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BEIJING (AP) - A Chinese court has freed a journalist convicted of extortion for exposing local corruption but has refused to overturn his guilty verdict, his wife said Saturday. The Intermediate People's Court in the southern city of Shaoyang ordered Yang Xiaoqing released on bail last month after he served seven months of a one-year sentence, said his wife, Gong Jie. Last Tuesday, the court...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - When journalist Aly Colon began his career, he always made the same request to his editors. Could he please have an accent? Colon, a Puerto Rican native, writes his name with an accent over the second "o" to distinguish it from the less than elegant body part. When his editors said they couldn't or wouldn't add the slash to his byline, Colon began adding it by hand before...

SYDNEY: New media laws in Australia have sparked takeover activity many fear will lead to a concentration of ownership in the hands of Rupert Murdoch and Australia's richest man James Packer, eroding free speech and democracy. "This is a real blow to democracy. Free speech and the multitude of voices and positions on a range of issues is at risk with this legislation," leader of the Australian...

IT TOOK 36 hours for the battle lines to be redrawn on Australia's media landscape after the Howard Government succeeded in its decade-long campaign to free up ownership. Bills to water down foreign ownership limits and end the ban on media groups owning both television and print media were approved by Parliament at 12.13pm on Wednesday. Ninety minutes later, Australia's richest man, James Packer...

New Zealand newspapers owned by John Fairfax Holdings could be broken off and floated on the New Zealand stock market or sold to a private buyer in the frenzy of media buy-ups across the Tasman, analysts say. Fairfax's open share register - dominated by institutional shareholders - meant it was one of three Australian media companies tipped as likely takeover targets. Others were Austereo and...

NEW DELHI: Essel Industries chairman Subhash Chandra on Friday defended his decision to acquire 51% stake in United News of India (UNI) saying he planned to pump in up to Rs 100 crore to convert it into a global news agency over the next two years. Stating that there would not be any staff retrenchment, Chandra said the initial focus is on upgrading its technology and improving its content. "We...

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has hailed the news that Yang Xiaoqing, a journalist based in Longhui in the southern province of Hunan, has been released as a result of a court decision in the nearby city of Shaoyang, on 17 October 2006. Detained since 22 January, Yang had been serving a one-year sentence for alleged extortion. "Guilty but free - this decision is a half-measure that fails to cover up the fact...

New York, October 20, 2006—Ahead of the deadline set by the kidnappers of an Italian photographer in Afghanistan, the Committee to Protect Journalists appeals for his immediate safe release. Freelancer Gabriele Torsello was seized by five gunmen October 12. At first, the kidnappers set a deadline of Sunday night for their demands to be met. That has now changed to midnight Monday, according to the...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders has condemned the Sudanese authorities' harassment of local and foreign journalists, which has been stepped up since the summer of 2006, barely one year after President Omar al-Bashir announced he was lifting the state of emergency. "At least 15 journalists have been arrested since the start of the year, as the government responded in an authoritarian and...

MOSCOW, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - Investigators know the motive for the murder of prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, the first deputy prosecutor general said Friday. Politkovskaya, 48, known for her staunch criticism of the Kremlin and its military campaign in Chechnya, was gunned down in her apartment building in Moscow October 7. "Investigators know the details and motive of this...