Conflict Journalism

As opposed to parachute or embedded journalism where there is the solace of jetting out or the sinking into the confines of a green zone, the Kashmiri journalists as inhabitants of the region have to work not only as scribes but also live as the daily victims of the conflict. In a recent incident unidentified gunmen in civvies (probably belonging to the Special Operation group of the security...

(FNJ/IFEX) - Lokshari Kuwar, editor and publisher of "Morning Bell" daily, was captured and attacked by a group of people on 2 May 2007 in Dhangadi, Kailali, a western district of Nepal. According to Birendra Rawal, president of Press Chautrai Nepal, three "hooligans" - Ganesh Chand, Lalit Kuwar and Prem Kalel - brutally beat Kuwar. He sustained serious wounds to his head and neck; two teeth were...

(FNJ/IFEX) - Yuvraj Adhikary, a local correspondent of Radio Nepal, was attacked by cadres of the Maoist-aligned Young Communist League (YCL) on 2 May 2007 in the Kusumba market of Bardiya, a mid-western district of Nepal. Adhikary had gone to the Kusumba market to collect news about a clash between armed police forces, deployed at the market for border security purposes, and a group of refugees...

Three nations in sub-Saharan Africa are among the places worldwide where press freedom has deteriorated the most over the last five years, a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found. Ethiopia, where the government launched a massive crackdown on the private press by shutting newspapers and jailing editors, leads CPJ’s dishonor roll. The African nations of the Gambia and...

Reporters Without Borders today hailed the resumption this week of an inquest into the murders of cameraman Brian Peters and four other journalists 32 years ago in East Timor, saying it hoped every aspect of their deaths would be clarified and insisting that it was not too late for those responsible to be punished. After suspending hearings for two months, a Sydney coroner resumed the inquest...

(CPJ/IFEX) - New York, May 3, 2007 - The Committee to Protect Journalists joined with colleagues at a rally at U.N. headquarters today to call for the release of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston, abducted in Gaza more than seven weeks ago. Journalists in London, China, and Indonesia also rallied today, World Press Freedom Day, in support of Johnston's release. "No purpose is served by keeping Alan...

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh warned the abductors of BBC journalist Alan Johnston that there would be serious consequences if the reporter came to harm, Israel Radio reported on Wednesday morning. Palestinian security forces know the identity of the kidnappers of the British reporter, but are not going to use force to win his release, a Palestinian security chief said in an...

A top defence official has issued a death threat against a Sri Lankan newspaper editor for reporting on military excesses and human rights abuses, journalists and a media rights group have said. Defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa being hugged by his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan President, after the former escaped an attack on his life last year. The defence secretary described...

BBC correspondent Alan Johnston’s abductors have demanded $5 million for his release, the London-based Asharq Alawsat reported Tuesday even as the police in the Gaza Strip scuffled with journalists demonstrating in support the journalist. The demand for ransom contradicts reports circulated Sunday that Johnston had been executed, which Palestinian Authority security officials said they could...

The kidnapping of Alan Johnston, the BBC's Gaza reporter, has shocked the community of foreign journalists covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is also having a devastating impact on the coverage of the story. In the month since he was abducted from the street outside his office, I have not been to Gaza once. The same is true for many of my colleagues who are members of the Foreign Press...