Kyrgyzstan in Media Influence Matrix When Almazbek Atambaev was president of Kyrgyzstan, journalists didn’t have a whale of a time. The country’s head often harassed media outlets by threatening them with lawsuits and financial audits. Fearing reprisals, many journalists routinely self-censored. Things are much improved after Sooronbay Jeenbekov won the presidential elections in 2017. Pressures…
Kazakhstan in Media Influence Matrix When Vlast.kz, a Russian-language news portal, launched operations in 2012, its founders pinned their hopes on readers to finance them. But not many people thronged to buy a subscription, prompting the portal to swiftly knock down its paywall and let readers binge on its content. Nobody else has since tested…
Jordan in Media Influence Matrix The General Intelligence Directorate (GID), Jordan’s powerful secret service, has often been praised for its professionalism. Credited with foiling a number of terrorist attacks both in Jordan and abroad, it is one of the most effective intelligence agencies in the Middle East. But GID’s powers extend far beyond security, making…
Indonesia in Media Influence Matrix Tempted with ever cheaper deals, many Indonesians use more than one mobile card, resulting in 400 million cellular subscriptions, which makes Indonesia one of the largest mobile markets of the world. In contrast, less than 4% of Indonesians use a landline today. The number of internet users has also increased…
Czech Republic in Media Influence Matrix During the past decade, the Czech media market has undergone major shifts that have radically changed the country’s journalism. Much of that was caused by technology. But changes in the country’s media ownership played an equally big role. It all started in 2008 with Zdenek Bakala, a coal magnate,…
Bulgaria in Media Influence Matrix With its rapidly expanding ICT sector, Bulgaria has been called “the tech capital of Balkans” and “the Silicon Valley of Southeastern Europe.” Including approximately 10,000 companies, the revenues of the local Information and Communications Technology (ICT) market reached US$ 1bn in 2016; and the industry keeps growing: its value was…
Spain in Media Influence Matrix In Spain, the advertising market is concentrated in the hands of a few large media groups while the government keeps pouring money into the media. Television is still the largest recipient of ad money, but the internet has been growing incessantly. At the same time, print media grapple with major…
Misinformation has flooded the Indonesian internet in recent years. The government’s response will only shrink the space for online news content. 6 December 2019 Tempted with ever cheaper deals, many Indonesians use more than one mobile card, resulting in 400 million cellular subscriptions, which makes Indonesia one of the largest mobile markets of the world….
The Slovak news media sector remains captured by powerful financial groups and oligarchs. Blame it on regulation (partly). Thanks to the Constitution, Slovaks enjoy freedom of speech. Press publishing is not restricted in any way and censorship is forbidden in Slovakia. However, the Slovak media regulation remains a heavily politicized process that affects the environment…
In 2017, CMDS launched the Media Influence Matrix Project to investigate the profound influence that rapid shifts in policy, sources of funding and technology companies in the public sphere are having on journalism today. The CMDS 2017-2019 strategy notes: “Much of how independent journalism and media perform their fundamental role in informing and enriching the democratic discourse is shaped…