[MUSIC] We live in an increasingly globalized world. Events that happen in our country affect other countries around the world. Events halfway around the globe affect us and our audience. So as journalists, your job is to tell those stories about distant events and local events that have an impact on the public. In this series of lessons about international journalism, we'll start by talking about press systems around the world. We'll then talk about press freedom and about constraints that governments place on us a journalists and on the news organizations we work for. From there we'll tell the stories of several brave, committed journalists who have risked their lives and their freedom to practice their profession. After that, we'll have a lesson looking at organizations like the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders that advocate for and protect freedom of expression. We'll then talk about some of the international news organizations that are familiar to you and how they operate, such as the BBC, the Associated Press, Deutsche Welle and Xinhua News Service. Our next international journalism lesson we'll talk about how we cover the world from home, from our own countries, for our own audiences. And finally, we'll discuss the work of foreign correspondents and war correspondents. So let's begin with press systems around the world. Every country, and there are almost 200 of them, has its own press system. Some are largely unregulated by government, leaving journalists and audiences free to determine what will be covered, how will it be covered, and why it should be covered. But many other countries operate under government controls or government owned media where the news organizations are not watch dogs, they're merely mouthpieces for the government. But every system is unique. Every system reflects that country's history, its politics, its traditions, its economics, the demographics of its population, the languages that your audiences speak and understand. So what are some of the basic criteria of a national press system? How do we, who work there, and who need to understand the laws and the ethical standards, realize and recognize and respond to the realities of our press system? I'll give you five of the criteria that the International Research and Exchanges Board, which is a research and advocacy organization, uses to evaluate national press systems. First, what are the legal and social norms under which journalists, bloggers, writers, commentators and news organizations operate to promote free expression and freedom of information? What are the professional standards journalists are expected or required to operate under, the ethical standards, the legal standards, the communication industry standards? Are there multiple news sources that the public can use to get information, news and opinion to understand whats going on in their country, in their community and the world? Are the media well-managed so that they can be economically sustainable and less vulnerable to outside pressure? And are there other institutions in the society that support and encourage freedom of expression? Now let's look at three overarching questions that we as journalists and as consumers of news and information should understand when we're considering how our national press system works and how we operate within it. First, what is the ownership of news outlets? Are they mostly owned by private companies, nonprofit organizations, by governments? In democracies, like the UK, Canada, Germany and Japan, most news organizations are either privately owned or owned by nonprofit entities. By contrast, in authoritarian countries, most, if not all news organizations are owned directly by the government or by government-affiliated political parties or by powerful financial, economic and political interests closely allied with the regime. Even in the democratic countries where there's a government owned or government finances news organization, for example, National Public Radio in the United States, the BBC in the UK, The Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Those news organizations still have political independence and are free to report what they want, how they want, about politics, controversy, and public events. Even in democratic countries, news organizations may have close ties to political entities and political parties, for example in Bulgaria, television stations are affiliated with two of the political parties that are represented in parliament. The second overarching question concerns the laws and regulations that you as a journalist, photographer, an editor, a producer, a commentator, a blogger, have to operate under. Some of those laws are much stricter in certain countries than in others. For example, many countries require all news organizations, and even individual journalists, to be licensed. That means if you're a journalist and you can't get a license, you can't work. That means if you're a television station and you can't get a license, you're off the air. In Russia, for example, every website must be registered with the government. In the United States, only television and radio stations that broadcast over the air need a government license. Anybody, without government permission, can start a newspaper, a magazine, a website, a cable station or a blog. Other laws and regulations concern things like libel, advertising, taxes, freedom of information, meaning can you get information from government? Do you have a legal right to attend government meetings where decisions are made and debates take place? The third overarching question involves the financial and economic stability of new outlets. In other words, can they continue to afford to keep operating, to pay their expenses, to pay you as a journalist for your work? If not, where does their money come from? Are there subsidies from government? Are there subsidies from international donor organizations? Are there subsidies from political parties? In Kyrgyzstan, for example, it's not uncommon for individual politicians to create a newspaper to launch a newspaper shortly before an election. The newspaper then becomes a forum for that politician to advance his or her political agenda. After the election the politician doesn't fund the newspaper any more, and it goes out of business. Finally for this lesson, I'll talk briefly about a couple of ways that governments control the media in a variety of press systems. One is censorship. Censorship means the government has the power to review material, photos, words, editorial cartoons, before they are published, broadcast, or posted on the internet. The government censors can block publication or they can require changes in your story, your photo, your cartoon. And the second way governments directly and indirectly control the media, even without official censorship, is by putting pressure on advertisers. That way the advertiser knows it will get in trouble if it continues to support your news organization by buying advertisements or commercials. Here's the bottom line. In whatever country you work in you need to understand the laws, the regulations, the professional standards and the consequences imposed by your press system. If you don't you run the risk of jail, fines, or worse. [MUSIC]
