Family, friends celebrate life of journalist killed in Libya
Photojournalist Anton Hammerl’s body has not been returned to his family five months after his death on assignment in Libya, but his family and friends celebrated his remarkable life and career at a memorial service Thursday at St. Bride’s Church in London. Hammerl, 41, was shot and killed by government forces near Brega in eastern…
Easy targets, journalists under direct fire in the UK
The safety advisories sent out by the International News Safety Institute on Tuesday said it all: “Bring a mobile phone with emergency numbers pre-set for speed dialling; bring eye protection such as swimming goggles; carry first-aid kits and know how to use them; wear loose, natural-fabric clothing as it will not burn as readily as…
Schlesinger: ‘Media, Murdoch, and social responsibility’
CPJ board member David Schlesinger, who is the chairman of Thomson Reuters in China, delivered a speech today at a conference sponsored by Caixin magazine. He touched on several current issues, and found lessons in the News of the World case that are relevant to journalists everywhere. And I particularly like his description of China’s…
Journalists take stage: Q&A with ‘Record’ playwright
The true stories of journalists from Mexico, Sri Lanka, Russia, the United States, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories will hit the stage July 20 at London’s Arcola Theatre. “On the Record,” which runs through August 13, examines the careers of six journalists, the risks they face, and their determination to make an impact through their…
In exile: From a Cameroonian jail to immigration limbo
I was arbitrary and unlawfully arrested and detained in a heavily secured military police detention facility in Cameroon for 40 days. I had to bribe my way out of the country to seek sanctuary and protection. Cameroon is a dictatorship dressed up as a fake democracy, with a leader in power for more than 29 years. As…
Internet Blotter
Wikileaks hit by denial-of-service attack, turns to Amazon hosting… …but Amazon drops the site following pressure from a U.S. senator. Google extends its https encryption to YouTube, making video blocking harder. Censorship of the Net directly related to how authoritarian a regime is, claims a study. Venezuala’s telecom regulator proposes stronger takedown powers over Internet…
Internet blotter
Computers belonging to South Korean government officials have been infiltrated by targeted malware in email. Chinese hackers are suspected. Contrary to what this article says, I’m betting that the attachments were PDFs, which are currently the document of choice when attempting to infect journalists’ machines. Another intriguing academic paper, this time on the structure of…
As with Norgrove, a need to probe Munadi death
This morning, Prime Minister David Cameron announced that British aid worker Linda Norgrove, who died in a rescue attempt after she was taken hostage in Afghanistan, may have been killed by a U.S. grenade rather than by her Taliban captors, as originally reported.
NYT: On the UK phone-hacking scandal
IN NOVEMBER 2005, three senior aides to Britain’s royal family noticed odd things happening on their mobile phones. Messages they had never listened to were somehow appearing in their mailboxes as if heard and saved. Equally peculiar were stories that began appearing about Prince William in one of the country’s biggest tabloids, News of the…