News

A Belgian reporter has been abducted by pro-government Mai-Mai rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) reported Thursday. RSF has called on the Mai-Mai militiamen holding Belgian journalist Thomas Scheen, together with his interpreter and his driver, in the Rutshuru region of the eastern province of Nord-Kivu to release them at once. Scheen is a correspondent...

Press freedom groups have condemned the continued imprisonment of Egyptian blogger Abdel Karim Suleiman, a.k.a. Kareem Amer, who completed two years in prison on Friday. His lawyers from the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and Hisham Mubarak Law Centre are still waiting the result of an appeal brought before Egypt’s Prosecutor-General. Amer’s lawyers hope to see justice done...

The press freedom situation in Sri Lanka has noticeably deteriorated over the past year, marked by a continuation in murders, attacks, abductions, intimidation and harassment of the media, says an international press freedom mission to Sri Lanka. Media in war-affected areas in the north and east continue to be the most insecure, facing threats and restrictions from all parties, says the mission...

In days of meltdowns and dipping circulations, this does not happen all that regularly anymore. But on Wednesday, newspaper circulation soared. To the extent that many sold out all copies, others went in for extra copies. The November 5 editions proclaiming Barack Obama's White House victory disappeared off the stands faster than anyone ever thought. The largest daily in the US, USA Today, boosted...

The Iraqi Kurdistan court of appeals should act immediately to overturn a judge's ruling on Tuesday to impose a one-month prison term against a journalist who published critical reports about the Sulaymania courthouse, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has demanded. The journalist's lawyer said newly adopted legislation does not appear to allow such a prison sentence. The Criminal Court...

The media coverage of the US presidential elections concentrated more on opinion polls than actual issues, says a report by a media analysis firm. The American media had been even clear on stating that Republican candidate John McCain would loose his own state Arizona, which he won by a 9 per cent margin. "We need to change the way how the media publishes and interprets polls," said Roland Schatz...

Algerian newspaper El Khabar has topped Arab newspapers in distribution rates. The newspaper's distribution estimations exceeded 600.000 copies a day, despite its short life (the paper has only been published for eighteen years), and the huge number of lawsuits which have been aimed at its editors and reporters over the years, the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has said. The...

Readership of most newspapers across the country has declined compared to last year's figures, according to the latest data (round 2) of the Indian Readership Survey 2008. The survey, conducted by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC), was released Tuesday in Mumbai. The Times of India still leads English dailies with a total readership of 133.4 lakh, dropping from 134.8 lakh readers last year...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has urged the state security court to withdraw its case against Fayez al-Ajrashi, editor-in-chief of privately-owned weekly El-Ekhbariya. Al-Ajrashi, who was released from Al-Juweida prison (15 km south of Amman) on November 2 after paying 3,000 dinars (approx 3,300 euros) in bail. Al-Ajrashi is still facing charges of "inflaming sectarian strife" and "sowing...

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has denounced the prosecution of Nizar Al-Abadi, an Iraqi journalist who has been living in Yemen since 1991. ANHRI has also condemned the actions of the public prosecutor, the press and publishers who are acting on behalf of the state security forces against journalists working within the law and the regulations of their profession. Al-Abadi...