The main purpose of this BA-thesis was to do a qualitative study of the Ecuadorian journalists' personal experiences of their work conditions in relation to freedom of the press. The aim has been to analyze their personal opinions regarding censorship, the media climate and if they feel there is press freedom for journalists in Ecuador. The material has been analyzed and then complemented by theories and earlier research. Among other theories we have been using Denis McQuail's freedom principle and view of structural influences together with Graeme Burton's view of censorship. Together with earlier research about censorship and the status of freedom of the press in Ecuador we were able to put the interviewees' answers in relation to both theories and research. Our analysis showed that the interviewed journalists felt there were many obstacles when it came to the freedom of the press. One obstacle was the strain on the relationship between the government and the press which affected the media climate in a negative way. The majority of the interviewees stated that there was no complete freedom of the press in Ecuador while the ones who opposed to this still felt there were difficulties. Some even questioned whether freedom of the press was possible anywhere in the world, which also shows the complexity of the subject.

This paper aims to study the importance of media accessibility, as it is conceptually defined by current research, for the relationship between free media and corruption. Previous studies have determined that a free, independent media plays a vital role in not only curbing corruption but also in sustaining and monitoring a healthy democracy. They have also confirmed that there is a significant correlation between the degree of press freedom and the degree of corruption, in which a freer press has a negative impact on the conditions for corruption. Nevertheless, press freedom and independent media, as said studies have established, cannot be seen as an easy solution or a “quick fix” when fighting corruption. More recent studies have concluded that accessibility is a dimension that could possibly determine how effective the free, independent media is for fighting and preventing corruption. This paper aims to dig deeper into this theory.   The purpose of the study is to distinguish what kind of role media accessibility plays in maximising the free medias effectiveness in the role as a watchdog towards public power. This study hopes to achieve it’s purpose by analysing what the direct effects and consequences of media revelations surrounding corruption cases has resulted in for different countries in relation to the degree of accessibility. The study will also take into account the distinction between rule-based versus relationship-based cultures and how corruption can be perceived and viewed differently between the two. This perspective is to be seen as a complementary outlook and possible explanation when determining if the potential dissimilarities in the effects of media revelations amongst countries are due to differences in accessibility or due to inherent cross-cultural differences. Our work has shown clear differences in the resulted effects of media revelations. However, it is impossible to identify whether the variations among countries in regard to actual effects depend on the degree of accessibility or due to inherent cross-cultural differences between nations.

<p>This dissertation examines Mexico City’s material politics of print—the central actors engaged in making print, their activities and relationships, and the legal, business, and social dimensions of production—across the nineteenth century. Inside urban printshops, a socially diverse group of men ranging from manual laborers to educated editors collaborated to make the printed items that fueled political debates and partisan struggles in the new republic. By investigating how print was produced, regulated, and consumed, this dissertation argues that printers shaped some of the most pressing conflicts that marked Mexico’s first formative century: over freedom of expression, the role of religion in government, and the emergence of liberalism. Printers shaped debates not only because they issued texts that fueled elite politics but precisely because they operated at the nexus where new liberal guarantees like freedom of the press and intellectual property intersected with politics and patronage, the regulatory efforts of the emerging state, and the harsh realities of a post-colonial economy.</p><p>Historians of Mexico have typically approached print as a vehicle for texts written by elites, which they argue contributed to the development of a national public sphere or print culture in spite of low literacy levels. By shifting the focus to print’s production, my work instead reveals that a range of urban residents—from prominent printshop owners to government ministers to street vendors—produced, engaged, and deployed printed items in contests unfolding in the urban environment. As print increasingly functioned as a political weapon in the decades after independence, print production itself became an arena in struggles over the emerging contours of politics and state formation, even as printing technologies remained relatively unchanged over time.</p><p>This work examines previously unexplored archival documents, including official correspondence, legal cases, business transactions, and printshop labor records, to shed new light on Mexico City printers’ interactions with the emerging national government, and reveal the degree to which heated ideological debates emerged intertwined with the most basic concerns over the tangible practices of print. By delving into the rich social and cultural world of printing—described by intellectuals and workers alike in memoirs, fiction, caricatures and periodicals— it also considers how printers’ particular status straddling elite and working worlds led them to challenge boundaries drawn by elites that separated manual and intellectual labors. Finally, this study engages the full range of printed documents made in Mexico City printshops not just as texts but also as objects with particular visual and material qualities whose uses and meanings were shaped not only by emergent republicanism but also by powerful colonial legacies that generated ambivalent attitudes towards print’s transformative power.</p> / Dissertation

Defamation law‘s truth defence – the oldest, most obvious and principal defence – has failed Australian media defendants. Few who mount the defence succeed. Many, discouraged by the defence‘s onerousness, do not even attempt it. As a consequence the journalistic articulation of matters of public concern is stifled. This thesis argues that the limitations of the Australian truth defence are inconsistent with established freedom of speech ideals and the public interest in having a robust media. As a result society is constrained from enlightened participation in public affairs. This thesis proposes reforms to alleviate the heavy demands of the defence so as to promote the publication of matters of public concern and to strike a more contemporary balance between freedom of speech and the protection of reputation. These reforms employ defamation law‘s doctrinal calculus to reposition the speech-reputation fulcrum. While defamation law has for decades attracted reform attention, the truth defence has languished by the wayside. This thesis steps into the breech. The cornerstone of this thesis is a proposal to reverse the burden so that the plaintiff bears the burden of proving falsity of the defamatory publication where: the complainant is a public figure; the matter complained about is a matter of public concern; and the suit involves a media defendant. While this proposal is likely to dramatically alter the prevailing Australian freedom of speech/protection of reputation equilibrium, other measures are proposed to serve as a bulwark against the wanton destruction of reputation.

Under andra världskriget vidtogs i Sverige ett antal åtgärder som gick på tvärs mot den traditionella svenska pressfriheten. Ett inslag i denna politik var inrättandet av Statens Informationsstyrelse, SIS, med uppgift att bland annat leda och övervaka den svenska pressen. Informationsstyrelsen har i efterhand blivit mest känd för de så kallade ”grå lapparna”, förtroliga meddelanden till tidningarnas redaktörer om vad som inte fick publiceras. Under kriget utkom på Gotland tre dagstidningar. Gotlänningen som ägdes av bondeförbundsintressen, konservativa Gotlands Allehanda vars huvudägare C E Ekman även var tysk konsul och tidningen har betraktats som mycket pronazistisk samt socialdemokratiska Gotlands Folkblad som framställts som ytterst anti-nazistisk. Utifrån SIS arkiv beskrivs SIS styrning av tidningarna genom de grå lapparna och påpekanden av överträdelser. Vidare har undersökts om SIS vidtog några åtgärder mot de gotländska tidningarna och om det i så fall var Gotlands Folkblads påstådda antinazism och/eller Gotlands Allehandas påstådda tyskvänlighet som SIS reagerade på. Resultatet visar att de allra mest som SIS reagerade på i de gotländska tidningarna var rena nyhetsartiklar. Inte i något enda fall klandrade SIS någon kommenterande artikel. / During World War II a number of actions were taken contrary to the traditional  Swedish freedom of the press. One of these actions was the establishment of “Statens Informationsstyrelse”, SIS,  the Gouvernment Board  of Information. SIS hade rhe task of managing and monitoring the Swedish press. It has subsequenly become known for the so-callade “grey notes”, cinfidential message to newspaper editors about what was not allowed to be published. There were three newspapers in Gotlands during World War II. “Gotlänningen” represented the farmer´s party. The right-wing Gotlands Allehanda, whose principal shareholder C E Ekman was also the German consul, was often portrayed as very pro-nazi. The social demofratic “Gotlands Folkblad” was, on the other hand, potrayed as anti-nazi. Based on the SIS archive, a review has been done about how SIS controlled the newspaperes and ruled through the greynotes and reprimands in case of transgressions. Furthermore an analysis has been done on the different reprimands SIS took aginst the Gotland newspapers and if the reprimands were taken in response to the alleged anti-nazism of Gotlands Folkblad or the allegeds pro-nazism of Gotlands Allehanda. The result show thar the vast majority of the articles SIS responded to in the Gotland newspapers were pure news articles. In no single case did SIS respond to a commentary article.

The two principles of ¡§secret investigation¡¨ and ¡§freedom of the press¡¨ are respectively the foundations of ¡§presumption of innocence,¡¨ a basic human right, and ¡§the right to know,¡¨ one of the basic citizen rights. The former principle guards against any sentence of suspects unreivewed by the juridical system and protects the reputation, privacy and other legal rights of all the related parties in the case. The latter are the fourth power apart from the executive, legislative and judicial branches. It allows for strict monitoring of the governmental performance and, therefore, prevents the government from abusing its powers. In practice, these two principles are rather complicatedly connected. This study begins by exploring the definition of investigation and, discussing the role and function of the police in the investigation process, and then introducing the basic ideas of the secret investigation principle. As for the freedom of the press, the study starts by explaining its meaning and introduces related theories, legal definition, protection and limitation. The study then continues with a discussion of press autonomy and information source of the press. At the end, the study provides analysis of the interviews to find out conflict and/or cooperation between the police and the media. The question raised in this study is ¡§How do the police respond to the requirements of the press freedom and protect the right to know without violating any legal regulation?¡¨ The methodology of this study is literature review of official documents and in-depth interview. The data collected from the literature review were compiled and rewritten into sixteen situation analysis tools, which were then reorganized into ten simulation cases. The cases were used as issue analysis tools in the in-depth interviews with the selected journalists and investigation squad chiefs. In the interview, the squad chiefs were asked what considerations or reactions they would have in each simulation case. The journalists were also asked what strategies or perspectives they would adopt in reporting each case. Comparisons were made to find out the differences and similarities between the squad chiefs and journalists in considering the same case so as to achieve maximum agreement between both sides under the premise of not breach any of the existing legal requirements. The study reached the following four conclusions: (1) the police should be educated about which action would violate the principle of secret investigation and what legal or administrative liability would ensue; (2) the police should understand the needs of the media and provide journalists with information within reasonable scope for media coverage; (3) the police should use assistance of devices and skills of related technologies; (4) finally, the government should cooperate with the media to make laws that can effectively regulate related issues.

Thesis (doctoral) - Universität, Mainz, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 368-384).

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb 16, 2010). The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Dissertation advisor: Dr. Charles N. Davis. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Journalism and Media Studies Centre / Master / Master of Journalism