International

European regulators put pressure today on 16 of the EU’s 27 states in moves to ensure bloc-wide media law is implemented at national level. The European Commission has written to the 16, including major European Union television markets in Britain, France and Italy, seeking clarification on “a wide variety of issues” concerning the law’s implementation, says an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report...

The prospect of starting your own news site is more viable an option than ever in the current media climate. Traditional news organizations are plunging left and right, the tools for publishing are free and easy, and communities are finding a new desire to access and share information. In Berkeley, California, the circumstances were similar in 2009, which led a group of journalists to fill the...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) this weekend formally endorsed the appointment of Brazilian journalist and union activist Elisabeth Costa as the new General Secretary to replace Aidan White who is standing down at the end of this month after 24 years in the post. Elisabeth Costa is a veteran campaigner for union rights and press freedom in Latin America and has been a leading...

ARTICLE 19 has provided comments to the Council of Europe's Committee of Experts on New Media, calling on it to fully ensure internet users' right to freedom of expression when developing guidelines on managing search engines and social networks. "The Council of Europe needs to ensure that individuals' rights to freedom of expression, including the right to access information, are not restricted...

On the occasion of World Water Day, ARTICLE 19 has reminded the international community that freedom of expression, the free flow of information and transparency are central to the full realisation of the right to water. The watershed developments in the right to water campaign over the past year particularly, demonstrate that the realisation of the right to water necessitates transparency and...

Key board members of the World Editors Forum (WEF) have resigned their posts and re-grouped to form a new international network for editors from all mediums in response to the rapid acceleration of media convergence. The Global Editors Network (GEN), to be headed by former WEF president Xavier Vidal-Folch, deputy director of the Spanish daily newspaper El Pais, will be launched on March 23. Both...

A multicultural, international news service wants to change the adage that no news is good news, says an IJNet report. Istanbul-based non-profit Silent Heroes, Invisible Bridges wants to promote peaceful co-existence amongst nations, cultures and religions of the world. The news service started out as a project for an International Center for Journalists online course called Reporting Across...

Passive news reporting that doesn’t attempt to resolve factual disputes in politics may have detrimental effects on readers, new research suggests. The study found that people are more likely to doubt their own ability to determine the truth in politics after reading an article that simply lists competing claims without offering any idea of which side is right. “There are consequences to

Al-Qaeda has launched a women's magazine Al Shamikha (meaning the majestic woman), which mixes tips on skin care with articles on 'marrying a mujahedeen' and carrying out suicide attacks. The first issue of the 30-page publication was released recently by the al Qaeda-affiliated Al Fajr Media Centre and must be ordered online. Its cover features the barrel of a sub-machine gun next to the image of...

Israel has complained to the UN over the planned screening of a controversial new film by acclaimed US film-maker Julian Schnabel at its headquarters in New York, according to the Guardian. Miral, which stars Slumdog Millionaire's Freida Pinto as a young Palestinian girl caught up in the Arab-Israeli conflict, will receive a red carpet screening at the UN general assembly hall. The film is based...