Uganda

Last week in Uganda, authorities reacted to violent anti-government demonstrations, at left, by yanking at least four radio stations off the air and banning political programming and some journalists from the airwaves.  I have been covering the Ugandan blogosphere for Global Voices for more than two years. News of the violence first reached me on Thursday afternoon, not through the BBC or The New York Times, but on Twitter. It came in seven words, sent via SMS to the micro-blogging service by my friend Solomon King, a Web developer in the capital, Kampala: “Okay. We're like running for our lives.” 

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda lashed out at private broadcasters last week, accusing them of unethical reporting. The comments come in the midst of two important, ongoing developments: mounting public criticism of Museveni's policies and the government's criminal prosecutions of six journalists for their coverage.

In Uganda last week, four journalists from the leading daily Monitor filed notice that they would challenge the constitutionality of the criminal libel laws before the Supreme Court, the country's highest court, according to the newspaper's lawyer, James Nangwala. 

CPJ's 2008 International Press Freedom awardees, who were officially announced yesterday at a press conference in Washington, are making news today--including editor Andrew Mwenda, who was concurrently issued an arrest warrant in his home country of Uganda.

We announced the 2008 International Press Freedom Award recipients on Tuesday, and the news has been well-received worldwide. Bilal Hussein of Iraq, Danish Karokhel and Farida Nekzad of Afghanistan, Andrew Mwenda of Uganda, and Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez of Cuba will all be honored by CPJ on November 25 for their courageous work. Beatrice Mtetewa, of Zimbabwe will also be honored with CPJ's Burton Benjamin Award for her long service to the field of journalism.