Global Media News

Group B's Final Show: Media in Africa!

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This week Global Media News takes a look at the media in Africa:

• Social Networking, the growth of facebook in South Africa.
• The history of television in South Africa and Nigeria.
• The music industry in Africa.
• Nigerian radio and how it has been Americanized.
• Women's involvement in Nigerian media.

Comments are welcome. Group A will be back next week with the media in South and Central America.

Venuzuela: Media

According to Venuzuelanalysis.com, Venezuela's National Telecommunications Commission composed a law pertaining to a list of television companies.  The law is to promote Social Responsibility.  It will also be applied to radio.  This will limit the power of the media, and expand the laws jurisdiction.

The law is known as RESTORTE, and brings new standards for children as well as adult programming.  It stops inflammatory content such as enticement riot or assassinate the president. 

It also limits commercial advertising, requiring stations to report important government announcements.  International cable station Radio Caracas Television (RCTV) was classified under national broadcasting.  This was done in order to sensor their material.  Media Mogul Marcel Granier, and owner of RCTV, supported efforts against President Chavez's new law.

Recently in an article from Foxnews.com, it was reported that President Hugo Chavez shut down RCTV based in Caracas.  This caused a crowd with chants, songs, whistles, and cheers to rally against Chavez's shutdown.  The crowd was found around the front of RC Tv station in Caracas.

Fela Kuti

Fela kuti was a very influential activist for Pan-Africanism and Ant-colonialism.  The American Black Power movement had a major role in his socialist beliefs. He was also avid supporter of human rights and his songs were used as a direct assult against the militaristic government in Nigeria. Fela kuti was against dictatorships and he lived his life as a polygamist. He played many insrtuments and the  type of music was called "Afrobeat". Afrobeat is a combination of American jazz, funk, pop fused with West African highlife music. His performances were always high energy and he songs were over 10 minutes long.  The off-Broadway production Fela! came out in 2008 which was based on the life of Fela Kuti. The show was big hit and they ended up selling out shows.

Striving to keep Communism in tact: Cuba

Cuba: 50 years After the revolution As we very well know the Western countries always view communism as a threat to liberal world. However, in Cuba the Communist Revolutionist Fidel Castro regime since 1958-59 has implemented communism control as a means to keep culture and tradition in tact, the people have little voice and are far from experiencing the freedoms Westerners enjoy. In 1962 Cuba was caught in a mouse trap, the confrontation between United States and Soviet Union. An American effort to dismantle communism and missile threats resulted in the military quarantine of Cuba. This is the era of television, hence the world was watching. As President JFK gave the Cuban missile crisis speech, where the Soviets lead then by Khrushchev disengaged their missiles. However, this blockade spoiled Cuban and American Relations. The fight for peace and commercial interest would be fought on Castro's terms. As a result Cuba and America are not on friendly terms.

An effort to eradicate capitalism, and to remove infidels the Castro Regime in the 1980's created a list, sort of what we in the states call a black list.  In an attempt to remove the "undesirables"Castro shipped approximately 100,000 Cubans to the United States on the Mariel Boat lift. The peoples money is controlled their media and the arts too. many were greatful to leave I am sure, yet did not reckon they would be living in exile.

Television in Nigeria

According to the BBC website titled "Using radio, television and film to stop HIV in Nigeria".Nigeria started using television and film to raise awareness of HIV and Aids amongst young people in Nigeria. Nigerian officials used social marketing to help spread the message. Many young people look up to the entertainment industry to find out what is acceptable and what is not, so using television and film to promote such a big and important message should help raise awareness and decrease the amount of people contracting HIV and Aids in Nigeria.

 

Piracy is a huge issue all over the world, But in Nigeria piracy kept the entertainment industry from financial growth. According to a online article titled"Effects of Piracy In Nigeria", the NTA (Nigerian Television Authority) states that in August 2008 the annual estimated loss of content  industries (music, software, and video) within the nation was well over N100,000,000 in Nigerian currency.

Newspapers Within Mexico

    The most popular newspaper format in Mexico seems to be the daily one, yet there are a number of weekly newspapers. Mexico's national English newspaper is The News which is part of Novedades Editores, TheNewsMexico.com . Another paper which publishes two papers and 15 magazines and has an online publication, Express, is mainly distributed in hotels and resorts. The average price of these papers ranges from 4 to 10 pesos.

    The largest newspaper by circulation in Mexico is the tabloid Esto. In 2002 it had a circulation of 385,000. The second largest is a scandal driven newspaper called La Prensa with a circulation of 330,000.The Next was El Universal, which is a widely respected paper with growing influence and a circulation of 170,000. The fourth was El Financiero, a tabloid with a circulation of 147,000. Some of the smaller papers were Reform, El Norte, ElM, and La Jornada.

    The most influential paper in Mexico is El Universal from Mexico City which began in 1916. Felix Fulgencio Palavicini started this paper to promote the ideas of the Mexican Revolution. Through a sequence of owners, the newspaper grew steadily. It implemented the latest technology and led the fight between press and government. During the 1980's the El Universal fought to end the governmental monopoly on newsprint and in 2001 it initiated El Universal Online. In addition to this paper, the second and third most influential ones are Reform and La Jornada. In 2002, the Milenio and the La Presena still had the largest circulation, but their contents are based upon yellow (sensational) press. The three most influential magazines in Mexico are the Proceso (Politics), the Contenido, and the Siempre.

Icasa Races to License Mobile TV in South Africa

   The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa), who is responsible for the regulation of broadcasting, postal and telecommunications services, is racing to issue mobile TV licenses in time for the Soccer World Cup tournament June 11th. According to AllAfrica.com, Icasa plans to issue licenses for the broadcasting of content via cellphone before the month of June. 

    Icasa councilor, Robert Nkuna, said that there were two multiplexes, Multichoice and Naspers, that were set aside for mobile TV. Multichoice has been testing mobile TV technology for the past three years by streaming some of its existing pay-TV content to cellphones in conjunction with cell phone operators. Naspers, it's parent company, had already set aside R98m for mobile TV, which has already launched in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Namibia.

    David Moore, a media analyst at Africa Analysis, said that mobile TV was not going to have a huge effect because of the high handset prices and especially because there were very few handsets in the country that were capable of receiving the digital video broadcasting handheld (DVB-H) signal. He stated "Until the number of handsets increase and their price comes down, mobile TV will have a minimal impact. It can be expected that mobile operators wishing to promote mobile TV will invest in a larger handset subsidy to promote uptake initially" .

    All other interested parties would have until next week to submit their applications to Icasa.

Media In The Dominican Republic

Most Dominican magazines that focus on the news are generally weekly productions. The most important ones are Ahora and Rumbo . Of lesser importance is the yellow press weekly Sucesos which specializes in graphic depictions of violent events. Religious groups also issue some publications such as El Semenario Camino and Despertar

Read more: Dominican Republic Press, Media, TV, Radio, Newspapers - newspaper, television, news, circulation, stations, papers, number, freedom, broadcasting, advertising, role, government, censorship http://www.pressreference.com/Co-Fa/Dominican-Republic.html#ixzz0mGV45bsv
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ownership of TV channels, radio stations and newspapers is concentrated in a few economically or politically-powerful hands.

There are several terrestrial TV channels and many multichannel cable TV operators. More than 200 radio stations are on the air, most of them commercial. The government operates TV and radio networks.

Press freedom is guaranteed by law and media outlets carry diverse political views. Some subjects, such as the Catholic Church and the army, are generally avoided

Dictatorship Restricts Freedom of Expression in the Dominican Republic

 

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Rafael Trujillo Molina, better known as Trujillo, was the dicatior of the Dominican Republic from the 1930's till his assassination on May 30, 1961. The regime of Trujillo was one of the longest, inhumane and most absolute in modern times. During his control of the conuntry he had complete control of the military and he appointed most of his family members to key governmental offices. Trujillo strongly emphasized and enforced censorship and conformity laws on his fellow countrymen. Furthermore, Trujillo ordered the murder of many political adversaries and Haitian immigrants. It was during this time that he became the most feared man in the nation.

Though he was the most feared man in the country, many people admired his bold personality which was seen as fundamentally Dominican as according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Furthermore he was loved for his ability to promote national affairs and promote public affairs projects. The Dominican Republic's stable economy and politics caught the eye of many foreign investors and grants from the United States Government despite Trujillo's downplaying of his abuses and tyrannies.

Now from the 1930's to 1960's his regime strongly restricted the press' Freedom of Expression, yet some of the constitutional guarantees were upheld during his tenure. While he controlled the nation, many news sources decided to import newspapers from the United States. Furthermore, the Dominican Republic has a high per capita rate of newspaper circulation. Meanwhile, there are several prominent newspapers within the country: El Caribe and Listín diario. 

For all the negatives that were occuring during his control of the nation, Trujillo was able to accomplish three key things: he reorganized the nation's economy, the state and left a vast infastructure in the country. Yet, his legacy will be forever tarnished by his hardline stance on violating civil rights and freedoms.

For more on this topic please refer to the following sources:Wikipedia: Rafael Trujillo and Biography.com

 

 Rafael Trujillo Molina

 

Fiber Optics En Route To Rwanda

    In a recent IT News Africa article, we learn of a plan to implement brand new fiber optic cables from capital Kigali to Gatuna border, through Uganda, Kenya and the East African coast.  The article continues, "Operators in the country will be also able to link their existing fiber optic infrastructure with the pipe, to provide more affordable and reliable telecom services in Rwanda."  As of this article, Rwandatel has spent close to $200,000 US dollars monthly on hiring microwave technology which has shown to be faulty and inconsistent in foul weather conditions.  Fiber Optic capacity allows for a much higher rate and capacity of transmission for the area. 

    Costs are expected to be cut by at least $30,000 US per month.  This is only the first phase of the project with subsequent phases looking to expand the technology iinto surrounding areas.  What exactly does this mean for people in the area?  More readily available an cheaper access to the internet and mobile networks such as 2G and 3G .  While this area of the world currently lags behind the technological wave that many other countries ride, it is a step in the right direction in getting people connected.  

     In a related story, we are learning that Uganda is receiving it's first 4G network.  This IT News Africa Article states "Israeli Internet service provider Foris Telecom has deployed 4G technology in Uganda to offer mobile wireless broadband in the country."   Foris Telecom is targeting residential communities, with even more emphasis being placed on students.