We are partnering with The CarbonNeutral Company, a world-leading provider of carbon reduction solutions, to achieve CarbonNeutral® company certification by the end of the year. This commitment is part of our ongoing drive to lessen the environmental impact of our work.
To achieve full CarbonNeutral® certification, a greenhouse gas assessment will be conducted and any additional emissions reduced to net zero through offsetting or internal reduction activities.
Our offsetting payments will support resource conservation projects, like one in the northwestern Chinese province of Lianing that prevents the potent greenhouse gas methane from being released into the atmosphere by coal mining. Our support is helping to install technology that will capture the methane and turn it into a fuel source.
Our commitment to becoming carbon neutral upgrades our previous policy of offsetting all air travel emissions through a reforestation project run by Indonesian client radio news agency KBR68H. By opting to partner with the CarbonNeutral Company, our emissions will be independently assured and the offsetting projects fully accredited by an industry leader.
CarbonNeutral® is a global standard to certify that businesses have measured and reduced their CO2 emissions to net zero for their company, products, operations or services in accordance with The CarbonNeutral Protocol.
For more information on climate change, offsetting and the types of project we invest in, follow this link.
The CarbonNeutral Company works with over 300 businesses in 32 countries to develop offset inclusive carbon reduction programmes, and is a founding member of The International Carbon Reduction and Offset Alliance (ICROA).
]]>The Media Development Impact Dashboard 2011 reveals that more people than ever before get their news from MDLF clients, which have a combined reach of more than 38 million. It also shows that working with MDLF has a positive impact on the financial sustainability of a news business: news outlets working with MDLF saw their sales grow by an average of 11% last year, despite the recession, while those working with us for five years enjoyed sales growth of 213%.
The Impact Dashboard is an annual assessment of the impact our work has on the financial sustainability of news businesses. It is compiled by analysing sales, reach and other performance data gathered over the length of our relationship, usually five to seven years, and provides an intimate portrait of the development of each client – and through it, an indication of the impact of our work.
The key findings of the Impact Dashboard 2011 include:
The Impact Dashboard also looks at overall client financial viability by analysing a number of risk indicators, as well as the number of people they employ.
Over the coming year, we will continue to examine how we can analyse the data more effectively to produce an even more insightful guide to the impact of our work.
Read a summary of the Impact Dashboard or download a copy here.
]]>He told the Media Development Roundtable that revolving loan funds can have a huge impact on the sustainability of independent news businesses and called for more public-private partnerships to help provide the capital independent news outlets in emerging markets need to become financially viable.
Other participants included Anne Nelson, professor at New York's Columbia University, Marguerite Sullivan, Director of the Center for International Media Assistance in the USA, and Justin Arenstein, of the African Media Initiative.
The Congress and Forum brings together more than 1,000 publishers and editors for three days of business discussions.
Read more about the roundtable, Congress and Forum on WAN-IFRA's blog.
]]>Based on interviews with leading practitioners, including several MDLF clients and CEO Harlan Mandel, it finds that many media businesses are unable to take advantage of economic and audience growth because of their lack of management skills and inexperience in developing effective businesses.
Compounding the problem is a lack of management-focused media development assistance, the expansion of economic constraints on media businesses and a shortage of investment capital.The report finds that business naivety poses a risk to the viability of independent news media - a situation made worse by the fact that at the same time that audiences are growing, the media are increasingly decoupled from their traditional advertising revenue base.
Helping media businesses become financially sustainable is vital if news outlets are to continue to be able to fund quality news reporting. As a starting point, the report recommends that news organizations should be helped to carry out a situational analysis of their marketplace and an assessment of the business skills within the company.
In the current fast-changing media market, diverse hybrid models of funding are emerging, resulting in a period of exploration and experimentation during which donor funding and outside investments are essential while organizations work out viable solutions.
Read the full report here, and the full interview with MDLF CEO Harlan Mandel here.
]]>The Tasrif Award is presented to a journalist or other figure who has contributed to freedom of the press, or has fought injustice or corruption. The award was presented during AJI’s 17th anniversary event at the National Gallery in Jakarta.
Among those receiving awards was Kathe Vince Dimara, director of Radio Pikon Ane located in remote Yahukimo in Papua (see photo). Kathe was presented with the S.K. Trimurti Award for female journalists or activists who fight for gender equality, freedom of expression and freedom of information.
Tessa worked closely with Kathe and MDLF client radio news agency KBR68H to help set up Radio Pikon Ane. Watch a video chronicling the station's early challenges and achievements here and read a report on the awards ceremony in the Jakarta Post here.
]]>On 8 July, the news website was struck by a “denial-of-service” attack, where computers in different parts of the world were used to swarm Malaysiakini servers.
The demonstrations, planned by a coalition of pro-democracy organizations, are calling for the election process to be free and fair.
All opposition parties and many civil society organisations declared their intention to mobilise supporters for a rally to be held in central Kuala Lumpur. However, the government has declared Bersih illegal and more than 180 people have been arrested or questioned, with six detained under an emergency ordinance for "waging war against the king".
On 3 July, for the first time ever, the King made a political statement, calling for a truce between the government and Bersih. Two days later, Bersih representatives met with the King and agreed to move the rally to the Stadium Merdeka, in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, where independence was declared in 1957.
The police then claimed to have found knives and Molotov cocktails that were to be used by demonstrators, and on 6 July the government turned down the proposal to hold the rally in Stadium Merdeka. Bersih has vowed to go ahead with its plans.
With police and the army now being mobilized, Malaysiakini is concerned that the authorities may declare a curfew on 8 July and shut down the Internet in an attempt to disrupt rally organisers and prevent real-time news.
Now available at www.impactassets.org, the ImpactAssets 50 is a searchable database providing financial and impact information on each manager. It offers impact investors an overview of the industry’s leading fund managers who are taking the best of the for-profit and not-for-profit structures and blending them to yield social, environmental, and financial returns.
ImpactAssets is a non-profit financial services company that combines expertise in both philanthropy and asset management to catalyze capital for social and environmental impact. Launched by Calvert Foundation in 2010, it leverages support from the Rockefeller Foundation, Cordes Foundation, and several other leading philanthropic and financial services sponsors. ImpactAssets has $60m of current assets and offices in San Francisco, New York, Seattle, and Bethesda, MD.
“The field of impact investing is evolving rapidly, and wealth advisors and their clients are increasingly looking for ways to make sense of the complex landscape. The ImpactAssets 50 provides a tool for advisors to help investors connect their portfolios with their passions and allocate capital to impact investments,” says Genworth Financial Wealth Management Co-Chairman and ImpactAssets board member Ron Cordes.
An investment panel chaired by social investment thought-leader Jed Emerson made the final selection of qualifying funds.]]>“Addressing the Capitalization Gap for Independent News Media”, by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), finds a sharp difference between the amount of funding available and the funding needed.
The report recognizes that financing independent media has a high social impact – as well as a high impact on improving the sustainability of news businesses – and says: “By partnering with media loan funds and supporting innovative financial vehicles, development agencies, foundations, social investors and others can help scale the delivery of finance and dramatically reduce the capitalization gap.”
Specifically, it recommends that donors and investors should:
· Invest more in existing global, regional and local media loan funds;
· Provide guarantees for investment vehicles such as structured capital market products;
· Provide grants to build the capital base of new regional/local loan funds and finance technical assistance.
Download the full report here.
On 3 June, a court in Rostov-on-Don lifted an order closing the printing house of the flagship independent weekly Krestyanin. The presses started rolling immediately.
On 24 May, the court of Myasnikovsky area, Rostov-on-Don region, had refused to reopen the printing house (Krestyanin Director Irina Samokhina pictured) after previously ordering its closure for 90 days. The award-winning Krestyanin, one of Russia’s leading regional quality newspapers, publishes seven weeklies with a total circulation of 350,000. The newspaper’s website was inexplicably blocked for two days during the dispute.
On 17 May, the Myasnikovsky court ordered the printing house’s closure on the grounds of alleged breaches of fire safety regulations following an inspection by an officer from the Department of Fire Police. At the second hearing, the court refused to reopen the printing house even though the Fire Police had issued a certificate confirming rectification of the alleged breaches, and scheduled a further hearing for 31 May.
MDLF is concerned that the attack may be the beginning of a campaign of intimidation designed to influence the newspaper’s editorial and its independent printing policy ahead of national parliamentary elections in December, and the presidential election due to be held in March 2012.
Read reports in the Mail & Guardian, Follow the Media and the Video Journalism Movement.
Timeline of events
On the evening of 12 May, Krestyanin was due to begin printing campaign flyers for the Communist Party candidate for Mayor of Shakhty, a nearby city. The Deputy Director of the printing house received telephone calls from a local government official and a campaign manager of the United Russia Party mayoral candidate suggesting that it stop printing the flyers. The campaign manager told him that Denis Stanislavov, the URP candidate, had a ‘business proposal’ to discuss. The Deputy Director pointed out that under Russian law, a printing house is obliged to print campaign materials for any registered candidate and refused to discuss any business deal.
Soon after the call, at around midnight, electricity to the printing house and the neighbouring area was cut off. Fifteen minutes later, technicians from the electricity company in Taganrog arrived saying that a fire had been reported at the printing house and insisting that it could not be connected to mains electricity. Fortunately, the printing house had its own generator so was able to continue printing. At 1am, police arrived, saying that they had received reports that the flyer contained anti-Semitic content and demanding to see the company’s founding documents. Krestyanin provided the police with the documents they requested and pointed out that the content of the flyer was an issue for the electoral commission. The flyers were printed and delivered to the candidate.
On the morning of 13 May, an officer from the Department of Fire Police offered to carry out an inspection of the premises so that he could notify Krestyanin of any potential breaches to fire regulations. Even though he had no court order, Krestyanin allowed him to carry out his visual inspection. Instead of reporting any anomalies to Krestyanin, the fire official informed the court of several alleged infringements*.
On 18 May, court bailiffs sealed the printing house and printing presses (the order did not mandate sealing the presses), refusing to allow even maintenance engineers to access the premises.
On 18 May, the Krestyanin newspaper website was blocked. It was unblocked on 20 May.
On 20 May, after holding talks with local officials, the premises were re-inspected and Krestyanin obtained a certificate from the Fire Police certifying that all breaches of regulations had been rectified. (The breaches had been rectified within 24 hours of the original inspection.)
On 24 May, the court requested additional evidence and refused to reopen the printing house, postponing the hearing until 31 May.
About Krestyanin
Krestyanin (The Peasant) - http://www.krestyanin.com/ - is an independent newspaper launched in 1991 in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, serving three agrarian regions. Initially intended to promote the interests of local farmers, by 1993 Krestyanin had become a family paper with balanced, professional reporting. The newspaper places the community at the heart of its activities. Starting in 1997, Krestyanin began diversifying its publishing operations and now produces seven weekly papers with a total circulation of 350,000 copies, printed by its own printing house, Technical Centre “Krestyanin”. It is the flagship publisher of the Rostov region and one of Russia’s leading private regional publishing houses.
Among the recent awards won by Krestyanin newspaper are:
- Journalist Victor Shostko received the prestigious Artem Borovik Prize for Investigative Reporting in 2010;
- In early 2011, the publishing house received the Petr Stolypin prize for the revival of Russian farmers.
Among the recent awards won by Krestyanin printing house are:
- The General Director was named the Best Entrepreneur of the Don region in 2010;
- The printing house was recognized as being the second biggest taxpayer in the area where it operates (Chaltyr area);
- The printing house is a multiple winner of the Platov Best Regional Printing Enterprise awards.
*Alleged fire infringements:
1) The evacuation plan does not meet the certified standard (state standard 12.2 143-2009)
2) The walls on evacuation routes are not covered with inflammable materials (MDF)
3) The doors on evacuation routes do not open in the direction of evacuation
4) The doors to the electric room are not made of non-flammable materials
5) The cord of the fire alarm is located less than 50cm from the electric light system and is not covered by cable trunking
6) There are no signs for fire hydrants in the building
7) Electric sockets are located on flammable surfaces
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- South African story of the year: Zuma Inc on the Zuma family’s business interests.
- South African Journalist of the year: Matuma Letsaolo for his expose on corruption.
- Joel Mervis award: The Mail & Guardian – The award recognises newspaper excellence in advertising, printing and production, layout and typography as well as balance between the use of pictures and graphics.
- Analysis, commentary and enterprise news category: Samantha Reinders and Mara Kardas-Nelson – Blood Sweat and Water series on acid mine drainage.
The paper also received the following recognition:
- Finalist: Feature Writing, Niren Tolsi, for Fear and Loathing in Obamaland
- Finalist: Creative Writing, Nikiwe Bikitsha, for Hanging up my wig
- Finalist: Editorial Cartoons, Jonathan 'Zapiro' Shapiro: 'Zumaglue'; 'Feel it ... it is here!'; 'Evolution of Democracy'; 'Aids message'; 'On second thoughts'; 'Baby shower'
- Finalist: Graphical Journalism, John McCann, 'Cronin'; 'Horsemen'; 'Freedom under threat' and other entries
- Finalist: Journalism 2010, Niren Tolsi, For Field of shattered dreams, Lebo M's non-performance; 'Tale of Two Cups; and Mainlining the Rainbow
M&G editor-in-chief Nic Dawes attributed much of the success to the M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism which was set up to advance the training of journalists in investigative techniques.
Read more here.
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