2005-2014

A Belgian journalist who was held captive for three days by Mai-Mai militiamen in Congo has been free, the German newspaper he works for said on Friday. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said on its website that the journalist, Thomas Scheen, and two Congolese co-workers who were seized in east Congo earlier this week were now under the care of United Nations peacekeepers and doing well. Some details...

Media giant EW Scripps Co is laying off around 400 employees at its newspapers. The company has not yet elaborated on where jobs would be cut, but the Knoxville News Sentinel has announced that about 50 jobs, including 13 in the newsroom, would be cut at properties of the KNS Media Group subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Scripps. The move affects about 10 per cent of the KNS work force, according to...

Top mags: Indian Readership Survey 2008 — Round 2 Magazine Language 2007 R2 2008 R2 India Today (Eng) Eng 71.3 68.5 Readers Digest Eng 49.3 40.0 General Knowledge Today Eng 43.7 35.2 Competition Success Review Eng 32.9 26.8 Stardust (Eng) Eng 26.6 19.2 Saras Salil Hin 106.4 84.6 India Today (Hin) Hin 69.7 58.1 Meri Saheli Hin 62.4 54.5 Cricket Samrat Hin 51.0 47.9 Pratiyogita Darpan Hin 41.2 43.6...

Top Dailies: Indian Readership Survey 2008 — Round 2 Newspaper Language 2007 R2 2008 R2 The Times Of India Eng 134.8 133.4 Hindustan Times Eng 60.9 63.5 The Hindu Eng 52.5 52.8 The Telegraph Eng 30 29 Deccan Chronicle Eng 30 28 Dainik Jagran Hin 536.1 557.4 Dainik Bhaskar Hin 305.8 338.3 Amar Ujala Hin 282.2 293.8 Hindustan Hin 235.3 266.3 Rajasthan Patrika Hin 131.9 140.0 Asomiya Pratidin Ass 65...

A Belgian reporter has been abducted by pro-government Mai-Mai rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) reported Thursday. RSF has called on the Mai-Mai militiamen holding Belgian journalist Thomas Scheen, together with his interpreter and his driver, in the Rutshuru region of the eastern province of Nord-Kivu to release them at once. Scheen is a correspondent...

Press freedom groups have condemned the continued imprisonment of Egyptian blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman, a.k.a. Kareem Amer, who completed two years in prison on Friday. His lawyers from the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and Hisham Mubarak Law Centre are still waiting the result of an appeal brought before Egypt’s Prosecutor-General. Amer’s lawyers hope to see justice done...

The press freedom situation in Sri Lanka has noticeably deteriorated over the past year, marked by a continuation in murders, attacks, abductions, intimidation and harassment of the media, says an international press freedom mission to Sri Lanka. Media in war-affected areas in the north and east continue to be the most insecure, facing threats and restrictions from all parties, says the mission...

The year 2009 will be one of disruption, displacement, and disaggregation for newsmedia companies. Structural trends that have been building for the past decade will be accelerated in an economic downturn whose precise magnitude is still unknown as of this writing, says a report from the International Newsmedia Marketing Association (INMA). The year 2009 will hinge on the economy, the migration of

In days of meltdowns and dipping circulations, this does not happen all that regularly anymore. But on Wednesday, newspaper circulation soared. To the extent that many sold out all copies, others went in for extra copies. The November 5 editions proclaiming Barack Obama's White House victory disappeared off the stands faster than anyone ever thought. The largest daily in the US, USA Today, boosted...

The Iraqi Kurdistan court of appeals should act immediately to overturn a judge's ruling on Tuesday to impose a one-month prison term against a journalist who published critical reports about the Sulaymania courthouse, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has demanded. The journalist's lawyer said newly adopted legislation does not appear to allow such a prison sentence. The Criminal Court...