Cautious optimism for French reporters held in Afghanistan
On December 29, 2009, Stéphane Taponier and Hervé Ghesquière, two seasoned reporters with the French public service TV channel France 3, and their three Afghan assistants, were taken hostage in Afghanistan. One year later, a sense of cautious optimism seems to prevail in Paris. On December 20, French authorities announced that they had received a…
In France, is Sarkozy spying on journalists?
Every Wednesday morning in France, rain or shine, half a million people eagerly wait for the satirical weekly, Le Canard Enchainé. Some wait for it nervously. The old-fashioned broadsheet, a venerable media institution that has no real equivalent in other European countries, posts its motto defiantly on its front page: “Freedom of the press wears…
Le Monde sues French president’s office
The newspaper Le Monde against the Elysée Palace, the office of the president of the French Republic: Two of France’s main symbols of influence and power are facing each other in a judicial battle that promises to be a litmus test in the running battles between the press and Nicolas Sarkozy’s so-called “imperial presidency.”
50 years on, Francophone Africa strives for media freedom
CPJ has joined with African press freedom groups to urge African leaders to end repression of the media as they celebrate 50 years since the end of colonial rule. We will publish a series of blogs this week by African journalists reflecting on the checkered history of press freedom over that period.This year is the 50th anniversary of…
French journalist indicted for ‘stealing’ Sarkozy video
French journalists are flabbergasted. One of their colleagues, Augustin Scalbert, a journalist with Rue89, a leading news Web site, has just been indicted by a Paris prosecutor under the charges of “stealing and keeping” a video belonging to the public television channel France 3. If the journalist is found guilty, this indictment can land him in…
London neighborhoods increasingly ‘off-limits’ to journalists
Life can be bumpy on Britain’s campaign roads. On May 3, Jerome Taylor, a “home news” reporter with the London daily The Independent went into the Bow borough of East London in order to look into allegations of widespread postal voting fraud. His bloodied nose and face appeared in the next day’s Independent.
Rallying (hesitantly) for reporters abducted in Afghanistan
What can we do to help liberate our colleagues? French journalists have been struggling with this dilemma since December 30, when two reporters of the public service TV channel France 3 and their three Afghan fixers were abducted by a group purportedly linked to the Taliban in the region of Kapisa, in eastern Afghanistan.
French weekly gives issue over to Haitian journalists
The French weekly Courrier International opened its columns on February 4 to Haitian print media journalists in a special edition being circulated worldwide. The paper’s managers did it to express solidarity with Haitian journalists following the earthquake, which completely paralyzed the publication of the country’s dailies. The two dailies in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, Le Nouvelliste and Le Matin, were honored in the special edition. Haiti Liberté,…