Features & Analysis

  

Rice, Tunisia in press reform dance

Tunisia’s media, one of the most muzzled in the Arab world, reported for the first time a couple weeks ago that a high-ranking U.S. official had raised the issue of reform with the country’s autocratic ruler, who is also a zealous supporter of President George W. Bush’s war on terror. The official was Secretary of…

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Goats released from prison in Congo

The BBC reported this week that a minister in the Democratic Republic of Congo has ordered a jail in the capital, Kinshasa, to release a dozen goats, saying the animals were being held there illegally. According to the story: “The minister said many police had serious gaps in their knowledge and they would be sent…

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Bloggers support Morocco’s Mohamed Erraji

Bloggers across the Web are showing their solidarity with Mohamed Erraji, a Moroccan blogger who was sentenced to two years in prison last week for “failing to show respect for the king.” A Moroccan court convicted Erraji, 29, a contributor to HesPress, a Moroccan daily news ‎Web site, on Monday in a closed, 10-minute trial.…

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Press freedom in the news 9/11/08

The Web site OneWorld has continued coverage of the release of filmmaker Andrew Berends, who is back in the United States after being detained in Nigeria since August 31. Berends is safely at home after a week of questioning by the Nigerian military; however his translator Samuel George is still under scrutiny from the authorities.…

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Trey Parker, left, and Matt Stone, creators of "South Park" (AP)

‘South Park’ too extreme for Russia?

Well, that was it for Kenny. Not only does the “South Park” character die (again) in Episode 46 of the popular animated series–“Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics”–he may now be killed altogether from Russian television. On September 3, Moscow prosecutors filed a legal claim against “South Park,” saying the cartoon exhibited “signs of extremist activity.” The…

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Press freedom in the news 9/10/08

The Web site Lower Hudson Journal has coverage of the release of filmmaker Andrew Berends, who had been detained in Nigeria since August 31. Berends flew from Nigeria to Germany last night after spending 10 days beign questioned by the Nigerian military on suspicion of espionage. His Nigerian translator, Samuel George, continues to face interrogation…

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Parwez Kambakhsh in court in June. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

Sitting on death row in Afghanistan

The BBC published an interview today with imprisoned Afghan journalism student Parwez Kambakhsh in Kabul’s main prison. The interview was also broadcast on the BBC’s “Today” program.  Kambakhsh told BBC journalist Alastair Leithead: “The whole trial was unfair from the beginning.” Security officials detained Kambakhsh in October 2007 on blasphemy charges and a closed court…

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Mexican journalist languishes in Texas detention

Emilio Gutiérrez Soto began fearing for his life when approximately 50 armed soldiers entered his home in Ascensión on May 5 without a permit. They told Gutiérrez they were searching for “weapons or drugs,” he told CPJ. The soldiers did not find any evidence of illegal activity and left. Gutiérrez said he believed the search…

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China unsure on reporting rules

At the Foreign Ministry’s weekly press conference today, Jiang Yu, the ministry’s spokeswoman, left hanging for now whether or not China will continue allowing foreign journalists to travel around China without asking permission from the government, or whether they will be allowed to interview anyone who agrees to speak with them. The new relaxed rules…

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Press freedom in the news 9/9/08

The San Francisco-based Web site Indy Media has posted another article about the arrests of journalists at the GOP Convention last week, with specific attention paid to the case of Democracy Now! reporter Amy Goodman. CPJ reported on the arrest of Goodman and other journalists covering the RNC last week, and posted videos of the…

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