Press Freedom

MALAYSIA: Online Media Fight Internet Clampdown

By Baradan Kuppusamy
A government plan to control online media has sparked widespread protest from journalists and lawmakers who say the move is a sign of the ruling party’s desperation as it prepares for a "do or die" general election.

EGYPT: Mubarak Switches On Smear Campaign

By Emad Mekay
The regime of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has unleashed a media campaign to discredit pro-democracy protestors. That comes on the back of a violent crackdown by his supporters.

EGYPT: A Revolution, Unplugged

By Aprille Muscara
Despite the Hosni Mubarak regime's attempts at muzzling communication and dissent, and the reportedly government- sanctioned shutdown of Egypt's last standing Internet service provider to individual users Monday, Egyptians are still managing to get their voices heard and mobilise - both through advanced technical workarounds and older, traditional technologies.

SRI LANKA: Press Freedom Burns in Colombo

By IPS Correspondents
At 2 a.m. on Monday morning, the headquarters of one of Sri Lanka's leading bilingual news sources, Lanka E-News (LEN), was burned down in the predawn darkness.

TAIWAN: Media Fights Propaganda Masked as News

By Dennis Engbarth
A coalition of journalist and civic organizations is waging a campaign to rid the Taiwan media of government propaganda masquerading as news, and signs are that the campaign has taken "the first steps" towards victory.

The Ethics of Social Networking for Journalists

By Estrella Gutiérrez
The digital revolution is turning people into producers, as well as consumers, of media content. But this new reality has yet to be fully assimilated, and journalists face questions and uncertainties about their social role, their duties and also their rights.
The face-off between police and protesters is building up. Credit: Mohammed Omer

EGYPT: Embattled Regime Cuts Internet Services

By Cam McGrath
Twitter was an early casualty. Then Facebook access became spotty. But when the Internet itself went down, Egyptian pro-democracy activists knew their protests were having an effect.

VIETNAM: Communist Party Steps on Already Stifled Newspapers

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
A week after Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party ended its pivotal congress of the country’s political elite, there is little evidence in the state-controlled media of a possible return to the openness that once saw high-profile corruption scandals exposed in print here.

Press Freedom Under Threat in Age of Wikileaks

By IPS Correspondents
Freedom of the press could be seriously impacted across the world in the wake of the ongoing political revelations brought about by whistle-blowing websites such as Wikileaks, one of foremost constitutional law experts in the U.S. said Tuesday.
Marcela Turati sat down to talk with IPS. Credit: Daniela Pastrana/IPS

Q&A: “In Mexico, We Have Let the Violent Ones Do the Talking”

By Daniela Pastrana
"In Mexico, we have let the violent ones do the talking," says journalist Marcela Turati, author of "Fuego Cruzado" (Crossfire), a new book that tells the stories of victims of President Felipe Calderón's war on drugs, which has left an official death toll of 30,000 in four years.

Media Crackdown Threatens Democracy

By Zoltán Dujisin
Following the approval of a restrictive media law that led to widespread domestic and international condemnation, Hungarian society is trying to come to terms with the broader consequences of the country’s alleged descent into authoritarianism.

VIETNAM: Communists Gag the Web

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
By clamping down on the Facebook.com social networking service, Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party is revealing its discomfort with the rapidly expanding avenue for free expression even as it pushes to transform the once poor agrarian nation into a modern industrial society by 2020.

Report Shows Rollback on Rights in China

By IPS Correspondents
A new report released Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) charges that China has largely failed to meet the commitments laid out in its first-ever National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP), introduced in 2009.
Shows of defiance to protect media freedom have been held all around Sri Lanka. Credit: Amantha Perera

SRI LANKA: Media Freedom Still Distant

By Amantha Perera
January is indelibly linked to the tumultuous recent history of the media in Sri Lanka. Two years ago, on Jan. 8 Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge, editor of the The Sunday Leader newspaper, was murdered while on his way to work.

MEDIA-HONDURAS: Ten Murders and No Justice

By Thelma Mejía
The murder of Henry Suazo, a correspondent for a radio station based in the capital, brought this year's death toll for reporters in Honduras to 10, and made this Central American nation the second most dangerous country for journalists in Latin America, after Mexico.

VENEZUELA: New Rules to Rein In the Internet

By Humberto Márquez
Controversy has flared up in Venezuela over planned reforms to the law on online media, especially because restrictions that already apply to the content of radio and television broadcasts would be extended to the internet. Portals and networks that transmit messages deemed to be illegal may face heavy fines, or even be shut down.

Wikileaks “Gossip” Merely Annoying in Latin America

By Mario Osava
Although revelations by the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks concerning Latin America have caused irritation in the region, they have not had any significant effects so far.
José Couso in a photo taken shortly before his death in Baghdad, Apr. 8, 2003. Credit: Public domain

SPAIN: Wikileaks Revelations Put Pressure on Justice Officials

By Tito Drago
The highest authorities of Spain's judicial system will have to explain to the Congress of Deputies their repeated refusals to bring U.S. soldiers to trial for the 2003 killing of journalist José Couso in Baghdad. The recent diplomatic cables made public by the whistleblower organisation Wikileaks reveal contacts with U.S. authorities aimed at preventing a trial.

MIDEAST: Egypt’s Duplicity Stands Exposed

By Cam McGrath
More than 250,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables released by online whistle- blower WikiLeaks include statements made behind closed doors that could prove embarrassing for Egypt’s government, say analysts.

Egypt Rejects “Interference” in Elections

By William Fisher
Egypt's authoritarian government ramped up its crackdown on journalists and opposition politicians ahead of the Nov. 28 parliamentary elections and rebuffed a U.S. call for international observers to monitor "free and fair" balloting.
María Pía Matta Credit: Courtesy of Mujeres en Conexión

Q&A: Community Radio Stations – Key Players in Expanding Democracy

By Marcela Valente
Chilean journalist María Pía Matta, a feminist and staunch believer that communication is a universal right based on freedom of expression, is the new president of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC).
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