2005-2014

News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch has announced that he will launch the new Fox Business Channel (FBC) in the fall. The channel is marketing itself as being “more business-friendly” than its rivals. Nevermind that FBC’s main rival — CNBC — is dealing with allegations that its star network host had an inappropriate undisclosed relationship with a Citigroup executive. Fox wants to push the limits even...

(BIANET/IFEX) - 2006 turned out to be the year when both the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) confirmed their support for restrictions on freedoms in Turkey. We witnessed huge and numerous problems regarding freedom of expression and the press, caused by the wording as well as the philosophy behind the legislation that those two...

The transformation of two broadcasting institutions into private entities is being seen as a negative development in Moldova’s broadcasting landscape. Citizens of Moldova stand in line in front of the Romanian consulate building to receive an application form for a Romanian visa in Chisinau January 19, 2007. Fifteen years after independence, average monthly incomes in Moldova stand at $100

The long-running libel case brought by an English journalist against six newspapers came to a dramatic and abrupt end at the High Court in Cork, Ireland, last week. Ian Bailey had claimed the newspapers had wrongly linked him to the 1996 murder of the French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier (above) in west Cork. Bailey’s libel action over newspaper coverage of the du Plantier murder, 10...

The online version of VG, the biggest-selling tabloid newspaper in Norway, had the latest news flashes on the death of Anna Nicole Smith, of course. But a little down the page was something else — oil company earnings reports. The financial headlines link readers to E24, an online business “newspaper.” Not many tabloids feature business fare on their front pages, and perhaps even fewer papers...

(Adil Soz/IFEX) - The free expression situation in Central Asia remains disturbing for many reasons, including: undemocratic legislative restrictions, attacks on journalists, arbitrary court rulings, obstacles to registering new independent media outlets, and illegal restrictions imposed on the receipt and distribution of information. Throughout the region, defamation and insult, insulting high...

Press freedom organisations have strongly condemned the murder in Baidoa of presenter Ali Mohammed Omar of Radio Warsan on February 16, and deplored the “deteriorating security situation” in Somalia which it said was taking a toll on journalists. Omar was shot in the head on his way home. Somali Transitional Government troops patrol Mogadishu in January 2007 in the government officials'

CONAKRY (Reuters) - Up to a week ago, Guinea's private radio stations were broadcasting dramatic first-hand accounts of violent street clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces. But since President Lansana Conte decreed martial law on Feb 12, non-government broadcasters are either off the air or playing innocuous music as media freedom becomes another casualty of the military...

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Few adults in the United States agree with the use of anonymous sources in journalism, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. Only 28 per cent of respondents think the practice is ethical. In the early 1970s, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein relied on an anonymous source—known as "Deep Throat"—to provide information and context on a series...

Most Indian news websites score extremely low when it comes to being responsive to its users, a recent survey has found. According to a User-Friendly Index developed by online research consultancy firm JuxtConsult based on 32 individual usability criteria, the most user-friendly news website is Aajtak with a score of 0.656 on a scale of 1.0. Timesofindia.com was fourth with an index of 0.625...