Sasha Schroeder


Filters & Sorting
Center for International Media Assistance •

‘My Job is for Humanity’: Afghan Journalists Keep the News Flowing

For years, independent Afghan newspaper Etilaatroz has published hard-hitting investigations into corruption, discrimination, and nepotism. In 2017, the Afghan parliament stopped the sale of government land due to an investigation by the paper, which showed that then-President Ashraf Ghani sold the land to an election supporter at a deeply discounted rate. Later that same year, the newspaper published a leaked document showing that Afghan government officials had encouraged promotion of Pashtun
Center for International Media Assistance •

Fighting Fake News: How Mis- and Disinformation Legislation is Weaponized Against Journalists

In the aftermath of Russia’s deadly attack in Mariupol, Ukraine, that left nearly 600 civilians dead, journalist Maria Ponomarenko found herself ensnared in a legal battle for posting online that Russia was responsible, which the Russian defense ministry denied. In February 2023, she was sentenced to six years in prison for spreading “false” information about the Russian military. Her case is emblematic of a growing global trend as countries around the world try to protect their news ecosystems
Center for International Media Assistance •

Year in Review: Top 5 CIMA Publications of 2022

In 2022, independent media around the world faced some of the greatest threats seen in recent years. Global crises—including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, extreme violence in Mexico, and instability in Haiti—have contributed to a more hostile environment for independent reporting, including a reversal of the years-long global decline in journalist killings. Despite this troubling turn, independent media continue to relentlessly persevere in the face of increasingly hostile environments. As th
Center for International Media Assistance •

‘Alternative Means’: How Civil Society in Southern Africa Can Combat Impunity

Most killers of journalists walk free. The statistics are staggering: worldwide, almost nine out of 10 cases of journalist killings are met with impunity. To mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists and the tenth anniversary of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of the Impunity (UNPA), CIMA spoke with Zoe Titus, director of the Namibia Media Trust and chairperson of the Global Forum for Media Development, about how civil society can
Center for International Media Assistance •

Rebalancing the Relationship Between Big Tech and News Media

As the global journalism industry struggles to adapt to shrinking revenue brought on by the failure of traditional business models, Big Tech companies continue to dominate the digital advertising market. This uneven playing field has led policymakers in the US, EU, and Australia to attempt to rebalance the relationship between Big Tech and news organizations—but how are those efforts impacting media outlets located outside of the Global North? On September 20, CIMA hosted “Should Big Tech Pay f
International Press Institute •

Regional news site Nyugat is bucking the trend of captured media in Hungary

Breaking through the challenging media environment that the Orbán government has created over the past decade in Hungary, Nyugat is providing defiantly independent news while working to rebuild trust in the media by emotionally appealing to readers, write Vidya Kathirgamalingam and Jacqui Park Launched 21 years ago as an experiment at the “dawn of the digital age”, Nyugat is based in Szombathely, near the Austrian border. It has now become integral to its community of 50,000 readers. “People m
International Press Institute •

Case Study: Scrolla (South Africa)

Scrolla was founded in 2019 by Mungo Soggot, an entrepreneur and former investigative journalist, along with a team of other seasoned South African journalists including Phillip van Niekerk, Everson Luhanga, Zukile Majova, and Toby Shapshak. Soggot noticed that many South African publications catered to wealthier people with tertiary education and wanted to provide content to those with lower income and education levels. Scrolla aims to reach more South Africans through innovative mobile-first p
International Press Institute •

Case Study: Local Call (Israel/Palestine)

Launched in 2014 by sister news site +972 Magazine, Local Call is a Hebrew-language news site that advances citizen journalism in Israel and Palestine and works to end the occupation of Palestine. The site was co-founded and is co-published by Just Vision, a nonprofit that highlights Palestinian and Israeli grassroots leaders working to end the occupation by peaceful means. Producing four to five stories a day, Local Call seeks to fill a gap in independent, uncensored media with an “unapologetic
International Press Institute •

Case Study: Radio Al Balad (Jordan)

Radio Al Balad was launched as AmmanNet radio in 2000 with online audio reports, news bulletins, and a variety of programming. It began broadcasting terrestrially in the Amman metropolitan area in 2005 after the King issued a temporary law authorizing terrestrial broadcasts. Known as Radio Al Balad since 2008, the community broadcaster is now the only independent radio station whose audience is spread across the country. It covers human rights and community-centered stories that serve the Jordan
International Press Institute •

Case Study: Nyugat (Hungary)

Nyugat is the largest regional news site in Hungary. It is based in Szombathely, near the Austrian border, where it serves a community of 200,000 people in the broader region of County Vas. It launched 21 years ago as an online-only media outlet. Nyugat describes itself as fiercely independent, a nonprofit organization seeking to fill the gap of independent media in the region and in the country as a whole. Most mainstream media in Hungary, through a process known as media capture, are controlle
International Press Institute •

Case Study: Kloop (Kyrgyzstan)

Kyrgyzstan lacks independent media organizations that hold the government accountable. In response, Kloop was founded in 2007 by Bektour Iskender and Rinat Tuhvatshin and has become both a news website with a local focus and a journalism school known for teaching investigative reporting and media literacy. In recent years, Kloop has become one of the country’s most popular news sites and has moved to train many journalists from outside of he capital, Bishkek, to report on remote areas to bridge
International Press Institute •

Case Study: 263Chat (Zimbabwe)

Launched in 2012, originally as a Twitter handle and hashtag, 263Chat is now a daily e-paper in Zimbabwe. 263Chat has over 200 WhatsApp groups that function as the primary distributor of its daily e-paper in PDF format to 50,000 Zimbabweans. The media organization also distributes news on its web page and on social media, particularly Twitter. 263Chat seeks to fill the gap in accessible, fact-based journalism in a country that is inundated with state media. 263Chat aim
International Press Institute •

Case Study: Daily Dispatch (South Africa)

Founded in 1872, the Daily Dispatch became the first penny daily newspaper published in the Eastern Cape in 1898, and has been an advocate for fair treatment of all South Africans ever since. Due to the South African media’s reliability on the declining advertisement model, many outlets, including the Daily Dispatch, witnessed a 50 percent drop in working journalists. Although its newsroom has shrunk, the Daily Dispatch continues to fill a gap in investigative journali
International Press Institute •

How Scrolla is reimagining South African journalism

This story is part of IPI’s Local Journalism Project. Read more here. Scrolling through the news on a mobile phone might be taken for granted in some parts of the world, but in many parts of Africa, it’s a luxury. South Africa’s mobile data rates are among the most expensive in the world, and without widespread Wi-Fi, low-income South Africans aren’t as well catered to by the news media market as wealthier South Africans. Scrolla Africa CEO Mungo Soggot and his fellow co-founders decided to re
International Press Institute •

#IPIWoCo recap: What’s behind ProPublica’s success

At the 2021 IPI World Congress, ProPublica Editor-in-Chief Stephen Engelberg spoke to Jacqui Park, IPI head of strategy and innovation, about the not-for-profit outlet’s unique place in the American media landscape, whether it can be replicated elsewhere, and how news leaders can build a culture of philanthropy for journalism. Engelberg began with an explanation of how ProPublica came into existence in 2007 with the help of angel investors who invested millions into the organization for its fir
International Press Institute •

#IPIWoCo recap: Global lessons for local news

Earlier this year, IPI published a report that found local news is the most disrupted sector of the media, but is also the sector with the greatest potential to form the bedrock for a new media ecosystem. The IPI World Congress session “Strategies: Think globally, report locally” brought industry veterans and emerging talent together to explore challenges facing local news as well as innovative methods to build stronger, more sustainable newsrooms worldwide. The panel was organized in partnershi
International Press Institute •

#IPIWoCo recap: How to fund the journalism we need

During the closing discussion at IPI’s World Congress on Friday, September 17, panelists agreed that in today’s world, newsrooms need to seek innovative ways to fund their work. The session “How fund the journalism we need” was organized in partnership with Vienna’s Presseclub Concordia. Anita Zielina, director of news innovation and leadership at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York in the U.S., said a diversified revenue portfolio is the key to ne
Investigative Journalism for Europe •

Interview: ‘You start wondering: What do they have to hide?’

Many Europeans are unaware of their involvement in one of Africa’s fastest-growing conflicts. With the support of 11 EU member states, France has waged war in the Sahel region of West Africa since 2013, under the banner of fighting extremists linked to the Islamic State and al Qaeda. The French military has been guarded about its operations, leaving many wondering what the war with seemingly no end in sight has actually achieved. A team of journalists and researchers from five countries decide
International Press Institute •

Four Afghan journalists arrested after interviewing Taliban leader

The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and journalists for press freedom, today condemned the arrest of four journalists in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and called on the government to release them immediately. According to the Afghanistan Journalists’ Center, the four journalists, Bismillah Watandoost, Qudrat Soltani, Mujib Obaidi, and Sanaullah Siam were detained by Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security this morning on their return to Kandaha
International Press Institute •

Belarus widens crackdown on the press

At least 30 members of the press across Belarus have been detained over the last week amid a continued crackdown on independent journalists and media organizations. The International Press Institute (IPI) demands the release of those still in detention and an end to the targeting of journalists in Belarus. The latest wave of repression began on July 8 with a raid on one of Belarus’ oldest and most popular news organizations, Nasha Niva. Based in Minsk, Nasha Niva’s website was blocked after the
Load More Articles