Q&A: ‘Being Silenced Is So Serious That the Reason Pales in Comparison&#39

A decision by the Cuban Radio and Television Institute (ICRT) not to broadcast several video clips by national filmmakers rekindled controversy about the government’s cultural policy and its effects on the media.

MEXICO: Most Dangerous Latin American Country for Journalists

"Journalist’s Murder Condemned", "Newspaper Editor Reported Missing", "Organised Crime May Lurk Behind Disappearance of Newscaster". Headlines like these appear ever more frequently in Mexico, the most dangerous country in Latin America for journalists to ply their trade.

MEDIA: Quite the Biggest Look at Democracy

It is dubbed the "the world's largest ever factual multi-media event" by its producers, and it will be watched by a potential of 300 million viewers around the world.

MEDIA-PAKISTAN: New Musharraf Term Less Liberal?

Journalists are divided on whether attacks on the media will cease, against the backdrop of what looks like another five-year presidential term for Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Q&A: “The Government Is Not Our Enemy”

As relations between Bolivia’s leftist President Evo Morales and the local media are becoming increasingly tense, the National Press Association (ANP) adopted a code of ethics which, for the first time, urges the media to stick to principles aimed at guaranteeing responsible, unbiased coverage.

EGYPT: Regime Cracks Down on Independent Press

Several prominent independent and opposition journalists received prison sentences this month for libelling senior figures of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), including President Hosni Mubarak and his influential son, Gamal. Some critics say that the move represents an attempt to quash discussion about the so-called "inheritance" of the presidency, which many close observers believe is imminent.

Q&A: "Just Keeping the Achievements of Democracy Means a Daily Struggle"

With former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori and his intelligence chief Vladimiro Montesinos in jail, Peru faces a new era. How did it come to happen, and what is in store?

Q&A: &#39Media – Most Exclusionist Institution in India&#39

Palagummi Sainath, winner of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay award in the category for journalism, literature, creative communication and arts, believes that while India has a free press there is a growing disconnect between mass media and mass reality, arising from monopolistic trends.

MEDIA-THAILAND: Junta Tightens Computer Crime Laws

Thailand’s military-backed government lifted a ban on the popular video-sharing website ‘YouTube’ and passed an easier printing act this week, but newly tightened computer crime laws suggest that free expression is still being stifled.

BALKANS: Media Bowing Under Pressure

The ways of Serbian media have come into focus again after the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) declared earlier this week that Serbian media must practise professionalism and respect human dignity.

SRI LANKA: "Deadly" Climate for Reporters and Aid Workers

Sri Lanka, which is fighting a longstanding insurgency against Tamil separatists, is fast gaining notoriety as "one of the world's worst places" both for journalists and humanitarian aid workers - due primarily to a rising death toll and veiled threats from government and paramilitary forces in the country.

IRAQ: Fallujah Finds a False Peace

Fallujah is quiet these days. After all the fighting and destruction of 2004, U.S. and Iraqi forces call this success. Many residents are not so sure.

MEDIA-AFGHANISTAN: Reporters Put Life on Line

The media in conflict-scarred Afghanistan is under increasing attack from Taliban forces and powerful social interests.

MEDIA-MOROCCO: Censorship Begins At Home

A new press law has created a regulatory council comprising journalists that some fear could lead to censorship by media persons rather than the government.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Protests Against a Law Aimed at the Heart of the Media

Members of the media in Kenya took to the streets Wednesday in a silent protest against a law that would compromise press freedom by forcing them to divulge sources. Passed by parliament earlier this month, the Media Council of Kenya Bill is now awaiting presidential assent.

COLOMBIA: Reporters Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Between 6:00 and 7:00 AM Friday there was no regular news broadcast in the northeastern Colombian town of Saravena. Instead, the Notifrontera news team of the Sarare Estéreo radio station read out a brief statement and played Colombian folk music.

MEDIA-US: Murdoch’s Expanding Empire Seen as “Ominous”

Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch added one of the most respected brands in journalism to his already vast media empire this week, gaining enough support from the deeply divided Bancroft family to buy Dow Jones & Company, publisher of the Wall Street Journal, for 5 billion dollars.

DEATH PENALTY: Two Kurdish Journalists on Iran&#39s Death Row

Kurdish human rights and political groups have launched an Internet campaign to save the lives of Adnan Hasanpoor and Abdolvahed (Hiva) Bootimar, two Iranian Kurdish journalists who were sentenced to death on Jul. 16 by a revolutionary tribunal in the Iranian Kurdish city of Marivan.

FILM-US: A Blurry Line Between Propaganda and News

A shocking thing happens midway through Norman Solomon's documentary film "War Made Easy".

IRAN: ‘Confessions’ on TV to Counter ‘Velvet Revolution’

Iranian state-run TV aired Wednesday and Thursday ‘confessions’ of two Iranian-American academics arrested in May and held incommunicado since then. Both academics have officially been charged with acting against national security and espionage.

EL SALVADOR: Spectre of War Looms After 15 Years of Peace

Violent clashes between the police and demonstrators are sounding alarm bells for the peaceful coexistence that was achieved in El Salvador in the 1990s after 12 years of civil war, say human rights lawyers, analysts and activists.