India

2013

  

Training can help journalists survive captivity

Two murdered journalists for the Africa service of Radio France Internationale, Ghislaine Dupont, 51, and Claude Verlon, 58, might have had a chance. They were abducted on November 2 in Kidal in northern Mali, but the vehicle their captors were driving suddenly broke down, according to news reports.

Read More ›

A Kashmiri youth throws a piece of brick at Indian police during a protest in Srinagar on July 18. Indian paramilitary soldiers fired at protesters in the region last week, killing four. (Reuters/Danish Ismail)

Kashmir’s Internet suspension fits pattern of restrictions

Curbing the flow of information during heightened periods of tension has become routine business by authorities in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Access to mobile Internet service was suspended Thursday after violent protests erupted in the state. Although the service was restored late that night, the episode is another example of the…

Read More ›

Indian media face growing calls for regulation

The rapid growth of revenue-hungry Indian media and recent scandals involving news outlets have prompted growing calls for external regulation, raising concerns about independence of the press.

Read More ›

Activists protest impunity in journalist murders in the Philippines. (AFP/Noel Celis)

In Index, a pattern of death, a roadmap for solutions

Gerardo Ortega’s news and talk show on DWAR in Puerto Princesa, Philippines, went off as usual on the morning of January 24, 2011. Ortega, like many radio journalists in the Philippines, was outspoken about government corruption, particularly as it concerned local mining issues. His show over, Ortega left the studios and headed to a local…

Read More ›

A police van takes defendants in the rape trial to court. (Reuters/Adnan Abidi)

Objection to international press at Indian rape trial

A British journalist trying to cover the Delhi gang rape trial was asked to leave the courtroom on Tuesday after the prosecution objected to the presence of the international press. Andrew Buncombe, a correspondent for The Independent of London, was ejected from a court in the Indian capital even though a wide-ranging order restricting press…

Read More ›

Indian policemen beat an opposition activist during a protest outside the Odisha state chief minister's office in Bhubaneswar, India, on March 25. (AP/Biswaranjan Rout)

Indian law enforcement unaccountable in journalist attacks

Anyone who has been to India or is familiar with the country knows how chaotic it can be: from the congestion on the streets of Delhi to the messy way in which democracy functions. And for journalists, covering the chaos of India can be risky business. This week alone, Indian law enforcement officials assaulted two…

Read More ›

V.K. Anand, lawyer for Ram Singh, a man on trial for the gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student aboard a New Delhi bus, addresses the media outside a hospital in New Delhi on March 11 after Singh was found dead in prison. (AP/Saurabh Das)

In India, media gag order on rape trial lifted

In a welcome move, Indian media will finally be allowed to cover court proceedings in the rape case that shook India’s conscience. On Friday, the Delhi High Court lifted a gag order on media covering the ongoing trial of those accused of the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student in Delhi in December. 

Read More ›

Jail for reporting on women in Mangalore, Mogadishu

Today marks International Women’s Day. Hashtags like #IWD and #InternationalWomensDay have been trending on Twitter. Among the twitterati who voiced their support for women’s rights was Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He tweeted:  PM: Let me reiterate in this House the commitment of our govt. to ensuring the dignity, safety and security of every woman…

Read More ›

Under Hindu right, attacks on press rise in Karnataka

Confusion surrounds the case of imprisoned Indian journalist Naveen Soorinje, who was jailed for exposing an attack on young men and women last summer by extremists belonging to the Hindu Jagran Vedike, self-appointed moral police in coastal Karnataka. Soorinje’s report helped lead to the arrest of dozens of attackers. But Karnataka state–ruled by the Hindu…

Read More ›

Indian reporter who exposed assault faces new litigation

Indian journalist Naveen Soorinje continues to languish in prison despite last week’s decision by the Karnataka state cabinet to withdraw charges against him. New developments this week are challenging his release. And his continued imprisonment raises a larger question about the role of journalists at the occurrence of a crime.

Read More ›

2013