News

New York, January 2, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Monday’s abduction of an Agence France-Presse photographer in the Gaza Strip. Jaime Razuri, a veteran international journalist, was seized by a group of unmasked, armed men as he was entering the news agency’s bureau in Gaza City, AFP reported. Razuri was returning from an assignment with an interpreter and driver when he was...

On New Year's Day an era came to a close as the world's oldest newspaper went out of print. Post- och Inrikes Tidningar (Post and Domestic Newspapers) has been churning out announcements since 1645. But from now on, following a parliamentary decree, the newspaper will only be available online. In 1645 Queen Kristina and her advisor, Axel Oxenstierna, were urged by the state to ward off rumour...

London: In a rare distinction, Dr Chitra Bharucha, an Indian-born haematologist, took charge as the acting Chairperson of the British Broadcasting Corporation, becoming the first woman and first Asian to head the giant organisation. Incidentally, the BBC Trust, of which Bharucha is the acting Chairperson, took over the responsibility of running the organisation from BBC Board of Governors from...

The San Antonio Express-News has a bowling blog. The News Tribune in Tacoma, Washington, has a fly-fishing blog. A pet blog is popular at the Commercial Appeal in Memphis. Several newspapers have launched parenting blogs. The Fourth Estate has fallen fast and furiously in love with blogs, from news-driven ones about professional sports teams, real estate, crime, Hurricane Katrina, immigration and...

At least 81 journalists were killed in 2006 in 21 countries while doing their job or for expressing their opinion, the highest annual toll since 1994, when 103 died (half of them in the Rwanda genocide, about 20 in the Algerian civil war and a dozen in former Yugoslavia). 32 media assistants (fixers, drivers, translators, technicians, security staff) were also killed 2006 (only five in 2005). Iraq...

NEW DELHI, DEC 30 (PTI): Fear of government controls came to haunt the Indian media in 2006, a year which saw the much- resisted CAS finally moving toward roll-out and the struggling FM radio sector literally boom. Just as media rode high on popular public support to sting operations, especially those exposing MPs allegedly accepting money for raising questions or for diverting funds from MPLAD...

(RSF/IFEX) - As troops loyal to the transitional federal government took control of almost all of Somalia today, Reporters Without Borders and its partner organisation in Somalia, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ), called on the government and all other parties to the conflict to respect the work of journalists. Making their appeal five days after the UN Security Council's unanimous...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders today released the report of a visit it made to Gaza and Israel from 4 to 7 December to investigate the disturbing situation of journalists working in the Gaza Strip, to meet with the authorities and to propose ways of improving the security of the media. Palestinian and foreign journalists working in the Palestinian territories are exposed to two different...

McClatchy, the US newspaper group, and Citadel Broadcasting, the radio station chain, have emerged as the worst performers among US companies that have made large domestic acquisitions this year, according to datacollected by Dealogic. The figures offer an insight into the decline of traditional media companies, which have been suffering as advertisingrevenues have moved to the internet. Deals may...

The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) today repudiated a decision by Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez to not renew the broadcast license of television network Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). Chavez made the announcement yesterday after accusing the network of supporting plots to overthrow him and engaging in subversive activities. The chairman of the IAPA's Committee on Freedom of the...