News

19 October 2007

Media executive of prominent radio station assassinated in Mogadishu

(NUSOJ/IFEX) - The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is deeply shocked by the ssassination of a media executive of a prominent and popular radio station in Mogadishu. Bashir Nor Gedi, Acting Chairperson and the vice chairperson of Shabelle Media Network, was assassinated at his home in the Wardhigley district of Hamarjadid neighbourhood, on 19 October 2007, by unknown gunmen, according...

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19 October 2007

Turkey: Various writers, activists, journalists still facing prosecution under Article 301

(BIANET/IFEX) - Despite pressure from the EU and human rights activists internationally and domestically, the prosecution of journalists, writers and activists under the infamous Article 301 continues. Before the Progress Report of the European Union, EU authorities had called for the abolition of Article 301, and Turkish government officials had signaled that changes were on the way. However...

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19 October 2007

Thailand: Charges against two Internet users "dropped", but chilling effect on online free expression remains

(SEAPA/IFEX) - The case against two Internet users who were the first to be charged under Thailand's new Computer-Related Offences Commission Act continue to be shrouded in secrecy as the state prosecutors did not proceed with charges upon the deadline for filing them on 12 October 2007. Despite the apparent good news, local free expression watchdogs fear that the charges may be filed anew as the...

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19 October 2007

Nigeria editor arrested and charged with sedition for accusing state governor of corruption

Reporters Without Borders called today for the release of Jerome Imeime, the editor of Events, a privately-owned weekly based in Uyo, the capital of the southeastern state of Akwa Ibom. Imeime was arrested on 10 October by members of the State Security Service, the main domestic intelligence agency, for criticising the state’s governor and was charged six days later with “sedition” by an Uyo court...

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19 October 2007

A month after Kaka’s arrest, Niger President urged to stop "treating journalists as enemies"

As leading journalist Moussa Kaka is about to begin his second month in detention, Reporters Without Borders today appealed to President Mamadou Tandja for a conciliatory gesture after the imprisonment of two journalists. “The pressure will not let up as long as he continues to display this level of intransigence, so President Tandja should listen to those who have been saying for the past month...

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19 October 2007

Honduras: Murder of journalist and radio presenter whom government had in its sights

Reporters Without Borders today expressed revulsion at the murder of Carlos Salgado, a satirical journalist on Radio Cadena Voces (RCV), who was shot dead yesterday in Tegucigalpa. Several members of staff at the radio, which was highly critical of the government, had recently been threatened. “The murder of Carlos Salgado confirms the deterioration in press freedom in Honduras (87th in Reporters...

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19 October 2007

Azerbaijan: Nakhchivan authorities harass opposition journalist’s family

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the constant harassment of journalist Hakim Eldostu Mehdiyev’s family by local authorities in the autonomous republic of Nakhchivan since his detention for five days last month. Mehdiyev is regional correspondent for the Baku-based opposition newspaper Yeni Musavat. “Mehdiyev’s relatives have been threatened with reprisals and have been subjected to...

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19 October 2007

Media executives arrested in Phoenix

Two executives from Village Voice Media — a company that owns a number of alternative weeklies including The Village Voice, The LA Weekly and The Phoenix Times — were arrested Thursday night in Phoenix on charges that a story published earlier in the day in The Phoenix New Times revealed grand jury secrets. Michael Lacey, the executive editor, and Jim Larkin, chief executive, were arrested at...

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19 October 2007

Judge orders reporter to do story or face jail

Oct. 19, 2007 · A state judge in Utah told a local TV news reporter to produce a public service story as a consequence for unknowingly violating his order not to speak with potential jurors in the rape trial of a leader of a polygamist sect. Katie Baker, a reporter with KUTV in Salt Lake City, said she was unaware of the judge's order when she interviewed potential juror Mo Webb. Nonetheless...

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19 October 2007

Free-to-air TV channels holding their own against cable TV, Internet

SINGAPORE : More than 8 in 10 adults above 15 years old watch television on an average daily basis, according to a Nielsen Media Research survey. While this is a marginal decline from one year ago, Nielsen said free-to-air channels are holding their own against cable television and the Internet. If a viewer was watching television yesterday, chances are he would have been watching a local channel...

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