This is Brave New Media – a global podcast featuring journalists and editors from around the world telling their stories as part of our mission to create a healthier media ecosystem.

In series two, we explore stories the critical roles media can play in different contexts - and how these roles impact their relationship with political powers.

Each episode features a specialist who digs deep into the issues uncovered by our Brave New Media outlets, and provides possible solutions.

In this final episode of series two, we meet Argaw Ashine, an Ethiopian journalist who co-founded the media outlet Wazema.

Argaw tells us how Wazema began in exile, after he and the other founders had to flee Ethiopia due to the risky political environment.

But in 2020, taking advantage of a period of media liberalisation in Ethiopia, they decided to return and move Wazema’s operation there.

Argaw explains that after a golden period, when Wazema helped create a more democratic and inclusive space, the outbreak of civil war brought an end to the media freedoms they enjoyed.

And now, Wazema faces a constant struggle to uphold the public interest amid the turmoil of conflict.

Our specialist interview for this episode is with Rashwear Mukundu, advisor on African media policy for International Media Support (IMS).

A transcript of the episode is available here:

Brave New Media is a co-production between BBC Media Action and Holy Mountain. It’s presented by Maha Taki and produced by Saskia Black. To contact us, email: media.action@bbc.co.uk

Show Links:

https://wazemaradio.com

https://www.youtube.com/@Wazemaradio

https://www.mediasupport.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Brave New Media, the global podcast that showcases the stories of journalists and editors from around the world in our mission to create a healthier media ecosystem.

In series two, we explore the role media plays in different contexts and how these roles impact their relationship with political powers.

Each episode features a specialist who provides expert analysis to the issues uncovered by our Brave New Media outlets, and offers possible solutions.

In this episode, we travel to Tanzania to meet Jacqueline Lawrence, who created a community radio station, Highlands FM, in her home region, Mbeya.

Highlands has played a vital role in the economic development of this agricultural region, through public debates that connect the station’s audiences with local and national government officials.

But Jacqueline shares the challenges she has faced in steering a difficult course between reflecting the concerns of her audiences, and avoiding antagonising the authorities.

Our specialist for this episode is Alphonce Shiundu, a Kenyan journalist who works with Africa Check, a fact-finding organisation that seeks to improve the quality of information across Africa.

Brave New Media is a co-production between BBC Media Action and Holy Mountain. It’s presented by Maha Taki and produced by Saskia Black. To contact us, email: media.action@bbc.co.uk

Show Links:

https://www.instagram.com/mbeyahighlandsfm/?hl=en

https://africacheck.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to series two of Brave New Media, the global podcast featuring the brave and exciting work of journalists and editors from around the world telling their stories as part of our mission to create a healthier media ecosystem.

In this series we delve deep into the role of media in different contexts and how these roles impact their relationship with political powers.

And just like in our first series, in each episode, a specialist will analyse the issues uncovered by our Brave New Media outlets, and propose solutions.

We start this series by heading to Indonesia to hear Evi Mariani’s story.

Evi tells us about Project Multatuli, the media platform she co-founded to hold authorities to account in this vast country, where economic and political power is mostly concentrated in the capital, Jakarta.

Evi shares how Project Multatuli found itself in direct conflict with authorities after it published a story about police inaction over a sexual abuse case involving children.

Rebecca Vincent, the director of international campaigns for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), then delves into the issues of media safety discussed by Evi.

Brave New Media is a co-production between BBC Media Action and Holy Mountain. It’s presented by Maha Taki and produced by Saskia Black. To contact us, email: media.action@bbc.co.uk

Show Links:

https://projectmultatuli.org

https://twitter.com/projectm_org

https://tcij.org/person/rebecca-vincent/

Notes on Project Multatuli’s funding structure:

In December 2022, 45% of Project Multatuli’s funding was from grants and then 45% was from revenue from outsourcing their team’s journalism skills to other companies and outlets. The remaining 10% is from their membership programme.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.