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A lighter and paper shredder helped make Mika Brzezinski the symbol of television journalism's guilt trip about Paris Hilton. Brzezinski used both to destroy a script calling for her to read about Hilton's release from jail on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program recently. Part serious, part an act, it has become an Internet sensation. More than 2 million people have watched a clip of the incident...

Iran's government has warned of a "creeping coup in the press," newspapers reported Sunday, raising concerns about a tougher line in future with media critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "There are many signs showing there is a creeping coup in the press," Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi said in comments published in several reformist newspapers. "When we talk about a...

Algeria's Criminal Court Saturday convicted Bin Sakhnoun Sa'id, a journalist, of collecting information and documents with the intention of transferring them to Israel's foreign intelligence service (Mossad), Algerian dailies Al-Khabar and Al-Fajr reported. The information included sensitive defense and economic information regarding the situation in the Al-Qabail region, legal sources revealed...

IRNA news agency on Saturday expressed outrage at detention of reporter and three Iranian diplomats, accompanying him, for 25 years in Israeli jails and called for the international organizations to help secure their freedom. Releasing a statement to mark the 25th anniversary of kidnapping the four Iranian nationals by Israeli forces and taking them to Israel, IRNA said it is a disgrace on part of...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is shocked and distressed to hear of the loss of life in Islamabad, Pakistan, during the day-long confrontation between government forces and a radical religious group operating in and around the premises of the Lal Masjid on July 3. The IFJ extends its deepest condolences to the family of Javed Khan, a photojournalist who was killed after...

The freeing of Alan Johnston after a little over 16 weeks in captivity is a huge relief to his family, friends and BBC colleagues - and to the mass of people around the world who have identified with his plight. He was held for a far shorter period, and treated less cruelly, than two other journalist prisoners, Anthony Grey during the Chinese Cultural Revolution and John McCarthy during the...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has voiced its continuing concern about internet censorship in Thailand, after the recent ratification of new cyber crime legislation. According to IFJ sources, under the newly passed Computer-Related Offences Commission Act, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) has been given the authority to apply for judicial review in...

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today condemned the adoption of the new Journalist Statute by the Portuguese Parliament on 21 June 2007, accusing lawmakers of threatening journalists’ rights to protect their sources by “recruiting journalists to do police work.” The law says that courts investigating offences such as threats to the security of the state and organized crime may order...

Journalists from across the continent joined together last Friday to call on African Union leaders to release imprisoned media professionals and end the persecution of the press. “We believe it is unacceptable that journalists will be jailed simply for exercising their profession,” Saidou Arji, coordinator of the Network of African Freedom of Expression Organisation, said at a press conference...

(CMFR/IFEX) - A radio broadcaster died while undergoing treatment after he was shot by unidentified gunmen in Mandaue City, Cebu, a province in central Philippines. Radio station DYRB commentator/technician Geruncio "Oscar" Mondejar, 34, was waiting for a ride to the radio station along Jagobiao Highway in Mandaue City at around 3:00 a.m. (local time) on 30 June 2007 when a motorcycle with two men...