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11 March 2011

In Libya, 7 journalists unaccounted for, 3 others abused

Seven journalists covering the conflict in Libya are unaccounted for, according to research by the Committee to Protect Journalists, which expressed deep concern about their well-being. The most recent to go missing is Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, a correspondent for London's Guardian newspaper, whose disappearance was reported today. Also, on Wednesday, three BBC journalists recounted a harrowing 21 hours...

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10 March 2011

PFF welcomes fair use ruling on mining photo in Papua New Guinea

A judge's instruction backing the fair use of photos snapped by landowners at a controversial mining project in Madang, Papua New Guinea, is being welcomed by the Pacific Freedom Forum. "The judiciary in Papua New Guinea deserves praise for refusing to gag the use of photos," said PFF chair Susuve Laumaea, of Papua New Guinea. PFF has reviewed the background into the case brought by the...

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9 March 2011

Congress ratifies information access law in El Salvador

The Salvadoran Congress ratified the Public Information Access Law on Thursday, March 3, after accepting some of the changes proposed by President Mauricio Funes, reported news agency EFE, according to the Knight Centre for Journalism in the Americas. The details: [ Link] However while the law will go into effect until 30 days after its official publication, Salvadorans will have to wait a year...

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9 March 2011

Radio station attacked in Iraqi Kurdistan

Nearly a dozen gunmen stormed an independent radio station in Sulaimaniya's Kalar district on Sunday, vandalising the office, breaking most of the equipment, and confiscating the rest, New York-based press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists has reported. It is the second armed assault on an independent radio station in Sulaimaniya in a less than a month, according to news reports...

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9 March 2011

Accused Maguindanao mastermind may go free

A special five-judge panel named by the Philippines Court of Appeal in Manila may free the suspected mastermind behind the Maguindanao massacre, or release him on a technicality. Lawyers for Zaldy Ampatuan, the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, have entered a plea for the charges against their client to be dropped, according to New York-based Press freedom group...

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9 March 2011

Gannett considers charging for online news content

Gannett Co, the owner of 82 US newspapers including USA Today, is considering charging for its online content, Chief Executive Officer Craig Dubow said, according to a Bloomberg News report. The company, which also owns television stations, is trying a paid-content model at three newspaper websites, and is likely to experiment more before making a decision about the broad use of paywalls, Dubow...

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9 March 2011

Hungary’s media law remains unacceptable despite amendments

Despite positive movement on some of the worst aspects of Hungary’s controversial media, the core of the problem remains, since the composition and attributions of the all-powerful Media Council remain unchanged, says Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). European governments should make it clear to their Hungarian partner that this vote does not in any way absolve it of...

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9 March 2011

Peruvian news daily attacked; editor threatened

The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned the attack on the Peruvian news daily Voces, which was hit with homemade explosive devices on Saturday. The daily's editor recently received threats following critical reporting on a national congressional candidate, he told CPJ. According to CPJ interviews and local press freedom groups, around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, three unknown assailants on...

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9 March 2011

Journalist gets one-year jail term, media harassed and censored in Angola

A reporter has been sentenced to a year in prison in Angola and several media and journalists have been threatened, roughed up or censored in the past two weeks, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). “It is a disgrace for Angola that a journalist has been given a jail sentence for an alleged case of defamation that has not been proved,” RSF said. “We call...

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9 March 2011

Three men acquitted of TV cameraman’s murder in Indonesia

Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned Wednesday’s decision by a court in Tual, in the eastern province of Maluku, to acquit three men of the murder of Sun TV cameraman Ridwan Salamun, who was killed on August 21, 2010 while covering a clash between the inhabitants of neighbouring villages. The press freedom organisation called for a judicial review of the...

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