Ethics and Freedom

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Reuters identified an anonymous source on Friday after Singapore's Court of Appeal ordered a reporter for the international news agency to disclose the name and the source gave permission to do so. The source released the reporter from her duty of confidentiality when it became clear that the reporter would face jail unless she complied with the court order, confirmed by the...

Hazaribagh, May 23: Believe it or not, some journalists are backing Maoists in the state. At least the police believe so. Arrest of Jahoor Ansari, a dreaded extremist, has turned the suspicion of the force into belief. Ansari disclosed to the police the name of a journalist, who used to help him in several ways — right from collecting levy to providing information related to movement of the police...

Reporters Without Borders today deplored a two-year prison sentence imposed on a provincial newspaper journalist, as well as the closure of a weekly paper and a ban on two journalists from leaving the country. “The Iranian press and its journalists continue to be the victims of injustice and four are currently in prison,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said. “Many are hounded at their...

May 21, 2007 · The news value of a Texas newspaper story about two married attorneys accused of extorting thousands from the wife's lovers overshadows privacy concerns about the article, a federal appeals court ruled last week. The U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans (5th Cir.) affirmed the decision by a lower court judge who dismissed a lawsuit accusing the San Antonio Express-News of invading...

A court in the Azerbaijani capital Baku has sentenced two journalists to 30 months in prison apiece on charges of defaming President Ilham Aliyev’s uncle. Yasamal District Court Judge Malahat Abdulmanafova Wednesday convicted Editor-in-Chief Rovshan Kebirli and reporter Yashar Agazadeh of the Baku-based opposition daily Muhalifet on charges of defaming Jalal Aliyev under articles 147 and 148 of...

Two pominent reformist newspapers in Iran that had been banned resumed publishing this week. One of the papers, Hammihan (Compatriot), was banned in 2000 by the hardline judiciary after it called for improved ties with the United States, the Associated Press (AP) reported. On Sunday, the paper was back on the newsstands, and its top story — with the headline "Iran-US talks in Baghdad" — was on an...

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the recent arrests of four Iranian student editors of Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran following the publication of newsletters carrying articles deemed insulting to Islam. The students say they had no involvement in the publications, calling them a fraud designed to disrupt student elections. All of the university's student publications...

BANGKOK, Thailand - The Thai government abruptly scrapped plans to sue Google after the U.S. company agreed to remove from a Web site video clips deemed insulting to the country's revered king, an official said Friday. The government blocked access to YouTube — a popular video-sharing site owned by Google — on April 4, after Google Inc. turned down Thailand's request to remove the clips seen as...

LONDON (Reuters) - Police have bailed five people, including a journalist, arrested on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the alleged leaking to the media of sensitive police information. The five also include two police officers and a soldier. No details of the nature of the leaked material were immediately available but Thames Valley Police said their joint investigation with Hertfordshire...

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - The very day Blair formally announced his intention to step down as leader of the Labour Party, an Old Bailey judge sentenced a whistleblower to six months' imprisonment and issued a gagging order against the media, sending a clear signal that government secrecy remains strong. Parallel efforts by the government to undermine the two-year-old Freedom of Information Act reinforce...