PUBLIC FUNDING FOR and independence of public broadcasters around the world is under increasing threat, according to the Global Task Force for public media.
The task force, which is chaired by CBC/Radio-Canada president and CEO Catherine Tait and serves the purpose of promoting and defending public media values, met recently for its first in-person meeting in Tokyo ahead of the annual conference of Public Broadcasters International (PBI).
“Public broadcasters’ public funding, operational and editorial independence, and media freedom and safety are all under increasing threat in too many parts of the world — and the consequences are damaging democracy,” reads a press release from the CBC today.
“At last year’s PBI conference, I introduced the Brussels Declaration, a global call for media freedom and safety,” said Tait, in the release. “This year, as we mark the centenary of public broadcasting, we’re doing so under a cloud of continued threats to the Declaration’s fundamental principles — media professionals are increasingly being attacked, both physically and online; public broadcasters are facing mandate reviews, funding cuts and political interference, domestically; and internationally their news operations are being shut out or shut down in places where independent media is already limited,” she added.
“Standing up to these threats is the Global Task Force’s raison d’être. Independent public service media is a civic right. After today’s meeting, I’m encouraged by our renewed commitment to protect public broadcasting and defend media freedom and safety.”
The Global Task Force for public media includes members from Australia, France, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and Canada.
It has previously “condemned the Russian attack of broadcasting facilities in Ukraine; declared its support for public media in Slovenia, following attacks on staff and threats to their funding; and urged media, business and culture leaders in the Czech Republic to defend independent media, when the independence of Česká televize was at risk, among other statements,” the press release explains.
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Image borrowed from CBC’s Media Centre.
