News

Press freedom groups have condemned the Malaysian government’s decision to suspend the distribution of three opposition newspapers – Suara Keadilan, Kabar Era Pakatan and Rocket – since June 30 and restrict the distribution of a fourth, Harakah, since Thursday. “This is the second time since Prime Minister Najib Razak’s election in 2008 that the opposition press has been subjected to this kind of...

For the first time in 19 years, the Turkmen government will allow the establishment of private newspapers, the BBC has reported. President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was also quoted in the official media as saying new parties could also be formed, but that it should not happen too soon. The ex-Soviet state has seen some liberalising reforms in recent years. But critics say the changes are only...

A US appeals court has struck down a government policy that banned the broadcasting of profanity, ruling that the rule is unconstitutional, says a BBC report. The policy was drawn up in 2004 and meant that broadcasters could be fined if indecent words went on air. The details: [ Link] The court said the FCC's (Federal Communications Commission) policy had a "chilling effect" on broadcasters. The...

The coalition government in UK has unveiled plans for a major review of libel law in a bid to better protect freedom of speech and expression in the media and the research sector, and to cut down on "libel tourism", says a report in The Guardian. On July 9, the Ministry of Justice announced it is to publish a draft defamation bill that will be put out for consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny...

Over 2000 angry protesters — led by local Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) leaders — barged into the office of Headlines Today news channel on Friday and vandalised the ground floor of the Videocon Towers at Jhandewalan in New Delhi. The mob was protesting a sting operation aired by Headlines Today, which linked RSS leader Indresh Kumar with Devender Gupta — a key accused in the Ajmer...

Journalists in Guinea are forgotten victims of violence, says a report released by ARTICLE 19 after the first round of presidential elections in the country, the first free presidential elections in 52 years since independence. The report findings are based on a mission undertaken by ARTICLE 19 in the aftermath of the events of September 28, 2009, when more than a hundred and fifty people were...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has commended a threat made against journalist Liu Jianfeng on July 9, after he refused to take a bribe from officials in Jiangxi province in eastern China. Liu, a journalist with China Economic Times, received a life-threatening note after he reported on his blog that people had drowned during floods in Jiangxi on July 8. Officials acknowledge...

The National Press Council (CNP), the print media regulatory body in Côte d'Ivoire, imposed a fine of three million CFA francs (about US$6,000) on Regie Cyclone Company, publishers of Le Temps, a pro-government daily newspaper, according to the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA). MFWA's correspondent reported that the fine was as a result of the newspaper's publishing of the results of...

Dauda Mohammed, a newspaper photographer in Ghana who was reportedly abducted on July 12 by unidentified men for taking pictures of a private mansion of former president Jerry John Rawlings, reportedly escaped from his abductors, after about an hour in detention, according to the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA). Mohammed, a reporter for the privately-owned newspaper The Insight, told Accra...

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has convicted Turkey of illegally restricting the freedom of expression of two journalists, according to delayed reports. The ruling was based on the Turkish government's decision in two separate trials against Aylin Guzel, the owner and editor-in-chief of Maya magazine, and Aziz Ozer, editor-in-chief of Yeni Dünya için Çağrı magazine. On July 6, the ECHR...