News

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed shock at the attack on Radio Zafar, an independent radio station close to Kabul, on March 28. The Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA), an IFJ associate, received reports from the head of the radio station that four unidentified gunmen illegally entered the station at 1:00 am and tied up two security guards, before fire...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed a decision by the Cebu Regional Trial Court (RTC) in the Philippines in finding John Lloyd Ortiz guilty of attempted murder of Cebu radio broadcaster Cirse “Choy” Torralba on June 8, 2004. According to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), an IFJ affiliate, Judge Estela Alam Singco issued the 29-page decision on...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned Thursday’s attack on Arseny Makhlov, founder of the independent weekly Dvornik, in the western city of Svetlogorsk, Kaliningrad region of Russia. An unidentified assailant stabbed Makhlov twice in the back at around 7:00 pm as he was leaving a local restaurant, the journalist told New York-based CPJ. The attacker fled the scene immediately...

Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called for the release of Ahmed Mahmud Hassan, of satellite al-Sumariya television, who has been held since March 30 by Iraqi authorities who have not given any reason for his arrest. Mahmud Hassan was picked up in Mahmudiya, 30 km south of Baghdad, while he was covering clashes between Iraqi forces and rebel insurgents. He is thought to be detained in a...

Press freedom organisations have expressed outrage at the campaign being waged by the Afghanistan ministry of information and culture, the lower house of Parliament and the Council of Ulemas against privately-owned TV stations, especially Tolo TV, for broadcasting footage of men and women dancing together. The Council of Ulemas and the information and culture ministry announced on March 30 that...

The Chameli Devi Jain Award 2007-08 for Outstanding Woman Mediaperson has been bestowed upon Rupashree Nanda for her journalistic compassion, courage, and innovative style. Nanda, an investigative reporter with CNN-IBN was the top contender among a host of senior women journalists, all of whom have been appreciated for their contribution to Indian journalism. The award, which is given by by the...

Police in the Senegalese capital of Dakar assaulted a reporter who was covering a violent anti-government protest on Sunday. They later raided the reporter’s station and confiscated footage, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported quoting local journalists and news reports. Walf TV reporter Ousmane Mangane told New York-based CPJ that riot police used Tasers on him as he was...

Journalists at Le Monde, one of France's most highly respected dailies, went on strike for only the second time in the paper's history Monday in protest at heavy cuts in newsroom staff. Le Monde, read by 2 million people everyday, is one of the country's most influential newspapers with extensive contacts in the French establishment and an unwaveringly intellectual tone. A new management team told...

Shareholders of Thomson Corporation and Reuters have approved plans for the Canadian firm to buy the British-based media and information group and create the world's biggest provider of financial data. The approval in separate shareholder meetings in Toronto and London clears the way for completion of the deal on April 17, the two firms said. A statement issued from Thomson's operations...

A young Afghan journalist sentenced to death in northern Afghanistan on charges of blasphemy has been moved to Kabul ahead of an appeal due soon, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported. A primary provincial court in the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif sentenced 23-year-old journalist Sayed Parvez Kambakhsh to death in January in a case that has attracted worldwide condemnation. He had no legal...