Saudi, a journalist for Youm 7, one of the most widely read newspapers in Egypt. ‘’Every morning, thousands of journalists go to their offices to start a new working day. Most of them stay for 8 or 10 hours in front of their computers to write a required number of news stories and call sources,’’ he added.

On the other side, Mahmoud Mostafa, a political reporter, believes that Egyptian media institutions have been living the fierce ‘’war of traffic’’ over the past five years.

“Most journalists are overworked in their institutions that pay great attention to the quantity of the stories produced regardless of the quality of the content they convey. They care about attracting more audience and getting more hits on the website to be able to attract more advertisers and gain more profits,’’ he explained. However, Essam Amer, a journalist at Al-Shorouk newspaper and a media trainer, argued that improving the standards of living of journalists and increasing their salaries may urge them to provide a better journalistic product. “At the end of the month, young journalists get an average of 1200 L.E (120 euros) which can’t cover their daily expenses,” noted Saudi. “Most journalists are slaves for the media institutions they write for in a way that doesn’t give them any chance to improve their abilities or seek any kind of additional training. This turned them from believing

in the journalism as a noble message into thinking of it as an occupation and turned them from creative content producers into employees,” Amer said. In his opinion, the press syndicate must play a more crucial role in monitoring the journalistic performance and punishing the journalists who violate the codes of ethics. However, it must also guarantee the rights of the journalists in the organizations they work for. This two-sided intermediary role will help to balance the scales of justice. Rana Khaled Egypt

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DRONES IN JOURNALISM: YAY OR NAY? Many believe drone journalism is the future for news as it captures video footage from interesting perspectives. Irrespective of the huge hype around it, the question of using drones in daily journalism is still an enigma. Mathew Waite, professor of Drone Journalism at the University of Nebraska Lincoln in the USA, has

natural disasters. Like with new technologies, drones can play a vital role in modern day news coverage,” Waite says. Waite believes that 21st-century news reporting is evolving and drones is a new tool. “Drones can be very effective and useful for covering stories with large spatial applications, particularly natural or man-made disasters. The damage

of drones in journalism is “not that safe” right now. “The blades rotate very fast and can do physical damage if it falls on a person,” he says. Another disturbing thing about the trend is cramming a drone shot into just about everything. “That might hamper the moral code of ethics of a journalist,” Waite adds.

Property laws can be a hindrance for drone journalism and so news organizations must consider whether it's ethical use.

long been exploring the possibility of using drone footage in the news. Three and a half years ago, he got a $50,000 grant from the Knight Foundation to start a drone reporting program.

of these disasters can become clear from 50 or 100 feet up in the air. Drone images can help create maps of disaster areas. Combined with data, it can explain the news in a new way,” Waite says.

“The potential applications for the use of drones in journalism are varied [in covering] agriculture, media, public infrastructure,

Drones are useful tools but fundamentally, they are not storytelling techniques. Waite also believes that the use 35

However, Waite has already figured out the best use of drones in journalism. “I think the real future of drones in journalism is in virtual reality. You can use a drone to map a newsworthy area in a short period of time and you can use the drone to create 3D models of a place for virtual reality environments.”

Sheikh Saaliq India

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CULTURE IS THE BATTLEGROUND Since the civil war broke out in Syria in 2012, Turkey and Syria entered a new phase of relations in cultural, social and political spheres. The 2016 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum hosted an amazing panel focusing on the culture to bring people and build a better tomorrow. Goethe Institute brought Kefah Ali Deeb, Artist, Children’s Book Author and Political Activist, and Danny Daoud, Filmmaker ,from Syria Fatma Colakoglu Film and Video Curator; Head of Communication and Programming, Pera Museum, and Aysegül Sönmez,Art Critic, Sanatatak, from Turkey together exchange ideas on the role of culture and media in the society. Danny started the conversation with the importance of the culture “I will tell you why art matters in Syria. I don’t what happened in Iraq to be copied to Syria. Are we going to do the same in Syria? I don’t think the cultural institution should be destroyed. If we do so we will give way to ISIS. They destroyed the culture first. They did same in Iraq then it was easy for them to control. Our culture and heritage should be protected.“Danny Daud said. Culture is ‘perversion’ for some Aysegul pointed out how culture evolved to ‘something’ else and it is ‘perversion’ for the fundamentalists. “Attack in Paris concert, Orlando attack... They attacked cultural event. I think the culture is space for criticism. Oxygen for us but

since the civil war broke out in syria in 2012, turkey and syria

entered a new phase of relations in cultural, social and political spheres. the 2016 deutsche welle

global media forum hosted an amazing panel focusing on the culture to bring people and build

“Yeah, we have a more private museum but we have fewer art critics in the newspaper. Now economy writers are writing about art in the newspapers. It is really concerning,” Aysegul Sonmez said.

a better tomorrow.

The world keeps evolving and changing so does the culture. According to Aysegul, counter culture might bring some solutions to the problems we face today.

perversion for ‘them’. Culture vs religion. Culture is a battleground, maybe we should redefine the culture,” Aysegul said

“The word PC is coming from a counter culture of 70s, personalizing things. There is only technology to personalize today. So we should create that counterculture,” Aysegul Sonmez said.

Kefah emphasized how hard it is in Syria to do anything related to the culture. “People live under the regime control they won’t go in front of the camera because they are afraid of the regime and people live under opposition is afraid too because they will be targeted too, well we have to work for providing the space,” Kefah Ali Deeb said. Economy writers are now into art business

There are now 3 million Syrians living in Turkey. The war in Syria goes on. Kefah was one of them for awhile. She thinks art and culture is a good bridge but it should be multidimensional. “Intercultural communication should multidimensional. It shouldn’t be confined one specific area. It should be everywhere; libraries and public spaces.” Kefah Ali Deeb said.

The closing discussion was the consuming aspect of the culture. “There is another aspect of the culture. We are consuming the culture. We can only talk about culture in financial terms. I used to be a Marxist but I came to terms with it. That’s how it works,” Fatma Colakoglu said. Aysegul approached his analysis from the media perspective. 36

Burak Sayon Turkey

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RUSSIA TODAY TEACHES WESTERN JOURNALISTS SOME MEDIA STANDARDS “The first victim of any conflict is truth. The biggest tool in war is weaponizing information,” says Wolfgang Ischinger, Munich Security Conference Chairman at the 2016 Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum. He adds that information war prevents people from acting on physical conflict, which has happened in Balkans, and now takes place in Ukraine. The war in Donbas on Ukraine’s East is the most common example of describing information war. Most notably, it serves as an example of the battlefield pro-Kremlin media lead against Western journalists in reporting war events. According to Russia’s profile on Reporters Without Borders website, “While TV channels continue to inundate viewers with propaganda, the climate has become very oppressive for those who question the new patriotic and neo-conservative discourse, or just try to maintain quality journalism.» Among the main propaganda channels are state-owned media, which present Kremlin’s perspective on international events. One of the most famous channels is Russia Today (RT), the state-owned media, which broadcasts news on Russia outside the country. It works with foreign audiences delivering news in English and other languages. RT has been referred to as propaganda outlet of the Russian government and is well-known for its manipulative news on Ukraine and the war in Donbas. “Whenever I need to send one of my reporters to the warzone, I feel very sad; it feels like sending my children or grandchildren,” says Alexey Nikolov, the managing

editor at RT. The channel is no stranger to covering war zones. In addition to its infamous work in Ukraine, it is also well known for its Syrian coverage. In 2016, Russia has been ranked 148 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ media freedom ranking. However, this is not the case with Nikolov. “I don’t agree this ranking is true. I think it is very biased, which makes its authority very low,” he says. According to him, the situation in Russia is better than it appears, especially in relation to propaganda and information. Nikolov believes the accusations against RT are not justified. “When you are trying to present a different a voice, you are going to report many things no one reports,” he adds. According to the editor, RT has not received much criticism before it was popular, but the bigger audiences it got, the more criticism it got. Secretary of State John Kerry referred to RT as “propaganda bullhorn” for its pro-Kremlin coverage.Nikolov, too, has a simple explanation to this, “If you don’t like something, you call it propaganda. That’s why I brought you (the forum participants – AR) a propaganda bull horn.” RT has had rough times for its controversial coverage; one of its reporters quit the media for its manipulative articles of MH17 crash, and the medium was included in the list named “Russia’s top 100 lies about Ukraine” made by a fact-checking website StopFake. RT has also been involved in Yukos shareholders 37

case, an international case against the Russian government on the charges from a multibillion-dollar Yukos oil company. How does one deal with a media giant like RT and its propagandist news then? Well, the solution is simple, at least for Ischinger, “We should triple the amount of scholarships for Russian academics and journalists, and end visa restrictions for average Russians. If they could spend time here, they would lose their hatred. We need to create more people-to-people exchange.” This suggestion sounds interesting enough, taking into consideration the political system in Russia and the fact that both the EU and Russia imposed mutual sanctions against each other, not to mention the mutual visas. The fact that Novikov joined DW Global Media Forum to speak on media standards is also interesting enough. Apparently, his talk could be an interesting discussion if he was asked questions on reporting in Donbas. Too bad, he was not. The plenary discussion, in which Novikov participated, did not lead to any serious questions regarding professionalism in the media he leads. Could it be a special strategy to attack RT with love, so it changes its mind and works professionally? If so, we have wait and see whether the strategy is effective. “We all make mistakes,” Mr. Novikov says. Of course, we do. Anna Romandash Ukraine

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