Kenyan journalists kicked out of Parliament media center
News coverage of the Kenyan Parliament elected in March 2013 is off to a rocky start. The press last week was kicked out of the media center in the National Assembly, and although the speaker tried to make assurances that overall access won’t be affected, journalists are wary.
Sharif’s challenge: Work with Pakistani press, not against it
Pakistan’s general elections in May, though marred by violence that left more than 100 dead, was a reaffirmation of the people’s commitment to the democratic process. Voters proved once again that they can make decisions based on their own political interests–and not because of intimidation by those who would perpetrate violence. The media, with their…
Siege over, but damage to Ugandan press may last
Journalists are back to work at Uganda’s leading privately owned daily, The Monitor, after a 10-day siege of their newsroom by police. But that does not mean it is business as usual for the nation’s press. The paper’s owners at the Nation Media Group evidently begged and negotiated for its reopening–signaling to other media houses…
For Turkish media, Taksim story reveals flaws, threats
The coverage of the Taksim Square protests will not be remembered as a moment of glory for a number of Turkish mainstream media. While demonstrators were being tear-gassed and beaten by police a week ago, CNN Türk was airing a documentary on penguins and Habertürk had a debate on mental illness.
Sri Lanka tries new ways to crush independent media
In Sri Lanka, where there has seldom been good news for the media in recent years, things have taken a further turn for the worse, as well as a turn for the bizarre. With President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government secure in its 2010 electoral mandate, its leaders have made fresh moves to tighten their control of…
Secrecy, scale of PRISM raise alarms
Government surveillance of electronic communications “should be regarded as a highly intrusive act that potentially interferes with the rights to freedom of expression and privacy and threatens the foundations of a democratic society,” Frank La Rue, U.N. special rapporteur for freedom of expression, warned in a report issued less than two months ago. “States should…
Sri Lankan journalist in UAE still at risk of deportation
Lohini Rathimohan, a former television journalist from Sri Lanka, faces an unclear future. The 28-year-old is among 15 Tamil refugees still sheltered in a single room of an aluminum factory at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port whose official statuses remain uncertain.
An open plea: Xi and Obama can accomplish one thing
Dear President Xi and President Obama, You will both have received many public and private letters of advice prior to your meeting on Friday and Saturday in California. They will urge you to take up specific issues ranging from military and trade concerns to human rights. That diversity of concern is an indicator of how…
Investigative journalist under threat again in Angola
The Angolan government has brought criminal charges against journalist Rafael Marques de Morais for his book, Blood Diamonds: Corruption and Torture in Angola, published in Portugal in 2011, that documented allegations of homicides, torture, forced displacement of civilian settlements, and intimidation of inhabitants of the diamond-mining areas of the country’s Lundas region.
Photographers attacked: Two weeks in southern Africa
From Cape Town to Lilongwe, four photographers on routine news assignments in major southern Africa cities were assaulted by security officials in the past two weeks. The details differ, but the heavy-handed actions in each case reflect a belief among those responsible for security that they are above the law and not publicly accountable. These…