News

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed shock at the explicit death threats made to three journalists based in the southern district of Dantewada in India's Chhattisgarh state, by a vigilante group believed to be part of a covert operation to combat a long-running Maoist insurgency. IFJ sources report that an unsigned letter issued in the name of the Adivasi Swabhimaani...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is shocked at the arrest of a journalist in Imphal after what seems to have been a "sting" operation by the local police. Ahongsangbam Mobi, editor of a local daily, Sanaleibak, was arrested on December 29 and has reportedly been charged under India's Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for alleged contacts with a banned insurgent group, the...

The misdemeanors appeals court in Egypt fined Abdel Halim Kandil, former editor of the Sout elUmmah newspaper, EGP 10,000 (approx. US$1,700) and Ahmed Abulkheir, a journalist at the same paper, EGP 15,000 (approx. US$2,600). They were both convicted on December 25 of insult and libel in relation to their coverage of filmmaker Akram elSobky's wedding party, according to the Arabic Network for Human...

The Korean government has come under fire for its recent selection of new TV channel operators. Critics say it will cause excessive competition in a saturated market and aggravate large conservative newspapers' dominance of public opinion. Experts are also voicing doubt about the selection committee's fairness and correctness in assessing applicants, according to the Korea Herald. The Korea...

A group of Ugandans identified as homosexual in a newspaper article headlined "Hang Them" have won damages and a court injunction ordering the paper not to repeat the exercise, human rights groups said Monday, according to The Guardian. A high court judge ruled that the story in the Rolling Stone newspaper, which printed addresses and photographs of some of the 100 people it named as "Uganda's top...

The Electronic Media Forum Assam (EMFA) has condemned the Asom Sahitya Sabha for serving "extortion notices" to a number of electronic media houses in Guwahati. A letter printed on the official ASS pad (vide no 2010-2011-2165-71) and signed by its general secretary Paramananda Rajbangshi has demanded Rs 3,50,000 from four news channels — NewsLive, DY365, NewsTime Assam and Prag News at the...

Dutch journalists based around the world, working for many different news organisations, have joined forces to deliver a new sort of news website. One11.nl ( www.one11.nl) will focus on what individuals are doing to help solve many of the problems that the journalists report on a daily basis, according to Radio Netherlands. The website will carry stories about people who are inspiring others to...

The People’s Daily newspaper, published by the Communist Party of China, may lead a wave of state-run media going public as the government aims to reinvigorate official news organisations in the next five years, according to Bloomberg News. People’s Daily Online Co Ltd., which operates the website People.com.cn, plans to sell 40 million shares at a price range of 15 yuan to 20 yuan a share in an...

Hungary's government insisted Tuesday it would not bow to outside pressure and rethink its disputed media law, even after the European Commission expressed concerns and said it would sanction Budapest if necessary -- even during the nation's EU presidency, according to eubusiness.com. "It isn't necessary to change a Hungarian law just because it is subject to criticism from abroad," Zoltan Kovacs...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has warned that the assassination of Salmaan Taseer, governor of the Punjab province in Pakistan, may open the door to a new wave of political intolerance and pressure on journalists across the country. "Salman Taseer was a friend of democracy and media freedom," said Aidan White, General Secretary of the IFJ. "His death is a brutal reminder that...