2005-2014

The preliminary results of an Afro Barometer Survey indicate that a majority of people in Botswana support press freedom and critical speech, according to the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). The survey, conducted by the Department of Political and Administration Studies, Sociology and Statistics at the University of Botswana reveals that "Batswana overwhelmingly showed their support for...

The Sudanese embassy in Cairo is said to have launched an extensive media campaign in Egyptian and Arab mass media in the wake of the release and distribution of the documentary Darfur Destroyed. The documentary, which was created by Aegis Trust and released on February 10, featured credible and documented testimonies and confessions of perpetrators of war crimes committed in Darfur, particularly

The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has temporarily closed Mzimba Community Radio Station, based in the northern part of the country, on grounds that the station did not comply with the regulatory body's rules and regulations as stipulated in the Communications Act, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has reported. Details behind the community radio station's closure...

Journaliste en danger (JED) has applauded the February 19 release of Bwamputu Akienzin Zéphyrin, a correspondent for the public broadcaster RTNC in Bandundu province, western Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Zéphyrin had been facing charges of making damaging allegations against a former RTNC director. A Bandundu court declared the charges pending against the journalist unfounded, acquitting...

The Zambian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services (MIBS) has with immediate effect stopped issuing broadcasting licenses to new applicants, saying it is working towards the establishment of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) that will soon take over the licensing function of all broadcasters in the country, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has reported. MISA...

Death threats have been made against TV journalist Farid Alam by the underground Islamist group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) following the publication of Alam's book Islamic Militancy: Bangladesh Context, according to Reporters sans Frontières. Blamed by JMB for the death sentence imposed on its leader, Alam fled the country and is currently in exile in Europe. The death threats were made...

China should open Tibetan areas to independent monitors and journalists as a means of diffusing ethnic tensions and preventing violence on the eve of a string of politically sensitive anniversaries, Human Rights Watch has demanded. One year after the largest Tibetan protests for more than two decades, the presence of such observers would serve as an incentive for good behavior for crowds, which...

Guatemalan newspaper elPeriódico newspaper recently accused the government of Álvaro Colom of censoring the press by using government advertising funds in a discriminatory fashion to punish or reward media outlets. As a result, the newspaper has asked the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights's (IACHR) Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression to intervene in the situation. On...

A case brought against Radio Dunya for playing the Kurdish folk song "Mihemedo" in 2007 has ended in acquittal, IPS Communication Foundation (BIANET) has reported quoting broadcasting editor Mehmet Arslan. However, another case against the station is still in court. Radio Dunya broadcasts in the province of Adana, in southern Turkey. On February 23, the radio station's lawyer, Tugay Bek, learnt...

The Association of Independent Electronic Media (ANEM) and the Independent Journalists' Association of Serbia (NUNS) have condemned the threats and attack against Vladimir Vjestic, the editor-in-chief of Radio BUS in Kovin. Radio BUS announced on Monday that its editor-in-chief, Vladimir Vjestic, was threatened on Saturday, February 21, by Predrag Milovanovic, a private entrepreneur from Kovin...