News

15 January 2009
Curbs on news coverage put on hold as editors say move is throwback to Emergency days

Curbs on news coverage put on hold as editors say move is throwback to Emergency days

The proposed changes in the Cable Television Network Regulations Act have been put on hold after top editors of major television news channels unanimously agreed to oppose the proposed amendments. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday stepped in to assure news broadcasters that nothing would be finalised without "the widest possible consultation with all the stakeholders and eliciting their...

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15 January 2009

Mayor burns copies of newspaper, detains vendor in Mexico town

The mayor and local police of the town of San Pedro Jicayán, in the state of Oaxaca, burnt 1,000 copies of a newspaper and detained a newspaper vendor for several hours on January 11. The newspaper Noticias Voz e Imagen had published information that reflected poorly on the administration of Mayor Leonardo Silva Palacios, the Centro de Periodismo y Etica Publica (CEPET) has reported. While on his...

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15 January 2009

Al-Jazeera bureau chief assaulted by police while covering demonstration in Amman

Yasser Abu Hilaleh, the Al-Jazeera network's bureau chief in Amman, was beaten by riot police while he was covering a demonstration in Rabia on January 9. Abu Hilaleh, who was reporting on the protest involving clashes between demonstrators and the Gendarmerie Forces, was approached by two individuals dressed in civilian clothing who asked him to leave the scene and threatened to assault him, the...

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15 January 2009

Court rescinds semi-release for Brazilian journalist's convicted killer

A Rio de Janeiro court that oversees sentence implementation has reversed a decision to put Cláudio Orlando "Ratinho" de Nascimento, one of the convicted killers of Rede Globo television reporter Tim Lopes, on a semi-release regime that let him out of prison by day to visit relatives and friends, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. The prison administration granted "Ratinho" semi-release...

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15 January 2009

Molotov cocktails thrown at Oaxaca newspaper editor's home

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has condemned an attack on the home of Carlos Velasco Molina, editor of the weekly El Correo de Oaxaca, in the southwestern city of Oaxaca in the early hours of January 9. Two Molotov cocktails were thrown at his house, starting a fire but causing no injuries. Fearing the possibility of violence, Velasco had moved his family to a different location a few weeks ago...

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15 January 2009

As Mecom quits, EFJ calls for quality on German media agenda

The decision by troubled media company Mecom to sell its prize German assets is a golden opportunity to abandon reckless cutbacks and put quality journalism back on the media agenda, the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has said. Mecom, a transnational giant based in Britain and funded by investment bankers, has bought up hundreds of newspaper titles across Europe over the past few years...

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15 January 2009

Four arrested for woman journalist’s murder in Nepal, while clandestine group claims responsibility

Four people have reportedly been arrested for the murder of journalist and women’s rights activist Uma Singh, who was stabbed to death in her home in the southeastern lowland city of Janakpur on January 11, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. At the same time, local news website Republica quoted state-owned Nepal TV on January 12 as reporting that an underground group had claimed...

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14 January 2009
Israel indicts two East Jerusalem journalists for its breaking censorship regulations

Israel indicts two East Jerusalem journalists for its breaking censorship regulations

Two east Jerusalem employees of a production company servicing various media outlets worldwide, including one based in Iran, were indicted in Israel Tuesday for breaking Israeli military censorship, the Ynet news site reported. Kadir Shahin, a reporter with Iranian Arabic-speaking Alalam television station, and producer Muhammad Sarhan are accused of reporting that Israeli ground troops had...

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14 January 2009
Row over Lankan editor's killing as German ambassador speaks out at journalist's funeral

Row over Lankan editor's killing as German ambassador speaks out at journalist's funeral

Sri Lanka's government censured a senior international diplomat after he spoke at the funeral of a newspaper editor whose murder has been blamed on the island's rulers, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported Wednesday. German ambassador Jurgen Weerth was ordered to the Colombo foreign office and told of Sri Lanka's anger over his graveside eulogy for Lasantha Wickrematunga, officials who declined to...

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14 January 2009
Washington Post names Elizabeth Spayd, Raju Narisetti as new managing editors

Washington Post names Elizabeth Spayd, Raju Narisetti as new managing editors

The Washington Post named has two new managing editors with joint responsibility for its print and online editions, the paper reported. Elizabeth Spayd, 50, editor of washingtonpost.com, and Raju Narisetti, 42, founder editor of Indian newspaper Mint and former deputy managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, will report to Post executive editor Marcus Brauchli. In a statement, the newspaper...

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