State Control

Silvio Berlusconi is sending out a message as he and his allies fall victim to a string of embarrassing phone call leaks: Stop listening. The Italian premier is pressing a bill to limit the use of investigative wiretaps that have been the source of numerous scandals, but there is fierce opposition to curbing official eavesdropping in one of the world's most wiretapped nations. Magistrates warn the

The US government has denied a visa to a prominent Colombian journalist who specializes in conflict and human rights reporting to attend a prestigious fellowship at Harvard University, the Associated Press (AP) has reported. Hollman Morris, who produces an independent TV news programme called "Contravia," has been highly critical of ties between illegal far-right militias and allies of outgoing...

Five representative bodies of newspaper owners, editors, working journalists, photo journalists and video journalists on Friday denounced the government claim that restrictions on media had been lifted, the Hindu reported. They decided to suspend the publication of newspapers for Saturday in view of the insufficient number of curfew passes issued and continued attacks on media. For the last two...

None of the Valley-based newspapers could hit the stands on Thursday as government restricted the movement of scribes and other staff members of various news organisations, the Greater Kashmir has reported.. The state government had cancelled curfew passes of media persons on Wednesday with police and paramilitary CRPF troopers enforcing curfew strictly at Press Enclave in Srinagar. The last time...

The Press Guild of Kashmir has denounced the curbs imposed on media by the state authorities and use of force against media persons, the Hindu has reported. In an extraordinary meeting of the Guild, which was presided over by the President, Bashir Ahmad Bashir, it was felt that in the wake of present turbulence the government should have ensured free flow of information to keep the public updated...

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has tightened rules on media relations for the US military, only days after the top general in Afghanistan was sacked over disparaging comments he and aides made in an interview. In a three-page memo sent Friday to senior military and civilian Pentagon staff, Gates said he was "concerned that the department has grown lax in how we engage with the media, often in...

A legislative committee in Pakistan has forwarded a bill to the National Assembly that would restrict coverage “of suicide bombers, terrorists, bodies of victims of terrorism, statements and pronouncements of militants and extremist elements and other acts which, may, in any way, promote, aid or abet terrorists or terrorism.” According to The News International, the report of the committee was...

Press freedom groups have expressed concern over the Romanian National Defence Strategy which has been adopted by the Romanian Supreme Defence Council (CSAT) and passed on to the Romanian Parliament. The President of Romania initiated a National Defence Strategy which contained, among other things, serious allegations against the media - which is described as a security threat and vulnerability...

A controversial law curbing wiretaps and imposing heavy fines on journalists who publish leaked ‘wiretap’ material was passed recently by the Italian Senate. The president of the Italian Senate announced that the much-debated wiretap law had been approved by the Senate with 164 votes in favour. Of a total 323 senators, only 189 were in the room when the bill was voted on. Representatives of the...

A new Fijian media decree that formalizes repressive government control of the media could force the outspoken Fiji Times to close within three months, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Fiji Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum announced at a press conference Monday that the Media Industry Development Decree, drafted in April, is now in effect. The decree requires all media...