Press Freedom

MEXICO: Local Media in the Line of Fire

By Emilio Godoy
It is open season on local media in states and cities in the interior of Mexico, which are virtually unprotected against violent attack and have been the worst hit by the murders of at least eight journalists this year.
An oiled brown pelican receives treatment at Fort Jackson Bird Rehabilitation Center in Buras, Louisiana. Credit: Courtesy of International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC)

No Free Press for BP Oil Disaster

By Dahr Jamail
Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard, working in concert with oil giant BP, instituted new restrictions across the U.S. Gulf Coast that prevent the media from coming within 20 metres of booms or response vessels on beaches or water. But the insidiousness of the restrictions runs even deeper.
Mobile phones are increasingly becoming an important newsgathering tool in Asia. Credit: Kara Santos/IPS

MEDIA: Mobile Journalism on the Rise in Asia

By Kara Santos
What do the protests in Burma, bombings in Jakarta, the recent earthquake in Haiti and the massive devastation left by typhoon Ketsana in the Philippines have in common?

Virtual Diversity in Cuban Blogosphere

By Dalia Acosta
There are blogs made in Cuba, and many more Cubans living abroad who blog, both in favour of or against the Cuban government. Caught up in the sea of political passions, the hundreds of blogs about this socialist island nation reflect a growing variety of viewpoints and realities.
Activists being deported from Ben Gurion airport flash the 'V' sign through the darkened windows of a bus. Credit: Mel Frykberg/IPS

MEDIA-ISRAEL: Beatings, Abuse, Doctored Evidence Emerge

By Mel Frykberg
Although Israel successfully controlled news of its deadly commando raid on the Free Gaza (FG) flotilla during the first crucial 48 hours of media coverage, emerging evidence from witnesses and survivors is challenging the Israeli government's version of events.

THAILAND: In Wake of Crackdown, Anger Peaks against Foreign Media

By Lynette Lee Corporal
Resentment here toward the foreign media had been simmering in the wake of the Thai government's crackdown against protesters in May, but it nearly came to a boil when Thai panelists aired their frustrations recently about what they called western bias, misunderstandings of the Thai political culture and reporting that tried to fit events into a bad-versus-evil contest.
Free Gaza activists being marched away from a bus at the Ben Gurion International airport. Credit: Mel Frykberg/IPS

Israel Censors News on Deadly Flotilla Raid

By Mel Frykberg
Attempts by media to interview some of the hundreds of Free Gaza (FG) members, who were being deported from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, Wednesday, were thwarted by Israeli authorities.

MEDIA-PAKISTAN: Netizens Argue for the Right to Decide

By Farah Zahidi Moazzam
While there was no question that the visual depictions of the Prophet Mohammad on Facebook hit a raw nerve among devout Muslims all over the world, the debate here in Pakistan has been all about whether the government should be the one making choices for its Internet users.

HONDURAS: Inter-American Human Rights Report Riles Government

By Thelma Mejía
On a fact-finding mission to Honduras this week, an Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) delegation took aim at the dismissal of several judges who expressed their opposition to the Jun. 28 ouster of president Manuel Zelaya.

THAILAND: Government Cracks Down on Websites in Censorship Drive

By Marwaan Macan-Markar
In her newspaper-strewn office on the ground floor of a quiet apartment complex, Chiranuch Premchaiporn surveys the options before her in case the government’s censors come calling again.

ASIA: In a Globalised World, Media Need Sharper Legal Weapons

By Lynette Lee Corporal
Newspapers threatened with lawsuits across borders. Journalists feeling lost as they seek redress in cases where the state is less than impartial in investigating the killings of journalists. Media caught in attempts to use religion to curtail room for public debate.

U.N. Chief Decries Killing of Journalists

By Jennie Lorentsson
Last year, at least 77 journalists were killed simply for doing their jobs. So far this year, the number is 17 - and rising - with three of them killed last Saturday.

U.N. Press Corps Revolts Against Security Council Sanctions

By Thalif Deen
The U.N. Correspondents' Association (UNCA), which represents the interests of over 200 full-time journalists covering the world body, has lashed out at the Security Council for proposing new restrictions on the press corps - presumably for "safety reasons".
"It's always a cat-and-mouse game," says software designer Austin Heap. Credit: Courtesy of Andy Hall/Observer

New Software Could Outwit Tehran’s Censors

By Omid Memarian
While the Iranian government has intensified its aggressive efforts to expand Internet filters, Austin Heap, a young programmer in the U.S., says he has developed software that would enable Iranians to evade their censors.
French memorial to slain reporters at Bayeux, France. Credit: Town of Bayeux

MEDIA: Press Freedom Day to Focus on Threats

By IPS Correspondents
"Please remember that we know where your child goes to school."

U.N. Blasted for Sequestering NGOs and Media

By Thalif Deen
A major structural renovation of the U.N. Secretariat is being used as a pretext to curb media access to delegates and Security Council members, and is also a veritable smokescreen to tighten restrictions on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) accredited to the world body, critics say.

US-IRAQ: Leaked Video of Shooting Spurs Calls for New Probe

By IPS Correspondents
Journalist advocacy groups called for the reopening of an investigation into the 2007 killing of a Reuters photographer and his driver after the WikiLeaks website released classified video footage on Monday of a 2007 helicopter attack in Baghdad which killed 12 people.

CUBA: Skilful Surfing by Digital Culture Project

By Dalia Acosta
Buoyant in the storm and sailing for new horizons, the Cuban cultural project Esquife (Skiff) has spent over a decade navigating the rough waters of thought-provoking digital journalism, stirring up opinions rather than wallowing in complacency.
Roxana Saberi Credit: Courtesy of Roxana Saberi

Q&A: “They Knew I Was Not a Spy”

By Omid Memarian
When world leaders meet in Washington later this month for a summit on nuclear security that is expected to include discussion of sanctions on Iran, they should also address the country's human rights situation, says Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi.

MIDEAST: Israel Gags News on Extra-Judicial Killings

By Mel Frykberg
An Israeli journalist remains under house arrest and another lives abroad, after they broke news on Israeli undercover units carrying out assassinations or "targeted killings" of non-combatant Palestinian political opponents.

HONDURAS: Deadliest Month Ever for Reporters

By Thelma Mejía
Reporters in Honduras have long complained about gag laws, threats, exile and attacks. But never before have so many journalists been killed in one month.
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