News

27 November 2005

Why the Kenyan media stand accused

If the media’s primary role is to mirror society, meaning society sees itself through the media, then many would reasonably argue that Kenya came out looking bad in the just concluded referendum campaigns. It is a matter that is bound to haunt the Kenyan media for long, but perhaps the enormity of the problem can best be illustrated only by drawing parallels with events in other countries. Perhaps...

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27 November 2005

So what have they got to hide?

Nobody outside the Westminster village would recognise the names of David Keogh and Leo O'Connor. One is a former Cabinet Office official, the other a researcher for an MP who lost his seat at the last election. But the crime of which they are accused concerns two men who are firmly in the public eye: Tony Blair and George Bush. On Tuesday, Mr Keogh, 49, the civil servant, and Mr O'Connor, 42, who...

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26 November 2005

Moroccan journalist under probe over article on princesses

RABAT – For the second time in less than a year, the Moroccan authorities have initiated legal action against the Press. This time it is against a journalist who wrote about the life of princesses in the Moroccan Royal Palace. A report by the official Moroccan News Agency (MNA) said the General Prosecutor of the Casablanca Primary Court had summoned the officials of the independent Arabic Al Ayyam...

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26 November 2005

Case against Yemeni journalist and newspaper reaches appeals court

(NewsYemen) Nov 26, Sanaa – The Western Capital Secretary Court forwarded today the case filed against Al-Thowri opposition newspaper and its columnist Mohamed Al-Maqaleh to the appeals court of Sanaa. The appeals court is expected to rule on the objection of Al-Thowri and Al-Maqaleh’s lawyer, who said the Western Court does not fall into the geographical zone of the defendants. The defendants’...

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26 November 2005

Bob Woodward's blunders give journalism a black eye

Bob Woodward's recent actions bring a whole new meaning to the title, "All the President's Men." The veteran newsman for the Washington Post, who joined with Post reporter Carl Bernstein in investigating the Watergate coverup in the 1970s that brought down former President Richard Nixon, has gone from seeker of truth to concealer of truth. Woodward revealed last week he testified under oath to...

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26 November 2005

Slowly, publishers begin to embrace innovative strategies

Innovation across our industry is gathering pace, ranging from Axel Springer’s extraordinary success in Poland and the new product models in Germany to the free, street extensions in London and, of course, the ever-growing list of free dailies. New product development is at last becoming a common feature of our industry. Of course, there have been many newspaper by-products - supplements, weekly...

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26 November 2005

BBC sanctions reporter who cried over Arafat

LONDON (Reuters) - The British Broadcasting Corporation has upheld a complaint against one of its journalists who said in a radio report she cried when a dying Yasser Arafat was flown from the West Bank in 2004. Barbara Plett made the remark in a dispatch for the "From Our Own Correspondent" programme describing how she felt when a helicopter carrying Arafat, who was gravely ill, took off from his...

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26 November 2005

Kyrgyz prosecutor attacks media "distortions"

Journalists and human rights activists fear freedom of speech is under threat in Kyrgyzstan after a call from country’s new chief prosecutor for a media crackdown. Prosecutor Kambaraly Kongantiev told a meeting of the Kyrgyz Security Council attended by President Kurmanbek Bakiev that the government should move against media outlets "which inflame passions and destabilise the situation in the...

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26 November 2005

Journalist shot at in Nagaland

Unidentified gunmen shot at two journalists, seriously injuring one, when they were returning from work in Kohima on November 24. Sources said Xavier Rutsa, senior correspondent with Nagaland Post, and Ato Liezietsu, president of Kohima Press Club, who were on a scooter, were accosted by a group of youths on last Thursday evening. When they did not stop, the miscreants fired at them injuring Rutsa...

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25 November 2005

Cuba To Continue Malaysia's Work In Revitalising NAM

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- Cuba will continue the work undertaken by Malaysia to revitalise the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) once the Caribbean country assumes the leadership of the 114-member movement from Malaysia in September next year, Minister of the Cuban Institute of Radio and Television Ernesto Lopez Dominguez said here Friday. He said Cuba would continue to work to strengthen the...

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