News

New York, May 15, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Indonesian authorities to fully investigate the recent killing of Indonesian journalist Herliyanto, a freelance reporter with the Radar Surabaya, Delta Post, and Jimber News newspapers. Herliyanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, was found dead with numerous stab wounds on April 29 in a wooded area near the town of...

UNITED NATIONS, May 15 (IPS) - Every year, the U.N.'s Department of Public Information (DPI) unveils its list of the world's 10 most under-reported stories, implying that politics, murder and sex scandals still take precedence over poverty, peace-building or economic development. The list, released by the United Nations Monday, covers a wide range of stories -- from the plight of asylum seekers...

Amid calls for clarification, the German government Monday ordered its Federal Intelligence Service to stop spying on journalists following allegations that it tailed and recruited reporters for years. Government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said Berlin had taken action after the damaging revelations that the Federal Intelligence Service, the BND, had kept tabs on journalists and even paid reporters...

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has recently issued a report on "a global counter-terrorism strategy" in which he appears to speak approvingly of "bans on interviewing terrorists." The Secretary General's 32-page report to the UN General Assembly contains his recommendations for the international community to fight back against terrorism. Amongst his recommendations is an offer to convene an...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – These are tough times for journalism. The newspaper industry cut more than 2,000 jobs last year as it continued to lose readers and advertisers to the Internet. Network newscasts are being propped up by older viewers and continue to lose market share to cable. Regular reports of ethical breaches are undermining public trust in all news organizations, bloggers accuse the mainstream...

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat - With readership figures seemingly in terminal decline and in an attempt to stem the tide, Lebanese newspapers launched a nationwide campaign on Monday, to publicize the unique news features they offer. The campaign followed month long meetings between the editors of Lebanese print publications and will feature on both billboards and television adverts. Will it succeed...

LONDON (Reuters) - Pearson Plc shook up leadership of its newspapers on Monday, appointing Chief Financial Officer Rona Fairhead to run them after its flagship Financial Times struggled for four years to return to profit. Olivier Fleurot, 54, who had been chief executive of the FT's publishing businesses, will move to the corporate parent to develop digital strategies for the group, which includes...

A Swiss journalist was forced by private security personnel to strip down to her underwear and pass through an x-ray machine at the Erez crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip six times on Friday. The security check was carried out by private security personnel but Israel Defense Forces soldiers were securing the border terminal and therefore looking on at the time. The Foreign Press...

It would have been normal for Peter*, 9 years old, Karl*, 13, and Jane*, 23, to spend this year’s Mother’s Day without their Mama around. After all, they said their Mama was always at work, always away from them. But this year’s observance cuts deep not only because Mama will never come home. Worse, Mother’s Day may remind them of how their mothers were brutally murdered right in front of them...

Arsonists struck at the home of newspaper columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia early yesterday morning, as they set ablaze tyres piled up against a back door in an attack she described as "part of a systematic attempt at creating a reign of terror" by a fascist group. Ms Caruana Galizia was at her Bidnija home with her husband and two of their sons at the time of the attack, but no one was injured...