Press Freedom

PRESS FREEDOM: Journalists in Colombia Create New National Federation

By Constanza Vieira
Journalists in Colombia, one of the most dangerous countries in the world for reporters, finally have their own national association.

PRESS FREEDOM DAY-SOMALIA: Going Without a Byline

By IPS Correspondents
The comment is chilling under the best of circumstances, and on World Press Freedom Day (May 3), even more so: "I often tell people that I am a private English teacher or a computer technician. Being known as a journalist might put one's life on the line...I am forced to lie to defend my life."

PRESS FREEDOM: On Parole in Portuguese-Speaking Countries

By Mario de Queiroz
Only a small proportion of the 235 million people who live in the eight Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) countries scattered over four continents enjoy access to a truly free press.

PRESS FREEDOM DAY-THAILAND: Media Landscape Worries Activists

By IPS Correspondents
Blocked websites, banned films, news programmes taken off the air, self-censorship among traditional media. These have been the military government's 'sins' since it seized power in September 2006, in the eyes of advocates of freedom of expression and free media advocates.
Javier Darío Restrepo. Credit: Liliana Toro

Q&A: Colombian Reporters ‘Have Counted So Many Dead That We Lose Count’

By IPS Correspondents
"Freedom of the press is merely rhetorical," says veteran Colombian journalist Javier Darío Restrepo. "The only thing that counts are free reporters."

PRESS FREEDOM DAY: Sri Lanka Out of the Reckoning

By IPS Correspondents
"Press and freedom? In Sri Lanka?" was the incredulous response of one journalist when asked what he thought of celebrating World Press Freedom Day, May 3. "Keep my name out of this," was all he would further venture to say.
Jesuit priest Javier Giraldo Credit: Jesús Abad Colorado

Q&A: Victims in Colombia Are Gagged, the Public Misinformed

By IPS Correspondents
When a murder occurs in a Colombian community, the locals know who committed it: far-right paramilitaries, leftwing guerrillas, or the security forces. They also know if fighting really took place, or if the "enemy" bodies displayed on television as "trophies" by army officers were in fact dead civilians.

PRESS FREEDOM DAY-RUSSIA: Posthumous Honour Points to Muzzled Media

By Kester Kenn Klomegah
A posthumous award will be presented on Press Freedom Day Thursday in honour of Anna Politkovskaya, the investigative reporter who exposed human rights abuses including rape, abductions and killings in the breakaway republic Chechnya.

PRESS FREEDOM DAY-PAKISTAN: Caught Between Taliban and Gov’t

By IPS Correspondents
Both the federal government and pro-Taliban groups threaten press freedom in Pakistan's largely rural Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA), along the porous border with Afghanistan.

NEPAL: ‘Bad News’ Hounds the Media

By IPS Correspondents
Bad news continue to plague Nepali journalists against whom attacks go on unabated.

Q&A: “You Can’t Kill Journalism”

By IPS Correspondents
Zimbabwean publisher and editor Wilf Mbanga will mark this year's World Press Freedom Day (May 3) in Britain, along with several other reporters from his country who have fled the repressive regime of President Robert Mugabe. As the political and economic difficulties gripping Zimbabwe have intensified, so have government's efforts to clamp down on journalists covering the crisis.

MEDIA-NICARAGUA: Government’s Press Policy Comes Under Fire

By José Adán Silva
The communication strategy of the Nicaraguan government of Daniel Ortega, which consists of getting information out "directly and uncontaminated" through friendly media outlets, has drawn fire and complaints about possible threats to freedom of speech.

IRAN: Nobel Peace Laureate Calls for Nuclear Referendum

By Omid Memarian
Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is urging the Iranian government to hold a national referendum on the country's controversial nuclear programme, because it "has a direct impact" on the lives of millions of Iranian citizens.

EGYPT: Reporters Fight for Right to Cover ‘Terror’

By Adam Morrow
Parliament head Fathi Sorour set off a furore when he said earlier this month that planned anti-terrorism legislation could be applied to reporters covering news on "terrorist" organisations. The reported comments rattled journalists and rights activists.

MIDEAST: Secrecy Surrounds Probe of Arab-Israeli Lawmaker

By Eli Clifton
The Israeli leader of an Arab-nationalist political party is under investigation, but an Israeli magistrate has put a ban on detailing in the Israeli media just what charges he faces.

MEDIA-US: Public Broadcaster Pulls TV Documentary on Islamism

By IPS Correspondents
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) has dropped a documentary film purporting to show the struggles of U.S. "moderate" Muslims against Islamic extremists from a television series airing this week on more than 300 U.S. public television stations.

MEDIA: Grenade Attack Shocks Serbia

By Vesna Peric Zimonjic
For five minutes from noon Monday, traffic stood still at mot places in all 165 municipalities of Serbia, in protest against a hand grenade attack against leading investigative journalist Dejan Anastasijevic.

MEDIA-SOUTH ASIA: Joint-TV Programmes May Yet Build Regional Trust

By IPS Correspondents
A unique, private media initiative involving joint television programmes may do what political leaders in South Asia have failed to do so far - bring together the people of this fractious region.

MEDIA: When Hate Speech Turns Deadly, Who Can Stop It?

By IPS Correspondents
Thirteen years ago, Rwanda's Hutu majority slaughtered 800,000 Tutsis in just a few months, partly thanks to a media campaign that exaggerated their cultural differences and made the two groups bitter enemies.

RIGHTS-IRAN: Journalist Gets the Kafka Treatment

By Omid Memarian
In a continued effort to suppress reform-minded critics, the Iranian government has sentenced yet another prominent journalist, Ali Farahbakhsh, to three years in jail and slapped him with a huge fine, partly due to a typo in the court documents.

AFGHANISTAN: Journalists Appeal for Release of Kidnapped Colleague

By IPS Correspondents
Afghan and Italian press associations appealed Wednesday for the Islamic Taliban movement to release Afghan journalist Ajmal Naqshbandi, who was kidnapped on Mar. 5.
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