Press Freedom

Egypt May Not go the Algeria Way

By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
The ouster of Egypt's first freely elected president by the military has led some to warn of a possible Algeria-style civil war. Local analysts, however, dismiss the likelihood of the "Algeria scenario" occurring in Egypt.

U.S. Government-Funded News Comes Home

By Jared Metzker
Following the amendment of a long-standing U.S. law, people in this country will now be exposed to news which is produced by the U.S. government.

Q&A: “Did 100,000 People Have to Die, or Disappear?”

By Lucy Westcott
The violent drug war in Mexico's borderlands has changed the face of the country, injecting fear into both average citizens and the journalists trying to tell their stories.

Fourth Estate Under Fire in Bangladesh

By Naimul Haq
When it comes to media, Bangladesh boasts some impressive statistics: it has the largest number of outlets among the world’s least developed countries (LDCs), including 50 nationwide dailies, of which eight are English-language newspapers; 25 television channels; seven FM radio stations; 14 community radio channels and over 300 regional magazines published in English and Bengali.

Honduras Shaken by High-Profile Murders

By Thelma Mejía
Honduran society remains shocked at the tragic fate of Aníbal Barrow, a journalist and university professor whose body was dismembered and scattered around a lake in Villanueva, in the northern province of Cortés.

Big Brother Is Watching Us

By Ignacio Ramonet
We were afraid this would happen. We had been warned by books (George Orwell's "1984") and films (Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report") that with the progress being made in communication technology, we would all end up under surveillance.

Q&A: No Justice for Tortured Bahraini Journalist

By Jasmin Ramsey
In May 2011, almost a year and half after a Tunisian street vendor’s self-immolation sparked waves of revolution still rocking the Middle East, Bahraini journalist Nazeeha Saeed was tortured during her 13-hour detention before signing a confession she was not allowed to read.

Spy Contractor Bug in Ecuador Embassy Fails to Stop Wikileaks

By Pratap Chatterjee
Spy equipment from the Surveillance Group Limited, a British private detective agency based in Worcester, England, has been found in the Ecuadorean embassy in London where Julian Assange, editor of Wikileaks, has taken refuge.

Snowden Is No Trifling Matter

By Diana Cariboni and Jared Metzker
The suspicion that Bolivian President Evo Morales’ jet was carrying Edward Snowden, the former intelligence contractor who has become Washington´s public enemy number one, triggered an unprecedented international incident.

Intelligentsia Feud Flares in Dushanbe

By Konstantin Parshin
Official recognition as a member of the intelligentsia in present-day Tajikistan means lots of perks, including apartments and access to state-funded vacation resorts. In exchange, members – described as the “conscience of the nation” – are expected to support incumbent authorities.

Media Scholars Decry Financial Crisis, Call for Action

By Jane Regan
Communications scholars from around the world deplored the global financial crisis and called on their peers to take more active roles in the search for solutions at a recent four-day conference in Dublin, Ireland.

Mozambicans Living in the Shadow of a Secret State

By Thembi Mutch
In downtown Maputo, the walls are covered with the local newspaper, Verdade, and a range of people, young and old, male and female, are reading it. Verdade, which means Truth in Portuguese, is a free weekly newspaper that is pasted on the walls of buildings in Mozambique’s capital.

Snowden Asylum Request ‘Could Take Months’

By AJ Correspondents
A decision on whether or not Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who is facing charges of espionage in the U.S., will be given asylum in Ecuador could take months, officials there say.

South Sudan’s ‘State Actors’ Turn on Journalists and Aid Workers

By Jared Ferrie
Since age 18, Zechariah Manyok Biar fought in the revolutionary army that won South Sudan’s independence from Sudan in July 2011. But now the 28-year-old is in exile from the country he helped liberate.

Trapped Between Political Persecution in Eritrea and Misery of Refugee Camps

By Saikou Jammeh
In February 2013, 20-year-old Mohamed*, like hundreds of thousands of other Eritreans, fled the brutal dictatorship in that East African nation in search of a better life in neighbouring Sudan.

Q&A: “Media Concentration Is an Attack on Democracy”

By Daniela Pastrana
"We have to understand that information, above all else, is a social service. If we lose sight of that dimension we begin to regulate it as merchandise, but the state has many other obligations, such as to guarantee freedom," said Frank La Rue.

OP-ED: A Double Standard Won’t Do for Baku

By Eldar Mamedov
Kseniya Sobchak, a well-known Russian political activist and social butterfly, is an outspoken critic of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. But, curiously, she seems to be taking a much softer line on Azerbaijan’s authoritarian-minded ruler, Ilham Aliyev.

As Erdogan Remains Firm, No End in Sight for Turkey’s Protests

By Jacques N. Couvas
Now approaching its third week, the "Occupy Taksim" movement, a peaceful sit-in to save Istanbul's Gezi Park from redevelopment, has taken on a festival-like atmosphere, with protesters organising to stand guard around the clock, provide uninterrupted food and water supplies, and carry out a self-initiated cleaning of the grounds.

Q&A: Turkish Opposition Leader Expects Unrest to Continue

By Jacques N. Couvas
As protests in Turkey stretch into their second week, the precise terms and conditions that could bring the social unrest to an end are unclear, though many speculate about what would end the deadlock between the government and protesters.

Turkish Activists Bring Humour, Creativity to Social Media

By Jillian Kestler-D'Amours
Sitting with hundreds of other protesters in the centre of Istanbul's Gezi Park Thursday night, Arzu Marsh rummages through her backpack to show off what she calls her makeshift "emergency kit": medical masks, a red spray-bottle filled with a liquid that lessens the effect of tear gas, a scarf and some food.

Ethiopia’s Protest Leaders Say No Change in Government

By William Lloyd-George
Despite speculation that the first anti-government protest in eight years, which was held this week in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, might signal new levels of political tolerance by the government, leaders of the political party that organised the protest say this cannot be further from the truth.
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