News

The author Hanif Kureishi accused the BBC of censorship last night, after it dropped a radio broadcast of his short story describing the work of a cameraman who films the executions of western captives in Iraq. Radio 4 cancelled a reading of Weddings and Beheadings, one of five nominations for the National Short Story prize due to be broadcast this week, after concluding the timing "would not be...

Top newspapers in the United States failed to challenge the George W Bush administration’s representation of the dimensions and immediacy of the threat of terrorism in their coverage of one of the major theatres of the “War on Terror,” according to a new study from the University of Maryland. The study concluded the press coverage of Pakistan was more independent and balanced than its coverage of...

(WiPC/IFEX) - Dzamshid (Jamshid) Karimov, held under psychiatric detention since September 2006, has reportedly had the order extended for a further six months and is now not due to be released until mid-September. The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN fears that Karimov is apparently held in retaliation for his reporting on human rights issues and for his criticism of the...

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the two-year prison sentences which a Bangkok court imposed on two TV talk show hosts on 12 April after finding them guilty of defaming deputy Bangkok governor Samart Ratchapolasit by saying on two different occasions that he had taken bribes. “We are not claiming that the allegations made by the two TV presenters were in any way based on established facts...

Sulaimaniya, Apr 17, (VOI) - Security forces in the city of Sulaimaniya arrested on Tuesday the editor-in-chief of (Lavin) Magazine, Ahmed Mera, after publishing an article on the repercussions of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's recent illness, an official from the Kurdish magazine said. "After publishing an article titled ‘Legacy of the sick man’ on the repercussions of the recent illness of...

BBC correspondent Alan Johnston’s abductors have demanded $5 million for his release, the London-based Asharq Alawsat reported Tuesday even as the police in the Gaza Strip scuffled with journalists demonstrating in support the journalist. The demand for ransom contradicts reports circulated Sunday that Johnston had been executed, which Palestinian Authority security officials said they could...

Sky News' website will relaunch on Thursday with a renewed emphasis on breaking news. The new-look site's aesthetic will be brought into line with the March revamp to the rolling news channel's on-air graphics. "Three separate home page templates will aid news delivery, with one ensuring a large proportion of the page is devoted to major breaking news stories," according to a statement, which said...

(RSF/IFEX) - A total of 16 journalists were physically attacked, mainly by lawyers, while covering a demonstration organised by the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) on 12 April 2007 in Karachi in protest against the dismissal of Supreme Court president Iftikar Mohammed Chaudhry, said Reporters Without Borders, condemning the violence. It was the third time that journalists have been targeted during...

MEXICO CITY, April 17 (Reuters) - Gunmen snatched a Mexican crime reporter outside a police station near the U.S. border, the latest journalist victim of a deadly drug war in which traffickers are stepping up attacks on the media. Four armed men dragged Saul Martinez from his car in the city of Agua Prieta early on Monday morning as he sought refuge in a police station, said his brother Edgar...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Web 2.0, a catchphrase for the latest generation of Web sites where users contribute their own text, pictures and video content, is far less participatory than commonly assumed, a study showed on Tuesday. A tiny 0.16 percent of visits to Google's top video-sharing site, YouTube, are by users seeking to upload video for others to watch, according to a study of online...