2005-2014

An award-winning Iranian journalist was due to return to prison on Tuesday after being allowed three months' leave because of illness, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported quoting his lawyer. The return to jail of Emadeddin Baghi, who heads a prisoners' rights group and has openly campaigned against the death penalty in Iran, came just a week after he was awarded a major journalism prize in...

The Associated Press (AP) will further cut fees paid by struggling newspaper members and develop an advertising-supported service that will deliver stories and photos to advanced cell phones. The service, which will carry local news from participating newspapers as well as national and international news from AP, is being tested with several newspaper companies and is expected to launch in the...

Rupert Murdoch and Sam Zell, two media barons who led major newspaper acquisitions in recent times, are among four new members joining the board of directors of the Associated Press (AP), it was announced Monday at the news cooperative's annual meeting. Four incumbent directors were re-elected to three-year terms. They are William Dean Singleton, who is vice chairman and chief executive officer of...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed alarm at a report of a grenade attack on the home of a female radio journalist in Herat province, Afghanistan. It is the second attack on radio producer Khadija Ahadi’s home in two weeks. The Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA), an IFJ associate, reported that unidentified gunmen threw a grenade inside Khadija’s home on...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has expressed concern for the safety of Marlene Vaz, a journalist based in the northeastern Uruguayan town of Río Branco, and her family, who have been harassed as a result of her reporting the theft of a large consignment of sport shoes involving the Río Branco police in early 2006. The threats have stepped up in recent days as Vaz appeals against her one-year...

Two South African satellite engineers, held in Zimbabwe on several charges, including violating the country’s draconian media accreditation laws, were acquitted Monday. New York Times reporter Barry Bearak and British freelancer Stephen Bevan are due to appear in court on Wednesday in a similar case. “We welcome the acquittal of our colleagues Sipho Moses Maseko and Abdulla Ismail Gaibee,” said...

The United States military said Monday that it would release Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein who has been jailed in Iraq without trial for two years on accusations of terrorism and kidnapping. The US military initially said it had more than enough evidence to hold him under a UN mandate, but on Monday, Maj Gen Douglas Stone, deputy commanding general for detainee operations, signed the...

Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein began his third year in US military detention Saturday with the bulk of accusations against him dropped by Iraqi judges and press freedom groups renewing calls for his release. But the Pentagon said Hussein will be held until it reviews the Iraqi amnesty ruling and also said it reserves the option to ignore the decision and keep Hussein in custody. A...

An American freelance journalist detained over his coverage of recent riots said Friday last he had been released, while authorities announced at least nine Egyptian journalists were being held, according to an Associated Press (AP) report. James Buck and his Egyptian translator were among several taken into custody in Mahalla el-Kobra, a northern industrial city where protests over high prices...

German newspaper publishing houses are opposing plans by Deutsche Post World Net AG to launch a free newspaper, according to a Thomson Financial report. Deutsche Post's board member Juergen Gerdes Wednesday said in an interview with Financial Times Deutschland the German mail services company aims to grow its revenues from advertising as a way of offsetting declines in its core mail business, and...