Conflict Journalism

US troops shot and critically wounded a newly-wed Iraqi female television producer on New Year's Day after she failed to heed warnings from soldiers in Baghdad, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported quoting the military and her station. A US military statement said that Iraqi police and US soldiers had observed Hadil Emad, who had had failed to listen to warnings, behaving "erratically" before...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the intimidation of Tunisian journalists who tried to cover efforts on December 30 last by the opposition Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) to demonstrate against Israeli attacks on Gaza. Two journalists were assaulted and three faced harassment in Tunis, according to several CPJ interviews. Al-Jazeera correspondent Lotfi Hajji told CPJ...

A soldier killed Radio Shabelle reporter Hassan Mayow Hassan, shooting the veteran journalist twice in the head after stopping him in the Somali town of Afgoye on January 1 morning, three local journalists have told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The journalists said they had interviewed witnesses to the killing. "The transitional government must do everything it can to immediately...

The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush will go on trial this month on charges that carry up to 15 years in jail, Agence France-Presse (AFP) has reported quoting a judge. Zaidi became a hero to many in the Arab world when he threw his shoes at Bush during the US president's surprise visit to Iraq on December 14. Investigating judge Dhiya al-Kenani rejected new...

For the sixth consecutive year, Iraq is the deadliest country in the world for the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found in its end-of-year analysis. The 11 deaths recorded in Iraq in 2008, while a sharp drop from prior years, remained among the highest annual tolls in CPJ history. Worldwide, CPJ found that 41 journalists were killed in direct connection to their work in 2008

The Press Council of India (PCI) has said it would involve stakeholders on evolving guidelines on media coverage of events like the Mumbai terror attack. Council chairman, Justice GN Ray, said in New Delhi on December 15 that PCI would organise a seminar, tentatively scheduled for January next year, in which representatives from the media, government and armed forces and others would participate...

Students at Georgetown University in the US are suing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other government agencies for information in the death of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the project began in a investigative journalism class at Georgetown in 2007. The students were supposed to find out...

The Iraqi journalist arrested for throwing his shoes at US President George W Bush has written to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki apologising over the incident. Muntadar al-Zaidi, who relatives and colleagues said acted because he "detested" Bush and America, is being held for possible trial for aggression against a foreign head of state during an official visit. "In his letter, he asks the...

Attacks on journalists throughout the world—by organised crime groups in Latin America, autocratic regimes in the Middle East, repressive governments in Africa and by combatants in war zones—pose serious threats to press freedom, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has said in its half-year review of press freedom worldwide. The report, presented Monday to the Board of the Paris-based WAN...

A Sri Lankan court has ruled that an alleged confession made by senior Tamil journalist JS Tissainayagam while detained by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) was voluntary and admissible as evidence in his trial on terrorism charges, according to delayed reports. It is widely believed that Tissainayagam was forced to make a statement to TID under extreme duress. Giving evidence in Colombo...