tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/access-to-information-21734/articlesaccess to information – The Conversation2022-09-08T15:35:10Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1902762022-09-08T15:35:10Z2022-09-08T15:35:10ZSouth Africa’s Jacob Zuma is taking a top reporter to court. The verdict could affect journalists’ rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483516/original/file-20220908-9455-64ycem.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former South African president Jacob Zuma appearing in the Pietermaritzburg High Court in 2020 on charges of corruption.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Kim Ludbrook/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South African journalism organisations this week <a href="https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/3191443/sanef-zuma-private-prosecution-media-freedom/">rallied around</a> well-known journalist Karyn Maughan when former president Jacob Zuma initiated <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/breaking-zuma-charges-downer-news24-journalist-in-private-prosecution-over-medical-records-20220906">a private prosecution against her</a>.</p>
<p>Zuma faces <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/jacob-zuma-corruption-charges-south-africa-president-arms-deal-a8291826.html">16 counts of corruption</a> for taking a monthly payment of US$34,000 from French arms firm Thales while he was deputy president from 1999 and later president from 2009 to 2018. Thales was involved in South Africa’s massive arms purchase deal during that period.</p>
<p>Zuma had originally <a href="https://mg.co.za/news/2022-09-06-npa-supports-billy-downer-as-zuma-serves-summons/">laid charges</a> against the prosecutor in his corruption case, Billy Downer, for giving a medical certificate from the investigation to Maughan. When the police declined to prosecute Downer, Zuma initiated a case against both him and Maughan for disclosing the information.</p>
<p>Zuma’s supporters jumped on Maughan <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/ntsiki-slams-racist-journo-karyn-maughan-amid-zuma-legal-saga/ar-AA11AzXa?li=BBqfP3n">on social media</a>, lashing her – with some racist and misogynist language - for allegedly exposing Zuma’s medical records. </p>
<p>But the South African National Editors’ Forum <a href="https://www.citizen.co.za/news/south-africa/3191443/sanef-zuma-private-prosecution-media-freedom/">expressed</a> “disgust” at the serving of summons on Maughan. </p>
<p>It was “a clear case of intimidation solely intended to silence Maughan” as
the information “was of public record and not confidential”.</p>
<p>My own organisation, the Campaign for Free Expression, <a href="https://www.biznews.com/undictated/2022/09/07/karyn-maughan-private-prosecution">said</a> Zuma had “a pattern
of taking legal action against his media critics in an attempt to stifle scrutiny and criticism and to divert attention from and delay his own prosecution.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It should be seen for what it is: an attempt to make it risky for journalists to scrutinise him, and discourage critical journalism.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Maughan’s case will be interesting and important, and is likely to go all the way to the Constitutional Court. It will test a journalist’s right to publish court material in the public interest.</p>
<p>What is at stake is more than her innocence or guilt: it is whether South Africans have an open court in which reporters can gather information, canvass all the parties and report freely on proceedings. And whether we can have swift justice and not allow for endless delays.</p>
<h2>What the law says</h2>
<p>The law is clear: it is illegal to disclose information that the prosecutor has as part of the investigation without permission of the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions. It appears that Downer, without the necessary permission, told his colleagues to give the documents to Maughan under embargo, as they were due to be tabled in court and become part of the public record.</p>
<p>Maughan argues that she only published them after they were tabled in court, that neither party had applied for them to be sealed and there was nothing particularly sensitive about them. It was only a medical certificate, not his private records. </p>
<p>What she was doing was routine court reporting: getting information from the parties to the dispute, and publishing them in the public interest.</p>
<p>Why then has it caused such a rumpus? It is because of Zuma’s long use of what
has been called a Stalingrad defence: slow down proceedings and wear down the
other side by appealing every unfavourable ruling and using whatever other means possible to delay proceedings and divert attention from the core case.
So far, this has worked in his favour. Started in 2005, the case is still in its early stages. Now he is trying to have prosecutor Downer dismissed and is lashing out at the media at the same time.</p>
<p>But the courts and much of the public have grown tired of it. His supporters cheer him on, portraying him as a hapless victim of persecution and political conspiracy. And the courts under close scrutiny have to be meticulous to ensure that his rights are respected, even when this causes undue delay.</p>
<p>Zuma is trying to disrupt the process and to harass and intimidate prosecutors and journalists. He did not raise the matter with the media house that published her work, nor did he take her to the Press Council, the body that oversees journalism ethics.</p>
<p>He chose to label her a criminal who belongs in prison. A private prosecution against a journalist covering a person’s court case is unheard of in South Africa.</p>
<p>He is attempting to turn the contestation of a court hearing into an all-out war and chill those who pursue justice against him. He is trying to put the justice system and the media on trial, rather than himself.</p>
<p>The action against Maughan says more about Zuma and his lawyers than it does
about Maughan. It shows a contempt for democratic and court processes, as well as for journalists and their role in ensuring court cases are public, open events.</p>
<p>It demonstrates his willingness to attack whoever is in his way in his attempt to delay and divert attention from his own case. It reveals his capacity – Trump-like – to portray himself as the constant victim of conspiracies. That is why the community of journalists has rallied to Maughan’s defence. </p>
<p>The fight is not just to protect her, but to defend an open justice system, in which reporters play a key role.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190276/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anton Harber is a member of the SA National Editors' Forum (Sanef) and executive director of the Campaign for Free Expression.</span></em></p>Former South African president Zuma is trying to turn the contestation of a court hearing into an all-out war and chill those who pursue justice against him.Anton Harber, Caxton Professor of Journalism, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1553642021-02-28T13:36:44Z2021-02-28T13:36:44ZFor the record: Digitizing archives can increase access to information but compromise privacy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386487/original/file-20210225-19-1vd7g8f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C0%2C6579%2C4466&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Digitizing archives can make information more accessible, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Stay-at-home orders mean no eating at restaurants, attending shows or visiting friends and family. It also means that Canadian archives institutions and facilities, following public health orders, have restricted access for genealogists, academic researchers and anyone else digging through the past. </p>
<p>Why don’t archives just digitize everything and make it available online?</p>
<p>Collections at a large archive like <a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/about-us/about-collection/Pages/about.aspx">Library and Archives Canada (LAC)</a> include hundreds of kilometres of records, millions of photographic images, maps, architectural plans and artworks, and hundreds of thousands of hours of audio and video recordings. LAC, like other archives, has more mandate than budget. Digitizing this quantity of material far exceeds the institution’s resources.</p>
<p>Then there are the benefits relative to costs. Archives like LAC cite the <a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/about-us/about-collection/Pages/digitization-lac.aspx">popularity of records as the number one reason for digitization</a>. Legal and academic research requires not just selected records, but entire bodies of records, including many not looked at since they were put into the archives. Digitizing large runs of obscure records would not be a responsible use of scarce public funds.</p>
<h2>Protecting privacy and intellectual property</h2>
<p>Like many archives in Canada, LAC holds government records as well as records donated by private individuals and organizations. Access to these private records may be restricted under legally binding donor agreements to protect donor privacy, third-party privacy or copyright.</p>
<p>But even with government records, the situation is not so simple. Government records include personal information of individuals, which must be protected under <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/ENG/ACTS/P-21/index.html">the Privacy Act</a>. </p>
<p>Equally, the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/a-1/">Access to Information Act</a>, while opening many government records, keeps some closed to protect third-party privacy and national security, and for <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/access-information-privacy/access-information/access-information-manual.html#cha11">other reasons</a>. </p>
<p>Since government records include records received by government, such as when a citizen sends a letter or a consultant submits a report, governments do not hold the copyright on all their records. As a result, some cannot be digitized under <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-42/index.html">the Copyright Act</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/2020-is-a-year-for-the-history-books-but-not-without-digital-archives-140234">2020 is a year for the history books, but not without digital archives</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Canadian history is replete with examples of government surveillance that in retrospect is seen to be unwarranted and harmful. Indigenous communities, for example, have been under government surveillance for longer than Canada has been a nation. The records of this surveillance are government records. Digitizing them and placing them online <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3402%2Fijch.v75.32593">would deprive Indigenous people of their privacy and undermine Indigenous sovereignty</a>. </p>
<h2>Preserving the digital</h2>
<p>Archives do not destroy the records they digitize. For every digitized record the burden of preservation is doubled: the original must be maintained and the digital copy, to be useful, must be preserved against obsolescence and data loss. </p>
<p>Unless archives are provided special funding, digitization is a <a href="https://marketbusinessnews.com/financial-glossary/zero-sum-game-definition-meaning/">zero-sum game</a>: it uses up resources that are not available for other tasks. Among the most important of these is the preservation of born-digital records, including email, spreadsheets and documents, as well as new forms of records such as websites and social media. </p>
<p>Created on outdated computers and stored on obsolete media like floppy disks or CDs, born-digital records require specialized software, equipment and methods of preservation. Canadian archives desperately need public and researcher support for an infusion of funding to meet <a href="https://cca-reports.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/cofca_14-377_memoryinstitutions_web_e.pdf">the challenge of born-digital archiving</a>. </p>
<p>Given the ubiquity of digital technologies today, creating archives of born-digital records must be our most urgent priority — including <a href="https://rsc-src.ca/en/research-and-reports/covid-19-policy-briefing/remembering-is-form-honouring-preserving-covid-19">records created during the COVID-19 pandemic</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386492/original/file-20210225-17-lp1xe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Hands on a laptop keyboard with box files." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386492/original/file-20210225-17-lp1xe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386492/original/file-20210225-17-lp1xe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386492/original/file-20210225-17-lp1xe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386492/original/file-20210225-17-lp1xe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386492/original/file-20210225-17-lp1xe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386492/original/file-20210225-17-lp1xe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386492/original/file-20210225-17-lp1xe0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Physical space is still required to preserve digital records.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Selective digitization</h2>
<p>Fortunately, archives have been working on this problem for some time now, and programs of selective digitization have been very successful at making high-use records readily available online. </p>
<p>Archives need to ensure that detailed, highly specific descriptions of records are created so that researchers can have a clear idea about the records they need to see before making travel plans.</p>
<p>Large archives, like LAC or <a href="https://www.banq.qc.ca/accueil/">Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec</a>, have <a href="https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/handle/1993/35197">regional offices that keep records close to where they are most relevant</a>. </p>
<p>And most importantly, Canadian archives have dedicated staff who can provide insight and assistance to researchers, or direct researchers to already digitized materials. Reaching out to archival staff before travelling to an archives is a good idea during the COVID-19 pandemic or anytime else.</p>
<p><a href="https://rsc-src.ca/en/future-now-canadas-libraries-archives-and-public-memory">Canadian archives have endured decades of funding shortfalls and reductions</a>, even as they have faced new challenges in digitizing non-digital records and capturing born-digital records. Increased funding is essential: but let’s not chase the mirage of digitizing everything.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155364/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Greg Bak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>During the coronavirus pandemic, digitizing archives can help increase access. But in addition to the labour and financial costs, issues of privacy, copyright and resources need to be considered.Greg Bak, Associate Professor of History (Archival Studies), University of ManitobaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1400262020-09-08T20:10:42Z2020-09-08T20:10:42ZResearch reveals shocking detail on how Australia’s environmental scientists are being silenced<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/356228/original/file-20200903-24-y2gz1h.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C8000%2C4491&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ecologists and conservation experts in government, industry and universities are routinely constrained in communicating scientific evidence on threatened species, mining, logging and other threats to the environment, our new research has found.</p>
<p>Our study, <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12757">just published</a>, shows how important scientific information about environmental threats often does not reach the public or decision-makers, including government ministers. </p>
<p>In some cases, scientists self-censor information for fear of damaging their careers, losing funding or being misrepresented in the media. In others, senior managers or ministers’ officers prevented researchers from speaking truthfully on scientific matters.</p>
<p>This information blackout, termed “science suppression”, can hide environmentally damaging practices and policies from public scrutiny. The practice is detrimental to both nature and democracy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A scientist kneels by a stream" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348422/original/file-20200720-64504-933ebq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348422/original/file-20200720-64504-933ebq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348422/original/file-20200720-64504-933ebq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348422/original/file-20200720-64504-933ebq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348422/original/file-20200720-64504-933ebq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348422/original/file-20200720-64504-933ebq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348422/original/file-20200720-64504-933ebq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When scientists are free to communicate their knowledge, the public is kept informed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">University of Queensland/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Code of silence</h2>
<p>Our online survey ran from October 25, 2018, to February 11, 2019. Through advertising and other means, we targeted Australian ecologists, conservation scientists, conservation policy makers and environmental consultants. This included academics, government employees and scientists working for industry such as consultants and non-government organisations. </p>
<p>Some 220 people responded to the survey, comprising:</p>
<ul>
<li>88 working in universities</li>
<li>79 working in local, state or federal government</li>
<li>47 working in industry, such as environmental consulting and environmental NGOs</li>
<li>6 who could not be classified. </li>
</ul>
<p>In a series of multiple-choice and open-ended questions, we asked respondents about the prevalence and consequences of suppressing science communication.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/let-there-be-no-doubt-blame-for-our-failing-environment-laws-lies-squarely-at-the-feet-of-government-141482">Let there be no doubt: blame for our failing environment laws lies squarely at the feet of government</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>About half (52%) of government respondents, 38% from industry and 9% from universities had been prohibited from communicating scientific information.</p>
<p>Communications via traditional (40%) and social (25%) media were most commonly prohibited across all workplaces. There were also instances of internal communications (15%), conference presentations (11%) and journal papers (5%) being prohibited.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d5eyym6nrHE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A video explaining the research findings.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Ministers are not receiving full information’</h2>
<p>Some 75% of respondents reported having refrained from making a contribution to public discussion when given the opportunity – most commonly in traditional media or social media. A small number of respondents self-censored conference presentations (9%) and peer-reviewed papers (7%).</p>
<p>Factors constraining commentary from government respondents included senior management (82%), workplace policy (72%), a minister’s office (63%) and middle management (62%).</p>
<p>Fear of barriers to advancement (49%) and concern about media misrepresentation (49%) also discouraged public communication by government respondents. </p>
<p>Almost 60% of government respondents and 36% of industry respondents reported unduly modified internal communications.</p>
<p>One government respondent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Due to ‘risk management’ in the public sector […] ministers are not receiving full information and advice and/or this is being ‘massaged’ by advisors (sic).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>University respondents, more than other workplaces, avoided public commentary out of fear of how they would be represented by the media (76%), fear of being drawn beyond their expertise (73%), stress (55%), fear that funding might be affected (53%) and uncertainty about their area of expertise (52%).</p>
<p>One university respondent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I proposed an article in The Conversation about the impacts of mining […] The uni I worked at didn’t like the idea as they received funding from (the mining company).</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="vehicle operating at a coal mine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347879/original/file-20200716-15-41z7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347879/original/file-20200716-15-41z7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347879/original/file-20200716-15-41z7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347879/original/file-20200716-15-41z7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347879/original/file-20200716-15-41z7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347879/original/file-20200716-15-41z7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347879/original/file-20200716-15-41z7w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A university researcher was dissuaded from writing an article for The Conversation on mining.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dave Hunt/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Critical conservation issues suppressed</h2>
<p>Information suppression was most common on the issue of threatened species. Around half of industry and government respondents, and 28% of university respondents, said their commentary on the topic was constrained. </p>
<p>Government respondents also reported being constrained in commenting on logging and climate change. </p>
<p>One government respondent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are often forbidden (from) talking about the true impacts of, say, a threatening process […] especially if the government is doing little to mitigate the threat […] In this way the public often remains ‘in the dark’ about the true state and trends of many species.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>University respondents were most commonly constrained in talking about feral animals. A university respondent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>By being blocked from reporting on the dodgy dealings of my university with regards to my research and its outcomes I feel like I’m not doing my job properly. The university actively avoids any mention of my study species or project due to vested financial interests in some key habitat.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Industry respondents, more than those from other sectors, were constrained in commenting on the impacts of mining, urban development and native vegetation clearing. One industry respondent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A project […] clearly had unacceptable impacts on a critically endangered species […] the approvals process ignored these impacts […] Not being able to speak out meant that no one in the process was willing or able to advocate for conservation or make the public aware of the problem.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="a dead koala in front of trees" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347882/original/file-20200716-27-1rcvnal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347882/original/file-20200716-27-1rcvnal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347882/original/file-20200716-27-1rcvnal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347882/original/file-20200716-27-1rcvnal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347882/original/file-20200716-27-1rcvnal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347882/original/file-20200716-27-1rcvnal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347882/original/file-20200716-27-1rcvnal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Information suppression on threatened species was common.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The system is broken</h2>
<p>Of those respondents who had communicated information publicly, 42% had been harassed or criticised for doing so. Of those, 83% believed the harassers were motivated by political or economic interests. </p>
<p>Some 77 respondents answered a question on whether they had suffered personal consequences as a result of suppressing information. Of these, 18% said they had suffered mental health effects. And 21% reported increased job insecurity, damage to their career, job loss, or had left the field.</p>
<p>One respondent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I declared the (action) unsafe to proceed. I was overruled and properties and assets were impacted. I was told to be silent or never have a job again.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As a consultant working for companies that damage the environment, you have to believe you are having a positive impact, but after years of observing how broken the system is, not being legally able to speak out becomes harder to deal with.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="a scientist tests water" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348414/original/file-20200720-29-1awyiwn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/348414/original/file-20200720-29-1awyiwn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348414/original/file-20200720-29-1awyiwn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348414/original/file-20200720-29-1awyiwn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348414/original/file-20200720-29-1awyiwn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348414/original/file-20200720-29-1awyiwn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/348414/original/file-20200720-29-1awyiwn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scientists want to have a positive impact on environmental outcomes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elaine Thompson/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Change is needed</h2>
<p>We acknowledge that we receive grants involving contracts that restrict our academic freedom. And some of us self-censor to avoid risks to grants from government, resulting in personal moral conflict and a less informed public. When starting this research project, one of our colleagues declined to contribute for fear of losing funding and risking employment.</p>
<p>But Australia faces many complex and demanding environmental problems. It’s essential that scientists are free to communicate their knowledge on these issues. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/conservation-scientists-are-grieving-after-the-bushfires-but-we-must-not-give-up-130195">Conservation scientists are grieving after the bushfires -- but we must not give up</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Public servant codes of conduct should be revised to allow government scientists to speak freely about their research in both a public and private capacity. And government scientists and other staff should report to new, <a href="https://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/f97-051?journalCode=cjfas#.XuKq4EUzY2w">independent</a> state and federal environment authorities, to <a href="https://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0029/518249/Full-Report-National-Integrity-Options-August-2018.pdf">minimise</a> political and industry interference.</p>
<p>A free flow of information ensures government policy is backed by the best science. Conservation dollars would be more wisely invested, costly mistakes avoided and interventions more effectively targeted.</p>
<p>And importantly, it would help ensure the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/542165b">public is properly informed</a> – a fundamental tenet of a flourishing democracy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140026/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Don Driscoll receives funding from the Herman Slade Foundation, OEH NSW Environmental Grants program, DELWP Vic, National Geographic, Rufford Foundation, WWF and Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. He is Past President of the Ecological Society of Australia, Director of the Centre of Integrative Ecology and Director of the TechnEcology Research Network at Deakin University. Don is a member of the Ecological Society of Australia and Society for Conservation Biology. The research reported here was undertaken for the Ecological Society of Australia</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Euan Ritchie receives funding from the Australian Research Council, The Australia and Pacific Science Foundation, Australian Geographic, Parks Victoria, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, and the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. Euan Ritchie is a Director (Media Working Group) of the Ecological Society of Australia, and a member of the Australian Mammal Society.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Noel Preece is an independent environmental consultant, Adj. Associate Professor at James Cook University, University Fellow at Charles Darwin University and Councillor on the Ecosystem Science Council. Noel is active on several Working Groups of the Ecological Society of Australia. He is also undertaking research on forest restoration and on biodiversity declines in northern Australia, and works with Indigenous land management groups in northern Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bob Pressey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>About half of environmental scientists working for government had been prohibited from communicating scientific information.Don Driscoll, Professor in Terrestrial Ecology, Deakin UniversityBob Pressey, Professor and Program Leader, Conservation Planning, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook UniversityEuan Ritchie, Associate Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin UniversityNoel D. Preece, Adjunct Asssociate Professor, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1269112019-11-25T13:27:16Z2019-11-25T13:27:16ZKids may need more help finding answers to their questions in the information age<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302303/original/file-20191118-66953-zfpz0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Finding accurate answers can be harder than it used to be.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-little-girl-thinking-question-mark-1491369818">Odua Images/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Children ask lots of questions. Even before children can put together words, they <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-23651-003">point at things</a> that they want to learn about. </p>
<p>Some are easy enough to answer – “What’s that animal?” or “Can I drink your beer?” Others like “What is God?” and “Why do people die?” are <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/curious-children-questions-parenting-mum-dad-google-answers-inquisitive-argos-toddlers-chad-valley-a8089821.html">tougher</a>.</p>
<p>One study found that kids between three and five years old ask an astounding average of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17394580">76 questions per hour</a>. This rapid-fire search for information is important for kids’ learning. Their inquisitiveness gives them access to knowledge that others can share.</p>
<p>In working on <a href="https://www.cogdevlab.umd.edu">my doctorate in human development</a>, the science of how children grow and learn, I’m studying kids’ questions and how they make sense of the responses they get. I’m also looking into whether and under what circumstances children can be skeptical of those responses.</p>
<p>With the emergence of the internet and social media, people don’t access information like they used to. It’s also harder to know for sure if that information is reliable.</p>
<p>For that reason, it’s more important than ever, in my view, to be a good consumer of information. And, more importantly, learning how to search for information now has to start in childhood.</p>
<h2>20 Questions</h2>
<p>To see what makes questions good or bad, consider how the <a href="http://www.group-games.com/stationary-games/twenty-questions.html">20 Questions</a> game works. Typically, one person has to think of a person, place or thing and then answer yes or no to questions from the other players so they can try to figure out what it is.</p>
<p>Broad questions, like “Is it an animal?” work best at first. With more questions answered, the players can ask more targeted follow-ups, like “Does it fly?”
Eventually, it makes sense to ask a much narrower question, along the lines of “Is it an eagle?”</p>
<p><a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-28367-001">Recent studies</a> by scientists who examine how people ask questions or explore problems have shown that by the time kids turn five, they have some understanding of what makes a question good or bad. </p>
<p>A good question is geared toward the kind of information that you’re looking for. If there is a lot that you don’t know, it’s best to first ask a broad question that can eliminate lots of possible answers at once.</p>
<p>Just like with 20 Questions, once you know a lot more, it’s more reasonable to ask a narrow question.</p>
<p>There’s no one-size-fits-all way to ask good questions. Coming up with them depends on what the person asking wants to learn and what they already know.</p>
<p>Despite the ability to think about what information will probably be produced by a given question, children – as well as some adults – have trouble asking good questions. </p>
<p>And, more importantly than whether someone is adept at playing 20 Questions, in the digital age, people of all ages sometimes can’t <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6380/1094">distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources of information</a> as they seek answers to their questions. This is especially problematic with <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2019/03/28/what-americans-know-about-science/">scientific topics</a> such as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/americans-focus-on-responding-to-earthquake-damage-not-preventing-it-because-theyre-unaware-of-their-risk-118744">probability of earthquakes</a> or the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-vaccination-is-helping-to-prevent-another-flu-pandemic-91194">benefits of getting vaccines</a>.</p>
<p>There are many explanations for this problem. It can happen with topics that become politicized, making it harder to revise a belief, or with issues that experts have failed to explain in ways the public will understand, or when there’s no public awareness of what’s involved in a field of research.</p>
<h2>Choosing good sources</h2>
<p>Some children do understand that more supportive evidence means that a conclusion is more justified, or can be trusted to be accurate. </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://wwww.doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2018.07.007">recent study</a> that I helped design and publish, for example, kids preferred to learn from people who fully supported what they said with evidence, as opposed to insufficient support, or none at all. </p>
<p>But there are some cases where this preference is challenged. This is, in part, because of the fact that how we all access information has changed. With the advent of the internet, its gotten harder to tell whether claims are actually empirically supported.</p>
<p>Until the 1990s, people seeking answers to questions like “What do you call a scientist who studies insects?” or “How does the radiator in a car work?” would turn to textbooks, manuals and encyclopedias. In nearly all cases, professionals had vetted and edited those resources before they became available to the public.</p>
<p>Now, people feel freer to make up their own minds about what they read, and, because there are so many, more than occasionally conflicting, sources of information, people sometimes feel empowered to dismiss evidence they should actually accept.</p>
<h2>Alexa, what’s a reliable source?</h2>
<p>What’s more, anyone, including children, can do a Google search or ask Siri or Alexa their question. Within an instant, they get access to hundreds, thousands or even millions of answers. What they don’t get is a guarantee that the responses are accurate.</p>
<p>This makes understanding both what makes a good question and what makes for trustworthy answers more complicated.</p>
<p>Scholars, including a team of Stanford University researchers, have found that students would benefit from getting more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2017.1416320">training at school</a> for how to detect falsehoods when they search for information online or <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-fact-checking-5-things-schools-should-do-to-foster-news-literacy-126485">follow the news</a>.</p>
<p>That is why researchers at the <a href="https://rightquestion.org/education/">Right Question Institute</a>, an education research nonprofit that seeks to increase information literacy, are starting to help teachers explain what a good question might sound like in different contexts.</p>
<p>For example, teachers can encourage students to work together to construct one or two questions that become the focus of the class. The nature of the question differs based on whether the class is, for instance, science or history. </p>
<p>In a science class, a good question to consider might be something like, “How does evolution work?” or “Why do redwood trees get so tall?” In a history class, they might sound like, “Why did England leave the Catholic church?”</p>
<p>The idea is to leverage questions that kids might already be pondering to increase their engagement in the material and help them think about what would constitute a good answer to those questions. These questions therefore open the door for investigation and thoughtful discussion.</p>
<p>I believe that all students would benefit this kind of training.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126911/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hailey Gibbs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children ask a lot of questions, but they’re not always good ones.Hailey Gibbs, Doctoral Research Fellow of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of MarylandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1125782019-02-27T11:40:48Z2019-02-27T11:40:48ZCuba expands rights but rejects radical change in updated constitution<p>Cuba has rejected a proposal to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-gaymarriage/cuba-panel-closes-door-on-gay-marriage-constitutional-amendment-idUSKBN1OI00V">legalize same-sex marriage</a> in its new and revised constitution, a move that disappointed some gay rights activists. </p>
<p>An article that would have redefined marriage as a “union between two people” – rather than a “<a href="http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/cuba.htm">union between a man and a woman</a>” – was eliminated from a proposed new constitution, which was written last year by the National Assembly, <a href="http://www.cubahora.cu/uploads/documento/2019/01/05/nueva-constitucion-240-kb.pdf">analyzed and debated</a> in thousands of public meetings across the island and, on Feb. 24, approved by the Cuban people at referendum.</p>
<p>But marriage equality is not <a href="https://paquitoeldecuba.com/2018/12/19/que-paso-con-el-matrimonio-en-el-proyecto-de-constitucion/">totally off the table</a> in Cuba. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cuba-actualiza-su-constitucion-expandiendo-derechos-pero-posponiendo-cambios-radicales-112360">Cuba actualiza su Constitución, expandiendo derechos pero posponiendo cambios radicales</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Marriage is now defined in the constitution as “a social and legal institution” and “one form of family organization.” In other words, same-sex marriage is not explicitly permitted – but it’s no longer strictly prohibited, either.</p>
<p>This is how social change works these days in Cuba, my home country and the subject of my <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=A6rP7kYAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&citft=1&citft=2&citft=3&email_for_op=chabelalfonso%40gmail.com&authuser=1&gmla=AJsN-F7aJwdpY7gyIsy5ZO0ZZzic4RS5V6l95SwuP0h8Xko1jChPQIjqevXse1xhYMOXDZNyU0f9_QEnaAxnUQkmtkhBZkci8H2zFH8Gwuoqu9Qy7eyXNHc">academic research</a>. Progress is no longer revolutionary. It comes slowly, and cloaked in moderation. </p>
<h2>Slow change</h2>
<p>In this way, Cuba has undergone a <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-cuba-the-post-fidel-era-began-ten-years-ago-71720">gradual and dramatic metamorphosis</a> under the governments of Raúl Castro and his successor, <a href="https://theconversation.com/cubas-new-president-what-to-expect-of-miguel-diaz-canel-95187">President Miguel Díaz-Canel</a>. </p>
<p>Thanks to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-a-tense-50-years-obama-and-castro-announce-us-cuba-thaw-35635">thaw</a> in U.S.-Cuba relations under President Barack Obama, American tourists began visiting the communist country for the first time since the Kennedy administration placed a trade embargo on Cuba after Fidel Castro’s 1959 communist revolution.</p>
<p>Starting in 2008, Castro <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/cuba-is-changing-slowly-but-surely/">opened the economy to some foreign investment</a> and allowed Cuban workers – once confined to government jobs – to start <a href="https://www.inc.com/associated-press/cuban-entrepreneurs-first-business-group-cuba.html">small businesses</a>.</p>
<p>The new constitution – the fourth such update to Cuba’s founding document – creates official legal standing for Castro’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/castros-conundrum-finding-a-post-communist-model-cuba-can-follow-81242">economic reforms</a>, which had remained in legal limbo under a Cold War-era constitution that did not recognize private property or the business sector. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261096/original/file-20190226-150688-1wzwsas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261096/original/file-20190226-150688-1wzwsas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/261096/original/file-20190226-150688-1wzwsas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261096/original/file-20190226-150688-1wzwsas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261096/original/file-20190226-150688-1wzwsas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261096/original/file-20190226-150688-1wzwsas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261096/original/file-20190226-150688-1wzwsas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/261096/original/file-20190226-150688-1wzwsas.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel with former President Raúl Castro, brother of Fidel Castro.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Cuba-May-Day/e7ef2e8ef22b4a44a70a1563767274cc/19/0">AP Photo/Desmond Boylan</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many Cubans hoped the reform process would also expand civil liberties, bringing Cuban law more into line with its changing society. </p>
<p><a href="https://vistarmagazine.com/clandestina-gay-power/">LGBTQ rights groups</a>, in particular, launched public awareness campaigns about sexual diversity. By late 2018, the path seemed to have been paved <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/23/cubas-new-constitution-paves-way-for-same-sex-marriage">for gay marriage</a>. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-cuba-backs-gay-marriage-churches-oppose-the-governments-plan-103198">religious groups fiercely opposed the move</a>, and ultimately the government removed new language defining marriage as a “union between two people.”</p>
<h2>Some hits, some misses</h2>
<p>Still, the <a href="http://www.cubahora.cu/uploads/documento/2019/01/05/nueva-constitucion-240-kb.pdf">newly approved constitution</a> does substantially expand social, political and economic rights in Cuba. </p>
<p>It limits Cuban presidents to two five-year terms. Previously, Cuba had no term limits. It also creates a prime minister position and strengthens local government, shifting power out of the executive. The criminal justice system in Cuba now operates on the presumption of innocence, not guilt.</p>
<p>Freedom of assembly, long restricted on the island, has also been expanded. </p>
<p>Previously, Cubans had the “right to meet, demonstrate and associate, for licit and peaceful purposes,” but only as part of a so-called “organización de masa” – the Cuban term for state-run groups. The new constitution removes the words “organizaciones de masa,” depoliticizing the freedom of assembly. </p>
<p>It remains to be seen whether the government will actually respect Cubans’ new right to form <a href="http://icarusfilms.com/if-reth">independent organizations</a> – especially if those groups are political in nature. </p>
<p>“Spontaneous gatherings [in Cuba] are not seen positively and are always perceived to be the product of a foreign power,” wrote José Gabriel Barrenechea of La Trinchera, a blog for and by “young Marxists,” in a <a href="http://www.desdetutrinchera.com/politica-en-cuba/se-discutio-el-proyecto-de-constitucion/?fbclid=IwAR0vGf03JQk4PBmtrLBXp5kDhxSixCq__mOOW2Onw3-W0BI2SPEpgAH1HbU">recent post</a>.</p>
<h2>Greater equality</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.cuba.cu/gobierno/cuba.htm">Cuba’s prior constitution</a> prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, skin color, sex, national origin and religious belief. Now <a href="http://www.cubahora.cu/uploads/documento/2019/01/05/nueva-constitucion-240-kb.pdf">gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ethnic origin, disability and territorial origin</a> have been added to the list. </p>
<p>The National Assembly stopped short of proposing any affirmative action policies, however, which would have been a more radical step toward equality. </p>
<p>The 1959 Cuban Revolution aimed to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/nacion-desigualdad-politica-1900-2000-Spanish/dp/8492355093">abolish all economic and racial differences</a> among the Cubans, at least <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/8/13/amid-sweeping-changes-in-us-relations-cubas-race-problem-persists.html">36 percent of whom are Afro-Cuban</a>. And Cuba’s inequality levels still remain well below other <a href="https://www.cepal.org/en/pressreleases/poverty-latin-america-remained-steady-2017-extreme-poverty-increased-highest-level">countries in the region</a>.</p>
<p>But the recent economic reforms that increased prosperity for some have left certain minority groups – namely <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/afro-cuban-activists-fight-racism-between-two-fires/">Afro-Cubans</a> and the elderly – behind. Anti-discrimination statutes do nothing to close the widening wage gap.</p>
<p>The verdict is also mixed on how women fare under new laws.</p>
<p>Abortion, which unlike in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-latin-america-is-there-a-link-between-abortion-rights-and-democracy-85444">majority of Latin America and Caribbean</a> has long been easily accessible in Cuba, is now officially protected in a provision guaranteeing women’s access to reproductive health services. And all forms of gender-based violence, not just domestic abuse and sexual assault, but also <a href="https://oncubanews.com/opinion/columnas/sin-filtro/el-ano-de-la-disputa-por-la-carta-magna/?fbclid=IwAR1o9d7muBdZUIVZUz0nVebHVRMRSVnAXqQr1Es3ToYG_d_QLM4uuG9MYfQ">street harassment and workplace intimidation</a>, are criminalized.</p>
<p>However, a popular constitutional guarantee that the government will provide free, universal child care and elder care to all working families women was <a href="http://www.sinpermiso.info/textos/cuba-el-ano-de-la-disputa-por-la-carta-magna">eliminated</a>. </p>
<p>This shifts the burden of care away from the government and onto the family. In a patriarchal society like Cuba’s, I believe women will inevitably assume <a href="https://oncubanews.com/opinion/columnas/sin-filtro/el-ano-de-la-disputa-por-la-carta-magna/?fbclid=IwAR1o9d7muBdZUIVZUz0nVebHVRMRSVnAXqQr1Es3ToYG_d_QLM4uuG9MYfQ">these domestic duties</a>.</p>
<p>Cubans evidently feared that other heralded rights would be lost, too. </p>
<p>In last year’s island-wide public meetings, people frequently <a href="https://mundo.sputniknews.com/america-latina/201902181085552213-diaz-canel-defiende-nueva-constitucion/">requested</a> assurances that universal health care and free public education through the post-graduate level would be maintained. </p>
<p>They were.</p>
<h2>Rights deferred</h2>
<p>But some long-hoped-for rights remain elusive.</p>
<p>Independent media <a href="http://www.cubahora.cu/uploads/documento/2019/01/05/nueva-constitucion-240-kb.pdf">is still prohibited</a>, a <a href="https://www.periodismodebarrio.org/2018/12/que-dice-la-nueva-politica-de-comunicacion-cubana">blow</a> to the blogs and alternative news sites that have cropped up to fill the information vacuum of a country where all news sources are government-owned.</p>
<p>Some analysts have observed that, as in the case of gay marriage, language defining the role of the media in Cuba was loosened somewhat. And in December the government announced it would <a href="https://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/mundo/america-latina/cuba-es/article216661380.html">allow</a> Cubans to access the internet on their smartphones.</p>
<p>This may leave the door open for greater press freedom in the future. </p>
<p>However, in my analysis, regional politics make that unlikely to occur any time soon. </p>
<p>For six decades, the U.S. government has tried to <a href="https://library.brown.edu/create/modernlatinamerica/chapters/chapter-4-cuba/moments-in-cuban-history/revolution-through-the-airwaves/">destabilize Cuban society</a> by broadcasting anti-Communist messages on radio and TV broadcasts. </p>
<p>Now, the U.S. Office of Cuba Broadcasting has turned its <a href="https://www.bbg.gov/wp-content/media/2018/02/BBGBudget_FY19_CBJ_2-7-18_Final.pdf">attention to social media</a>. The Trump administration in 2018 admitted that it tried to <a href="https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/us-planned-cuban-facebook-propaganda-on-radio-tv-marti-10625033">create fake Facebook accounts</a> to foment dissent on the island, though it says the project “never got off the ground.” </p>
<p>This revelation will likely only strengthen the Cuban government’s resolve to limit Cubans’ access to information. </p>
<p>The constitutional reform process has confirmed that radical progress in Cuba will have to wait. But Cuba is changing, in zigs and in zags – just perhaps not as fast as some might hope.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112578/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>María Isabel Alfonso is affiliated with Cuban Americans for Engagement (CAFE), an organization that advocates for the normalization of relations between Cuba and the U.S.</span></em></p>Cuba will not legalize same-sex marriage, as gay activists hoped. But its new constitution adds greater protections for LGBTQ people and for women, and gives Cubans the right to own private property.María Isabel Alfonso, Professor of Spanish, St. Joseph's College of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1076452019-01-02T23:55:00Z2019-01-02T23:55:00ZWith election ahead, we need to make public records truly public<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/252049/original/file-20181228-47319-pxxs1c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Easy access to government documents is essential to a healthy democracy. As a federal election approaches, Canada needs to do better.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Citizens require access to public records in order to become properly informed about the activities of their governments and to provide sound feedback on government policies, plans and programs. </p>
<p>However, many Canadian citizens have learned through experience that <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/a-1/page-1.html">freedom of information (FOI) legislation</a> is not properly serving citizens. </p>
<p>As a result, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/alberta-information-commissioner-says-her-office-at-breaking-point-1.4954627">they lack information</a> and informed interactions with their elected representatives, and are reduced to musing about public affairs with other citizens.</p>
<p>As a federal election year dawns, an alternative approach is needed — and soon, because the relationship between citizens and governments is under serious challenge. Claims of “fake news” are too often displacing discussions that are based on evidence. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-real-consequences-of-fake-news-81179">The real consequences of fake news</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>An alternative approach is readily available, whereby citizens have access to public records in a manner consistent with living in a free and democratic society, and the principles of transparency and accountability of governments are more than just buzzwords.</p>
<h2>Failure to provide access</h2>
<p>Let’s focus on access to the records of municipal governments, which are often claimed to be the governments closest to the people, and which have the most direct impact on citizens. </p>
<p>The 2018 municipal election campaign in Ontario serves as an excellent case in point. Citizens, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2018/04/27/court-finds-tribunal-secrecy-unconstitutional-in-response-to-star-challenge.html">journalists</a> and candidates <a href="https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/8967338-niagara-region-recognized-as-canada-s-most-secretive-municipal-government/?s=e">have faulted municipal governments</a> for failing to provide appropriate access to municipal records including budget documents, project contracts, police service reports and development proposals.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, freedom-of-information legislation has proven of little value to citizens. </p>
<p>Access to records is limited to what governments provide. Making a request and learning its status <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/information-access-complaint-attaran-maynard-human-rights-delay-request-backlog-1.4662604">are often frustrating exercises.</a> The cost can be prohibitively expensive for many citizens. Responses are often sub-standard and useless compared to what citizens could ascertain if given proper access or opportunities to analyze files.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/252048/original/file-20181228-47298-1s1xejw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/252048/original/file-20181228-47298-1s1xejw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252048/original/file-20181228-47298-1s1xejw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252048/original/file-20181228-47298-1s1xejw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252048/original/file-20181228-47298-1s1xejw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252048/original/file-20181228-47298-1s1xejw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252048/original/file-20181228-47298-1s1xejw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A voter casts his ballot in the New Brunswick provincial election in Dieppe, N.B. in September 2018. Effective freedom-of-information legislation would allow Canadians to make informed decisions when it comes time to vote.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To put the failure of FOI legislation in context, and underline the urgent need for a new approach, <a href="https://historyofrights.ca/encyclopaedia/main-events/freedom-information/">freedom-of-information discussions began more than 50 years ago.</a> </p>
<p>Two major forces behind the movement were the digital technology revolution and activist members of society who insisted upon knowing what governments were up to.</p>
<p>The digital revolution began with mainframe computers as the base for electronic data processing, followed by numerous innovations in computers and communications, remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS), with offshoots such as listening devices and tracking capabilities for surveillance.</p>
<p>Freedom-of-information concerns did not initially focus on the technology, but on the rapid increases in the capacity of governments to acquire and use data, information and knowledge about people, entities and events in an increasing variety of ways.</p>
<h2>The subject of a British comedy</h2>
<p>Thirty-five years ago, technology and freedom of information received popular attention from the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080306/">British TV series <em>Yes, Minister</em></a> and <em>Yes, Prime Minister</em> and from the movie <em>Big Brother Is Watching You</em>, based on George Orwell’s 1949 novel, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8PLsHxJm9Y"><em>Nineteen Eighty-Four</em></a>. </p>
<p>“Open Government,” the first episode of <em>Yes, Minister,</em> brilliantly dismissed the idea of allowing British citizens to access the central government’s records:</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/40Br165MhLU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">BBC Archives.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The phrase, “Big brother is watching you,” meantime, summarizes many of the concerns about technology enabling authoritarian and even totalitarian initiatives almost 70 years after Orwell’s dystopian novel was published.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/252047/original/file-20181228-47313-hwkla6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/252047/original/file-20181228-47313-hwkla6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252047/original/file-20181228-47313-hwkla6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252047/original/file-20181228-47313-hwkla6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252047/original/file-20181228-47313-hwkla6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252047/original/file-20181228-47313-hwkla6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/252047/original/file-20181228-47313-hwkla6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">American street artist Shepard Fairey’s Big Brother posters are seen in London in 2007.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Rich/Lesley Katon, Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Public activists, on the other hand, put emphasis on questioning how we are being governed, and their advocacy for open government is based on several principles: A duty to know what governments are doing; timely access to government records; and, since government records are bought and paid for by citizens through taxes, fees, tolls, fares, fines, levies, etc., access to records is a right.</p>
<p>These beliefs are pillars of citizens’ open government movements, and point to five conditions that I believe are necessary, and readily achievable, to significantly improve citizens’ access to government records. </p>
<h2>Five requirements</h2>
<p><strong>–</strong> Free access. Charging fees for access is gouging, because citizens have already paid governments to produce these records.</p>
<p><strong>–</strong> Easy access. “User-friendly” includes removing bureaucratic hurdles that waste citizens’ time. Google, for example, demonstrates how to design intuitive access procedures that are easy to use. </p>
<p><strong>–</strong> Timely access. Efficient searches occur when keywords lead to the links for reports, images and other records, including data and information bases. At the municipal level, timely access involves links to maps and other geographic information because approximately 80 to 85 per cent of municipal data and information holdings are based on location.</p>
<p><strong>–</strong> Direct access. Fifty years ago banking changed significantly due to automated teller machines (ATMs), with mobile devices leading to more changes. Banking shifted from moving paper and metal currency into the information-processing business, and is a highly credible precedent for governments to provide citizens direct access to public records.</p>
<p><strong>–</strong> Online access. Governments already inform Canadians via websites, and there are many reasons for governments to better serve citizens via online access to public records.</p>
<p>The right to free, easy, timely and direct online access to public records is a defining feature of a free and democratic society, and represents an invaluable hallmark of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It’s time that right actually existed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107645/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I initially received funding related to this topic beginning about 50 years ago while in graduate school, and received related funding for many years as researcher, consultant, and expert witness, but I am not currently affiliated with any organization.
</span></em></p>As a Canadian federal election year dawns, an alternative approach to freedom-of-information legislation is an urgent need.Barry Wellar, Professor Emeritus, Geography and Environmental Studies, and President, Information Research Board, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/892592017-12-19T14:02:21Z2017-12-19T14:02:21ZThe internet is giving a voice to those on the margins – losing net neutrality will take it away<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199726/original/file-20171218-27554-130e9tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/en/learn-media-internet-medium-977543/">kalhh</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s easy to argue that the internet as it exists now is not “neutral”, with some companies and websites creating tech empires and online monopolies. But the decision of US telecoms watchdog, the Federal Communications Commission, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/14/technology/net-neutrality-repeal-vote.html">to remove regulations that overtly guarantee net neutrality</a> – the basic principle that all information on the internet should be treated equally and should be equally accessible – will certainly not improve matters.</p>
<p>By removing the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-uk-doesnt-need-net-neutrality-regulations-yet-38204">net neutrality regulations passed in the US in 2015</a>, the balance is tipped in favour of those companies who are able to pay internet service providers and telecoms companies to prioritise the transfer of their data. This is not just a hypothetical position experts theorise might happen: it is already happening in countries such as <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2017/12/what_the_internet_is_like_in_countries_without_net_neutrality.html">Guatemala</a> where net neutrality norms have been undermined, with internet access provided in tiers that offer different speed of access for a different monthly fee.</p>
<p>The economic implications of this and what it means for smaller or innovative companies in a competitive marketplace are clear. But there are other <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/18/net-neutrality-marginalised-america-open-internet-fcc">hidden victims</a> of a failure to protect net neutrality and deter the monopolisation of the internet. To find them, we must make a short detour into media theory.</p>
<h2>The knowledge gap</h2>
<p>In 1970 Philip Tichenor, George Donohue, and Clarice Olien proposed the influential <a href="https://academic.oup.com/poq/article/34/2/159/1843590">Knowledge Gap Hypothesis</a>, which in essence suggests that as the amount of mass media grows, consumers from a higher socio-economic background tend to acquire this information at a faster rate than those from a lower socio-economic background, and so benefit more from it. They suggested this happens for various reasons, including often being the target of this media, and having easier access to it. This means that, despite the apparently egalitarian potential of access to information enjoyed by people from across the socio-economic spectrum, in fact access to knowledge alone may not address socio-economic disparities – and may even exacerbate them further.</p>
<p>Five years later the same authors <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/009365027500200101">refined these ideas</a>, suggesting ways to reduce this potential knowledge gap: media focused on events and issues that directly affect local communities, for example, or media that addressed forms of social conflict, and that dealt with shared issues and concerns.</p>
<p>Other factors have since helped close the knowledge gap – most notably access to the internet, described as a “<a href="https://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/27892/title/Outreach-Going-Wrong-/">tool for creating a more informed citizenry</a>” by US academics Elizabeth Corley and Dietram Scheufele, and the rise of social media. At the same time, disparity of internet access based on income is quickly shrinking: <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheet/internet-broadband/">recent data</a> shows internet use among those earning under US$30,000 a year increased from 54% in 2008 to 79% in 2016, catching up those earning over US$75,000, who have stayed at a steady 95-97% over the same period. </p>
<p>In many ways, the internet fulfils the aim of reducing the knowledge gap by creating an environment through which communities can come together to <a href="http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2287">discuss shared interests</a>. It doesn’t just provide access to news and information, but offers a means to take part in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2012.01574.x/full">shaping the narratives</a> and pushing for <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1461444814567988">direct action</a>. The internet has provided the means to <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02681102.2015.1011598">allow communities to develop</a>, and use social media to reflect their needs and concerns. </p>
<h2>Not all knowledge is useful</h2>
<p>But, as has become clear recently, other factors affect the degree to which the general public is well informed. The rise of “fake news”, disinformation, and fringe beliefs such as flat-Eartherism, now distributed with ease through social media, has left the public potentially more confused than ever. The Pew Research Center reports that <a href="http://www.journalism.org/2016/12/15/many-americans-believe-fake-news-is-sowing-confusion/">64% of Americans</a> are confused even to the basic facts of current events, which suggests that although internet access is a useful tool, we cannot assume that the information received is always correct, neutral, or beneficial. As was the case with much of the fake news spread during the 2016 US presidential election of Donald Trump, this disinformation can often be <a href="https://medium.com/marketing-and-entrepreneurship/facebook-ads-fake-news-and-the-shockingly-low-cost-of-influencing-an-election-data-ca7a086fa01c">targeted at those from a specific socioeconomic background</a>.</p>
<p>Given this, it’s questionable whether the internet has indeed reduced knowledge gaps, or if it has opened new divides in how and what we understand in a post-truth world. Nonetheless, any attack on net neutrality is likely to further restrict who has access to what information, and at what cost. The social impact of this could easily drive a wedge into and reopen any remaining knowledge gap, undoing some of the benefits achieved so far.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199739/original/file-20171218-27585-1dmm3h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/199739/original/file-20171218-27585-1dmm3h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199739/original/file-20171218-27585-1dmm3h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199739/original/file-20171218-27585-1dmm3h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199739/original/file-20171218-27585-1dmm3h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199739/original/file-20171218-27585-1dmm3h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/199739/original/file-20171218-27585-1dmm3h0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Who has access, and who doesn’t?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcelograciolli/2807100863">marcelograciolli</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Which voices are amplified online?</h2>
<p>The internet has, to an extent, amplified voices from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, and it’s vital that rolling back net neutrality doesn’t erode what inroads these less-heard voices have made against the socio-cultural norm. Knowledge on the internet is already problematic. For example, much of Wikipedia is written by <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/90-of-wikipedias-editors-are-male-heres-what-theyre-doing-about-it/280882/">white males</a> from the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/05/internet-white-western-google-wikipedia-skewed">global north</a>, despite being seen as a repository of “the world’s knowledge”.</p>
<p>Spaces for a greater range of voices to take a role in shaping the knowledge available online must be created – not reduce access to only those who can afford it on platforms that pay for quicker access. A tiered internet that is tied to the ability to pay will likely further minimise the diversity of voices online.</p>
<p>There is every chance, looking at the examples of countries that have already removed net neutrality, that websites given faster and easier access will be sites from tech giants such as Facebook and Twitter – companies that have the commercial clout to achieve preferential arrangements with internet providers and telecoms firms, but which often do not reflect or protect disenfranchised communities. Facebook, for example, has nominally added more than two options for gender classification, yet <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1461444815621527">research</a> suggests the platform still classifies all users by a gender binary. Similarly, Twitter’s continued failure to effectively deal with abuse including, but not limited to, <a href="https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2998337">racism and misogyny</a> means the site, by design, does not afford the same voice, freedom, or protection to all users. </p>
<p>These popular platforms have a long history of ignoring, mistreating or misrepresenting at-risk communities. Given that they already account for a huge proportion of internet use, it is likely that with the removal of net neutrality, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/18/net-neutrality-marginalised-america-open-internet-fcc">mistreated communities will continue to be marginalised</a>. Similarly, if we slow down, target and punish local blogs and sites aimed at local news and specific communities we potentially undo the conditions through which the internet has lessened knowledge gaps.</p>
<p>There is a long way to go in order to ensure the internet is a space where people from diverse backgrounds are able to access and contribute to knowledge. But removing net neutrality is a step backwards, and will only serve to further silence disenfranchised communities, and reverse the positive steps so far taken to close the knowledge gap.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89259/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harry T Dyer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If access to information online becomes more difficult, then it will be the communities on the fringes that lose out.Harry T Dyer, Lecturer in Education, University of East AngliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/811592017-07-20T06:18:25Z2017-07-20T06:18:25ZHow open data can help the Global South, from disaster relief to voter turnout<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178913/original/file-20170719-14920-ceu2p1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1441%2C1003&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Display of Colombia's main export countries on the "Globe of Economic Complexity" application provided by The Center for International Development (CID), Harvard University
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://globe.cid.harvard.edu/?mode=gridSphere&id=CO#">CID, Harvard University</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The modern era is marked by growing faith in the power of data. “Big data”, “open data”, and “evidence-based decision-making” have become buzzwords, <a href="http://www.undatarevolution.org/">touted</a> as solutions to the world’s most complex and persistent problems, from <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/data_disrupts_corruption">corruption</a> and <a href="https://www.tableau.com/about/blog/2017/3/fighting-famine-mobile-data-67499">famine</a> to the <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/3027117/big-data/big-datas-big-role-in-humanitarian-aid.html">refugee crisis</a>.</p>
<p>While perhaps most pronounced in higher income countries, this trend is now emerging globally. In Africa, Latin America, Asia and beyond, hopes are high that access to data can help developing economies by increasing transparency, fostering <a href="http://africaopendata.net/">sustainable development</a>, building climate resiliency and the like.</p>
<p>This is an exciting prospect, but can opening up data actually make a difference in people’s lives? </p>
<h2>Getting data-driven about data</h2>
<p><a href="thegovlab.org">The GovLab</a> at <a href="http://engineering.nyu.edu/">New York University</a> spent the last year trying to answer that question. </p>
<p>In partnership with the <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/GlobalDevLab">U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)</a>, the non-profit <a href="https://www.fhi360.org/projects/mobile-solutions-technical-assistance-and-research-mstar">FHI 360</a> and the <a href="http://webfoundation.org/">World Wide Web Foundation</a>, we scoured the evidence about what roles open data, particularly government data, can play in developing countries.</p>
<p>The results of our 12 in-depth case studies from around the world are now out. The report <a href="http://odimpact.org/">Open Data in Developing Economies: Toward Building an Evidence Base on What Works and How</a> offers a hard look at the results of open data projects from the developing world. </p>
<p>Our conclusion: the enthusiasm is justified – as long as it’s tempered with a good measure of realism, too. Here are our six major takeaways:</p>
<p><strong>1. We need a framework</strong> - Overall, there is still little evidence to substantiate the enthusiastic claims that open data can foment sustainable development and transform governance. That’s not surprising given the early stage of most open data initiatives.</p>
<p>It may be early for impact evaluation, but it’s not too soon to develop a model that will eventually allow us to assess the impact of opening up data over time. </p>
<p>To that end, the GovLab has created an evidence-based framework that aims to better capture the role of open data in developing countries. The Open Data Logic Framework below focuses on various points in the open data value cycle, from data supply to demand, use and impact.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178875/original/file-20170719-26705-196u0lq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178875/original/file-20170719-26705-196u0lq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178875/original/file-20170719-26705-196u0lq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178875/original/file-20170719-26705-196u0lq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178875/original/file-20170719-26705-196u0lq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178875/original/file-20170719-26705-196u0lq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178875/original/file-20170719-26705-196u0lq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178875/original/file-20170719-26705-196u0lq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Logic model of open data.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The GovLab</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2. Open data has real promise</strong> - Based on this framework and the underlying evidence that fed into it, we can guardedly conclude that open data does in fact spur development – but only under certain conditions and within the right supporting ecosystem. </p>
<p>One well-known success took place after <a href="http://odimpact.org/case-nepal-earthquake-recovery.html">Nepal’s 2015 earthquake</a> when open data helped NGOs map important landmarks such as health facilities and road networks, among other uses. </p>
<p>And in Colombia, the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture launched <a href="http://odimpact.org/case-aclimate-colombia.html">Aclímate Colombia</a>, a tool that gives smallholder farmers data-driven insight into planting strategies that makes them more resilient to climate change. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BIpa7QjAgIu","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Beyond these genuinely transformative experiences, we found several examples that ran into challenges. </p>
<p>A pair of education-information dashboards in <a href="http://odimpact.org/case-tanzanias-open-education-dashboards.html">Tanzania</a>, for example, were launched with good intentions (to improve student test scores by empowering families with information on school quality). But lacking long-term strategies to scale and sustain their use and impact, these efforts soon fizzled out. </p>
<p><strong>3. Open data can improve people’s lives</strong> Examining projects in a number of sectors critical to development, including health, humanitarian aid, agriculture, poverty alleviation, energy and education, we found four main ways that data can have an impact.</p>
<p>Open data can improve governance, as it did in Burundi when the country <a href="http://odimpact.org/case-burundi-open-rbf.html">made public</a> its results-based financing system. By linking development aid to pre-determined target results, this information increased transparency and accountability. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"862616345141059584"}"></div></p>
<p>Data can also empower citizens by enabling more informed decision-making. For example, by providing information on voter registration centres, <a href="http://odimpact.org/case-kenya-improving-voter-turnout.html">Kenya’s GotToVote!</a> system increased voter awareness – and, consequently, turnout.</p>
<p>By enabling economic growth and innovation, data also has the power to create opportunities. In Ghana, the <a href="http://odimpact.org/case-ghanas-esoko.html">Esoko platform</a> is helping smallholder farmers maximise the value of their crops by providing useful information about increasingly complex global food chains.</p>
<p>Finally, data can assist governments, NGOs, and citizens in solving major problems. <a href="http://odimpact.org/case-paraguays-dengue-prediction.html">Dengue has been endemic since 2009 in Paraguay</a>. Recently, open data helped researchers develop a new tool for predicting outbreaks of the disease.</p>
<p><strong>4. Data can be an asset in development</strong> While these impacts are apparent in both developed and developing countries, we believe that open data can have a particularly powerful role in developing economies. </p>
<p>Where data is scarce, as it often is in poorer countries, open data can lead to an inherently more equitable and democratic distribution of information and knowledge. This, in turn, may activate a wider range of expertise to address complex problems; it’s what we in the field call “open innovation”. </p>
<p>This quality can allow resource-starved developing economies to access and leverage the best minds around. </p>
<p>And because trust in government is <a href="http://ida.worldbank.org/theme/governance-and-institutions">quite low</a> in many developing economies, the transparency bred of releasing data can have after-effects that go well beyond the immediate impact of the data itself.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178873/original/file-20170719-11699-74exh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178873/original/file-20170719-11699-74exh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178873/original/file-20170719-11699-74exh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178873/original/file-20170719-11699-74exh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178873/original/file-20170719-11699-74exh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178873/original/file-20170719-11699-74exh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178873/original/file-20170719-11699-74exh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178873/original/file-20170719-11699-74exh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The unique features of open data.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The GovLab</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>5. The ingredients matter</strong> To better understand why some open data projects fail while others succeed, we created a “<a href="http://odimpact.org/periodic-table.html">periodic table” of open data</a> (below), which includes 27 enabling factors divided into five broad categories.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178868/original/file-20170719-13593-17hxuph.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178868/original/file-20170719-13593-17hxuph.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178868/original/file-20170719-13593-17hxuph.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178868/original/file-20170719-13593-17hxuph.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178868/original/file-20170719-13593-17hxuph.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178868/original/file-20170719-13593-17hxuph.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178868/original/file-20170719-13593-17hxuph.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=676&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Periodic Table of Open Data.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The GovLab</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For those who can truly unlock the potential of open data – from practitioners to policy-makers – this table could serve as a checklist of the factors and ingredients to be considered and addressed. Researchers assessing the impact of an open data project can also use it to determine what variables made a difference.</p>
<p><strong>6. We can plan for impact</strong> Our report ends by identifying how development organisations can catalyse the release and use of open data to make a difference on the ground. </p>
<p>Recommendations include:</p>
<p>· Define the problem, understand the user, and be aware of local conditions;</p>
<p>· Focus on readiness, responsiveness and change management;</p>
<p>· Nurture an open data ecosystem through collaboration and partnerships;</p>
<p>· Have a risk mitigation strategy;</p>
<p>· Secure resources and focus on sustainability; and</p>
<p>· Build a strong evidence base and support more research.</p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>In short, while it may still be too early to fully capture open data’s as-of-yet muted impact on developing economies, there are certainly reasons for optimism. </p>
<p>Much like <a href="http://thegovlab.org/the-govlab-selected-readings-on-blockchain-technology-and-its-potential-for-transforming-governance/">blockchain</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-drones-can-improve-healthcare-delivery-in-developing-countries-49917">drones</a> and other much-hyped technical advances, it’s time to start substantiating the excitement over open data with real, hard evidence.</p>
<p>The next step is to get systematic, using the kind of analytical framework we present here to gain comparative and actionable insight into if, when and how open data works. Only by getting data-driven about open data can we help it live up to its potential.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by <a href="http://www.thegovlab.org/team.html">Andrew Young</a>, Knowledge Director at the GovLab.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81159/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The GovLab received funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development and FHI 360 to complete the report featured in this article.</span></em></p>Can open data change the world? We looked beyond the hype to find out.Stefaan G. Verhulst, Co-Founder and Chief Research and Development Officer of the Governance Laboratory, New York UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/791262017-06-29T15:01:33Z2017-06-29T15:01:33ZHow access to knowledge can help universal health coverage become a reality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/175369/original/file-20170623-27888-n157q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The World Health Organisation’s Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus has set universal health coverage as one of the main priorities for his term. </p>
<p>Universal health coverage is defined by the WHO as free access to promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health services. These have to be of a sufficient quality to be effective but without causing unnecessary financial hardship when paying for the services. </p>
<p>But Ghebreyesus’s goal is a challenging one, especially for low and middle income countries which make up around 84% of the world’s <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/income-level/low-income">population</a>. Yet they only have access to half the <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS">physicians</a> and a quarter of the nurses that high income countries have access to. </p>
<p>Similarly low and middle income countries only <a href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.PCAP">spend</a> around US $266 per capita on health care. In contrast, high income countries spend a whopping US $5 251 per capita.</p>
<p>This means that attaining universal health coverage in poorer settings is challenging to say the least. Large cuts to foreign aid investment from a number of <a href="https://blog.oup.com/2017/05/pandemics-disease-control-science-trump/">high income economies</a> only compound this challenge. </p>
<p>To address this, affected countries need to start thinking smarter, and not simply work harder. Optimising available resources requires local researchers to apply themselves. In other words, these countries need to grow their knowledge economies.</p>
<p>High income countries already have access to significant resources. This is mainly due to their own knowledge economies flourishing. To match this low and middle income countries need to increase the investment in their research activity. This includes increasing the number of institutions and supervisors that support research.</p>
<p>Although low and middle income countries have seen an increase and improvement in all these areas, access to existing knowledge remains poor. Particularly when compared to access in higher income countries.</p>
<h2>The ideal knowledge economy</h2>
<p>A healthy knowledge economy needs:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>investment (funding set aside for generating knowledge), </p></li>
<li><p>people who create research and consume information, </p></li>
<li><p>higher education institutions, and </p></li>
<li><p>reasonable access to knowledge (existing, published research). </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Low and middle income countries <a href="http://uis.unesco.org/apps/visualisations/research-and-development-spending/">invest</a> around a third of what high income countries invest in research. They also have access to around a fifth of the <a href="http://uis.unesco.org/indicator/sti-rd-hr-res">researchers</a> high income countries have access to. To top it off, less than a quarter of the <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings">Times Higher Education</a> ranked universities are located in low and middle income countries.</p>
<p>Yet of all the cogs that make up the knowledge economy, access to knowledge is likely the easiest to achieve. Although accessible knowledge remains a problem, strides have been made with increased support of open access publication on a global scale. </p>
<h2>How accessible knowledge helps</h2>
<p>Given the growing penetration of the internet into low and middle income countries, information has never been more <a href="http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/02/22/internet-access-growing-worldwide-but-remains-higher-in-advanced-economies/">accessible</a> at any point in history than today. Yet
access to a sizeable and ever growing bulk of health care research remains poor.</p>
<p>Open access publishing has become a strong global movement. Roughly 20% to 50% of all published research is currently freely available online - depending on its year of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2012/oct/22/inexorable-rise-open-access-scientific-publishing">publication</a>. </p>
<p>Some have remained sceptical of open access publishing. Despite that many funding agencies and higher education institutions now insist on accessible research reporting from their beneficiaries, staff and students.</p>
<p>It’s hard to argue the possibilities if the 2.7 million plus health care publications published within the last three years were freely accessible in low and middle income countries. It would likely confer a tremendous benefit to both health care professionals and patients (or even universal health coverage).</p>
<p>It is important to understand that the purpose of access to knowledge generated in high income countries is not simply to copy it verbatim into lower income settings. The comparative resource restrictions that apply renders direct implementation largely unfeasible. However, accessible knowledge, wherever generated, provides the references needed to generate locally appropriate applications thereof.</p>
<h2>Navigating the challenges</h2>
<p>For many low and middle income countries, open access comes with barriers as a result of infrastructural challenges.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.who.int/hinari/about/en/">Hinari</a> programme is an example of this. It has been around since 2002. It’s supported by the World Health Organisation along with a large number of publishers and provides access to a substantial amount of published material for researchers from low and middle income countries. </p>
<p>But during its 15 year existence it has remained <a href="http://www.research4life.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/IPL-HINARI-Research4Life-Survey-Analysis-final.pdf">poorly supported</a>. Ironically, for a programme that has existed so long, the main reason for this appears to be poor access.</p>
<p>To solve this problem publishers could easily provide equitable access for low and middle income countries using <a href="https://docs.nexcess.net/article/what-is-geoip.html">geolocation internet protocols</a> in the same way Netflix does. As a video streaming service, Netflix controls the content its users can access based on where they are accessing the service from. If geolocation is now an industry standard for various similar information sharing, internet based services, why not also for publication?</p>
<p>For publishers contributing to Hinari, such a step should be fairly straight forward. Use of <a href="https://docs.nexcess.net/article/what-is-geoip.html">geolocation internet protocols</a> will allow researchers in eligible countries to access to research from participating publishers on any device, anywhere where they have an internet connection. This would include the patient’s bedside - not just the academic library. </p>
<p>Much of the knowledge required to establish the universal health coverage Ghebreyesus wants, already exists. Poor access to this knowledge presents a major barrier to achieving universal health coverage. </p>
<p>To unlock this knowledge for everyone’s benefit, policymakers and publishers need to seriously consider more innovative ways to provide access. Ironically, these solutions probably already exist as well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79126/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stevan Bruijns is a senior lecturer with the Division of Emergency Medicine at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and the editor-in-chief of the African Journal of Emergency Medicine, a fully open access journal.</span></em></p>A critical part of attaining universal health coverage is access to published research.Stevan Bruijns, Senior lecturer in the Division of Emergency Medicine, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/658242016-10-03T18:57:08Z2016-10-03T18:57:08ZPress freedom: worrying signs as South Africa slips in global rankings<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140129/original/image-20161003-20230-10of9pd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Media freedom activists protest against the draconian Protection of Information Bill in Cape Town, South Africa.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sumaya Hisham/Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On 19 October 1977, the apartheid government in South Africa banned The World, the Weekend World and arrested the newspapers’ editor Percy Qoboza. <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/remembering-qobozas-sense-of-duty-1594527#.ViI2CX4rLnA">Pro Veritate</a>, an ecumenical newspaper, was also banned.</p>
<p>The day was named <a href="http://www.saha.org.za/news/2011/November/a_black_wednesday_for_apartheid_sa_and_a_black_tuesday_for_democratic_sa.htm">Black Wednesday</a> and is commemorated every year. It serves as an opportunity to take stock of how the country is faring when it comes to press freedom. </p>
<p>Since the end of apartheid South Africa has made great advances when it comes to freedom of the press and freedom of expression in general. The situation today is a far cry from the apartheid era. </p>
<p>Freedom of expression is firmly embedded in the country’s <a href="http://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/images/a108-96.pdf">constitution</a> which provides for the “freedom of press and other media”. It also enshrines the right of access to information. </p>
<p>Legislation, such as the Promotion of Access to <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/legis/consol_act/poatia2000366/">Information Act</a> has been put in place to underpin these constitutional rights. It provides for access to any information held by the State or private person. This <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2009/21.html">practically means</a> that the Act provides the media with information on how government is run. </p>
<p>This in turn may very well have a bearing on elections and therefore significantly influences a democratic state. As the country’s Constitutional Court has <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2009/21.html">stated</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Access to information is crucial to accurate reporting and thus to imparting accurate information to the public. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Contrary to the secretive apartheid regime, the Promotion of Access to Information Act promotes a culture of responsiveness, transparency and accountability in government.</p>
<p>Impressive as that might be, things do not work as well in practice. South Africa has been dropping in <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/south-africa">press freedom rankings</a>. Reasons for the decline include the fact that access to information for the media has been slow and is often hampered by bureaucracy. And in <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/south-africa">only a few cases</a> have access to information applications resulted in full disclosure of information. </p>
<p>While there’s reason to celebrate the improvement of press freedom in a number of southern African countries, South Africans have reason to worry. The <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/freedom-press-2016">Freedom of the Press Report</a> lists South Africa as being among the countries with one of the biggest declines in press freedom, dropping four places. It is now being seen as only “partly free”. </p>
<h2>Progress so far</h2>
<p>In the 2015 <a href="https://rsf.org/en/ranking">World Press Freedom Index</a>, southern Africa was ranked as the second most improved media environment in the world with <a href="https://rsf.org/en/namibia">Namibia</a> being a real success story. </p>
<p>In other parts of Africa <a href="https://rsf.org/en/ghana">Ghana</a> is still faring well (despite dropping in rankings). Countries in <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/freedom-press-2016">West Africa</a>, such as Burkina Faso, Cȏte d’Ivoire and Togo showed encouraging improvements. </p>
<p>According to another survey, the Freedom House <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/freedom-press-2016">Freedom of the Press Report 2015</a>, South Africa ranks at number 39 of 180 countries, and within Africa, it ranks lower than Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Mauritius, Ghana and Namibia.</p>
<p>So, while there has been a general improvement in press freedom in the southern part of Africa in 2015, South Africa’s decline in rankings is a cause for concern.</p>
<h2>Free to say what they think?</h2>
<p>In his 2014 Black Wednesday <a href="http://www.thepresidency.gov.za/pebble.asp?relid=18231">commemoration speech</a> President Jacob Zuma emphasised that the “country is run by a government with leaders who fought for these rights” and because of this they should be trusted to “never deny our people the right to say what they think”.</p>
<p>But, the ANC government proved that merely being the liberation party does not exempt you from violating the rights of others. A study by <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/publications/Briefing%20paper/ab_r5_policypaperno3.pdf">Afrobarometer</a> shows that people who indicate that they are free to say what they think also report lower levels of corruption and better government performance.</p>
<p>South Africa has shown that high government corruption can be equated to lower press freedom in attempts to cover-up corruption. One example is the use of <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/legis/consol_act/nkpa1980224.pdf">legislation</a> from the apartheid era to hinder any critical reporting on the use of public money on President Zuma’s private homestead at <a href="http://www.corruptionwatch.org.za/national-key-points-act-laid-bare/">Nkandla</a>. This serves as a clear contradiction of Zuma’s 2014 speech.</p>
<p>The controversial <a href="http://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/B6F-2010_15Oct2013.pdf">Protection of State Information Bill</a> is also a threat to access to information. Better known as the “Secrecy Bill”, it carries prison terms of up to 25 years for the disclosure of classified state information.</p>
<p>Another punch in the face of freedom of expression is the <a href="http://iabsa.net/assets/FPB_Draft_Online_policy_Submissions.pdf">proposal</a> by the Film and Publications <a href="http://www.fpb.org.za/">Board</a> to regulate online content.</p>
<p>But the most saddening has been the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s open display of bias towards the governing ANC. Examples include its refusal to allow political advertisements of <a href="http://buzzsouthafrica.com/das-election-ads/">opposition parties</a> and directing journalists not to ask Zuma <a href="http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2016-07-20-hlaudis-kill-bill-the-slippery-slide-towards-manipulating-the-news/#.V-5rr8e9rIU">difficult questions</a>.</p>
<h2>Liberating party loses sight of its roots</h2>
<p>South Africa’s challenge is that the government is slowly crossing the bridge from liberating party to being a threat to democracy.</p>
<p>A mediocre democracy would be happy with being ranked “partly free” for media freedom. But, that is not in keeping with the robust democracy that many fought for South Africa to become. </p>
<p>As the country commemorates Black Wednesday and celebrates press freedom, South African would do well not forget what it took to gain such freedom, and the work that lies ahead to maintain it.</p>
<p>If the South African government continues down the slippery slope of corruption and censorship, it will only be a matter of time before its “partly free” media freedom status degenerates into “not free” – just like it was during apartheid.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65824/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Georgia Alida du Plessis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While some African countries have shown an improvement in press freedom and freedom of expression ratings, others, including South Africa, are seeing worrying trends and a drop in rankings.Georgia Alida du Plessis, Research Fellow in Public Law, University of the Free StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/641312016-08-24T19:50:35Z2016-08-24T19:50:35ZPodcasts can drive debate and break down academia’s ivory towers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134971/original/image-20160822-18731-1202ajz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Podcasts are emerging as an arguably easy-to-access, affordable mode of creating new spaces for discussion and debate.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Not all of South Africa’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2016/mar/03/south-africas-student-protests-have-lessons-for-all-universities">student protests</a> in the past 18 months have happened in the streets or on campuses. </p>
<p>A generation of <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/04/business/digital-native-prensky/">“digital natives”</a> has masterfully used hashtags – <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/feesmustfall?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Ehashtag">#feesmustfall</a>; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rhodesmustfall?lang=en">#Rhodesmustfall</a>; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/asinamali">#asinamali</a>; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rureferencelist">#RUReferenceList</a> – tweets and <a href="http://africasacountry.com/2016/04/more-than-fees-must-fall-building-a-living-archive-of-struggle">blogs</a> alongside various forms of direct action like marches and protests. This has helped to bring important debates about universities into the public eye.</p>
<p>But what happens after the headlines fade and hashtags change? How can conversations and debates about what will happen to higher education be sustained?</p>
<p>Independent media platforms are an important component of both the media and higher education sectors. A free and diverse media sector is an <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2014/12/05/the-impact-of-the-mass-media-on-the-quality-of-democracy-within-a-state-remains-a-much-overlooked-area-of-study/">essential component</a> of any democratic society. And podcasts are emerging as an arguably easy-to-access, affordable mode of <a href="http://www.bcs.org/content/ConWebDoc/20217">creating new spaces for discussion and debate</a>.</p>
<h2>A promising new medium for debate</h2>
<p>There are <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/world-radio-day-2013/statistics-on-radio/">44,000 radio stations</a> broadcasting all around the world. The single biggest problem facing broadcasters is that the FM band, on which most broadcasts are transmitted, is overloaded. </p>
<p>It is difficult for new radio stations to be awarded a frequency and license, which are necessary steps in establishing a station. It is also expensive and requires huge infrastructural investment to start a radio station. Commercial radio stations have to rely on advertising to survive.</p>
<p>The podcast has emerged as a promising medium for facilitating ongoing, detailed discussion and debate about issues that are so important they need more time than mainstream, profit-oriented media or the changing tides of hashtags might allow.</p>
<p>Podcasting allows anyone with a microphone, an internet connection and an opinion to instantly share it with the world. A “podcast” is a digital audio file created easily on affordable software and distributed via the internet. Listeners can download podcasts, or episodes, to a computer or portable media player. Listeners can also subscribe to their favourite shows and choose whether to listen to individual episodes or entire series.</p>
<p>In this way, podcasts have decentralised information-sharing.</p>
<p>In the US, where Apple celebrated <a href="http://podcasternews.com/2015/07/18/itunes-creates-10-years-of-podcasts-essential-list/">10 years of podcasts</a> in 2015, podcasts were mostly being listened to <a href="http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-measurement/the-5-key-2016-podcast-statistics/">via computer</a> in 2014. Today, <a href="http://www.insideradio.com/free/infinite-dial-podcast-listening-up-sharply/article_c24821f2-e75d-11e5-ae8a-a311e4ade1d1.html">64% of podcasts</a> in the US are accessed via a smartphone or tablet computer. </p>
<p>In Africa, radio remains a <a href="http://africasacountry.com/2013/09/african-radios-growing-and-enduring-popularity/">hugely popular medium</a>. This suggests that the future of podcasts is promising. Podcasting in Africa has become <a href="http://www.okayafrica.com/culture-2/african-podcasts-you-should-be-listening-to/">a veritable trend</a> despite concerns about connectivity issues, costly data and access. Popular topics include technology, entrepreneurship and arts and culture. </p>
<p>Smartphones are becoming ubiquitous in <a href="http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/02/22/smartphone-ownership-and-internet-usage-continues-to-climb-in-emerging-economies/">emerging markets</a>. The increased penetration of smartphones and the internet, along with a rising middle class who have more disposable income - particularly in emerging markets like Africa and Asia - has contributed significantly to the creation of podcasts.</p>
<p>Conversations abound in these same markets about increasing investments in the science, technology, engineering and maths fields. There’s also a lot of talk about how improving access to quality higher education shapes and contributes to the growth and development of the overall economy. The more we talk and listen to one another, the more society and the economy will ultimately benefit.</p>
<h2>Podcasts and higher education</h2>
<p>A number of universities already use <a href="http://www.bcs.org/content/ConWebDoc/20217">podcasts for teaching</a>. Students can listen to pre-recorded lectures or hear their lecturers sharing hints and tips for essay-writing. Podcasts are also now <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/audio">emerging</a> as a way to talk about <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/academic/comment/podcasts">issues</a> linked to academia. </p>
<p>It’s the platform podcasts provide for engagement, talking and listening that prompted us to establish a weekly podcast called <a href="https://theacademiccitizen.org">The Academic Citizen</a>. It is funded by the <a href="https://asawu.org.za/">Academic Staff Association of Wits University</a> and is based at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand. It features a weekly in-depth conversation with a guest about topics important to higher education. This facilitates the exchange of ideas and debate far beyond brick and mortar university buildings.</p>
<p>Since its launch in April 2016, The Academic Citizen has featured nearly 20 guests being interviewed on a range of topics: protest action on campuses; whether fee-free higher education is possible and how it could be achieved; language and transformation and the importance of academic staff unions. Every episode features two or three “student voices”, which allows students to share their perspectives on each topic. </p>
<p>The Academic Citizen has tapped into social media platforms like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/academiccitizen">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/academiccitizen">Twitter</a> to share updates and news, which helps us capture more of an audience.</p>
<h2>A plurality of voices</h2>
<p>One of the podcast’s consistent goals is to present a variety of opinions about higher education in South Africa and beyond. It provides a platform for those involved in universities to confront the existing problems, listen to one another’s views and communicate about how higher education can be improved. We believe this will help drive a move towards improving the sector for the benefit of all its stakeholders.</p>
<p>Podcasting helps to promote dialogue so that more voices can “join in” conveniently with difficult conversations. After all, plurality of thought is the key to progress.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64131/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mehita Iqani is an elected member of the Executive Committee for the Academic Staff Association of Wits University (ASAWU), the union for academic staff, which covers the production costs of The Academic Citizen podcast. All the work she does for the Union and podcast are voluntary and unpaid as part of her academic service to her institution. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Balungile Mbenyane is employed by the Academic Staff Association of Wits University (ASAWU). Part of her responsibility is to plan and produce The Academic Citizen podcast on a weekly basis.</span></em></p>The podcast has emerged as a promising medium for facilitating ongoing debate about issues that need more time than mainstream, profit-oriented media or the changing tides of hashtags might allow.Mehita Iqani, Associate Professor of Media Studies, University of the WitwatersrandBalungile Mbenyane, Researcher for Media Studies, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/496032015-10-26T04:35:11Z2015-10-26T04:35:11ZWhy it’s getting harder to access free, quality academic research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99463/original/image-20151023-27625-yv2lp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's one thing for a country's academics to produce great research – but what's the point if ordinary citizens can't access it?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Academics at South Africa’s universities increased their research output <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/sajs/v111n7-8/01.pdf">by 250%</a> between 2000 and 2013. Taxpayers funded a great deal of that research. For instance, <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/media-briefs/cestii/research-and-development-survey-released">R24 billion</a> was spent on research and development in the 2012-13 financial year – more than half of it from the public purse.</p>
<p>That’s a wealth of research and knowledge. The problem is that it may not be accessible to the broader public, even though it was they who footed the bill. It may also be hard for policymakers and the private sector to access this information and apply it when developing initiatives that can help develop the country. </p>
<p>Why is South Africans’ access to important knowledge and research so limited? And, in the age of <a href="http://www.openaccessweek.org/">Open Access</a>, what is being done to improve the situation?</p>
<h2>The birth of a movement</h2>
<p>It’s been more than two decades since <a href="http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/openaccess101/what-is-open-access/what-is-open-access/">the birth</a> of the international Open Access movement. </p>
<p>The demand for access to information in an open society has grown rapidly since the 1990s, driven by the fast developing internet. Resources and movements like <a href="http://creativecommons.org/about">Creative Commons</a>, founded in 2001; the Budapest <a href="http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/">Open Access Initiative</a> (2002); the <a href="http://www.scidev.net/global/key-document/bethesda-statement-on-open-access-publishing.html">Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing</a> (2003); the <a href="http://openaccess.mpg.de/Berlin-Declaration">Berlin Declaration on Open Access</a> (2003) and the <a href="http://www.lyondeclaration.org/">Lyon Declaration on Access to Information and Development</a> (2014) have followed.</p>
<p>South African universities followed international trends. They drafted Open Access policies and made available thousands of already-published journal articles and chapters from books free of charge through online platforms. They also used institutional research repositories to share <a href="http://www.greylit.org/about">“grey literature”</a> – research not controlled by commercial publishers. This included theses and dissertations, research reports, conference proceedings and student projects. </p>
<p>The idea was to ensure that universities’ research outputs, which were all at least partially funded with taxpayers’ money, were made visible and accessible.</p>
<p>Until then, academic research was largely published and protected by international conglomerate publishers. They used online sales, library leasing and subscription fees to charge for access to research outputs.</p>
<h2>Models change, profits don’t</h2>
<p>The Open Access movement also saw the rise of new publishing platforms and mega journals <a href="https://www.plos.org/">like</a> the Public Library of Science. It also birthed new business models for academic publishing, from the traditional journal subscription model to the Article Processing Charges (APC) or publication fee <a href="http://www.springeropen.com/authors/apc">model</a> and hybrid Open Access publishing options with traditional publishers.</p>
<p>Under the APC model, researchers, research funders or research institutions take responsibility for the payment of these charges, covering the journal’s costs, so that articles can be be published in an Open Access manner and be <a href="https://www.plos.org/publications/publication-fees/">free to use</a>.</p>
<p>But these changes in support of broader public access seem to have been to little avail. Publishers are maximising profits with a hybrid model of double payments, also referred to as “double dipping”. They collect Article Processing Charges from researchers to publish in an Open Access format and still collect subscription fees from users.</p>
<p>British higher education support body JISC conducted <a href="http://figshare.com/articles/Average_APC_price_2014/1311650">a study</a> to explore this practice. It averaged the APC payment for 2014 by 20 universities in the United Kingdom at £1581. It concluded in a <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/JISC/total-cost-of-ownership-reducing-the-cost-of-gold-open-access-jisc-digital-festival-2015">separate study</a> that the overall increase in the total cost of ownership – subscription and APCs – when compared to capped subscription fees was as high at 73% at one UK institution.</p>
<p>The shifting model also brought with it a flood of predatory publishers, pirated academic journals and a variety of <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/investigating-journals-the-dark-side-of-publishing-1.12666">unethical research practices</a>. </p>
<h2>The South African story</h2>
<p>So where does access to research stand in South Africa today? A survey by the country’s National Research Foundation <a href="http://ir.nrf.ac.za/handle/10907/205">revealed</a> that only 20 of the country’s universities and three of its science councils have Open Access repositories. These repositories are used to make institutions’ research outputs publicly available while honouring existing copyright regulations.</p>
<p>The Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) also conducted an Open Access <a href="http://www.assaf.co.za/newsletter/?p=1179">audit</a> of accredited journals. Only 48% of published research in local journals is free and accessible to the public.</p>
<p>South African institutions are fighting the same battle with publishers as their international counterparts. The results of preliminary, unpublished research by ASSAf estimated that university libraries paid around R470 million to national and international publishers for subscription fees to academic journals in 2014. These were limited for use by registered students and employees at universities only. </p>
<p>With the <a href="http://businesstech.co.za/news/general/82273/sa-rand-value-1994-2015/">weakening</a> rand and the implementation of a <a href="http://www.treasury.gov.za/comm_media/press/2014/2014032801%20-%20Press%20Release%20-%20Electronic%20Services%20Regulations.pdf">value-added tax</a> on electronic resources, libraries claim to have lost an estimated 40% of their buying power over the last four years. </p>
<p>This makes it hard to continue subscribing to available research and knowledge sources and impossible to also pay APCs in support of research visibility and public access to knowledge. </p>
<h2>A global fightback – but is it too late?</h2>
<p>Researchers, libraries and universities have started <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/science/researchers-boycott-elsevier-journal-publisher.html?_r=1">to lobby</a> against large academic publishing houses. There is <a href="http://www.arl.org/news/arl-news/3618-organizations-around-the-world-denounce-elseviers-new-policy-that-impedes-open-access-and-sharing#.Vii6C34rLIU">increasing resistance</a> to publishers who are trying to restrict access to information with stricter regulatory policies on the placement of articles in institutional repositories.</p>
<p>To date, these protests have had little effect on the global transition to Open Access <a href="http://esac-initiative.org/max-planck-digital-library-publishes-white-paper-on-open-access-transition/">proposed</a> by the Max Planck Digital Library.</p>
<p>This makes it hard not to conclude that South Africans will in future be paying far more for knowledge – and will have even less access to it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49603/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leti Kleyn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>South Africans’ access to important knowledge and research is incredibly limited. In this time of Open Access, why is this the case – and will it ever change?Leti Kleyn, Research Fellow and Manager, Open Scholarship Programme, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/493022015-10-20T03:35:15Z2015-10-20T03:35:15ZOpening up access to research and information isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98820/original/image-20151019-23254-16paqhm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Access to free, accurate information is as important to learning as access to desks, chairs and science labs.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Children struggle to learn when they don’t have science labs and libraries. Learning becomes difficult in classrooms that are falling apart, or where children are expected to sit on the floor because they have neither desks nor chairs.</p>
<p>A lack of infrastructure is just one contributor to South Africa’s entrenched and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-south-africa-can-disrupt-its-deeply-rooted-educational-inequality-48531">ongoing educational inequality</a>. There is another, less frequently discussed issue that is deepening this inequality: access to quality peer-reviewed information. </p>
<p>Such information should be available to all South Africans whether they are school children, university students, researchers or citizen scientists. This will encourage lifelong self-learning. It will spur continued research and innovation. Access to information can bolster education, training, empowerment and human development.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.openaccessweek.org/">International Open Access Week</a> offers a good opportunity to explore how South Africa can improve its citizens’ access to information.</p>
<h2>Opening up access</h2>
<p>It has been more than 21 years since apartheid ended, but a distinction remains between South Africa’s <a href="http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/db7d59804a0bc39da10beba53d9712f0/Habib-decries-lack-of-reform-at-tertiary-institutions-20151001">“rich” and “poor” universities</a>. One of the reasons for this distinction is the richer institutions’ ability to invest in research resources. They can afford expensive subscriptions to databases which contain a wealth of research – ironically funded by taxpayers’ money.</p>
<p>The historically disadvantaged and predominantly black universities can’t afford such subscriptions. Their academics also can’t contribute to such resources, because authors are expected to <a href="http://www.academicjournals.org/manuscript_handling_fee">pay a fee</a> for the “privilege” of being published.</p>
<p>As university <a href="http://sajlis.journals.ac.za/pub/article/viewFile/66/58">budgets are slashed</a>, even wealthier institutions are beginning to struggle with subscription and publication fee costs.</p>
<p>This problem is not unique to South Africa. Research and academic institutions, funders and governments around the world are beginning to embrace <a href="http://legacy.earlham.edu/%7Epeters/fos/overview.htm">Open Access</a> for publicly funded research. In the internet age, it is possible to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC406350/">tremendously lower</a> the cost associated with publishing. </p>
<p>Open source software has also made it possible to manage quality peer-reviewed research. Sometimes this involves having an article published for <a href="http://legacy.earlham.edu/%7Epeters/fos/overview.htm?PHPSESSID=77c3ebe37d4d54e92b9d9968af3cb11e">the first time</a> in an Open Access <a href="https://doaj.org/">journal</a>. This is called Gold Open Access. In other instances, an article may first be published in a limited access journal and a second copy then made available in an institutional repository, a practice called <a href="http://legacy.earlham.edu/%7Epeters/fos/overview.htm?PHPSESSID=77c3ebe37d4d54e92b9d9968af3cb11e">Green Open Access</a>.</p>
<p>The value of this second, open-access copy is that it allows more people to get hold of research being conducted by a particular university or academic. This in turn increases the number of citations an institution receives – and that translates into more money from government research subsidies.</p>
<p>Repositories also play an important role in risk management. Digitally preserving a copy of a research article and its accompanying data sets provides evidence of what was done with research funding. It means the data sets can be reused, which ultimately saves taxpayers’ money because they don’t have to fork out again for repeat data collection. </p>
<p>South African universities are also involved in the open access revolution. Presently, there are <a href="http://www.opendoar.org/find.php">31 institutional repositories</a> in the country. These are used to digitally preserve research articles, theses and dissertations by scholars associated with the relevant institution. Of the 303 scholarly journals <a href="https://academyofsciencesa.wikispaces.com/DHET+Accreditation">accredited</a> by the country’s department of higher education and training, just fewer than half are available as open access.</p>
<p>Eight of the country’s research or academic institutions – including its <a href="http://www.nrf.ac.za/sites/default/files/documents/oastatement_2015.pdf">National Research Foundation</a> – have policies on Open Access to <a href="http://roarmap.eprints.org/view/country/710.html">publicly funded research</a>. </p>
<h2>Still more to do</h2>
<p>All of these are positive developments, but there is much more to be done to truly open up access to research and information in South Africa.</p>
<p>Researchers still have a deeply ingrained preference for publishing in the high-impact, high-profile scholarly journals produced by prominent publishers. This is driven by prestige. If academics have the money to pay the exorbitant author fees, they publish in these journals. These academics’ own universities must then pay again to access research that was conducted using institutional resources and taxpayers’ money.</p>
<p>The next step would be to formalise open access in South Africa and to provide proper guidance in terms of the standards that researchers and research institutions should adhere to. A well-informed national open access policy could be created by learning from what <a href="http://roarmap.eprints.org/">other countries have done</a>. Until now, individual academics and institutions have driven the open access process. This bottom-up approach has its merits, but a push from the top is needed to ensure that we stay on track.</p>
<p>In keeping with this top-down approach, the Department of Higher Education and Training should consider allocating some of the money it generates through accredited journals to funding universities’ open access initiatives.</p>
<p>All South Africans should have access to quality, peer-reviewed, publicly funded research. How else can the country showcase what it has to offer in terms of research? How else can it increase the impact of this research? And how else can we inspire future generations of innovators and thinkers to embark on the research that’s needed to solve the country’s problems?</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Susan Veldsman, the director of the Scholarly Publishing Unit at the <a href="http://www.assaf.co.za/">Academy of Science of South Africa</a> (ASSAf) and Ina Smith, the <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/">SciELO</a> Planning Manager at ASSAf.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49302/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Butler-Adam has previously received funding from the Human Sciences Research Council and the Ford and Mellon Foundations. </span></em></p>A lack of access to quality, peer-reviewed information can actually contribute to societal and educational inequality. How can Open Access help?John Butler-Adam, Editor-in-Chief of the South African Journal of Science and Consultant, Vice Principal for Research and Graduate Education, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.