News

PARIS: Already famed for angry labour strikes and philosophical debates in smoke-filled cafes, the French have now brought these passions online to become some of the world's most intensive bloggers. The French distinguish themselves, both statistically and anecdotally, ahead of Germans, Britons and even Americans in their obsession with the personal and public journals of the Internet age. 60% of...

Everybody knows that online news is free and that technologically brilliant search engines like Google and Yahoo have been stealing readers -- and revenues -- away from technologically challenged newspaper companies and wire services. It's a common perception, but it's false. Google and Yahoo, along with dozens of other Internet companies, have been quietly agreeing to deals that compensate some...

CAIRO, Egypt -- For Arab news media, the war between Israel and Hezbollah is a fresh chapter in a tale with strong emotional pull and well-defined enemies, and has pushed Iraq to the back of newscasts and off front pages. "Iraqi news has not been ignored by the Arab satellite channels' newscast, it still exists, but has decreased sharply in the last two weeks," said Sameeha Dahroug, the former...

Some guys much older than Prince — remember that kid from Haryana — also fell into a hole this week. Although they too were on TV, summoning help for them seemed out of question. Some guys much older than Prince — remember that kid from Haryana — also fell into a hole this week. Although they too were on TV, summoning help for them seemed out of question. They didn’t know they were in a hole. So...

In managing media coverage from Israel of the war in Lebanon, Israeli officials are implementing military censorship guidelines which make specific provisions about general news coverage, coverage of activity leading to the ground operation and coverage of actual combat. For example, it is "strictly forbidden to show a picture of the full battle coverage, with an emphasis of identifying the...

A 73-year-old freelance journalist has been publicly beaten to death in Brazil by a municipal councillor who he recently accused of dubious administration practices. Media freedom groups have condemned the brutal and lethal attack of Ajuricaba Monassa de Paula, a freelance reporter who was affiliated to the Brazilian Press Association (ABI). They say Momassa started arguing in the streets of...

BELGRADE, Serbia, July 28 (UPI) -- Serbian President Boris Tadic says he refused to approve a government law because it suppresses the freedom of media and democracy. "Today, media freedom is essential for democracy of any society. The defense of media freedom is my duty as the head of state, because in that way I defend the constitutional rights of citizens to free expression and information,"...

Banjul, Gambia: Scores of reporters jailed, some emerging with tales of police beatings. Newspapers shuttered. A journalist forced into hiding. This country, a sliver on the West African coast, bills itself to foreigners as a cheerful beach resort, but critics say it shelters a corrupt regime that is using state terror to attack the media and silence opponents before September presidential...

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Paris-based Reporters Without Borders have condemned the murder of Yevgeny Gerasimenko, a correspondent for the independent weekly Saratovsky Rasklad, who was found dead the morning of July 26 in his apartment in Saratov in southeastern Russia, according to local press reports. The groups voiced concern over deteriorating press freedom...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's prosecutor general on Friday rejected a U.S. offer of help to track down the killer of U.S. journalist Paul Klebnikov, shot in Moscow two years ago. Klebnikov, the editor of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, was shot four times as he left his office in July 2004. No one has been convicted of his murder. A Russian jury in May found two men not guilty of the murder...