ARGENTINA: “Women in Focus” at Film Festival

The First International Women and Film Festival for Gender Equity drew enthusiastic audiences this month in the Argentine capital, where movies from nearly 40 countries were screened.

Q&A: Exposing the “Masters of the Word” in Latin America

If control of the media was not so heavily concentrated in Latin America, the situation of inequality in the region would be more actively challenged, says Martín Becerra, an Argentine media specialist who presented his latest research study here in the Chilean capital this week.

Training Young Mapuche Filmmakers in Chile

"I want to film the few untouched natural resources we have left and show the injustices that have been committed against our communities," Claura Anchio, who took part in an innovative free filmmaking course for young Mapuche Indians in Chile, told IPS.

THAILAND: Digital Divide Surfaces in Polarised Politics

Nearly eight weeks after anti-government demonstrators occupied the streets of this modern metropolis, virtually crippling two iconic areas, the rage it has generated in the media has exposed another fault line cutting across this kingdom – a digital divide.

INDIA: Mobile Phone-Based News System Gives Voice to Tribals

The central Indian remote jungles of Chhattisgarh and the urban technology- savvy node of Bangalore are now linked by a mobile phone-based information system, a first in the world, called CGnet Swara.

US-CUBA: Radio, TV Marti Seen as Bust

Despite spending more than half a billion dollars over the last quarter century, U.S. government broadcasts to Cuba have gained only a tiny audience and have had virtually no effect on the island's politics, according to a new report by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

THAILAND: Government Cracks Down on Websites in Censorship Drive

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

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.

Pressure Mounts on Honduras as Journalist Death Toll Rises

Honduran President Porfirio Lobo plans to seek help from police forces in Colombia and the United States to try to solve the murders of seven journalists committed in the space of less than two months, which will also be investigated by a delegation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights next month.

ASIA: Journalists Lament Media Bias vs Ethnic Minorities

Despite issues of discrimination and violence hounding ethnic minorities, they continue to lack ‘voice' in the mainstream press and suffer prejudices from journalists themselves.

FIJI: Gov’t Not Backing Down on Controversial Draft Media Law

Fiji’s draft media decree continues to be criticised from within and outside this tiny Pacific nation, but the government is showing no signs of backing down or softening any of its provisions.

CUBA: Children Reach Out Through the Screen to Peers in Post-Quake Haiti

Five girls and five boys are taking time to remember the hurricane that devastated their home town of Gibara in eastern Cuba two years ago, mingling their memories with their dreams, and filming images to make a video message for children in Haiti.

ASIA: English-Language Media a Double-Edged Sword?

The English language, as a medium for reporting in the region, is both a boon and a bane for many countries in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of getting ‘heard' or generally being ignored by the global community.

BALKANS: Freedom Fighters or Freeloaders?

When one of Croatia’s best kept secrets, the list of independence fighters enjoying lifelong benefits, appeared on the Internet earlier this month it sparked off a huge scandal in this nation that became a sovereign state after the bloody 1991-95 war with Serbia.

New Software Could Outwit Tehran’s Censors

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.

MEDIA-ASIA: Parents Try to Keep Up with Net-savvy Youngsters

Many parents are scratching their heads as they watch youngsters in the Asia- Pacific region create often-private online worlds, feeling lost over how to be a part of it and oversee their Internet lives.

MEDIA: Press Freedom Day to Focus on Threats

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

IBSA – Closer Social Connections, Not Just Gov’t Ties

The IBSA Fund, which finances anti-poverty projects in the most vulnerable countries, is an example of the spirit in which India, Brazil and South Africa wish to build their partnership, their leaders say.

SRI LANKA: Once Under Attack, Jaffna Media Get Reprieve

About eight months back, delivery boys for this northern city’s main newspaper were accompanied on their rounds by government soldiers – the first time a Sri Lankan broadsheet was being delivered under armed guard.

THAILAND: Media Crackdown a Mistake, Say Analysts

For press freedom advocates, it was bad enough, though not totally surprising, to hear that the government had shut down the opposition media amid the state of emergency in the Thai capital. But alarming to them is the gagging even of independent news sites.

UGANDA: Information Technology Helps Farmers

Mayuge district has 31,000 farming families served by just nine agricultural extension workers. In Wainha village, an internet centre run by the Busoga Rural Open Source and Development Initiative is more than filling the gap in assisting farmers.