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A cameraman working for Aljazeera has been beaten and briefly arrested by Israeli soldiers while filming a protest in the West Bank. Nabil al-Mazzawi was detained along with three other foreign protestors while filiming a demonstration against Israel's construction of the separation barrier. He was later released, Aljazeera management confirmed. Aljazeera's editor-in-chief Ahmad Sheikh said al...

Which are the most problematic countries in the world for journalists and which are the most benign? The new "worldwide press freedom index," published this month by the French-based organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), suggests that the most restrictive countries in terms of press freedom are North Korea, Eritrea, Turkmenistan, Iran and Burma; while the most enlightened are Denmark...

The Financial Times is regarded as one of the most benign employers in national newspapers so the dethronement of Andrew Gowers as its editor yesterday was a decidedly un-FT event. It demonstrated deep anxiety at the paper's owners, Pearson, about the FT's future direction and performance, analysts said. The official statement from Pearson said "strategic differences" between Mr Gowers and the...

ONE of the troubles with political journalism, especially American political journalism, is that its attention span is so short. A story is front-page news today, but by tomorrow the media spotlight has moved on and the story disappears. Or some minor aspect of it catches the journalists’ imagination and the main thrust of the story is overlooked and then forgotten. Take as an example what has...

Are you media-savvy? To find out, take this short quiz: When the Alito story broke early this week, which of these outlets had it first? A) Washingtonpost.com B) National Public Radio C) The political blog LucyLocket.net D) To be honest, I don't care. Before we get to the correct answer, I should note that some may quarrel with the choices. Fact is, early on the morning of the Alito announcement...

Amid the smoke and stench of burning careers, Washington feels a bit like the last days of the ancien régime. As the world's finest democracy, we do not do guillotines. But there are other less bloody rituals of humiliation, designed to reassure the populace that order is restored, the Republic cleansed. Let the perp walks begin. Whether the public feels reassured is another matter. George W. Bush...

NEW YORK: The Wall Street Journal 's parent company is seeking to expose sensitive material relating to Judith Miller of The New York Times in court. The Journal's editorial page revealed today that Dow Jones & Co., this newspaper's parent company, filed a motion late Wednesday requesting that the federal district court unseal the infamous eight pages of redacted information that the special...

WASHINGTON: As Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes completed her "listening tour" of five Arab and Muslim countries, she acknowledged that her job requires a long-term strategy. A key component of this strategy not frequently discussed is the role of Arab media representation here in the United States. There are about 50 Arab correspondents working in the United States for major Arab media...

Web logs are the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective. Their potent allies in this pursuit include Google and Yahoo. Gregory Halpern knows how to hype. Shares of his publicly held company, Circle Group Holdings, quadrupled in price early last year amid reports that its new fat substitute, Z-Trim, was being tested by Nestlé. As the stock...

Bruce S. Sherman, chief executive of Private Capital Management LP in Naples, is known for having a golden touch with investments and brass knuckles when it comes to personal relationships. And it's a safe bet Sherman made no friends at Knight Ridder Inc. in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday when he issued an ultimatum to the nation's second-biggest newspaper chain: Put yourself up for sale. Or else PCM...