MEXICO: New Law to Benefit Media Giants

The Mexican Senate gave in to the pressure of media giants Televisa and TV Azteca, approving reforms to the country's broadcasting laws that will strengthen the broadcasters' influence.

MEDIA-THAILAND: Libel Case Backfires on PM’s Firm

"This is a victory for freedom of speech and freedom of the press," said the plucky young woman as she stepped out of a criminal court Wednesday after winning a legal battle that may well mark the end of profit without public accountability in this country.

UAE: Ports Row May Divert Arab Investments From US

Although the Dubai-based DP World has withdrawn its bid to manage key ports in the United States, questions linger as to what prompted Congress resistance to the deal- genuine security concerns, protectionism, Islamophobia or domestic politics.

MEDIA-MEXICO: A Larger Piece of the Pie, for the Few

Seven out of 10 Mexican television viewers watch channels belonging to the Televisa consortium, while two out of 10 watch TV Azteca channels. Radio broadcasting stations are concentrated in the hands of 13 business groups.

INT’L WOMEN’S DAY: More Female Voices on Screens, Airwaves and Pages

South Africa has made substantial progress in having women's voices heard in the media, says a study released to coincide with International Women's Day on Wednesday.

THAILAND: Anti-Thaksin Anger Vented on Singapore

Singaporeans living in Thailand or visiting as tourists may have reason to feel nervous at the manner in which the affluent city-state is portrayed in the increasingly bitter political debate that has engulfed Bangkok.

RIGHTS-KENYA: Alarm Sounded over Police Raids on Media Group

Attacks on Kenya's second-largest media house by police have sparked widespread anger against the government, already unpopular because of its links with corruption.

MALAYSIA: Cartoon Row Blunts Media Edge

The Prophet Muhammad cartoon controversy is trailing blood in Malaysian newsrooms at a time when mainstream media showed signs of emerging into the sunshine, after two decades of serving as the mouthpiece of the dictatorial former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

MEDIA-MALAYSIA: Saying It With ‘Indie’ Films

One day, last year, reporter Ong Ju Lin attended a forum and heard villager Alice Lee argue why a multi-billion dollar incinerator should not be built near her home in Kajang town, about 30 km south of the capital.

THAILAND: One-man Crusade Dogs Thaksin

It was an hour before midnight but there was hardly a hint of sleep on Sondhi Limthongkul's face. Dressed in his trademark white T-shirt and pants and yellow scarf knotted around his neck, the 58-year-old Thai paced behind a huge stage like a prize fighter who had drawn first blood.

MEXICO: Writer Who Exposed Child Sex Ring Fears Worst Is Yet to Come

When Mexican freelance journalist and human rights activist Lydia Cacho published a book last year exposing a paedophile ring, she was warned by friends and colleagues that she would run into trouble.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Looking to Life After Kyoto

Even before the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol's first period can begin, a dialogue has been launched on limiting climate change after the current agreement ends in six years.

RELIGION: Christian Churches Call for Dialogue with Muslims

Dialogue has been one of the most frequently mentioned words at the ninth assembly of the World Council of Churches (WCC), which ends Friday in this southern Brazilian city after 10 days of debates marked by the controversy triggered by the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in newspapers in Europe.

HEALTH-BRAZIL: Champion in the Anti-Smoking Fight

Brazil, the world's leading tobacco exporter, is carrying out Latin America's most successful campaign against smoking: it acheived a 13-percent reduction thanks in large part to some grim advertising images depicting the effects of tobacco use on health.

MEDIA-EUROPE: Burmese TV Beats the Censors

A new television station broadcasting from Norway is giving millions of Burmese their first access to independent news in their own language.

MEDIA-RELIGION: Yemen Journalists Fight Cartoon Crackdown

The cartoons controversy has taken a new turn in Yemen with a plea by four jailed journalists that they re-published the cartoons in defence of Islam.

POLITICS-US: Rumsfeld Declares War on Bad Press

Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld has signaled that he plans to intensify a campaign to influence global media coverage of the United States, a move that is likely to heighten the debate over press freedom and propaganda-free reporting.

RIGHTS-RELIGION: Fear or Fiat – the Limits of the Free Press

The cartoons issue has been argued as a debate between freedom of expression on one side and the responsibility of protecting religious sensibilities on the other. But each of these arguments needs to be examined a little more closely, because questions arise within each of these arguments, and not just between them.

POLITICS-US: Cartoon Crisis Echoes “Why They Hate Us” Debate

While Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes flies off on her second tour of the Middle East Friday, she must feel at least some relief that Europe - rather than the United States - has been the main target of the two-week outpouring of anger in the Islamic world that has come to be called the "cartoon crisis".

MEDIA-PAKISTAN: Shackled by Ruling Elite, Security Forces

Journalists face severe harassment and detention in Pakistan where freedom of expression is guaranteed under the constitution but attempts by the media to challenge the country's feudal and authoritarian structure are quickly crushed.

MIDEAST: ‘Cartoons Bring Welcome Distraction for Arab Govts’

As furore grips the Muslim world over the cartoon illustrations of prophet Mohammed, accusations have surfaced that governments opposed to democracy have their own reasons to show the dark side of the so-called free world.