MEXICO: Freedom of Information Laws a Model; Not So the Practice

Mexico has suffered a setback in terms of government transparency and access to public information, according to Thomas Blanton and Kate Doyle, experts with the Washington-based National Security Archive (NSA).

Surfing the Web without Being Swept Away

City life and access to information technologies can open up a whole new arena of possibilities for young girls: better education, access to healthcare, new skills and a plethora of new ideas.

Q&A: “Political Conversations Are Now on Steroids”

Andrew Rasiej hurriedly gets off the phone, explaining that he was talking to Arianna Huffington, founder of uber-website The Huffington Post. She just published a new book, and Rasiej was providing ideas on how to use social media to promote it.

AFRICA: Liberalised Services Still Require Proper Regulations

With African countries' trade remaining inordinately dependent on natural resources exports, their economies could benefit from liberalisation of trade in services but only as long as proper domestic regulatory frameworks are put in place, some trade experts argue.

CHINA: Journalists Risk Their Lives to Expose Corruption

Despite what are often overwhelming obstacles, a gutsy minority of investigative reporters in China continues to expose official corruption and criminal behaviour. But they do so at their own peril.

MIDEAST: Media New Battleground for Palestinians and Israelis

Palestinians and Israelis are using the media as a new battleground in their war to win hearts and minds across the globe, even as the protracted conflict in the Mideast drags on with no apparent end in sight.

AFGHANISTAN: Not Much Good News for the Media

Good news has become harder to come by these days in Afghanistan, especially as the war-ravaged country gears up for the parliamentary election scheduled on Sep. 18.

INDIA: Kashmiri Youngsters Wage Online Struggle

Rasik Rasheed’s (not his real name) hefty Internet bills hardly bother his family. Cooped up at home due to curfews and strikes here for nearly three months now, youngsters like him have been busy not just with their studies but with waging what they call the Kashmir struggle on the Internet.

PHILIPPINES: Media Take a Hit in Hostage Crisis

In the wake of the bungled hostage-rescue operation that left eight Hong Kong tourists and the gunman dead, the Philippine media are finding themselves a target of anger by many who say that sensationalism and no-holds-barred coverage added to the bloody end to a crisis they call an international embarrassment.

Women Pulling Out of the Technological Gap

When she gets up in the morning, Ghadeer Malek, a young Palestinian feminist activist, checks her Facebook page to keep up on new developments and messages linked to her work.

MEXICO: The Voice of the Community Faces Numerous Threats

The Jenpoj ("winds of fire) community radio station in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, which plays an important role in keeping the Mixe indigenous community informed, has had its equipment confiscated and has fought and won a court case to get a broadcast license.

Brazil Aims for World’s “Most Perfect” Population Census

Come Dec. 31, about 68 countries are expected to complete the arduous task of taking an accurate head count of the number of people living within their geographical borders.

MEXICO: Threats Against Journalists: “You’re Vulnerable, and It’s Hard to Accept”

"The threats change your whole life," said Jade Ramírez, a journalist who has been living for months with that burden, which also hangs over a growing group of her colleagues in Mexico.

ARGENTINA: Transvestite Magazine Fights Media Stereotypes

The magazine El Teje, which is published in the Argentine capital and presents itself as "the first transvestite publication in Latin America," has been fighting the stigmatisation of the trans community for nearly three years.

RIGHTS-PAKISTAN: Film Gives Women Survivors A New Take on Life

"The first film I make when I go back to my village will be about unequal wages women peasants get compared to their male counterparts," says Haseena Mallah, an unlettered farmhand in her 40s.

MALAYSIA: Let Information Flow, State Tells Federal Gov’t

The freedom of information bill pending in opposition-ruled Selangor state may be just at the state level, but it throws a direct challenge to the federal government of Malaysia and its strict controls on the media.

MEDIA-PHILIPPINES: Citizen Journalism Gets Public Involved

Television news images of a phony policeman on a motorcycle escorting a sedan travelling against the flow of traffic – submitted by a passing motorist – is a sign of the changing face of journalism and public involvement in the Philippines.

INDIA: Amid Renewed Violence, Kashmir Journalists Become the News

Abdul Rehman stopped in his tracks when he did not see his usual newspapers strewn out on his lawn one morning this month. But little did he know that he would not see newspapers, whether out on the newsstands or delivered to subscribers like him, for three more days.

MEXICO: Local Media in the Line of Fire

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.

EU: This Big Brother Is in the U.S.

Private information on innocent citizens will be handed over to U.S. law enforcement authorities under an agreement slated for approval by the European Parliament this week.

ARGENTINA: Poorest First Served with Free Digital TV

In contrast to what has happened in most countries that have switched from analogue to digital television, in Argentina the technological leap has begun with the poorest households.