News

US news network reports of pharmaceutical-related stories routinely fail to name or credit the companies which produce the medicines involved, and take the availability and accessibility of prescription drugs for granted, according to a survey conducted by the Business and Media Institute (BMI), a free-market advocacy group. The reporting also tends to be biased towards controversy and...

A New Zealand newspaper publisher announced Thursday it plans to outsource much of its editorial production to another company — a move that brought a pledge from unions to fight the proposal. APN New Zealand, half-owned by Irish businessman Tony O’Reilly’s Dublin-based Independent Newspapers Ltd., told staff up to 70 editorial staff jobs would be lost if it sources some editorial production from...

Slain journalist Anna Politkovskaya's diaries, published in English this week, paint a damning picture of a Russia where democracy is stifled, fascism is on the rise and ethnic minorities are brutally repressed. For her, one man is to blame -- President Vladimir Putin. Her hard-hitting account of Russian news and politics over two years, including the parliamentary elections in 2003 and the Beslan...

GUWAHATI, March 21 – North East Newspaper Society, an organization of the owners of the newspapers of the North East region has been formed today to promote and protect the interests of the newspaper industry in the region. An executive committee of the Society has also been formed with Kanaksen Deka of Agradoot as president, PG Baruah of The Assam Tribune group as vice president and GL Agarwala...

A French court Thursday cleared satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in a case brought by Muslims who were angered by its publication of caricatures of the prophet Mohammed. The court’s decision is being seen as a major victory for free speech in France. Philippe Val, chief editor of the French satirical weekly "Charlie Hebdo", speaks with the media in Paris March 22, 2007. A French court ruled in...

Hyderabad, March 21 (IANS) The editor of a prominent Urdu daily in Hyderabad was attacked late in the night when he was returning home, prompting Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to order an inquiry. Zahid Ali Khan, editor of Siasat, was attacked Tuesday night at Mehdipatnam here while he was returning home. Some unidentified people intercepted his car and threw filth on him...

India's printing presses have never been busier. Industry analysts estimate total daily newspaper circulation has hit 80 million copies, divided among almost 2,000 different papers. The country's newspaper registrar lists more than 62,000 publications, including weeklies, monthlies and corporate newspapers. Subir Ghosh, editor of the web site Newswatch India, says the market has tremendous room...

Traditionalists devoted to the old Henry Luce idea of a newsweekly may be viewing Time magazine's recent makeover with discomfort, but Madison Avenue is down with the program. Media buyers praised this week's radical new look for playing up individual voices in the magazine -- brand names which, in turn, are supposed to direct younger readers to the Web. "The success for magazines and even...

(CPJ/IFEX) - New York, March 21, 2007 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the recent beating of a television journalist who reported on corruption at a railroad company in Kyrgyzstan. Kairat Birimkulov, reporter for the Kyrgyz main state broadcaster Government TV and Radio Company (GTRK), was attacked by two unidentified men on March 16 near his home in the Alamedin district of...

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish newspaper publisher Independent News & Media hopes to use proceeds from its bid for Australia's APN News & Media to expand into growing Asian markets but has dropped plans to move into Russia. "We would want better comfort on the political and press freedom issues before we looked at investing in Russia again," Independent News Chief Operating Officer Gavin O'Reilly told...