Media Plurality Series: Why is the EU not Protecting Plurality?

Among a number of other issues raised in Index on Censorships recent report on the EU and freedom of expression, was that of media plurality. Mike Harris, Index’s Head of Advocacy explains the reports findings on media concentration and argues that action is urgently needed to protect pluralism in Europe

The ‘hollowing out’ of smaller third sector organisations?

This paper explores whether small and medium-sized third sector organisations (SMTSOs) are being ‘hollowed out’ due to multiple interacting pressures from their policy environment. We draw together and synthesise recent research and consider the extent to which cumulative policy pressures are eroding some core features of SMTSOs. We conclude by considering the extent to which the pressures faced by SMTSOs may limit their capacity to meet governmental expectations about their contribution to a ‘shared society’

Development and the G20

This publication examines what role the G20 can play in international development. Key findings: Development is a key component of the G20, but there are concerns over the effectiveness of the current development agenda. The criticism includes that the development agenda is too diffuse and mostly distant to the G20’s main activities. But the G20 development agenda has made progress in some important areas, including increasing the resources of the international financial institutions, infrastructure, food security, financial inclusion and reducing the cost of remittances. However development and global economic issues cannot be treated in isolation; development must be ‘mainstreamed’ and clearly seen as part of the G20’s core agenda. To the extent that Australia can help strengthen the G20 when it assumes the chair in 2014, and make tangible progress in such areas as - economic growth, financial regulation, trade, financial inclusion, infrastructure and climate change financing – it can make a significant contribution to promoting development and reducing poverty. Authored by Mike Callaghan AM, Annmaree O’Keeffe AM, Robin Davies, Susan Harris Rimmer , Steve Price-Thomas, Sabina Curatolo, Julia Newton-Howes and Michelle Lettie

Skipped breeding in common guillemots in a changing climate: restraint or constraint?

Climate change may have demographic consequences for marine top predators if it leads to altered rates of skipped breeding. Here we examine variation in skipping propensity at both the population and individual levels in common guillemots Uria aalge in relation to climate and oceanographic variables and explore the extent to which skipping may be adaptive or an unavoidable consequence of ecological or social constraints. We assumed a detection probability for birds present in the colony of 1.00 and skipping events were defined to include both resightings of non-breeders and failures to resight individuals known to be alive (not present at the colony but resighted in future years). Skipping frequency was higher in years where sea surface temperatures (SST) were higher in winter (both in the current and previous year), when guillemots from our study colony disperse widely across the southern North Sea. Individuals differed consistently in their average skipping propensity and their responses to SST. Males and females were equally likely to skip on average and the frequency of skipping increased in the oldest age classes. Birds that skipped in year t had lower breeding success in year t+1 if they laid an egg, compared to birds that did not skip in year t. Lifetime reproductive output was negatively related to individual skipping frequency. These results imply that skipping is driven more by individual-specific constraints, although we cannot rule out the possibility that birds benefit from skipping when environmental (or internal) signals indicate that breeding in poor years could be detrimental to their residual reproductive value. While future climate change might lead to guillemots skipping more often due to carry-over effects from wintering to breeding periods, the net demographic impacts may be subtle as the absolute frequency of skipping may remain low and individuals will not be equally affected