News

3 July 2006

Weapon of mass communication

Perhaps it’s time to contemplate a journalism rehab centre. Thanks to 24X7 television, there is a media institute in almost every corner of the city who promise anything and everything to meet the so called “rising demand for journalists”. But do degrees in mass communication and journalism give you an edge over others? They do. At least what the students queuing up outside journalism institutes...

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3 July 2006

Filipino anti-government media outfit torched

EIGHT armed men raided and burned a radio station founded by the party-list group Bayan Muna in the town proper of Baggao in Cagayan early Sunday morning, a police official said. The men barged into the premises of Radio Cagayano DWRC at 2 a.m. Sunday and held at least six personnel, including the station manager Susan Mapa and technician Richard Remegio. Jefferson Soriano, regional director of...

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3 July 2006

Russia bars UK reporter on security grounds

Moscow - Russia has refused a visa to a British journalist well-known for his coverage of Chechnya and the turbulent Caucasus, citing the needs of "state security". Thomas de Waal, who has previously worked in Moscow for the English-language Moscow Times, the BBC and the Times, said on Monday he had been due to attend the presentation of a Russian version of his book on the conflict in Nagorno...

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3 July 2006

Proposed China law may hit foreign media

BEIJING: A Chinese draft law that threatens to fine news media for reporting on "sudden incidents" without permission applies to foreign as well as domestic news organizations, an official involved in preparing the legislation said Monday. The law, now under consideration by the legislature, calls for fines of up to $12,500 if news media produce unauthorized reports on outbreaks of disease...

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3 July 2006

Freedom of the Press: Pakistan

When a press freedom violation takes place in Pakistan, the government reacts by stating, “The press is free in the country.” This country, with a population of 150 million Muslims is, most of the time, ruled by a powerful US-backed military establishment. A similar statement was issued again last month when the dead body of a missing tribal journalist was found in a tribal region after his...

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3 July 2006

A magazine interview or an ad? Read the fine print

The line separating editorial content and advertising in magazines may have been blurred even more with a film ad in the latest issue of Premiere, the movie magazine. Premiere's July/August 2006 issue includes a two-page, bright yellow ad for "Little Miss Sunshine," a new film from Fox Searchlight Pictures. The right-hand page contains the usual elements of a print ad for film (a cast list, some...

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3 July 2006

Chechnya: Death threats? They're all in a day's work for us

When the young British journalist talks of operating in a "good patch", they often mean their area has enough crime problems to keep the local courts busy and themselves in bylines. Well, try this one for size: Grozny, Chechnya. Home to a conflict that over the past seven years has seen near civil war and the emergence of brutal militias, thousands of people killed and countless others...

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2 July 2006

Niger watchdog bans newspaper for "inciting revolt"

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Niger's media watchdog has banned a national weekly newspaper for "inciting revolt" and defaming the government, the paper said on Saturday, reviving concerns about press freedom in the West African country. L'Opinion is the first publication to be banned by Niger's CSC independent communications regulator, but the ruling comes after Niger in April said it would stop foreign...

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2 July 2006

Journalists and 'leakers' feel heat around globe

NEW YORK — Headline by headline, a trickle of news leaks on Iraq and the antiterror campaign has grown into a steady stream of revelations, and from Pennsylvania Avenue to Downing Street, Copenhagen to Canberra, governments are responding with pressure and prosecutions. The latest target is The New York Times. But the unfolding story begins as far back as 2003, when British weapons expert David...

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2 July 2006

Journalists slam Egypt Press Freedom Bill

Egypt’s Journalists Union is criticizing a press freedom bill, claiming it defends corruption and constitutes a step backwards in the state of freedom of press. As of Monday, union members will begin an open protest against the bill, which they say limits press freedom. The government is discussing the bill on Sunday. Egypt’s government has amended a contentious law that allows the Egyptian...

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