Broadcasters and advertisers have joined hands to set up the Broadcast Audience Research Council , an independent body to commission market research and provide accurate TV ratings in a transparent and objective manner in India. The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA), the primary members of Broadcast Audience Research Council, will own equity stakes in...
The Press Council of India (PCI) is readying guidelines to check the "paid news" trend in the country. PCI Chairperson Justice G N Ray told The Indian Express that on the anvil could be proposals that suggest that if the Council adjudicates over a complaint and censures a newspaper, the same would have to be carried on the front page of the newspaper. That apart, if a newspaper is censured twice...
The Malaysian Islamic opposition party newspaper has escaped closure and won a new publishing permit from the government which had accused it of violating laws, an official said Thursday, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report. The government has in recent weeks also refused to immediately renew the licences for two other opposition newspapers in what critics have said is a crackdown...
A Khartoum criminal court on Thursday sentenced three senior members of the opposition daily Rai Al Shaab (People’s Opinion) to jail terms ranging two to five years on charges of “publishing incorrect information” and “attacking the state with a view to undermining the constitutional system.” Deputy editor Abuzur Al Amin was given a five-year sentence while editor Ashraf Abdelaziz, and political...
Press freedom groups have condemned the Malaysian government’s decision to suspend the distribution of three opposition newspapers – Suara Keadilan, Kabar Era Pakatan and Rocket – since June 30 and restrict the distribution of a fourth, Harakah, since Thursday. “This is the second time since Prime Minister Najib Razak’s election in 2008 that the opposition press has been subjected to this kind of...
A US appeals court has struck down a government policy that banned the broadcasting of profanity, ruling that the rule is unconstitutional, says a BBC report. The policy was drawn up in 2004 and meant that broadcasters could be fined if indecent words went on air. The details: [ Link] The court said the FCC's (Federal Communications Commission) policy had a "chilling effect" on broadcasters. The...
The coalition government in UK has unveiled plans for a major review of libel law in a bid to better protect freedom of speech and expression in the media and the research sector, and to cut down on "libel tourism", says a report in The Guardian. On July 9, the Ministry of Justice announced it is to publish a draft defamation bill that will be put out for consultation and pre-legislative scrutiny...
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has commended a threat made against journalist Liu Jianfeng on July 9, after he refused to take a bribe from officials in Jiangxi province in eastern China. Liu, a journalist with China Economic Times, received a life-threatening note after he reported on his blog that people had drowned during floods in Jiangxi on July 8. Officials acknowledge...
The National Press Council (CNP), the print media regulatory body in Côte d'Ivoire, imposed a fine of three million CFA francs (about US$6,000) on Regie Cyclone Company, publishers of Le Temps, a pro-government daily newspaper, according to the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA). MFWA's correspondent reported that the fine was as a result of the newspaper's publishing of the results of...
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has convicted Turkey of illegally restricting the freedom of expression of two journalists, according to delayed reports. The ruling was based on the Turkish government's decision in two separate trials against Aylin Guzel, the owner and editor-in-chief of Maya magazine, and Aziz Ozer, editor-in-chief of Yeni Dünya için Çağrı magazine. On July 6, the ECHR...
