Assessing media development in Tunisia
PARIS, France, December 14, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ — UNESCO releases a report presenting an initial assessment of the media landscape in Tunisia after the January 2011 revolution. Resulting from the application of UNESCO’s Media Development Indicators (MDI), the assessment was conducted from April to September 2011 with a view to providing a comprehensive analysis of the situation of print and broadcast media in Tunisia, from legal, sociological and economic points of view.
The report highlights the imperative for the future Constitution to enshrine the right to freedom of expression and information, and suggests concrete axes of reform addressed to the new government and local stakeholders (public institutions, media professionals and civil society), leading to the development of free, independent and pluralistic media in Tunisia.
The assessment is divided into five main categories, following UNESCO’s MDI:
• A system of regulation conducive to freedom of expression, pluralism and diversity of the media;
• Plurality and diversity of media, a level economic playing field and transparency of ownership;
• Media as a platform for democratic discourse;
• Professional capacity building and supporting institutions that underpins freedom of expression, pluralism and diversity;
• Infrastructural capacity is sufficient to support independent and pluralistic media.
MDI is an analytic tool, which has been successfully applied in several countries and which lies at the very heart of UNESCO’s mandate to promote the development of free, independent and pluralistic media in accordance with international standards and best practices.
SOURCE
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Did you find this information helpful? If you did, consider donating.