Bettina Peters, 'The Media's Role: Covering or Covering up Corruption?' in Global Corruption Report 2003 (Transparency International: 2003).
http://www.globalcorruptionreport.org/download/gcr2003/06_Medias_role_(Peters).pdf

Despite international recognition of the importance of press freedom, journalists and media organisations throughout the world continue to face obstacles in reporting on corruption. In this chapter, Peters addresses some of the main issues currently confronting news media in various part of the world, including the presence of active censorship, restrictive regulations on journalist activities, draconian defamation and libel laws, lack of journalist training, poor professional standards and a dearth of investment into investigative journalism.

Jeremy Pope 'An Independent and Free Media' in TI Sourcebook 2000: Confronting Corruption: The Elements of a National Integrity System (Transparency International: 2000).
http://www.transparency.org/sourcebook/14.html

This chapter outlines the special role of a free and independent media in countering corruption as part of a holistic approach to transparency and accountability. As one of the main 'pillars' of a country's 'national integrity system', a free media is considered to play an essential anti-corruption function through its provision of information to the public and active monitoring of both public and private institutions. Key issues addressed include intimidation of the media, self-censorship, appropriate legal frameworks and media ownership.

Monroe E. Price and Peter Krug, The Enabling Environment for Free and Independent Media (OxfordUniversity: 2000).
http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/democracy_and_governance/publications/pdfs/pnacm006.pdf

Price and Krug seek to identify components of the complex legal process that contributes to an environment that enables media to advance democratic goals. Understanding this 'enabling environment' can be helpful to those engaged in building and reinforcing democratic institutions and to those who are advocating the development of a free and independent media.

Rick Stapenhurst, The Media's Role in Curbing Corruption (World Bank Institute: 2000).
http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/governance/pdf/media.pdf

In this paper, Stapenhurst discusses the critical role of the media in promoting good governance and controlling corruption. He examines how the media can expose corrupt officials, prompt investigations and reinforce the work and legitimacy of anti-corruption bodies, creating pressure to change laws and regulations that create a climate favourable to corruption. The paper also considers how the media can be strengthened, highlighting such issues as private versus public ownership, the protection of journalists investigating corruption, press freedom and media accountability.

Ian Beales, Imperfect Freedom: The case for self-regulation in the Commonwealth press (Commonwealth Press Union: 2002).
http://www.cpu.org.uk/downloads/master_report.pdf

This paper presents key findings from a series of Commonwealth Press Union seminars held in 2001-2002 in which Commonwealth media professionals addressed the issue of self-regulation of print media. Apart from identifying regional trends in press regulation, the paper examines the case for introducing independent press councils as the basis for self-regulation throughout the Commonwealth.

International Research and Exchanges Board, Media Sustainability Index 2003 (IREX: 2003).
http://www.irex.org/msi/index.asp

The MSI is a tool for assessing media sustainability in transition countries, providing in-depth analysis of the conditions for independent media in 20 countries across Europe and Central Asia. The index assesses five "objectives" in shaping a successful media system: legal and social norms protect and promote free speech and access to information; journalism meets professional standards of quality; multiple news sources provide citizens with reliable and objective news; independent media are well-managed businesses, allowing editorial independence; and supporting institutions function in the professional interests of an independent media.

Karin Deutsch Karlekar (ed.), Freedom of the Press 2004: A Global Survey of Media Independence (Freedom House: 2004).
http://www.freedomhouse.org/pfs2004/pfs2004.pdf

This survey rates 192 countries according to levels of press freedom. The examination of press freedom in each country is based on three broad categories corresponding to the legal, political and economic environment in which the media operates. Each country rating is accompanied by a short report highlighting the most important characteristics of the national media environment as well as specific recent events of significance to press freedom.

David Addis and others, Media Responses to Corruption in the Emerging Democracies: Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine (Freedom House: 1999).
http://freedomhouse.org/reports/mediatxt.html

This Freedom House report explores the media's capacity to accurately and effectively investigate and report on crime and corruption in four key emerging democracies. Seven primary obstacles are identified to be faced by journalists in the region. These are: lack of media independence, lack of access to information, punitive libel laws and prosecutorial abuse, the weakness of advocacy groups, the existence of disincentives to investigative journalism, a lack of reporting experience among journalists and, finally, public cynicism regarding corruption.

European Federation of Journalists, Crisis in Italian Media: How Poor Politics and Flawed Legislation Put Journalism Under Pressure (EFJ: 2003).
http://www.ifj-europe.org

This report presents the findings of an EFJ mission to Italy conducted in November 2003 to investigate the health of the country's media. The report highlights three important dimensions: the relationship between journalists and government; the editorial independence of journalists; and the concept of public interest in broadcasting and journalism. The report also includes an EFJ position paper outlining a number of principles on the issue of media legislation.

Evan Ruth and Toby Mendel, Media Regulation in the United Kingdom (Article 19: 2000).

Media content regulation in the UK revolves primarily around codes of practice, drawn up by a variety of bodies which are either entirely or largely independent, following wide public consultation. In some cases, these codes of practice have been developed by bodies with statutory powers over the media while in others the responsible bodies have been established by the media or journalists themselves. In this paper, Ruth and Mendel describe the various codes of practice that are applied to the media in the UK, as well as the systems for promoting adherence to these codes.

International Federation of Journalists 'Caught in the Act: Corruption and the Media' (Media for Democracy in Africa Conference, Brussels 21-22 September, 1998).
http://www.ifj.org/pdfs/corrconf1998.pdf

This report on the proceedings of an international conference organised by the International Federation of Journalists, focuses on the role of the media in countering corruption in Africa. The report includes country-specific background papers by media practitioners from Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, and Uganda (some available in French language only). A media action plan against corruption in Africa is also outlined.

Jeremy Druker and Dean C.K. Cox, Under Assault: Ukraine's News Media and the 2004 Presidential Elections, Updated June 2004 (Freedom House: 2004).
http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/specreports/ukmedia604.pdf

This report provides an assessment of the Ukraine's news media in the run up to the country's 2004 presidential elections, highlighting key recommendations for a range of domestic and international actors. The report is based on interviews with Ukrainian media experts and on literature produced by media monitoring groups with a focus on the country. Key issues addressed include state influence and interference and the economic dependency and vulnerability of news media.

Lars Møller and Jack Jackson, Journalistic Legwork that Tumbled a President: A Case Study and Guide for Investigative Journalists, (World Bank Institue, 2002).
http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/governance/pdf/pcij_estrada.pdf

This WBI case study focuses on the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) and its groundbreaking exposés of corruption by former president Joseph Estrada. The study illustrates the way in which news media can control executive abuse when the press is relatively free and when information of a public nature can be obtained and scrutinised.

Pamela Dube and Fernando Gonçalves, Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe, June 2004 (Media Institute of Southern Africa: 2004).
http://www.misa.org/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?category=1&id=1092158605

This report produced by the Media Institute of Southern Africa provides an overview of Zimbabwe's current media landscape. Key issues addressed include the overall legal environment in which the Zimbabwean media operates, the government's monopoly over broadcasting services and the role of the country's electronic media. The report concludes that Zimbabwe's media cannot be utilised as a public watchdog and that political interference in the media is likely to increase as the country nears parliamentary elections in 2005.

Peter A. Bruck and others, Media Diversity in Europe, (Council of Europe: 2002).

This report, prepared by the Council of Europe's Advisory Panel on media concentration, pluralism and diversity, examines factors involved in safeguarding and promoting pluralism in European media. It points to specific measures needed to strengthen national European regulators and authorities responsible for
ensuring and protecting media diversity.