International

The number of people worldwide with access to free and independent media declined to its lowest level in over a decade, according a Freedom House study released today. The report, Freedom of the Press 2011: A Global Survey of Media Independence, found that a number of key countries—including Egypt, Honduras, Hungary, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, and Ukraine—experienced significant...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is marking this year's World Press Freedom Day by focusing on the legacy of the terrorist attacks on September 11 in New York and Washington ten years ago. The Federation calls for a reversal of the tide of legal and official intimidation of journalism and attacks on civil liberties that has followed the events of 2001. "The last ten years have...

(ARTICLE 19): From Morocco to Bahrain, everyday people have taken on the cast iron hold of dictatorships and absolute monarchies resulting in an extraordinary collective awakening that has paved the way for epochal change in the region. The youth movement, which lies at the core of the uprisings, continues to play a prominent role in the pro-democracy and pro-reform demonstrations, which have...

(Article 19): Free speech, media and information flows increasingly ignore and elude physical frontiers or national boundaries. Many governments, fearful of this lack of control, are trying hard to restore or fortify barriers to trace, block, target and censor those who champion the truth. No Frontiers Throughout the last year a series of revelations have sent shockwaves across the world. Photos...

The kingpins of repressive machinery, political leaders of regimes hostile to civil liberties and direct organizers of campaigns of violence against journalists – they are the predators of press freedom. They prey on the media. There are 38 predators this year, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). Pride of place goes to North Africa and the Middle East...

The European Commission’s decision to investigate the impact on net neutrality of the practices of Internet Service Providers, especially those offering mobile phone access, has been taken too late and the basis on which the investigation is being initiated is wrong, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has said. The press freedom organisation called on the Body of...

To mark International Copyright Day on April 23 the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on media organisations to put an end to rights-grabbing contracts that deprive journalists of a major part of their income and influence over the use of their work. "The increasing abuse of buy-out contracts whereby media employers require the total ownership of journalists' authors' rights...

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ), the European group of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), has expressed its concerns over restructurings and downsizing taking place in major public broadcasters in Europe. "Within a couple of weeks it was announced that the three major international public broadcasters in Europe, BBC World Service, RFI-France 24 and Deutsche Welle, will...

Ciudad Juárez, en la sombra del narcotráfico, a courageous blog about drug cartel activities, government repression and police corruption in northern Mexico, is the jury choice in the “Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom” category of this year’s BOBs (Best of Blogs competition), organised by the German radio station Deutsche Welle. The blog’s author, Spanish journalist Judith Torrea, was...

The Al-Jazeera pan-Arab satellite channel says it will begin airing a Balkans programme in September, hoping to to establish itself as a regional news hub in the ethnically divided region, says an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report. With powerful public television divided along ethnic lines across the region and dozens of private channels mostly focusing on entertainment, Al-Jazeera Balkans hopes...