In a country where media heavily rely on government funding and informal payments, there can’t be much independent reporting. Kyrgyz journalists attest to that.
Facebook appears to be the almost exclusive source of traffic for Hungarian misinformation websites, which fall on the spectrum from purely ideological sites to simple money-making machines. Their Facebook pages are stable, directing users to their ever-changing URLs.
The Slovak misinformation industry is growing fast, buoyed by ads and e-commerce, but many people support them directly, too, through donations or tax designations.
Georgian independent journalism is struggling in a highly politicized media industry where the government and a few wealthy businesspeople call the shots.
The environment in which journalists operate in Kyrgyzstan has improved significantly after a new president took the country’s helm in 2017. However, the country’s media remain tied to the government’s apron strings, according to a newly released Media Influence Matrix report.
Technology companies were hoped and expected to liberate the world and give journalism a platform to operate freely. But in Pakistan, they have become a policing tool.