Features

If a book on the Indian media business prompts its author to rush into a revised edition within three years of its bestselling success, it means only one thing – the Indian media landscape is changing, and changing quite rapidly. THE BOOK FOR THE SEASON: When Vanita Kohli-Khandekar wrote The Indian Media Business in 2003, it went on to become a bestseller. For a number of reasons. For one, it

A court ruled on Thursday last that a Danish newspaper did not libel Muslims by printing cartoons of the prophet Mohammed that unleashed a storm of protests in the Islamic world, Reuters reported. Seven Danish Muslim organisations brought the case, saying the paper had libeled them with the images, which included one depicting the prophet with a bomb on his turban, by implying Muslims were

An independent network of journalists in four Central Asian countries has launched an innovative, web-based news analysis service – News Briefing Central Asia. STAFF WORKSHOP: Particpants at a workshop of the International War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) at Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic October 30, 2001. The agency used a pilot phase begun in August to build up a strong team of journalists and editors

Press freedom and human rights groups around the world have expressed outrage at the death in custody of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist Ogulsapar Muradova. Muradova, 58, died in prison in Turkmenistan with reported injuries to her head, RFE/RL said. DEATH UNNATURAL: This picture released by Radio Free Europe and taken in Ashgabat in 2004 during a wedding, shows Ogulsapar

Six years after Ukranian journalist Heorhiy Gongadze was murdered, his killers remain unpunished. Worse, press freedom organisations fear justice may never be done. ALWAYS REMEMBERED: Ukranian journalist Heorhiy Gongadze disappeared on September 16, 2000. Two months later, a body with the cut-off head was found in the woodland near Kiev and identified as that of Gongadze. The death of Ukrayinska

Media organisations and activists in Fiji are joining hands to fight a bill currently before the country's parliament for the creation of a Broadcast Licensing Authority (BLA) that will provide the government with a way to control the news media. REMOTE CONTROL: Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, however, has defended the bill saying its aim was not to control the media, and that a legal framework

The recent cases of prosecution of journalists in Azerbaijan has press freedom advocates worried the world over. HAWKING FREE SPEECH: A newspaper-seller in Azerbaijan capital Baku. Five journalists and a number of newspapers are facing criminal and civil defamation cases. Some of them, including Shahin Agabayli, Editor-in-Chief of Milli Yol, and Fikret Faramazoglu, Editor-in-Chief of 24 Saat, have

The typical New Zealand journalist is a European women in her 30s who works as a reporter for a newspaper, holds a bachelor's degree, has less than five years experience, is paid about $40,000 a year, has no religious belief – and probably speaks French well enough to conduct an interview with Jacques Chirac. THE NEXT TYPICAL JOURNALIST: A journalism student at Massey University Journalism

Mob violence and thuggery were the leading causes of violence against the Indonesian press in 2005, a report by the Alliance for Independent Journalists (Aliansi Jurnalis Independen, AJI) has found. The organisation says close to one-third of attacks on the press were committed by mobs and thugs last year. DAMNING REPORT: Alliance for Independent Journalists (Aliansi Jurnalis Independen, AJI)

The media is becoming a hostage in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, where teachers are leading a statewide strike that has dragged on for over three months, and the police have opened fire on demonstrators and journalists a number of times. THE STRUGGLE GOES ON: A member of a social organsation demanding the resignation of Oaxaca state governor Ulises Ruiz stands next to graffiti in Oaxaca