News

Mizzima News Agency has been awarded the 2007 Free Media Pioneer Award by the International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists. Managing Editor Sein Win will receive the prize on behalf of Mizzima at an award ceremony on May 15 during the IPI World Congress in Istanbul, Turkey (May 12-15, 2007). Mizzima News was founded in August 1998 by...

The Internet-driven transformation of the media industry is sparking a new round of potential megamergers, underscored yesterday by reported efforts to acquire search engine Yahoo Inc. and information service Reuters Group PLC. Thomson Corp., a financial information services firm in Stamford, Conn., has reportedly approached Reuters about a possible acquisition, while software giant Microsoft Corp...

Three nations in sub-Saharan Africa are among the places worldwide where press freedom has deteriorated the most over the last five years, a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found. Ethiopia, where the government launched a massive crackdown on the private press by shutting newspapers and jailing editors, leads CPJ’s dishonor roll. The African nations of the Gambia and...

(IFJ/IFEX) - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today said that yesterday's horrific attack on private radio station Radio Dijla that killed two employees shows that the government is not protecting journalists and armed groups are able to attack media workers with impunity. On Thursday, gunmen attacked staff at the independent radio station in a predominantly Sunni area of Baghdad...

New York, May 4, 2007—Veteran Guatemalan radio producer Mario Rolando López Sánchez was gunned down outside his home in Guatemala City yesterday. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating whether López’ murder is related to his professional work. López, producer of the political debate program “Cosas y Casos de la Vida Nacional” and various social programs on national privately-owned...

(CERIGUA/IFEX) - World Press Freedom Day, celebrated on 3 May, is being celebrated this year in unpromising circumstances. The year 2006 was described as one of the worst ones for the profession of journalism. Acts of aggression against journalists occurred on a massive scale. Dozens of journalists and other information professionals were murdered, both in countries at war, such as Iraq, and...

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned by the Jordanian government's recent violations of freedom of expression. In a matter of two weeks, the Jordanian authorities carried out two acts of prior censorship which violate its constitution and its international obligations. On April 30, the Jordanian authorities unlawfully stopped the release of al-Majd bi-weekly publication. Earlier that...

SOUTHERN LUZON, Philippines (Reuters) - The reporter's morning routine is the same as everyone else's except for one subtle difference, he scans his fellow commuters for would-be assassins. "When I get on public transport I look around to see if any of the passengers have suspicious bulges," said the journalist, who declined to be named. The correspondent of a Philippine national newspaper fears...

New York, May 4, 2007—A court in Azerbaijan jailed two independent journalists today over an article that said Islam was hampering economic and political progress. The Committee to Protect Journalists, which this week named Azerbaijan as one of the top 10 countries where press freedom has deteriorated, condemned the conviction. Reporter Rafiq Tagi and editor Samir Sadagatoglu of the independent...

(IAPA/IFEX) - MIAMI, Florida (May 4, 2007) - The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today welcomed recent court decisions in the Dominican Republic in the cases of journalists Juan Andújar, Narciso González and Orlando Martínez, murdered (or disappeared) in 2004, 1994 and 1975, respectively. "We are delighted that the justice system in the Dominican Republic is on the right path, in that it...