State Control

Chinese journalists are to undergo six-month training courses that will teach them how to “eradicate false news, improve the feeling of social responsibility and reinforce journalistic ethics.” The initiative comes from the Propaganda Department, directly linked to the Communist Party, and follows its announcement of 10 directives relating to the press in 2011. “In short, to make journalists...

A Chinese journalist known for being critical of the government said Friday that he's been fired by one of the country's most daring media companies for refusing to tone down his writing, the latest sign of China's tightening grip on press freedom, Canadian Press has reported. Chang Ping, a former editor and columnist for publications owned by the Southern Media Group, said the dismissal wasn't...

A historic 14-day ban on large public meetings or gatherings ending this week in Funafuti must put Tuvalu's leadership on notice that freedom of assembly and expression are key to democratic rule, says the Pacific Freedom Forum (PFF). The regional media freedom monitoring network says Tuvalu's first-ever invocation of its Public Order Ordinance on January 13, banning public gatherings or meetings...

The police have been resorting to widespread violence against journalists covering Egypt’s street protests. It is hard to establish exactly how many journalists have been arrested or physically attacked by police officers in the past 48 hours. According to the latest information obtained by Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF), more than a dozen journalists have been...

Authorities in Zambia's Western Province must immediately allow community station Radio Lyambayi to return to air, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said. The government raided the private broadcaster based in Mongu, about 360 miles (580 km) west of the capital, Lusaka, carting away computers and other broadcasting equipment on January 16, according to the Media Institute of Southern Africa...

There has been a wave of harassment of news media and journalists critical of a proposed referendum that would allow President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled since 1989, to continue in office until 2020 without having to run for reelection in 2012, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). “This attempt to perpetuate a dictatorial regime in flagrant...

Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has expressed its deep concern in respect of the conditions in which journalists and political opponents have been held since the demonstrations of December 19, 2010. “The pressures exerted on them and their defence teams, and the efforts to limit dissemination of news about them, recall the repression campaigns of the Soviet era,”...

Journalists were arrested and attacked physically while covering demonstrations on Tuesday and Wednesday in various Egyptian cities. The authorities have been doing everything possible to keep the media at a distance in order prevent the circulation of images of protesters demanding President Hosni Mubarak’s departure, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF)...

Authorities in Belarus have closed down a radio station, arrested a journalist and searched the homes of others in the latest chapter of repression of the media in the country, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). These reprisals follow the inquiry launched by the KGB into the demonstration that took place in the center of Minsk on December 19 after it had...

Vietnam has issued a new decree regulating the activities of journalists and bloggers that includes provision for fines of up to 40 million dong (2,000 dollars) in a country in which the average salary is 126 dollars. “The government is demonstrating its determination to tighten its grip on news and information just as the ruling Communist Party is holding its congress,” Paris-based press freedom...