Posted by
Julie Tomlin
on 10 March 2008 at 18:08
Tags: Afghanistan, Journalism, press freedom
Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, the brother of Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, the journalist who has been sentenced to death in Afghanistan
for blasphemy is to speak in Paris on 11 March at a Reporters Without Borders event and in Belgium on 12 March at an event organised by Belgian newspaper De Morgan.
Posted by
Julie Tomlin
on 10 March 2008 at 17:29
Tags: Iraq
The decision by the Najaf governor to grant Iraqi journalists a dedicated piece of land in Dar Al-Salam cemetery has been met with derision by journalists who view it as further proof that the government is powerless to protect them.
Aswat Al-Iraq, an independent news agency quotes Hazim Inaiya from the Institute for War and Peace Reporting: “Iraqi journalists lost almost all their rights, and governmental and non-governmental institutions are supposed to look after journalists.”
Posted by
Julie Tomlin
on 7 March 2008 at 17:21
Tags: Zimbabwe, press freedom
A journalist is challenging a year-long work ban imposed on him by the state media commission in Zimbabwe which has remained in force despite recent changes to the media laws.
Lawyers for Brian Hungwe, who has worked with the BBC and SABC, have called on the Media and Information Commission (MIC) to lift the ban because under new rules the body should be replaced by a new nine-member Zimbabwe Media Commission. (more…)
Posted by
Julie Tomlin
on 7 March 2008 at 16:36
Tags: Journalism, South America, press freedom
Half of the freelance journalists working in Mexico have been threatened or attacked, while many of them are low paid and do not have a regular income, according to a new report published by The Rory Peck Trust. (more…)
Posted by
Julie Tomlin
on 28 February 2008 at 16:53
Tags: Australia
Sydney photographer Jamie Fawcett told the Sydney Morning Herald he would appeal against his failed bid for damages against Fairfax Media over claims in one of its papers that he was “Sydney’s most disliked freelance photographer” because of his harassment of actor Nicole Kidman.
Posted by
Julie Tomlin
on 28 February 2008 at 15:10
Tags: Citizen Journalism, India
With more than 241 million mobile phones in India and 7.8 million new ones bought each month, micro and mobile blogging sites are proliferating, writes new media blogger Pramit Singh.
Singh has written three articles on citizen journalism in India on his blog Mediavidea.
Posted by
Julie Tomlin
on 28 February 2008 at 15:02
Tags: Russia, press freedom
There is less and less freedom of the media in the Russian Federation as a result of increasing restrictions on independent journalists in recent years, a report by Amnesty International claims.
News organisations have been shut and journalists are increasingly restricted by new legislation such as laws combating extremist activities, Amnesty said in a 52-page report Freedom Limited cataloguing the increasing restrictions on rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly.
Published ahead of the 2 March elections the report expresses concern over the lack of progress in the investigation into the murder of human rights journalist Anna Politkovskaya.
Her death and that of Ivan Safronov who had been writing about arms deals for the daily Kommersant were proof that dissent was a matter of life or death for journalists, Amnesty’s director Kate Allen said.
The increased number of investigations into journalists and news organisations for alleged crimes such as inciting hatred or slander of officials were intended to intimidate the report concludes. Many of the investigations have not resulted in any criminal charges being made but could still have a “chilling effect” on the media, the report concludes.
Staff at radio station Ekho Moskvy were repeatedly asked to provide transcripts of their programmes to the prosecutor’s office after broadcasting an interview with Eduard Limonov, leader of the now banned National Bolshevist Party.
The interview was broadcast at a time when the ban of his organisation had not fully come into force and journalists said the text for all programmes can be accessed on the internet.
Free speech ‘shrinking’ in Russia - BBC
Amnesty says no opposition or debate in Russia election - Reuters
Posted by
Julie Tomlin
on 28 February 2008 at 14:46
Tags: Iraq, press freedom
The funeral of top Iraqi journalist Shihab al-Timimi was held in Baghdad today.
The chief of the Iraqi Journalists’ Union died on Wednesday after he was shot by unidentified gunmen in an ambush on 23 February.
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the attack and said Al-Tamimi had received calls threatening his life.
Posted by
Julie Tomlin
on 26 February 2008 at 18:22
Tags: Zimbabwe, press freedom
Robert Mugabe’s government is tightening its crackdown on the media in the lead up to the 29 March elections, Reporters Without Borders claims.
Journalists have been arrested, ordered to reveal sources and newspapers threatened with closure “in an upsurge of harassment that seriously threatens press freedom ahead of polling,” press freedom organisation claims.
Posted by
Julie Tomlin
on 26 February 2008 at 18:22
Tags: Iran, Iraq, United States
A US military spokesman told Reuters that Hafidh al-Beshara, news editor and manager of political programming of the al-Furat television station was detained because he may have “key information on Iranian-sponsored criminal activity”.
Reuters reported 26 February that the senior journalist from one of Iraq’s biggest television stations would be questioned in the next 48-72 hours.
An earlier Associated Press report suggested that was arrested during a raid targeting his son.
The military said in an earlier statement that Beshara’s son was a suspected intelligence operative for Iranian-backed cells and had helped in attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces.
