News

New York, May 16, 2006–The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the detention of two journalists who have written about divisions within Syria. Military intelligence service detained prominent activist and writer Michel Kilo on May 14 in Damascus, according to CPJ sources. Online journalist Muhammad Ghanem has been in detention for 47 days. Kilo, who contributes to the leading Lebanese...

In an attempt to improve the media landscape in Swaziland, the government has engaged Commonwealth experts to help review the country's unfriendly media laws. As many as 32 unfriendly media laws currently exist in Swaziland, according to a 2003 study by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Swaziland. The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Public Service and Information, Cyril Kunene...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) -- Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, under pressure from Islamists to curb reforms, has warned local media against showing pictures of Saudi women, local newspapers reported on Tuesday. Many Saudis have said they hope the king, who came to power last year, will loosen strict political and social mores in the ultra-conservative kingdom which imposes an austere version of...

May 16, 2006 -- A new trial of the editor of an Armenian-Turkish newspaper began today in Istanbul. Hrant Dink, a Turkish citizen of Armenian origin, is accused of "attempting to influence the judiciary" when his newspaper ran articles criticizing a law that makes it a crime to "insults Turkishness." The law has been used to indict writers and intellectuals, including Dink himself and novelist...

NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - Controversial Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad have been reprinted in a U.S. magazine with commentary by leading U.S. cartoonist Art Spiegelman, who offers what he calls a "fatwa bomb meter" to rate their offensiveness. Harper's Magazine published the article by Spiegelman in its June edition available on newsstands from Tuesday, joining only a handful of U.S...

Chinese prosecutors have filed a new indictment against a researcher for The New York Times, but it is unclear if they have introduced new charges or simply restated the case that was withdrawn in March, his lawyer said Monday. The new indictment against Zhao Yan was filed last Friday in a Beijing court. Mo Shaoping, the lawyer who has represented Mr. Zhao, said he had not yet been able to see the...

The World Association of Newspapers is launching a unique media development programme in the Arab world in which selected newspapers will work together to share new commercial and editorial strategies with publishers and editors throughout the region. A team from the Paris-based WAN is visiting potential partners in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia this week in the first phase of the WAN Arab...

Kenyan Security Minister John Michuki has warned he may order new raids against the media just days after a deadly attack on a radio station. Mr Michuki warned that the government would not hesitate to use force against any news group that demeans the state. "No body will be allowed to harm the government and if they do that we will teach them a lesson," he said. Last Friday, eight hooded gunmen...

This week marks the start of the television "up-front," when advertisers traditionally buy much of their commercial time for the upcoming season. No one’s quite sure how it will go this year: advertisers are worried about the rapid proliferation of the digital video recorders that let viewers zap their commercials, so they may see television as less valuable. Marketers are also reserving more of...

The organisation regretted that "China was marking the 40th anniversary of the Cultural Revolution by censoring the Internet and cracking down on democrats", pointing to a 12-year jail term against a cyberdissident and closure of a pollster website. Yang Tianshui was sentenced on 16 May 2006 to 12 years in prison for posting anti-government articles online. Elsewhere a website, Polls (Zhongguo...