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Reporters Without Borders voiced outrage today about attempts by the authorities in the state of Western Australia to blackmail the management of The West Australian newspaper. Attorney-general Jim McGinty threatened to withdraw state advertising and to not implement a proposed shield law protecting journalists’ sources unless editor Paul Armstrong is fired. "We condemn the Western Australia...

New York, May 22, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Philippine government to undertake a thorough and timely investigation into today’s shooting death of freelance photographer Dodie Nuñez. Local media reports said Nuñez was shot by three men who used a motorcycle to intercept the minibus in which he was riding in the town of General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite province. Initial...

New York, May 22, 2007—A freelance photographer on assignment for Time magazine in insurgency-hit southern Thailand was injured in a bomb blast today, according to news reports. Australian Philip Blenkinsop was among seven people injured by the improvised explosive device, which detonated in Yala province. The bomb was planted near the body of a man who had been murdered by suspected Muslim rebels...

(IFJ/IFEX) - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has voiced its shock and outrage after Cambodia's prime minister reportedly publicly dismissed a journalist as "insolent" and "rude" for asking questions. Prime Minister Hun Sen attacked RFA radio reporter Keo Nimol on Thursday, May 17, after Keo questioned the future of the coalition between the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and the...

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today welcomed a decision by European institutions to exclude violations of privacy and defamation from the draft regulation that would determine which country’s law is applicable in cross-border disputes. The Rome II Regulation provides that in non-contractual disputes, as a general rule, the law of the EU Member State in which the damage arises or is...

Tajikistan has plenty of media outlets – at least 380 of them at the latest count – but almost all are short of staff. One major reason for this is that university journalism courses are under-funded and use old-fashioned teaching methods, and are failing to produce enough graduates with the skills to slot into the vacancies. Concerned at the staff shortages, the media community is looking at ways...

MOSCOW — One of the computers on reporter Vyacheslav Izmailov's desk is more than a decade old, an antique by high-tech standards. But he refuses to part with the machine: Mikhail S. Gorbachev paid for it with his 1990 Nobel Peace Prize money. "It is pretty outdated and not of much practical use anymore, but I will never throw it away," said Izmailov, the military analyst for the fiercely...

(IFJ/IFEX) - The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called on the Zimbabwean government to end its attacks and harassment of journalists and to stop police harassment of newspaper photographer Boldwill Hungwe. "We are very upset by recent incidents that show a pattern of media repression and we urge the government to put an end to it," said Gabriel Baglo, Director of the IFJ...

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - A letter calling on members of the Bulgarian National Assembly not to pass proposed amendments which would substantially weaken the national system for access to information was endorsed by 68 organisations and individuals from around the world. The letter, drafted by ARTICLE 19, was sent to legislators earlier today. The proposed amendments to Bulgaria's Access to Public...

Nadya Azghikkina and I worked together for many years editing a Russian-language feminist newsletter called Vyi i Myi. (You and We was founded by Colette Shulman, who has worked tirelessly for decades on behalf of women and NGOs in Russia.) Today, Nadya is with the Russian Union of Journalists (RUJ), working to train journalists, especially women, in Russia's underserved provincial cities and...