Asia
2011
Sri Lanka’s savage smokescreen
Sri Lanka’s former attorney general Mohan Peiris, who is now the senior legal adviser to the cabinet and who many Sri Lankans say is aiming to become the next Supreme Court Chief Justice, has made conflicting statements about missing journalist Prageeth Eknelygoda. The discrepancies do more than point up the government’s indifference to Eknelygoda’s fate…
Defending the middle ground of online journalism
It’s easy to use polarizing descriptions of online news-gathering. It’s the domain of citizen journalists, blogging without pay and institutional support, or it’s a sector filled with the digital works of “mainstream media” facing financial worries and struggling to offer employees the protection they once provided. But there is a growing middle ground: trained reporters…
Keeping a website alive behind the Great Firewall
Wednesday’s post, “Advice for colleagues on the digital front lines,” offered practical advice for keeping a website up and running in a hostile political environment. But such measures are not universally applicable. Sky Canaves, CPJ’s new East Asia and Internet consultant in Hong Kong, sent this reality check for Internet writers in China, where tighter…
Bangladeshi editor rearrested on same day he’s released
New York, November 10, 2011–A Bangladeshi editor was rearrested on the same day he was released on bail, as he was leaving the gate of the prison, news reports said. Police detained Ekramul Haque, editor of Sheershanews website and Sheersha Kagoj weekly, on extortion charges on July 31. On October 25, the High Court in the country’s…
Sri Lankan government to impose guidelines on media
New York, November 10, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the Sri Lankan government’s announcement of an upcoming set of guidelines and code of conduct for journalists and media organizations, and believes these regulations will only increase the government’s control of the media.The announcement, which appeared Thursday in the government-owned Daily News, said the…
Advice for colleagues on the digital front lines
If you’re running a website that’s come under attack, or is likely to, here is some advice on how to protect yourself. First, a little background: On Monday we filed an alert about the Sri Lankan government’s blocking of at least five websites there. The move silenced just about all of the country’s independent online…
Planning the next steps in Chinese media control
In the latest sign of increasing pressure on Chinese companies to tighten control of the Internet, Chinese authorities convened an unusual seminar in Beijing for senior executives of 39 major enterprises involved in Internet services, technology and telecommunications.
In Pakistan, missing journalist found dead
New York, November 7, 2011–The body of missing Pakistani journalist Javed Naseer Rind was found on Saturday morning in Khuzdar, 186 miles (300 kilometers) south of the city of Quetta, local and international news reports said. The journalist had been shot multiple times in the head and chest, and his body showed multiple signs of…