News

(MFWA/IFEX) - "Kalum Express", a privately-owned Conakry-based newspaper, was suspended for two months by the media regulator, the National Council for Communication (CNC), on 27 November 2006, for allegedly damaging the reputation of the state of Guinea. The newspaper will be out of circulation until 27 January 2007. MFWA's correspondent says Top Sylla, the managing editor of "Kalum Express", has...

Female correspondents working on the BBC's flagship television news bulletins earn £6,500 less than their male counterparts on average, according to figures released under the corporation's freedom of information scheme. The disclosure will support claims of the existence of a glass ceiling for women journalists at the BBC, and will raise questions about the fairness of the corporation's overall...

(AJI/IFEX) - The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Indonesia slams the use of criminal law in solving press-related disputes. AJI Indonesia also condemns the continued violence against journalists in the course of their duties. At least 64 cases of violence against Indonesian journalists were recorded from August 2005 to August 2006. Furthermore, three murder cases of journalists have yet...

New York, December 7, 2006—The Azerbaijan Court of Appeals should reverse a ruling excluding defense witnesses in the appeal of Sakit Zakhidov and release the ailing journalist, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today . The court ruled Monday not to hear witnesses for the defense or further investigate the case against Zakhidov, a prominent reporter and satirist for the Baku daily...

The editor of Playboy Indonesia appeared in court in Jakarta Thursday, charged with publishing indecent material. Though the country's version of the famed men's magazine contains no nudity and is tamer than other editions published around the world, religious groups and politicians have condemned it. Editor Erwin Arnada has argued that his edition is equally or even less explicit than many other...

When the anchorman Matt Lauer declared on the "Today" show last week that his network, NBC, would start referring to the conflict in Iraq as a "civil war," he inadvertently started his own civil war within the American news media. Fox News refused to follow suit, saying that non-Iraqis were involved in the fighting, "and that makes it something different." Accusations of partisanship flew in all...

The 2006 PReSS Survey conducted by Monroe Mendelsohn Research released last week showed readers find National Geographic and its Web site to be No. 1. The print publication of the magazine out-ranked the other 135 publications survey in terms of best overall quality, informative, differs from other magazines of the same type, and quality photos/illustrations. Its Web site beat out 40 other...

Despite tanking circulation numbers, newspapers across the country plan to raise advertising rates anywhere between 3 and 6 percent in early 2007. But this year, more than in years past, those increases will be met with strong resistance. Big national advertisers such as Macy's department store are looking for rate drops, not increases, in light of declining circulations. And this is especially so...

(CPJ/IFEX) - New York, December 7, 2006 - The number of journalists jailed worldwide for their work increased for the second consecutive year, and one in three is now an Internet blogger, online editor, or Web-based reporter, according to a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists. CPJ's annual worldwide census found 134 journalists imprisoned on December 1, an increase of nine from...

(IPI/IFEX) - Vienna, 7 December 2006: The Executive Board of the International Press Institute (IPI) has decided to name Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya as one of its World Press Freedom Heroes. "Politkovskaya's nomination as our 51st World Press Freedom Hero is a tribute to her bravery, but also an acknowledgement of the struggles of the many courageous journalists working in Russia," said...