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The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today signed the first-ever global framework agreement in the media sector with Germany’s WAZ Media Group in a move that commits both sides to work together to protect freedom of the press, to promote quality standards in journalism and to secure fair working conditions for employees in the media. “It’s a breakthrough, which paves the way for...

Journalists from across the continent joined together last Friday to call on African Union leaders to release imprisoned media professionals and end the persecution of the press. “We believe it is unacceptable that journalists will be jailed simply for exercising their profession,” Saidou Arji, coordinator of the Network of African Freedom of Expression Organisation, said at a press conference...

Staff at Les Echos, France's top financial daily, have gone on strike for the third time in three weeks to protest against the possible sale of their title to luxury group Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy by UK owner Pearson. The latest strike comes as Bernard Arnault, the LVMH chief executive and chairman, said today he would guarantee Les Echos's editorial independence if he bought it. Journalists at...

(CMFR/IFEX) - A radio broadcaster died while undergoing treatment after he was shot by unidentified gunmen in Mandaue City, Cebu, a province in central Philippines. Radio station DYRB commentator/technician Geruncio "Oscar" Mondejar, 34, was waiting for a ride to the radio station along Jagobiao Highway in Mandaue City at around 3:00 a.m. (local time) on 30 June 2007 when a motorcycle with two men...

Reporters Without Borders learned today that the General Directorate for Security sent a report to the court trying newspaper editor Hrant Dink’s alleged murderers which says they were not members of a terrorist organisation but were just a group of friends acting on their own initiative under the leadership of Yasin Hayal, one of the defendants. When Hayal was released from prison after serving...

BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston was freed on Wednesday after 114 days held hostage by Palestinian extremists. Here is a timeline of his captivity. BBC's Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston (left) has breakfast with deposed Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniya following his release. Johnston was freed after being hostage for 16 weeks by Palestinian extremists in Gaza, looked pale and drawn...

JERUSALEM - The leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip literally dined out Wednesday on the release of British Broadasting Corp. reporter Alan Johnston, sharing breakfast with him in front of television cameras shortly after he was freed following nearly four months as a hostage. Ismail Haniyeh, the deposed Palestinian prime minister from Hamas, draped Johnston with a sash bearing the Palestinian...

Alan Johnston, the BBC journalist held hostage in Gaza, was freed and handed over to Hamas officials early on Wednesday after a late-night deal with the al Qaeda-inspired group that abducted him in March. The 45-year-old Briton was embraced by BBC colleagues after he arrived by car at the home of Hamas's local leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh. Johnston was smiling and looked well despite four months...

Senior executives at the Wall Street Journal have given cautious backing to a deal between parent company Dow Jones and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation over preserving editorial independence, according to reports. But in a statement that paves the way for a potential $5bn (£2.5bn) takeover of Dow Jones by News Corp, the executives issued a veiled warning to Mr Murdoch not to meddle with the...

Amnesty International has presented its special award for Human Rights Journalism Under Threat to Dina Meza - an investigative journalist who works for monthly e-magazine Revistazo.com in Honduras. At its annual awards ceremony earlier tonight, Dina Mesa was given the award for continuing to work in danger as a result of her human rights journalism. Ms Meza and her team of journalists have been...