2005-2014

(JED/IFEX) - The Kinshasa-based Radio Television Message of Life (RTMV) started broadcasting again on 17 May 2006 at 3:00 p.m. (local time) following three days of interruption after armed Congolese special services police cut its signal. Contacted by JED, director of the channel, Thoms Mwanza, declared: "We had to purchase another circuit breaker to replace the one torn off by the police. We...

(CMFR/IFEX) - A local correspondent for an international magazine has been put on the government's watch list to oblige her cooperation in providing information on an alleged coup plot against the president in February 2006. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate "Time" magazine correspondent Nelly Sindayen, who reported on an alleged...

(JED/IFEX) - The president of the Chad Union of Privately-Owned Radio Stations (URPT), Tchanguiz Vatankhah, was released on 19 May 2006 at approximately 3:00 p.m. (local time), after 20 days in detention at the police headquarters (Services Généraux des Renseignements) in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad. JED joined Tchanguiz by telephone after he left the prison. Tchanguiz said that he had been...

New York, May 19, 2006 - Authorities in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan today finally implemented a Supreme Court ruling to free editor Viktor Shmakov from pre-trial detention after a 48-hour delay, local media reported. Shmakov, the 63-year-old editor-in-chief of Provintsialniye Vesti (Provincial News), said he believed he was kept in jail for an extra two days to prevent him from attending...

New York, May 22, 2006 - The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of four Colombian journalists who were detained on May 17 while covering indigenous protests against a free trade pact with the United States in Cauca province. Two days after the arrest, police released Richard Calpa, director of the radio station La Libertad in the city of Totoró, Marcelo Forero, a reporter with...

(RSF/IFEX) - On the eve of the 13th anniversary of Eritrea's independence, on 24 May 2006, Reporters Without Borders appealed to President Issaias Afeworki to release all of his government's prisoners of conscience, including 13 journalists being held incommunicado whose newspapers were shut down in a September 2001 crackdown. "Eritrea's independence day is once again going to be ruined by the...

New York, May 23, 2006 - Newspaper editor Mohammed al-Asaadi is on trial in Yemen on criminal charges of insulting Islam by running edited versions of some of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons that created an international storm. Al-Asaadi, editor of the Yemen Observer, faces severe jail time and a possible death sentence for his editorial decision. The case, which also led to the three-month closure...

(SEAPA/IFEX) - On 23 May 2006, an explosive device made of firecracker materials was detonated in front of the Thai Press Association on Rachasima Rd. in Bangkok, causing damages to the association's marble sign. Police said a security guard on duty at the site heard a loud explosion in front the compound at around 3 a.m. (local time). According to the police, the guard went out to check but did...

(May 22, 2006) -- What does it take to advance your newspaper reporting or editing career? Well, the old stand-bys of talent and hard work still apply, and a bit of who-you-know thrown in can be helpful. But these days, there's more to it. Let's add in a willingness and ability to add non-traditional job responsibilities to get onto the fast lane of career advancement. Start piling on the job...

Representatives of big media companies--said to include Time Warner and NBC Universal, among others--will don hard hats Tuesday, May 23, and make a visit to what will be the new broadcast studio of the Newseum, the Washington-based museum/educational center dedicated to journalism past, present and future. The media companies are said to be bringing with them what is being billed as "one of the...