News

The 76-year-old Burmese journalist and writer Win Tin completes on Tuesday his 17th year of imprisonment, gaining for himself the doubtful distinction of being among the longest serving political prisoners in Burma and perhaps in all Southeast Asia. Human rights organizations and press freedom groups have long been calling for his release—but in vain, meeting only total silence from the regime. He...

LONDON, July 4 (IranMania) - An Iranian woman journalist has been banned from working as a reporter for five years for publishing an article on AIDS, her lawyer told the ISNA news agency on Tuesday. "Elham Afrootan was banned from working as a journalist and exercising her social rights for five years because of her 'Let's make AIDS public' article in Tamadon-e Hormozgan weekly," he said, AFP...

NEW YORK: The intra-mural press battle between The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal continued Tuesday with a few digs delivered by Pulitzer-winning Times' columnist Nicholas Kristof. The Journal editorial page had blasted the Times Friday for publishing its bank records surveillance scoop -- even thought the Journal published a similar story at the same time. It added a few gratuitous...

The Thomson Foundation is inviting applications from Indian television journalists and programme makers for workshops on reporting HIV/AIDS. Upon selection, participants will attend a fully residential three-day workshop in August/ September 2006. The workshops will be conducted by international trainers using a multidisciplinary approach. The workshops are being conducted under the EU-India Media...

The president Bouteflika issued, yesterday, a new decree forgiving journalists sued in defamation and insult of employee or institutions or regime sectors and smear, as a completion to the decree issued on 3 May 2006, on the occasion of the of the international day for freedom of media, and which did not benefit any journalist, on the contrary to what was declared by the ministry of justice. The...

KINSHASA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo expelled a French journalist working for Radio France Internationale on Monday, weeks ahead of long-awaited national elections in the vast central African country. Ghislaine Dupont, a Paris-based correspondent who has covered Congo for many years, had been in Kinshasa for several months trying to get accreditation to cover the polls on July 30. No...

Developing countries have launched an Internet-based news service intended to provide an alternative to the Western media that they claim is biased. The NAM News Network (NNN), a joint effort of the 116 member countries of the virtually defunct Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), was formally inaugurated on Tuesday last by Zainuddin Maidin, the Malaysian information minister, although it has been live...

"Grassroots" or independent community newspapers yield good returns on advertising spending, a survey in South Africa has concluded. Advertisers, and particularly national advertisers, need to rethink entrenched perceptions of small newspapers and the communities they serve, as being in some way unreliable or unworthy of support. LOCAL FLAVOUR: Advertisers of the KZN Community Newspaper aserted...

Political influence is threatening France's media freedom: courageous journalists are harassed and prosecuted, while insubordinate chief editors are fired. He strokes her chin and she looks deeply into his eyes. Both smile and beam. The latest photo-story, covering French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy's Father's Day outing with his wife Cécilia, in the glossy magazine Paris Match, shows a...

THE blogging bubble has been taking on serious air of late. Last week, PaidContent.org, a blog that covers digital media, held its first mixer. It was, by all reports, filled to the brim with money and content guys speed dating on the way to marriage. Nick Denton, the founder of Gawker Media, was there, but he wasn't looking for love or money. "It made me want to move to Budapest, batten down the...