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September 4, 2025

À Gaza, les journalistes locaux et les fixeurs sont tués à un rythme sans précédent. Peut-on les protéger ?

Source: The Conversation – France in French (3) – By Simon Levett, PhD candidate, public international law, University of Technology Sydney

Près de 200 professionnels des médias ont été tués dans la bande de Gaza, depuis le 7 octobre 2023. Les journalistes locaux et leurs fixeurs sont mal payés et, surtout, mal protégés, en dépit des efforts de leurs employeurs et des appels lancés à l’attention de l’armée israélienne par les médias, les gouvernements étrangers et les organisations de défense des journalistes.

La journaliste Mariam Dagga n’avait que 33 ans lorsqu’elle a été tuée par une frappe aérienne israélienne à Gaza, le 25 août 2025.

En tant que photographe et vidéaste indépendante, elle a documenté les souffrances des civils à Gaza à travers des images indélébiles d’enfants mal nourris et de familles endeuillées. Elle avait rédigé un testament, dans lequel elle demandait que ses collègues ne pleurent pas à ses funérailles et que son fils de 13 ans soit fier d’elle. Dagga a été tuée avec quatre autres journalistes – et 16 autres personnes – lors d’une frappe visant un hôpital qui a suscité une condamnation et une indignation généralisées.

Cette attaque fait suite au meurtre de six journalistes d’Al Jazeera par les Forces de défense israéliennes (FDI) alors qu’ils se trouvaient dans une tente abritant des journalistes à Gaza au début du mois d’août. Parmi les victimes figurait le journaliste Anas al-Sharif, lauréat du prix Pulitzer.

La guerre menée par Israël depuis près de deux ans à Gaza est l’une des plus meurtrières de l’histoire moderne. Le Comité pour la protection des journalistes, qui recense les décès de journalistes dans le monde depuis 1992, a dénombré pas moins de 189 journalistes palestiniens tués à Gaza depuis le début de la guerre (Ndlr : selon RSF, 220 journalistes ont été tués par l’armée israélienne dans la bande de Gaza en près de 23 mois). Beaucoup travaillaient en tant que pigistes pour de grands organes de presse, Israël ayant interdit aux correspondants étrangers d’entrer à Gaza.

En outre, l’organisation a confirmé la mort de deux journalistes israéliens, ainsi que celle de six journalistes tués lors des frappes israéliennes sur le Liban.

« Cela a été très traumatisant pour moi »

En 2019, je me suis rendu à Tel-Aviv et à Jérusalem en Israël, ainsi qu’à Ramallah en Cisjordanie, afin de mener une partie de mes recherches doctorales sur les protections disponibles pour les journalistes dans les zones de conflit.

Au cours de ce séjour, j’ai interviewé des journalistes de grands médias internationaux tels que le New York Times, le Guardian, l’Australian Broadcasting Corporation, CNN, la BBC et d’autres, ainsi que des journalistes indépendants et des fixeurs palestiniens locaux. J’ai également interviewé un journaliste palestinien travaillant pour la rédaction anglophone d’Al Jazeera, avec lequel je suis resté en contact jusqu’à récemment.

Je ne me suis pas rendu à Gaza pour des raisons de sécurité. Cependant, de nombreux journalistes que j’ai rencontrés avaient effectué des reportages dans cette région et connaissaient bien les conditions qui y régnaient, déjà dangereuses avant même la guerre.

Osama Hassan, un journaliste local, m’a parlé de son travail en Cisjordanie :

« Il n’y a pas de règles, il n’y a pas de sécurité. Parfois, lorsque des colons attaquent un village, par exemple, nous allons couvrir l’événement, mais les soldats israéliens ne vous respectent pas, ils ne respectent rien de ce qui est palestinien […] même si vous êtes journaliste. »

Nuha Musleh, fixeuse à Jérusalem, a décrit un incident qui s’est produit après un jet de pierre en direction de soldats de l’armée israélienne :

« […] Ils ont commencé à tirer à droite et à gauche – des bombes assourdissantes, des balles en caoutchouc, dont l’une m’a touchée à la jambe. J’ai été transportée à l’hôpital. Le correspondant a également été blessé. Le caméraman israélien a également été blessé. Nous avons donc tous été blessés, nous étions quatre. […] Cela a été très traumatisant pour moi. Je n’aurais jamais pensé qu’une bombe assourdissante pouvait être aussi dangereuse. Je suis restée à l’hôpital pendant une bonne semaine. J’ai eu beaucoup de points de suture. »

Une meilleure protection pour les journalistes et les fixeurs locaux

Mes recherches ont montré que les journalistes et les fixeurs locaux dans les territoires palestiniens occupés bénéficient de très peu d’équipement de protection physique et d’aucun soutien en matière de santé mentale.

Le droit international stipule que les journalistes sont protégés en tant que civils dans les zones de conflit en vertu des Conventions de Genève et de leurs Protocoles additionnels. Cependant, ces textes ne comportent pas de dispositions relatives à la protection spécifique nécessaire aux journalistes.

Des médias, des groupes de défense des droits des journalistes et des gouvernements ont clairement exigé qu’Israël prenne davantage de précautions pour protéger les journalistes à Gaza et enquête sur les frappes telles que celle qui a tué Mariam Dagga.

Malheureusement, les médias semblent peu en mesure d’aider leurs collaborateurs indépendants à Gaza, si ce n’est en se disant inquiets de leur sécurité à travers des communiqués, en demandant à Israël qu’il autorise les évacuations de journalistes et en exigeant que les journalistes étrangers puissent entrer dans la bande de Gaza.

Les correspondants internationaux ont, pour la plupart d’entre eux, suivi une formation sur le reportage dans les zones de guerre, et bénéficiaient d’équipements de sécurité, d’assurances et de procédures d’évaluation des risques. En revanche, les journalistes locaux et les fixeurs à Gaza ne bénéficient généralement pas des mêmes protections, alors qu’ils sont les premiers touchés par les effets de la guerre, notamment la famine massive.

Malgré les énormes difficultés, je pense que les médias doivent s’efforcer de respecter au mieux leurs obligations en matière de droit du travail lorsqu’il s’agit des journalistes et des fixeurs locaux. Cela fait partie de leur devoir de diligence.

Des recherches montrent que les fixeurs figurent depuis longtemps parmi les acteurs les plus exploités et vulnérables de la production d’information internationale. Ils sont souvent dans des situations précaires, sans formation aux zones dangereuses ni assurance médicale. Ils sont de surcroît très mal rémunérés.

Les journalistes locaux et les fixeurs à Gaza doivent être rémunérés correctement par les médias qui les emploient. Il faut pour cela tenir compte non seulement des conditions de travail et de vie déplorables dans lesquelles ils sont contraints de vivre, mais aussi de l’impact considérable de leur travail sur leur santé mentale.

Comme l’a récemment déclaré le directeur de l’information mondiale de l’Agence France Presse, il est très difficile de rémunérer les contributeurs locaux, qui doivent souvent supporter des frais de transaction élevés pour accéder à leur argent. « Nous essayons de compenser cela en leur versant une rémunération plus élevée », a-t-il déclaré.

Il n’a toutefois pas précisé si l’agence allait modifier ses protocoles de sécurité et ses formations pour les zones de conflit, étant donné que les journalistes eux-mêmes sont pris pour cible à Gaza dans le cadre de leur travail. Ces journalistes locaux risquent littéralement leur vie pour montrer au monde ce qui se passe à Gaza. Ils ont besoin d’une meilleure protection.

Comme me l’a dit Ammar Awad, un photographe local de Cisjordanie :

« Le photographe ne se soucie pas de lui-même. Il se soucie des photos, de la manière dont il peut prendre de bonnes photos, de filmer quelque chose de bien. Mais il a besoin d’être dans un endroit sûr pour lui. »

Simon Levett ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. À Gaza, les journalistes locaux et les fixeurs sont tués à un rythme sans précédent. Peut-on les protéger ? – https://theconversation.com/a-gaza-les-journalistes-locaux-et-les-fixeurs-sont-tues-a-un-rythme-sans-precedent-peut-on-les-proteger-264416

September 4, 2025

Horaires flexibles : une fausse solution aux embouteillages du matin ?

Source: The Conversation – France (in French) – By Emmanuel Munch, Urbaniste et Sociologue du temps, Université Gustave Eiffel

La flexibilité des horaires de travail est souvent présentée comme un remède à la congestion urbaine – et à la pollution qui en découle. Une étude comparative menée entre Paris et San Francisco suggère pourtant que cette promesse est largement surestimée. Et si on repensait la place du temps dans nos sociétés et que l’on mettait en place une véritable « écologie temporelle » ?

Chaque jour, des millions de personnes convergent vers leur lieu de travail en même temps. Cette concentration matinale provoque un phénomène bien connu dans les transports, l’heure de pointe qui, en ce qui concerne la voiture, fait bondir les émissions de gaz à effet de serre – en France, 30 % d’entre elles sont causées par les transports. La pollution de l’air qui en découle a également de graves effets sanitaires : selon Santé publique France, 48 000 décès par an sont attribuables aux particules fines.

Pour résoudre ce problème, une solution de bon sens semble s’imposer : offrir aux salariés davantage de flexibilité dans leurs horaires de travail. Si les salariés n’étaient plus tous contraints d’arriver au bureau à 9 heures, les flux seraient plus étalés, les transports moins saturés, la ville plus fluide. Parmi les pouvoirs publics et les entreprises privées, cette idée fait consensus depuis plus de cinquante ans.

Mais les salariés disposant d’une plus grande autonomie dans le choix de leurs horaires de travail évitent-ils réellement l’heure de pointe ? C’est la question que nous nous sommes posée dans une étude récente. Nous avons analysé deux territoires qui concentrent une part importante de travailleurs aux horaires flexibles : la région parisienne (29 % en horaires flexibles) et la région de San Francisco (59 %).

Horaires flexibles, libres ou modulables

Avant d’en venir aux origines des horaires flexibles, définissons d’abord ce dont on parle. Deux niveaux de définition peuvent être proposés. Les horaires de travail flexibles sont définis par opposition aux horaires officiellement fixés par l’employeur, mais ils peuvent se concevoir selon deux degrés de liberté différents : les horaires libres et les horaires modulables.

Dans la première situation, les horaires libres, le travailleur indépendant ou le salarié autonome agence comme bon lui semble ses horaires de travail au cours de journées et/ou de semaines. Dans le cas des salariés, on parlera, en France, de temps de travail annualisé, ou encore de contrats de travail au forfait, qui doivent néanmoins respecter les durées légales de travail à l’échelle de l’année (trente-cinq heures par semaine, soit 1 607 heures par an) et de repos hebdomadaire.

Deuxième situation, avec un niveau de liberté moindre, les horaires modulables qui se réfèrent, pour leur part, à la possibilité pour le salarié d’arriver et de partir du travail quand il le souhaite, en respectant cependant des heures plancher et plafond, fixées par l’employeur.

Le principe des journées à horaires de travail modulables.
Auteurs, Fourni par l’auteur

Par exemple, les salariés peuvent arriver quand ils le souhaitent entre 7 heures et 10 heures, faire leur pause déjeuner à n’importe quel moment entre 12 heures et 14 heures, et quitter le travail entre 16 heures et 19 heures. Leur seule obligation est de respecter la durée légale de travail quotidienne ou hebdomadaire et être présents durant certaines plages fixes de la journée – dans notre exemple, 10 heures-12 heures et 14 heures-16 heures.

Une organisation largement adoptée

Au moment de leur apparition dans des usines aéronautiques en Allemagne, dans les années 1960, ces horaires de travail modulables furent d’abord pensés comme une politique managériale permettant aux salariés de se rendre au travail en dehors des périodes de pointe.

Cette conception s’est par la suite diffusée en Allemagne et a, petit à petit, été intégrée dans les politiques publiques de gestion de la demande de transport au cours des années 1970 et 1980 aux États-Unis et en Europe.

Une du *Parisien*, 28 mars 2013.
Le Parisien, Fourni par l’auteur

Aujourd’hui, la flexibilisation des horaires de travail est toujours considérée comme un outil efficace de l’arsenal des politiques de gestion de la demande de transport en heure de pointe. En témoigne une initiative de SNCF Transilien en 2014, en partenariat avec huit entreprises à la Plaine Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis). Plus récemment, depuis 2019, des opérations de « lissage des pointes » et de flexibilisation des horaires se multiplient, portées par la Région Île-de-France.

Des résultats contre-intuitifs en apparence

Pourtant, notre étude comparative menée à Paris et San Francisco sur les effets des horaires flexibles questionnent leur pertinence.

Nos travaux montrent qu’à Paris, les personnes ayant des horaires flexibles sont plus susceptibles d’arriver pendant la période de pointe (entre 8 heures et 9h30) que celles qui n’en disposent pas. À San Francisco, nous constatons que la flexibilité horaire n’a pas d’effet significatif sur l’heure d’arrivée au travail.

Autrement dit, la flexibilité n’a pas l’effet attendu dans la réduction des congestions, voire renforce, paradoxalement, la concentration des flux. Nous avons également observé cet effet contre-intuitif dans d’autres régions de France (Bretagne, Hauts-de-France), ainsi qu’en Suisse.

Plusieurs facteurs, selon nous, peuvent expliquer ce paradoxe.

D’un côté, la flexibilité est souvent partielle et asymétrique. Disposer d’une autonomie sur ses horaires ne signifie pas pour autant être libre de son temps. Il s’agit, pour ces salariés, de composer avec les horaires des collègues ou de leurs supérieurs, avec les réunions programmées à des heures fixes et les horaires des crèches ou des écoles. La marge de manœuvre affichée sur le papier est contrainte dans les faits.

De l’autre, ne sous-estimons pas le poids des normes sociales : dans beaucoup d’organisations, arriver tôt reste un signe de sérieux et d’implication.

À l’inverse, décaler ses horaires peut être mal perçu, même si cela ne nuit pas à la productivité. Ces représentations sociales influencent fortement les choix horaires, même chez ceux qui pourraient s’autoriser des horaires décalés.

Privilège ou précarité du travail flexible

Nos résultats révèlent qu’une distinction claire doit être établie entre les travailleurs flexibles à hauts revenus et ceux à bas revenus. C’est surtout lorsque la flexibilité est subie qu’elle peut contribuer à lisser les horaires de pointe.

En effet, ceux qui ont de hauts revenus et qui peuvent choisir leurs horaires comme ils le souhaitent (médecins, avocats, cadres en horaires flexibles…) sont plus susceptibles de se déplacer en même temps que tout le monde, à l’heure de pointe.

Chez ceux qui, en revanche, disposent d’une liberté d’organiser leurs horaires de travail tout en percevant de faibles revenus, la flexibilité tient davantage à la nature même de leur travail (aide à domicile et ménage, garde d’enfants périscolaire, restauration, culture et événementiel…), qui les contraint à exercer au cours de tranches horaires atypiques.

Enfin, le contexte urbain et territorial joue également. Les exemples de Paris et de San Francisco montrent que les effets de la flexibilité dépendent du contexte local. À San Francisco, au moment de l’enquête (2017), la dispersion géographique des lieux de travail et une culture du travail plus numérique (télétravail plus répandu, pratiques asynchrones) pouvaient limiter l’impact direct de la flexibilité sur l’heure d’arrivée.

À Paris, au contraire, la centralisation des fonctions tertiaires et l’inertie des rythmes sociaux (prise de repas notamment) renforcent la synchronisation.

« Le Mag », magazine interne de la SNCF, décembre 2014., Fourni par l’auteur

Désamorcer le mythe de l’autonomie

Ces résultats invitent à repenser une croyance bien ancrée dans les politiques de mobilité, selon laquelle l’étalement des horaires serait une réponse simple et immédiate à la congestion des transports.

Si la flexibilité peut apporter du confort dans la conciliation des vies personnelle et professionnelle, améliorer la qualité de vie au travail et réduire les tensions du quotidien, elle ne suffit pas à transformer les rythmes collectifs. Elle agit au niveau individuel, alors que la congestion est un phénomène structurel, social et fortement normé.

L’illusion d’une solution purement comportementale (laisser les gens « choisir » leurs horaires) occulte les inégalités temporelles, les contraintes de coordination et les « cultures du temps ».

Vers une véritable écologie temporelle ?

Pour alléger les heures de pointe, il ne suffit pas de miser sur les outils : il faut repenser le partage du temps dans nos sociétés. Redéfinir nos rythmes de travail, nos normes sociales, et notre organisation collective du temps à travers une approche que nous appelons « écologie temporelle ».

Elle suppose de reconnaître le temps comme un bien commun soumis à des arbitrages collectifs, de réduire les injonctions à la synchronisation – pourquoi toutes les réunions commencent-elles à 9 heures ? –, de valoriser les marges de désynchronisation, notamment via les politiques publiques et les campagnes de communication, et enfin d’intégrer la question des rythmes dans l’aménagement du territoire et l’urbanisme.

C’est déjà le cas, notamment, avec les politiques temporelles dites de « bureaux des temps », imaginés par l’association Tempo territorial, qui réfléchit, avec différents acteurs, aux mesures à prendre au sein des organisations pour promouvoir une meilleure conciliation des temps de vie.

Emmanuel Munch est Vice-Président de l’association Tempo Territorial et membre de la Déroute des Routes. Il perçoit des financements d’organismes publics tels que : le Ministère de la Transition Ecologique, l’ADEME, l’ANRT, la SNCF.

Laurent Proulhac ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.

– ref. Horaires flexibles : une fausse solution aux embouteillages du matin ? – https://theconversation.com/horaires-flexibles-une-fausse-solution-aux-embouteillages-du-matin-259716

September 4, 2025

When record heat feels strangely normal

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Will de Freitas, Environment + Energy Editor, The Conversation

Summer 2025 was the UK’s hottest on record, the Met Office announced this week. The news somehow felt both inevitable and surprising. There may have been four separate heatwaves, but for many this summer felt pretty normal.

This is because of “shifting baseline syndrome” and the way humans notice – or fail to notice – temperature change.

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Academics have been warning about shifting baselines for decades: the idea that each generation takes the climate and ecosystems of its youth as the baseline or “normality”.

Back in 2020, Lizzie Jones, then a PhD researcher in conservation psychology at Royal Holloway, said this is why parents and grandparents should talk to children about the natural world of their youth.

“Even my parents”, she writes, “recall clouds of insects while they learned to drive, regular snowfall each winter and now rare bird species filling their back gardens.”

For people struggling to put environmental changes in context, local anecdotes like these can be more useful than news stories. “Older people hold a rich library of knowledge about the past,” says Jones, “and how their corner of the world has changed over the course of their lives.”

As time passes, losses accumulate or temperatures creep up. But because we reset our expectations every generation, the change feels ordinary. This is shifting baseline syndrome, and Jones says it leads us to “underestimate how much the environment has changed”.

She particularly focuses on wildlife changes:

“Whatever you or your generation grew up with is considered normal, but as species continue to go extinct and wild habitats are erased, your children will inherit a degraded environment and accept that as normal, and their children will normalise an even more impoverished natural world.”

My own grandparents were born near Newcastle more than a century ago. Back then, red squirrels still dominated that part of the world but grey squirrels introduced from America were fast taking over. Skip forward two generations, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a red squirrel in the wild. My baseline is that squirrels are grey.

There’s something similar going on with birds in the UK. I grew up in west London and vividly remember as a teenager my first sighting of a bright green parakeet in Richmond Park. My friend Oscar told me a small colony had established themselves in the city’s suburbs. These days, I see these invasive parakeets (originally from the Himalayan foothills, say scientists) more than any bird aside from pigeons. They’re loud and annoying and keep taking food from native songbirds.

My children will never know a London without parakeets: that’s their baseline.

Parakeet on a park fence — The new baseline.
NorthSky Films / shutterstock

Altered perceptions

But it’s easy to spot when a chunky colourful parrot has muscled a tiny blue tit out of its usual feeding spot. It’s a lot harder to notice that the hottest summer day might now be 35°C rather than 31°C.

In part, that’s because climate change isn’t just altering the weather – it’s altering our perceptions.

Matthew Patterson is a climate scientist at the University of Reading. Writing in June last year, after supposedly cold and miserable weather still hadn’t moved the month much below the long-term temperature average, he noted that the UK has warmed so fast that: “We have come to normalise extreme heat, while relatively cold or even average conditions feel unusual and thus newsworthy.”

We’re also prone to very human biases here. Our collective memory of the weather in any given summer is hugely influenced by conditions during the daytime on perhaps ten weekends. Few people notice whether it was abnormally hot or cold at 3am on a Tuesday, but that’s part of the average too.

This may explain why the UK’s record hot summer still came as a surprise: we pay attention to outliers and recent events (August was cooler than July this year), not to the relentless upward creep of average temperatures.

Lost summers, wilder futures

History offers a sobering lesson in averages and outliers. During the little ice age between the 14th and 19th centuries, average global temperatures cooled by a few tenths of a degree. But that had a huge impact, especially in Europe: failed harvests, frozen rivers, famines and storms.

For climate historian Dagomar Degroot of Georgetown University in the US, this was a case of small global trends masking bigger local consequences. “The comparatively modest climate changes of the little ice age,” he says, “likely had profound local impacts.”

And if less than half a degree can do all that, what might two degrees of warming do in the near future?

Degroot does note that: “People who lived through the little ice age lacked perhaps the most important resource available today: the ability to learn from the long global history of human responses to climate change.”

The little ice age teaches us how vulnerable we are to climate shifts, but we can reimagine the natural world rather than simply mourn its loss.

Back in 2018, Jones (the conservation psychologist), together with her colleagues Christopher Sandom and Owen Middleton of the University of Sussex, asked young people to imagine what a thriving natural world would look like:

“What they expressed was a desire to see ecosystems with not just more of the wildlife that’s currently there, but the return of species which have disappeared. There was also an undercurrent of sadness about litter and the present absence of wildlife, and hopes for more sustainable lifestyles in the future.”

This is why the authors say we should not simply accept shifting baseline syndrome, as it would mean “progressive damage to the natural world, even with our best efforts”.

Instead, they write, “By broadening our imagination and what we can expect from the environment, we can raise our ambitions for the natural world we leave to future generations.”

While memory loss hides decline, imagination can help reverse it.

These stories help explain the paradox of the low-key record-breaking summer. Shifting baselines make us forget the past. Human biases mean we notice cool rainy days more than creeping warmth. And history warns us that even small global changes have huge local effects.

Post-carbon

Lots of responses to our question about air conditioning last week.

Dave Pearson says: “When we were younger my wife and I lived in Chad without air conditioning for 10 years. In the hot season our living room would drop to 40 °C just before dawn, then the sun would rise…” He now has an AC unit in his living room: “We see it as a source of convenient comfort at this point, but potentially life-saving as we get older (and therefore more vulnerable) and heatwaves get hotter”

Marolin Watson says her “brick-built South-facing terrace house” tends to stay fairly cool. “However, with people increasingly being forced to live in flats that often rise a considerable distance into the air and may, depending on their orientation, catch the full sun for most or all of the day, I can see that air conditioners will be a necessity.”

Helen Wood says: “if you want air-conditioning, it should be only operated by battery powered by solar panels and not draw on the national grid”

Anne Heath Mennell grew up in Yorkshire and now lives in Australia. She points out “it is an efficient way to cool down, especially if powered by renewables”, but that people once “dreamed of balmy summers. Be careful what you wish for…”

An obvious question this week: what are some climate or environmental changes you have noticed in your lifetime? Don’t give me data: I want anecdotes.

– ref. When record heat feels strangely normal – https://theconversation.com/when-record-heat-feels-strangely-normal-264515

September 4, 2025

BBC has a long history in Africa. New book offers a critical take on the broadcaster

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Albert Sharra, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of the Witwatersrand

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) established its first radio transmitter sites in Africa in the 1930s, to reach the British colonies and beyond. It became a model for radio in Africa and later a model for TV news.

But, almost a century on, what is the BBC’s colonial legacy and how does the public broadcaster serve a post-colonial media space? We asked the editors of a new book, called The BBC’s Legacy in Africa: Continuities and Change, about their study.

What was the BBC’s colonial operation all about?

The BBC was established in 1922. Within a few years, it became a colonial platform. This began with the British Colonial Office’s decision to set up radio broadcasting in its colonies. The goal was to enhance communication between the governors and the governed. The BBC was engaged to help with the project.

Between the late 1920s and 1930, the BBC tried broadcasting in most parts of the empire, including Africa. At the 1930 Imperial Conference, it was agreed to set up the Empire Service, a broadcast network to advance administration of the colonies. By 1932, the Empire Service was in full operation and many countries were getting connected to the broadcasting grid. Kenya was connected in 1928 and Ghana in 1935. In central Africa, Zambia was connected in 1945 to cover Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

At the time, private radio stations were thriving in other parts of the continent, particularly in South Africa, Angola and Mozambique. The unique approach of the BBC was to establish public service radio.

By 1971, there were 43 national radio services in sub-Saharan Africa. This is attributed mainly to the BBC’s expertise in developing broadcasting services and programming models, and training African broadcasters.

This was more than just communication; it was a form of cultural imperialism and soft power. It embedded British values through English-language dominance and news formats that reflected British norms.

This remains the BBC broadcasting model today, as well as that of former British colonies. At independence, newly established African states adopted these norms to establish national broadcasters.

Our book argues that the end of colonisation did not dismantle the BBC’s colonial legacy. That’s because the style was already embedded in the broadcasting system. We used evidence from different countries, including Malawi, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Nigeria, to demonstrate this.

How did this shape African media?

Post-independence broadcasters inherited BBC-style structures, formats and journalistic ethics. Over time, these elements were blended with local languages, music and storytelling traditions.

The BBC has remained in these countries through the BBC World Service and programmes like Focus on Africa. It recruits African correspondents who influence local journalists to write news in the same ways.

We argue that the failure of African media to decolonise has something to do with the BBC’s efforts to keep influencing broadcasting worldwide.

Many national broadcasters in Africa still operate under public service broadcasting principles inspired by the BBC. In some countries – like Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe – these are public broadcasters on paper, but in practice they are state media, operating in the interest of the state. They are abused and used for state propaganda. So, the influence of the BBC, in some instances, is not successful in practice.

At first, the BBC was promoting English only. Later on, it started to invest in African languages. The BBC’s World Service programming has incorporated Hausa, Igbo, Somali, Swahili, Afaan Oromo, Amharic and Tigrinya.

As the book discusses, BBC programmes like Focus on Africa and political interview styles like HARDtalk have influenced talk shows and political debate programmes in African media. These hybrids often continue to reproduce western-centric norms and biases.

What can we learn from some of the countries discussed?

In Uganda, radio continues to reflect the influence of the BBC in programming content, ownership patterns and journalist training.

The BBC’s reliance on Ugandan correspondents reinforces its authority and shapes professional norms, making BBC-trained journalists aspirational figures. The BBC sustains many local outlets by providing international and sports content.

Its enduring presence has also been facilitated by government goodwill, including the allocation of scarce frequencies, as part of maintaining diplomatic ties.

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation initially embraced the BBC’s public service broadcasting ideals. But later it became a propaganda arm for the ruling party.

What are some of the problems with the BBC in Africa today?

Its perceived neutrality as a public service broadcaster is questioned in the book because the BBC’s editorial choices often mirror British foreign policy priorities. The discussions in the book mirror some of the public backlash the BBC has faced in cases like its coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The dominance of BBC-trained journalists and formats has the potential to marginalise other storytelling traditions. Most African cultures are rich in storytelling but BBC correspondents tend to control the storytelling through an insistence on quick questions and answers and limited time.

Although African languages are included, news framing often perpetuates Eurocentric narratives.

What needs to change?

BBC should be commended for setting up what became a model of broadcasting not only in Africa but also beyond. This model has fostered quality broadcasting and the watchdog role of the press.

Moving forward, in its African programming and operations, the BBC needs to go beyond tokenism. Representation should encompass more than language. It should include agenda-setting, framing and adopting African storytelling techniques.

African broadcasters should uphold and embrace local knowledge and approaches by incorporating local cultural logic into their programming. They should strive to be creative and innovative.

Partnerships that empower African broadcasters instead of relying on BBC resources can promote genuine media sovereignty.

The future depends on hybridisation on African terms, upholding high production and ethical standards while anchoring media systems in African socio-political realities, rather than copying and reproducing colonial frameworks.

The book argues that decolonisation in African broadcasting is an ongoing process and requires creating more spaces for open conversations.

Albert Sharra receives funding from University of Witwatersrand and University of Edinburgh. The book is part of my funded research work under these institutions.

Anthony Mavuto Gunde and Jimmy Kainja do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. BBC has a long history in Africa. New book offers a critical take on the broadcaster – https://theconversation.com/bbc-has-a-long-history-in-africa-new-book-offers-a-critical-take-on-the-broadcaster-264052

September 4, 2025

Ghana’s films don’t often make it to Netflix – local solutions may be the answer

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Robin Steedman, Lecturer of Creative Industries, School of Culture and Creative Arts, University of Glasgow

African filmmakers have long faced challenges in securing wide-scale distribution for their films. In this context, digital platforms such as Netflix and YouTube have been hailed as bringing huge new opportunities.

This optimism in filmmaking resonates with the hype digital technologies more generally have had in Africa. They have been seen to offer almost unlimited opportunities for African entrepreneurs to transform and grow their businesses. Ghana’s communication minister, for example, declared in 2017 “it’s Digitime in Ghana”.

We are researchers in film studies, theatre studies, sociology and geography, and in this study, we set out to understand how platforms were being used and thought about in the Ghanaian film industry. We wanted to look beyond the techno-optimistic hype – the idea that technological progress can solve every problem known to humans.

We held interviews and focus groups with 50 filmmakers in Ghana to understand the experience of platform entrepreneurship in filmmaking across the country. We found that while filmmakers were very optimistic about technology, they were also deeply sceptical of what existing platforms could do for them in Ghana. Creating local platforms was an important alternative.

Enthusiastic but short on know-how

Ghana’s film industry dates back to its colonial roots when the Gold Coast Film Unit was established by the British in the 1940s. Although it has achieved remarkable successes, they haven’t been consistent. In the sub-region the industry is dwarfed by Nigeria’s Nollywood.

Film distribution in Ghana is in a transitional moment, driven in large part by technological change. For a long time, Ghanaian movies reached their audiences on CDs and DVDs. With the rise of digital television and internet streaming, this once lucrative model collapsed. Ghanaian filmmakers are now experimenting with platforms in their businesses.

We found that they used and thought about platforms in three principal ways.

First, many filmmakers enthusiastically embraced platforms and believed they had the power to create global reach and dramatic business growth. Many felt, like prominent Accra filmmaker Isaac, that “opportunities are endless in the industry” because of new technologies.

Some Ghanaian filmmakers distribute their films on major global platforms such as Netflix, but it was only a very small minority. They did not feel that working with platforms had revolutionised their businesses, but rather that being on Netflix enhanced their status, and they hoped this would help them attract financing for future projects.

Second, filmmakers were also well aware of the limits of platform distribution. Those with films on Netflix were the most affluent and well connected. Others struggled to access some global platforms. They also found it very difficult to make money on easy-to-access platforms such as YouTube. They struggle to make the large volume of content needed to get high viewing numbers and thus monetise their content. It was almost impossible to make enough to justify the cost of production.

Some filmmakers felt that they did not know enough about how to use platforms. Emerging filmmaker Esther expressed a common view when she said:

We need more education in ﬁlmmaking. Those of us here, we have the talent, we want to do movies, we are doing our best, but most of us have not been to ﬁlm school to learn.

Some felt they were not benefiting from the potential of platforms yet, but could in the future. Thus, they were motivated to continually experiment and develop new strategies for making and distributing their movies online and offline.

Third, some filmmakers experimented with creating Ghanaian platforms.

John, a leading figure in a national association, said:

In five years, the industry will be better, far, far better than ten years ago. … if we are able to move with time, build a platform like Netflix.

He wanted to create something that would focus on Ghanaian film and support the local industry.

John was not alone. Selwyn, a film and TV entrepreneur, for example, had created an app specifically for local language film.

Ghanaian filmmakers could see that the business models of global tech giants did not favour them, and that Netflix and other American platforms would not transform film distribution in Ghana or fulfil their dreams of global audiences and business growth.

Local solutions

Film makers did not give up in the face of these challenges. Rather they worked hard to devise their own solutions to the challenge of film distribution – solutions that were tailored to their circumstances and put Ghanaian filmmakers at centre stage. Local Ghanaian platforms were one such solution.

The idea that technology can change the world emanates powerfully from Silicon Valley in the US and has been exported globally. Yet Ghana is starkly different from Silicon Valley and thus the experience of technological entrepreneurship is likely to be different too.

Ana Alacovska received funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark for this research

Rashida Resario has received funding from DANIDA for this research.

Thilde Langevang receives funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, grant number 18-05-CBS (Advancing Creative Industries for Development in Ghana).

Robin Steedman 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.

– ref. Ghana’s films don’t often make it to Netflix – local solutions may be the answer – https://theconversation.com/ghanas-films-dont-often-make-it-to-netflix-local-solutions-may-be-the-answer-261087

September 4, 2025

God and Nollywood: how Pentecostal churches have shaped Nigerian film

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Elizabeth Olayiwola, Senior Lecturer in Broadcast, Film, and Multimedia, University of Abuja

In Nigeria today, one doesn’t have to attend a church service to hear a sermon. The pulpit has moved – onto screens, into living rooms, and across YouTube.

Along with this shift, a fascinating genre has emerged: Nigerian evangelical cinema. These films blend entertainment with Pentecostal spirituality, turning prayers into special effects and spiritual battles into dramatic storylines.

This transformation is not accidental. It reflects a wider trend in which religion and media intersect to shape how Nigerians – and increasingly, Africans in the diaspora – understand the spiritual world.

As a media scholar I have been researching the Nigerian evangelical screen world for over a decade. As I show in my latest study in the book Contemporary African Screen Worlds, the rise of evangelical cinema is tied to Nigeria’s Pentecostal boom and the explosion of Nollywood, the country’s vast film industry, in the 1990s.

In the early days of Nollywood, films were distributed on video cassettes and shown in communal venues, including church halls. They spread to TV, where audiences embraced early Nollywood productions like Agbara Nla (The Ultimate Power) produced in 1993 by Mount Zion Faith Ministries International. Broadcast as a series, it dramatised spiritual warfare between Christians and demonic agents and became a national phenomenon.

The ministry, founded in 1985, houses Mount Zion Film Productions, the most prolific Christian film company in Nigeria.

Evangelical films blur the line between devotion and drama, prayer and performance. My study shows that they are not just niche productions aimed at church audiences. Their impact is far greater. The films reveal how millions of Nigerians imagine the spiritual world, how they navigate everyday crises, and how religion adapts to new technologies.

The Nigerian evangelical film culture also shows how a range of networks can build and push a cinematic culture forward, offering lessons to industries around the world about the power of leveraged networks.

How it all started

At the centre of this story is Mike Bamiloye, co-founder of Mount Zion Faith Ministries. Established by a small group of college graduates, it began with church stage plays before moving into video and TV.

Like the Yoruba theatre tradition from which it drew some of its inspiration, Mount Zion toured churches and neighbouring countries, staging plays and building audiences.

With fewer entertainment options available back then, TV audiences embraced Agbara Nla. The film tells the story of a village that is constantly punished by the forces of darkness because of a malevolent herbalist. God sends a young Christian missionary couple to battle him and deliver the community from evil.

What made Agbara Nla and similar films resonate was their familiarity. Nigerians had long been exposed to supernatural storylines. In the 1960s through to the 1980s, they occurred in Yoruba travelling theatre productions, a popular form of entertainment.

Later, the supernatural was kept alive in Nollywood’s many occult-themed films. Often involving witchcraft and magic, these films tend to tap into a blend of Christian and traditional Nigerian cosmologies. They revolve around the idea of spiritual warfare, of good versus evil and God versus the Devil.

Evangelical filmmakers simply retooled the formula, swapping out witchdoctors for pastors, charms for prayer, and gods for Christ.

A man directs actors dressed in simple white outfits. One kneels holding a sacred object, others lie passed out on the ground. — The power of the gods on display in a Nollywood film.
Bestvillage/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

In many evangelical films, prayer is not just words muttered in the quiet of the heart. It is dramatised, given visual form, and staged as a battle with unseen forces. A woman kneeling in prayer might suddenly find herself in a parallel “spirit realm” where angels and demons clash. Her whispered incantations are translated into fireballs, lightning bolts, or shields of protection.

The effect is powerful. For Christian audiences, these films make visible what is usually invisible: the spiritual consequences of prayer. They confirm a belief that prayer works, not metaphorically but literally, in the everyday struggles of life.

Social messages

These films are more than just entertainment. They carry social messages too. One striking feature I’ve discussed in my earlier research is their focus on women.

Women are often depicted as especially vulnerable to spiritual attack – but also as powerful prayer warriors. In many films, a woman’s reproductive life – her fertility, sexuality, or motherhood – is given spiritual significance.

This framing reflects Pentecostal theology, where sex itself is sometimes cast as an act with spiritual consequences. So these kinds of Nollywood stories both challenge and reinforce gender norms.

On one hand, women are shown exercising spiritual authority. On the other, their bodies are often treated as sites of moral or spiritual conflict.

Entrepreneurship of faith

Behind the scenes, evangelical Nollywood also illustrates a different kind of creativity: entrepreneurship. Many film makers juggle ministry with business innovation, building networks of production, distribution and audience engagement. Evangelical film maker Opeyemi Akintunde, for example, started with short web stories, moved into publishing, and went on to adapt her work into films circulated on YouTube and in cinemas.

This entrepreneurial spirit is part of a broader pattern across Africa. Studies have shown how Pentecostal media – from films to radio to social media – are reshaping both religious practice and cultural economies.

In Nigeria, the church itself provides infrastructure, from funding and publicity to venues and technical equipment, making film ministry possible.

Beyond Nigeria

Studies have also shown how Nollywood is spreading, embraced by a global audience. The influence of Nigerian evangelical cinema is not limited to Nigeria.

Riding on Nigeria’s transnational churches, these films and their film-making style today reach audiences across Africa, Europe and the US. Diaspora churches screen them during services; people watch them on their phones for inspiration or moral guidance.

This global circulation highlights the adaptability of both African Pentecostalism and Nollywood – and their capacity to shape imaginations (and souls) far beyond their local roots.

Elizabeth Olayiwola 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.

– ref. God and Nollywood: how Pentecostal churches have shaped Nigerian film – https://theconversation.com/god-and-nollywood-how-pentecostal-churches-have-shaped-nigerian-film-264279

September 4, 2025

Mónica’s story: the woman shipped from Ghana to Portugal in 1556 to stand trial for using traditional medicine

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Jessica O’Leary, Senior Lecturer, Monash University

Standing before the Inquisition in Lisbon, Portugal in 1556, Mónica Fernandes, a woman from the coast of modern-day Ghana, was accused of casting malevolent spells and making pacts with demons. Her crime? Seeking a traditional Akan remedy for a simple cat bite.

The Portuguese Inquisition was a powerful institution tasked with identifying, investigating and punishing any belief or practice that deviated from official Catholic doctrine. The Inquisition was established in 1536 during the expansion of the Portuguese empire, one of the world’s first global maritime powers.

Fernandes’ trial, recorded in meticulous detail by the Inquisitor, Jerónimo de Azambuja, offers a rare and powerful window into a 16th-century clash of cultures. It reveals how a colonial power systematically misunderstood and criminalised local customs, rebranding Indigenous knowledge as dangerous sorcery.

As a historian, I spend my time searching for connections between people across the early modern world, especially the lives of women and children within the vast Portuguese empire. While I was researching the trials of Indigenous women in colonial Brazil, a question began to form: were women in other parts of the empire, like west Africa, also being targeted for their traditional knowledge? This question led me to the archives of the Portuguese Inquisition and to a remarkable case file from 1556.

The file detailed the trial of Mónica Fernandes, an Akan woman from what’s now Ghana. Her story opens a rare window onto the personal, human impact of colonisation. It shows how a vast imperial power operated on the ground: by misunderstanding, criminalising, and attempting to erase Indigenous ways of knowing.

Recovering stories like this helps us understand a legacy of cultural suppression that continues to resonate today.

A life between two worlds

Mónica was born to Akan parents. The Akan are a collection of related peoples, primarily living in modern-day Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. Organised into matrilineal states, they had established sophisticated societies with rich cultural, religious and social knowledge systems long before the arrival of Europeans.

The Portuguese first arrived on the west African coast in the late 15th century, driven by a desire for gold. They established their authority by constructing fortified trading posts like São Jorge da Mina (now Elmina Castle) that imposed their laws and religion on the surrounding communities.

Mónica lived and worked in and around São Jorge da Mina, a place of intense cultural collision. Baptised into the Catholic faith, she existed between two worlds: the rigid, hierarchical society of the European fortress and the vibrant Akan village of Edina that surrounded it.

Like others, she moved between these spaces to socialise, shop and, crucially, seek medical care. It was this last activity that brought her to the attention of the Inquisition. Instead of visiting the Portuguese apothecary at the fortress, Mónica consulted a local Akan healer, an ɔkɔmfoɔ or odunsinni, to treat a cat bite. She procured an ointment, a common practice she saw as rudimentary healthcare.

To the Inquisitor, however, this was proof of heterodoxy, or a belief, opinion, or practice that went against the officially established doctrines of Catholicism. Mónica’s choice to trust her community’s medical expertise over that of the Portuguese was seen not just as a rejection of European authority, but as evidence of a pact with the devil.

Custom vs. crime

The accusations against Mónica were dramatic and personal. The initial charge stemmed from a quarrel with another African woman, Ana Fernandes, who was visiting São Jorge da Mina from Lisbon. Witnesses claimed that after an argument, Mónica cast a spell on Ana. Weeks later, after returning to Portugal, Ana succumbed to a mysterious illness that allegedly caused the skin to peel from her face. This rumour, spread by a single witness, became the centrepiece of the case.

The rumour of Mónica’s curse spread, prompting a formal inquiry by the Portuguese captain at São Jorge da Mina. It was only after this local investigation, which took months, that Mónica was officially detained and transported as a prisoner to face the main tribunal in Lisbon.

The Inquisitor’s interest went beyond this single event, expanding to include other, more everyday practices. Witnesses interviewed at São Jorge da Mina also claimed Mónica conducted spells using chickens and yams. While these details were recorded as evidence of sinister rituals, they were in fact staple elements of Akan cultural life. Yams, a starchy, edible tuber, similar to a potato, were a vital food source and central to ceremonies honouring ancestors, while animal sacrifice was a common preparation for deities.

What the Portuguese Inquisitor labelled feitiços (witchcraft or charms) was, for Mónica and her community, simply aduro (medicine) and amammerɛ (custom). The trial documents painstakingly list her heterodoxical activities, but in doing so, they inadvertently preserve a record of the very cultural knowledge the Inquisition sought to destroy. Mónica’s case becomes a catalogue of everyday Akan practices, seen through a distorted colonial lens.

A defiant accused

Throughout months of imprisonment and interrogation, Mónica was pressed to confess to witchcraft. She consistently refused. In Akan culture, the concept of bayie is sometimes translated as “witchcraft”, but it specifically refers to acts of acute spiritual wickedness or illness. Mónica’s actions did not fit this category. She was treating a physical ailment, a cat bite.

Mónica’s refusal to accept the label of “witch” was therefore not simple denial. Her defence was based on a clear cultural distinction, one she clung to despite her limited Portuguese. When she insisted that she had committed no crime because “all the black men and women of Mina did it too”, she was not admitting to collective guilt. She was trying to explain that her actions were customary medicine, not malevolent spiritual work.

She understood the difference between her own system of knowledge and the crime of which she was accused, and she refused to conflate them.

The verdict and legacy

Ultimately, Mónica was found guilty of witchcraft, but the Inquisitors deemed her actions “minor”. She was given the light sentence of a period of religious re-education in Lisbon to study Christian doctrine. Mónica secured her release by demonstrating good Christian behaviour, but was forbidden from returning to her homeland.

Mónica’s light sentence was relatively uncommon but unlikely to have been the first instance of re-education. It is possible that women from other Portuguese colonial territories also suffered similar fates, but many records have been lost due to the Lisbon Earthquake (1755) and the deliberate destruction of the Goa Inquisition cases which also took in east Africa.

We don’t know what happened to her after her release. But her story, buried in the archives for over 450 years, remains deeply relevant. It is a powerful, personal account of how colonialism operated not just through military force, but through displacement and the deliberate suppression of local knowledge. Mónica’s trial is a stark reminder that the branding of Indigenous practices as “magic” or “superstition” was a tool used to assert dominance and erase entire ways of knowing the world.

Jessica O’Leary works for Monash University, a partner of The Conversation.

– ref. Mónica’s story: the woman shipped from Ghana to Portugal in 1556 to stand trial for using traditional medicine – https://theconversation.com/monicas-story-the-woman-shipped-from-ghana-to-portugal-in-1556-to-stand-trial-for-using-traditional-medicine-263929

September 4, 2025

Mark Carney lifted some tariffs against the U.S. Was that a wise tactical move, or a bad blunder?

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Nargess Kayhani, Associate professor of Economics, Mount Saint Vincent University

Trade disputes between the United States and Canada are nothing new. They date back as far as the late 19th century.

What began as two neighbouring countries seeking to expand their markets and assert economic sovereignty has evolved into a broad range of conflicts.

These historical trade disputes have included accusations of unfair subsidies, protectionist tariffs, and, more recently, concerns over national security, fentanyl and border security.

Softwood lumber, one of the most important items on the list of Canadian exports to the U.S., has been consistently under attack by different American administrations. The disputes go back to as early as 1980s and are still one of the major sources of trade interruptions between the two countries.

Other important areas of trade disputes are agricultural products, namely dairy, beef and grain as well as steel and aluminum, auto and aerospace industries.

Trump’s tariffs

Earlier in 2025, the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump even violated the existing Canada-U.S.Mexico Trade Agreement (CUSMA) by imposing tariffs on products that were supposed to be exempt under the provisions of the deal.

This action has had negative economic effects on both the U.S. and Canada. In the words of Tiff Macklem, governor of the Bank of Canada, “restoring open trade is important for jobs, growth and price stability in Canada.”

South of the border, the tariffs imposed on Canadian products are likely raising costs for American consumers and businesses, though calculating the precise increase is complex because manufacturing components cross the Canada-U.S. border many times.

Carney’s move

Though some might call it weakness, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent move to lift the retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods covered under CUSMA, while retaining tariffs on auto, steel and aluminum, is arguably a wise strategy.

The end goal is to minimize economic damage to Canada. According to Carney, this tariff removal on about 85 per cent of Canada-U.S. trade is consistent with the commitment under CUSMA.

Furthermore, such alignment with the U.S. could create a guarantee for the continuation of trade and security talks currently ongoing between the two countries.

Some argue that such a strategic decision will benefit Canadian consumers by making imports cheaper, reducing inflationary pressure on the Canadian economy and giving Canadians a sense of relief knowing that a trade deal will be achieved.

While the statistics don’t explicitly link the removal of Canadian retaliatory tariffs with the downward pressure on inflation or boosting Canadian consumption, it is generally accepted that lower prices for imported goods increase purchasing power.

Alternate trade relationships

Is Carney buying time? Does he have a long-term plan for Canada and the direction of trade?

While the prime minister is seemingly trying to keep negotiations productive in the lead-up to CUSMA’s renegotiation in 2026, his government has also started negotiating with many other countries (especially in Europe) to secure more reliable trading partners.

In June 2025, Carney said:

“We will need to dramatically reduce our reliance on the United States. We will need to pivot our trade relationships elsewhere.”

These echo similar comments he’s made over the past several months, including these remarks:

“Our old relationship with the United States, a relationship based on steadily increasing integration, is over. The system of open global trade anchored by the United States — a system that Canada has relied on since the Second World War, a system that, while not perfect, has helped deliver prosperity for our country for decades — is over.”

An unpredictable U.S.

By offering tariff relief on non-strategic goods while retaining protections for key sectors of the Canadian economy — steel, aluminum and automobiles — Carney isn’t surrendering. As an economist, I believe he’s being strategic.

Canadians should keep in mind that the federal government is not dealing with a reasonable American administration under Trump. It is predictably unpredictable.

Managing relations with such a partner is a profound challenge in diplomacy, simply because negotiators cannot rely on the U.S. government acting in good faith and adhering to the provisions of existing trade deals.

To effectively handle this situation, the Canadian government must have a plan that integrates strategy, patience and psychological insight. It should also have multiple back-up plans in case there is a sudden shift in U.S. trade policy and action. I argue that what Carney has done so far is an astute tactical manoeuvre.

Nargess Kayhani 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.

– ref. Mark Carney lifted some tariffs against the U.S. Was that a wise tactical move, or a bad blunder? – https://theconversation.com/mark-carney-lifted-some-tariffs-against-the-u-s-was-that-a-wise-tactical-move-or-a-bad-blunder-264177

September 4, 2025

How environmental RNA can give us a real-time picture of freshwater biodiversity

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Wendy Morgado Gamero, PhD candidate in Biology, McGill University

Researchers used environmental RNA in water from Lake Hertel near Montréal to monitor aquatic biodiversity. (Jiaqian AirplaneFan), CC BY

As climate change and human activity threaten freshwater ecosystems like lakes and rivers, it’s more important than ever to know how the species who inhabit them are being impacted. But traditional methods of monitoring species, such as catching animals, are challenging to implement and can miss rapid changes.

What if we could track life without capturing or directly observing individual animals? It turns out we can, by reading the DNA and RNA they leave behind in the water.

Every living thing leaves tiny traces in their environment — skin cells, waste or microscopic fragments we cannot see. These fragments carry genetic material unique to each species on Earth.

So, when scientists sample one bottle of water, a few grams of soil, or even filter the air, they are actually collecting what’s called environmental DNA (eDNA) or RNA (eRNA), which can tell us which species are (or have been) present in an area.

Recent studies have demonstrated that eRNA, previously considered too unstable for field use, can be reliably detected in freshwater ecosystems.

Our research

DNA molecules take time to completely disappear in the aquatic environment. That means eDNA might come from organisms living there now — or from ones that disappeared weeks ago.

However, RNA breaks down quickly. That fragility turns out to be an advantage: it gives us a snapshot of what’s alive and active in the moment, offering a powerful new way of tracking living organisms in real time.

At McGill University’s Gault Nature Reserve, researchers use the Large Experimental Array of Ponds (LEAP): 96 cattle-tank “ponds,” each holding about 1,000 litres of water drawn from nearby Lake Hertel. Known as mesocosms, they allow the researchers to test how freshwater communities respond to rapid changes in their environment like pH and temperature.

A mesocosm is a human-made outdoor tank that mimics a real freshwater ecosystem — big enough to include microbes, plankton and natural water, yet controlled so scientists can test isolated factors and repeat experiments. You can think of them as giant outdoor aquariums for science.

In our study, we worked with the large mesocosms at LEAP. We added a solution containing only DNA and RNA of water fleas (Daphnia pulex), a common freshwater organism absent from Lake Hertel, to the water mesocosm without the fleas themselves.

This allowed us to track how eDNA and eRNA behave across time once they enter the water. We subsequently transferred 10 per cent of the water volume into the next mesocosms, until reaching a dilution of 10,000 times of the eDNA and eRNA solution. We collected water samples starting right after we added the solution to the first tanks and continued for 24 days, nine times in total.

We used digital PCR to measure how DNA and RNA concentrations changed over time, a highly sensitive technology that can detect very low concentrations of genetic material. This method was also widely used during the COVID-19 pandemic to track the virus in wastewater. By applying it to our freshwater samples, we could precisely quantify how quickly DNA and RNA faded, and compare their persistence under the same conditions.

We also tested differences among RNA types: messenger RNA (mRNA), which carries short-lived instructions that tell cells how to make proteins, and ribosomal RNA (rRNA), which forms part of the cell’s protein-making machinery and is more stable.

What we found in the water

We discovered that RNA degraded much faster than DNA once it was released into the water. Interestingly, we observed differences among RNA types: mRNA degraded faster than rRNA.

Still, we were able to detect both DNA and RNA even after the water had been diluted 10,000 times across the mesocosms. This demonstrates that, even though RNA breaks down quickly, sensitive tools like digital PCR can still detect it, showing its potential for tracking active life in freshwater systems.

Our study demonstrates that environmental RNA — a molecule that disappears soon after an organism dies — can reveal recent biological activity in real time.

In particular, mRNA, the most fragile RNA, can provide a better snapshot of active life in aquatic systems. This provides scientists and environmental managers with a faster means of detecting changes and taking action to protect freshwater ecosystems.

Several large black round tubes of water on the ground — Mesocosms at the Large Experimental Array of Ponds (LEAP) at McGill University’s Gault Nature Reserve.
(Vincent Fugère)

What eRNA can tell us next

Environmental RNA could reveal not only which species are currently alive, but also their health status or even their life stage. For example, one study demonstrated that changes in gene activity resulting from heat stress can be detected in mRNA from the water, providing information about the health of organisms in ecosystems.

Another study found that eRNA can distinguish between tadpoles and adult amphibians, making it possible to track life stages in the wild without needing to catch animals.

These findings suggest that eRNA could become a powerful, non-invasive tool for biodiversity monitoring. With further research, environmental RNA could help us not only track life in freshwater ecosystems, but also reveal how species are adapting in a rapidly changing world.

This study was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant, the Genome Canada BIOSCAN–Canada initiative through the 2020 Large-Scale Applied Research Project Competition (Genomic Solutions for Natural Resources and the Environment), and the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF).

Orianne Tournayre 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.

– ref. How environmental RNA can give us a real-time picture of freshwater biodiversity – https://theconversation.com/how-environmental-rna-can-give-us-a-real-time-picture-of-freshwater-biodiversity-263713

September 4, 2025

Civil servant exodus: How employees wrestle with whether to stay, speak up or go

Source: The Conversation – USA (3) – By Jaime L. Kucinskas, Associate Professor of Sociology, Hamilton College

Federal civil servants work for a nonpartisan agency, not a specific administration. Kevin Carter/Getty Images

For many Americans, work is not just about earning a paycheck. It is a centerpiece of their lives, and they want their job to be meaningful.

Decades of research suggest this is true for most federal civil servants, who aim to serve not only their organizations and their missions, but also the public and the nation. Over the course of President Donald Trump’s first administration, from 2017-21, we spoke with dozens of federal civil servants. They described their jobs as a calling aligned with their ideals – to serve the government, uphold democracy and serve the public.

Turbulent change during Trump’s first term, however, tested many workers. Over a quarter of the civil servants we spoke with ultimately left the federal government.

Since the start of his second term, Trump has attempted a far more sweeping overhaul of the federal bureaucracy. More than 50,000 federal workers have been fired or targeted for layoffs. The U.S. Agency for International Development was shuttered, for example, and more than 80% of employees have been fired from AmeriCorps and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Another 154,000 federal workers accepted the government’s buyout offers, which are structured as “deferred resignations.”

Yet there are similarities with Trump’s first term, such as his and his appointees’ attacks on civil servants’ loyalty and the administration’s efforts to punish dissent.

Our interviews from Trump’s first term – the basis for the 2025 book “The Loyalty Trap” – may give insight into what civil servants are experiencing today. In some ways, their concerns are unique to government work. Yet they also face a challenge many workers confront during dramatic changes at their organization, regardless of their field: whether to stay or go.

Two people in raincoats stand outside, with one holding a sign that says 'Hands off public servants.' — People protest federal cuts outside the Colorado State Capitol in Denver on May 6, 2025.
Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Nonpartisan workforce

The federal civil service is composed primarily of career professionals who work for a mission-driven agency, not just a specific administration. These employees consider themselves nonpartisan, prepared to serve presidents from either party.

When a new administration takes over, whether Democratic or Republican, it installs political appointees to lead the agencies that execute federal law. These agencies help develop federal regulations, enforce laws and regulations, provide services and carry out policies. Career civil servants expect to carry out appointees’ instructions, and are under legal and ethical obligations to do so.

The ethical code and oath of office civil that servants swear to upon starting their positions require them to uphold the Constitution, laws and ethical principles, and to “faithfully discharge the duties of [their] office.” They may not “use public office for private gain” and are required to report any “waste, fraud, abuse, and corruption.”

Federal employees expect significant changes in policy direction and describe it as part of the job. As one State Department worker told us in 2018:

“The president is elected by the people and can define his or her own foreign policy, and our job as career officers of the State Department is to enact that person’s policy. So I have no problem — I have my own moral questions about what the president’s foreign policy choices are – but from a commitment and service oath that I’ve taken to work at the State Department, it is my job to implement the intent of the president and the Secretary of State.”

Loyalty trap

Under the first Trump administration, however, many interviewees described a new level of abrupt change and politicization, where personal loyalty to the president seemed prioritized over their agencies’ missions and norms.

Civil servants must abide by the Hatch Act, which forbids some kinds of political activities, like hosting fundraisers – rules meant to shield them from political pressure and keep promotions merit-based. During the first term, however, Trump officials repeatedly violated the Hatch Act, according to a 2021 federal probe.

In this environment during the first Trump administration, “Loyalty [was] to not question,” said a senior officer at the Environmental Protection Agency. Amid increasing mistrust and suspicion, she believed that “whenever you raised a question in this environment, you were thought to be leaking as well.” This cut against some civil servants’ understanding that it was their job, as longtime agency workers and experts, to provide the best advice possible.

Emphasis on personal loyalty was difficult for some of them to reconcile with loyalty to the missions of their agencies or to the public interest, particularly as many policies took a sharp turn. By January 2021, around three-quarters of the regulations, guidance documents and agency memos the Trump administration issued that were challenged in court had been invalidated or withdrawn, according to research at New York University.

Some civil servants working to bolster democracy around the world and at home, for example, were disturbed by shifts in foreign policy. The president frequently praised authoritarian leaders with poor human rights records – such as Vladimir Putin of Russia, Kim Jung Un of North Korea and Reçep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey – while giving the cold shoulder to allies in Europe.

“The thrust of U.S. foreign policy has generally followed a pretty predictable path,” observed one longtime member of the State Department, who had worked under both Republican and Democratic administrations. “This administration has come in and has basically disregarded the overall imperative that we have to promote democracy and to promote transparency.”

Around 80% of our interviewees said they were experiencing moral dissonance as a result of the sense that their own values, job standards and political leaders’ expectations did not align. These workers were experiencing what we call a “loyalty trap”: the sense of being caught between following higher-ups’ directives and complying with other professional and ethical obligations.

Eyeing the exits

German economist Albert Hirschman’s 1970 book, “Exit, Voice, and Loyalty,” helps explain what workers do when they believe their organization is in decline. Hirschman argued that loyalty to an organization can delay a worker’s decision to leave and motivate them to speak up and push for improvement.

A corner of a computer screen showing a form with options for an employee to select. — A federal worker terminated from her job at the Department of Housing and Urban Development reads over an email asking if she wants to come back to work and be put on administrative leave.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images

Other studies since then have also examined how loyalty shapes workers’ decisions. Research on industries from journalism to mining and taxi operations suggests that when employees feel they have no opportunity to voice dissent and influence the group’s direction, even the most loyal workers may eventually decide to exit.

However, loyalty to the mission of an organization can shape a worker’s decision in complex ways. Sociologist Elizabeth A. Hoffman, for example, studied workers in conventional versus cooperative, employee-owned businesses. She found that employees in a cooperative food distribution company – who expressed strong allegiance to the company and their co-workers – were more likely to mention exiting in response to grievances than their counterparts in a conventional company. She concluded that the cooperative’s workers’ greater “zeal” for the group’s mission actually made them more likely to consider leaving when they felt frustrated or betrayed.

These findings echo themes among civil servants we spoke with who wound up leaving the government – people who valued public service but doubted their power to use their voice to do work as they saw fit.

Civil servants’ exits can be costly for them and their families – but also for their governments, as public administration scholars have found in countries around the world. Experienced workers’ departure can result in the loss of institutional knowledge, and they are often replaced with political loyalists. A 2023 review of almost 100 studies – including research from more than 150 countries – concluded that governments where employees were hired based on their education and work experience, not their politics, had less corruption, more efficiency and greater public trust.

Under the current U.S. administration – which is openly punishing dissent among civil servants – we expect an even greater number of employees to contemplate departure.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Civil servant exodus: How employees wrestle with whether to stay, speak up or go – https://theconversation.com/civil-servant-exodus-how-employees-wrestle-with-whether-to-stay-speak-up-or-go-261985