MEDIA-ASIA: Community Radio Carves Out Space for Itself

Community radio is moving from the margins to the mainstream in many countries in Asia, carving out spaces from where they respond to public needs ranging from disaster management to gender awareness, cultural identity and belonging.

Q&A: Brazil Leans on South America to Adopt Its Digital TV Standard

Brazil is lobbying hard to get the rest of Latin America to adopt the Brazilian version of the Japanese digital television standard, as Argentina, Chile, Peru and Venezuela have already done.

MEDIA-INDIA: More Women Now, But Few in Top Posts

Young Indian women are increasingly taking to careers in journalism, but this trend is restricted to the metropolises and to non-decision making positions in media organisations, leading women journalists say.

THAILAND: Community Radio Stirs Political Passions in Villages

In an age when television continues to dominate national media, including Thailand’s, and gives birth to new celebrities, Kwanchai Praipana is a bit of an anomaly. His rise as a local star in this north-eastern city has been through community radio, the poor cousin of the local media.

MALAYSIA: Banning of Books Alarms Freedom Advocates

The confiscation and banning of books by Malaysian authorities is sending alarm bells ringing among activists, who want the repeal of laws that the government is using to suppress freedom of expression.

U.S.: Gov’t Sued Over Cell Phone Tracking

If you are a U.S. resident who owns a cell phone, you should care about the outcome of a court case that "could well decide whether the government can use your cell phone to track you - even if it hasn't shown probable cause to believe it will turn up evidence of a crime."

PHILIPPINES: Presidential Campaign Thrives in Online World Too

Festive days are here again in the Philippine political scene as 10 presidential candidates – ranging from the son of a former president to an environmentalist, a Christian minister and a former actor – battle it out for the voters' ‘yes' come May 10.

MEDIA-INDONESIA: When ‘Adding a Friend’ on Facebook Can Be Risky

It is every parent’s worst nightmare in the Internet age – and for Syafei Asyhari, this happened when he found that his 16-year-old daughter, Latifa, fell into the clutches of traffickers she met online as friends.

U.S.: Telecom Lobby Tests Pledge of Transparency

Despite President Barack Obama's pledge in his State of the Union address last month to "require lobbyists to disclose each contact they make on behalf of a client with my administration or Congress," the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says the Obama administration has been "fighting hard to stop the release of the names of these representatives."

MIDEAST: Gaza’s Female Scribes Face Worse Than Discrimination

Female journalists worldwide complain about discrimination on the grounds of gender. However, their colleagues in Gaza also face death threats, the dangers of working in a war zone and the struggle for daily necessities as the Israeli siege on Gaza drags on.

EGYPT: Press Freer, but Still Fettered

Not long ago an editorial like the one that appeared in the independent Al- Dustour newspaper this week might never have made it into print.

RIGHTS-MEXICO: Reporters, Activists Demand State Protection

Journalists and human rights activists in Mexico are frantically seeking a mechanism to protect them from attacks related to their work, but the state has been slow to respond. The Colombian model might provide a solution.

COLOMBIA: Magazine Closure Deals Major Blow to Investigative Reporting

What would have happened in Colombia if the financing of former president Ernesto Samper's (1994-1998) election campaign by the Cali cartel had not been uncovered?

CHILE: Stop Treating Community Broadcasters as Criminals, Say Activists

Criminal law should not be used against freedom of expression, nor to silence community radio stations in Chile, say activists and journalists in response to closures of community radio outlets in this South American country.

MIGRATION: Lost in the Desert? There’s an App for That

Over the past two decades, Ricardo Dominguez has made a career for himself tweaking the sensibilities of government officials and developing software tools meant to disrupt the status quo.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Global South’s Growing Role in Post-Crisis World

"Society and Governments: debates and alternatives for a post-crisis world" is the name of a Thematic World Social Forum meeting being held in the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia.

MEDIA: Foreign News Channels Drawing U.S. Viewers

Television viewers in the United States seeking international news are starting to switch over to foreign channels to learn what is happening in the outside world, media watchers here say.

US-CHINA: Spat Escalates Over Internet Freedom

The stern warning given to China by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemning internet censorship and responding to allegations that Chinese hackers had accessed Google email addresses has received a pointed response from the Chinese government, raising questions over what the next move will be for Google, the United States, and U.S. firms that do business in China.

HAITI: Sending Hope over the Airwaves

Throughout the earthquake's aftermath, the voices of many Port-Au-Prince radio stations have been loud and clear.

COSTA RICA: Last-Ditch Leftwing Alliance to ‘Save’ the Country

Political forces on the left in Costa Rica have formed a partial last-minute alliance to support Ottón Solís, the presidential candidate for the centre-left Citizens' Action Party (PAC), in a bid to counter the conservative lead that the polls predict for the upcoming Feb. 7 elections.

U.S.: Clinton Criticises China over Internet Censorship

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a speech Thursday laying out the Barack Obama administration's position on internet freedom, and publicly called on Chinese authorities to investigate the security breaches which preceded last week's decision by Google to end its cooperation with Chinese internet censorship.