2005-2014

Reporters Without Borders firmly condemns the constant harassment of Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas paramilitary Executive Force. The press freedom organisation is also concerned about the Islamist party’s intention to enforce a press law dating back to 1995 that will enable it to control the media even more closely. “The situation of journalists in the Gaza Strip has got...

Hamas is planning to enforce a 12-year-old Palestinian press law designed to silence dissident journalists amid a crackdown that has raised fierce protests from the local media. "We are all bound by this 1995 press law, and its articles carry the force of the law," said a statement from what was described as Hamas's "information ministry" in the Gaza Strip, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP)...

Living amid the anarchy of Mogadishu, journalist Mahad Elmi was well used to danger. Many of those he reported on critically were men of violence. There had been death threats, beatings and attempts on his life. Now Elmi has paid the ultimate price for his steadfast refusal to be intimidated by the warlords and terrorists of Somalia. Two weeks ago he was shot down by two gunmen as he went to work...

German political parties and media regulators are debating whether to introduce restrictions on certain foreign investors in the media sector. The topic is expected to gain prominence after regulators appoint experts in September. The debate is focussed on whether international financial investors should be blocked from taking stakes above 24.9% in media companies. Financial sponsors might also be...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has expressed support for the Russian-language daily "Sevodnya" ("Today") after its premises were the target of a bomb hoax on 22 August 2007 and one of its photographers, Alexandre Lesik, was attacked while covering a meeting held on 26 August 2007 in Odessa by the opposition coalition led by former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The newspaper's editor...

Last year was the deadliest on record for working journalists since 1994. According to the Paris-based organization Reporters Without Borders, at least 81 journalists were killed in 2006 in 21 countries. And, at least 56 journalists were kidnapped. I was one of them. On Aug. 12, 2006, Fox News Channel photographer Olaf Wiig and I were heading home from our office in downtown Gaza City when our car...

KANDAHAR -- Journalists travelling with the Canadian Forces will be required to wear military dog tags to identify them if they are injured or killed, Canada's top commander here said Monday. The new policy is part of a series of measures designed to remind the media of the risks of operating in this war-ravaged country. "We're not trying to restrain the freedom of movement of the media or their...

Thirty years ago he helped create a technology that has revolutionised millions of lives around the world. But yesterday the man known as the "godfather of the net" laid out his vision of where our online future might be, including a time when we download entire TV series in seconds - and even surf the web from Mars. Talking at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, Vint...

(JED/IFEX) - A weekend of media repression in Kinshasa has resulted in at least four journalists being questioned for several hours by the intelligence services, the closing of a private TV station, and the confiscation of a tape recording of an interview with a rebel leader. Stéphane Kitutu O'Leontwa, general manager of CCTV/RALIK (Canal Congo Télévision/Radio Liberté Kinshasa), Thierry Musenepo...

Palestinian journalists on Sunday announced a series of protests to demand that Hamas and Fatah stop targeting them. The announcement, made during several journalist demonstrations, came after a crackdown on newsmen in both the Fatah-controlled West Bank and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Embattled Palestinian reporters said such attacks had become the norm in the Palestinian territories. “Both Hamas...