Controversies & Scandals

The Associated Press is adopting a stringent social-networking policy for its employees, informing them to police their Facebook profiles “to make sure material posted by others doesn’t violate AP standards," says a WIRED report. The policy comes weeks after an AP reporter, Richard Richtmyer, was reprimanded for posting a comment to his own Facebook profile criticizing the Sacramento-based...

An Associated Press (AP) reporter has been reprimanded for comments on his Facebook page, according to Wired News. Richard Richtmyer, a Philadelphia-based newsman, posted a comment on his Facebook profile late last month criticising the executive management of newspaper publisher McClatchy, whose stock plummeted following a 2006 acquisition of San Jose-based Knight Ridder. “It seems like the ones...

The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has laid a charge of "stolen property" after the Mail and Guardian Online posted on the web an episode of the current affairs programme "Special Assignment", a documentary report on political satire. The public broadcaster pulled the episode on the evening of May 26, 2009, citing "internal processes," after initially pulling it just before the...

On April 2, 2009, a professional mixed-martial arts fighter and boxer was charged with assaulting a food critic for the Times Union newspaper in Albany, New York. Police are investigating whether the assault was a premeditated attack in retaliation for a critical review of an area restaurant the year before. The professional fighter, Jerry Spiegel, was arraigned on two counts of misdemeanour...

Shepard Fairey, the artist whose “Hope” image of President Barack Obama was added to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, sued the Associated Press over the news company’s copyright challenge to the artwork. The lawsuit Monday in US District Court in Manhattan said Los Angeles street artist Shepard Fairey did not violate the copyright of the April 2006 photograph because he dramatically...

The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at ex-US President George W Bush faces trial next week for assaulting a foreign leader after an appellate court refused to reduce the charge, the Associated Press (AP) has reported quoting a judicial official. Muntadar al-Zaidi, 30, who won folk hero status throughout the Arab world for his protest, has been in custody since the December 14, 2008 outburst...

The Beirut-based newspaper the Daily Star, the region's oldest English language daily, has stopped publishing after a Lebanese court declared it was bankrupt, Jamil Mroue, the paper’s owner told ZAWYA DOW JONES on Wednesday. Zawya reported that the Star was in a legal dispute with Standard Chartered Plc over a $1.7 million debt. The unfortunate details: [ Link] Mroue said he is offering a 40 per...

A Swiss lawyer working on behalf of the Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at US President George W Bush says his client will seek political asylum in Switzerland. Geneva-based lawyer Mauro Poggia says Muntadar al-Zaidi's life is in danger in Iraq, the Associated Press (AP) has reported. Al-Zaidi is currently in an Iraqi jail awaiting trial on charges of assaulting a foreign leader for his December...

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...

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...