Ethics and Freedom

Sudanese authorities harassed, obstructed, and censored local and international news media covering this month's referendum concerning independence for South Sudan, a Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) analysis has found. South Sudanese cast ballots from January 9 through 15. Preliminary results show overwhelming approval for independence, although ballot-counting irregularities have been...

Al-Jazeera has launched a new Transparency Unit website parallelly to the release of almost 1,700 leaked documents relating to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, according to journalism.co.uk. The new platform enables the public to submit content to the broadcaster such as documents, photos, audio and video clips, and story tip-offs, to be reviewed by its editorial team for potential coverage...

A three-year jail sentence and a fine of 6 million Somaliland shillings (around 1,000 dollars) has been imposed by a court in Hargeisa, the capital of the breakaway northwestern territory of Somaliland, on Mohamud Abdi Jama, the editor of the independent newspaper Waheen, for allegedly libelling local officials. “This sentence (on Sunday) has all the hallmarks of summary and punitive justice,”...

The police in Zambia have detained two journalists working for an independent newspaper and a local radio, apparently because of their displeasure at their coverage of a secessionist movement in the west of the country, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). Mwala Kalaluka, of the daily The Post, was detained on January 17 after he had reported on events last...

A sentence of five years in prison followed by two years of house arrest has been passed by a Sana'a court specialising in terrorism cases passed on Ilah Haydar Shae, a reporter employed by the Saba news agency, for allegedly collaborating with Al-Qaeda, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). “The Yemeni authorities have used the pretext of combating...

Police in Kampala arrested the director and editor of the monthly newsmagazine Summit Business Review on Tuesday in connection with a caricature of President Yoweri Museveni that appeared on the cover of the October issue. Director Samuel Sejjaaka and Editor Mustapha Mugisha were released on bond but face continued interrogations, Sejjaaka told New York-based press freedom group Committee to...

A reporter for a newspaper the government tried to ban says he has been arrested, and that police won't say why, according to an Associated Press (AP) report. Kandani Ngwira sent a mobile phone text message to the Associated Press Monday saying he had been arrested in Blantyre, Malawi's commercial center, and was being taken to the capital, Lilongwe. He says he wasn't told why he was being...

The ombudsman for the Brazilian daily Folha de S. Paulo said the paper’s case against the Falha de S. Paulo (São Paulo Failure) parody blog was more harmful than the blog itself, according to the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. The details: [ Link] “Falha” was taken offline in October, after a court order obtained by Folha. The newspaper argued that the suit was not to meant to...

An aggressive smear campaign has been launched by the Kosovo Liberation Army’s Veterans Association against respected journalist Halil Matoshi in the last few days, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). The attacks seem to have been prompted by an article by Matoshi in the daily Koha Ditore on January 6 about the challenges facing Kosovo in 2011, in which he...

US-Nigerian professor and journalist Okey Ndibe was on January 8 questioned for several hours by the internal intelligence agency, the State Security Service (SSS), after arriving at Muritala Muhammed international airport in Lagos, Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. Both his American and Nigerian passports were confiscated without any explanation and...