Despite official repression, Sri Lanka media report attack
Details are emerging of Sri Lanka’s effort to control media coverage of an ugly attack on demonstrators by security forces last week. In Rathupaswala village in the town of Weliweriya, outside Colombo, on August 1, soldiers beat and fired on people protesting what they feared was contamination of their drinking water by a nearby factory.…
Filmmaker’s arrest signals limits to Uganda coverage
Taylor Krauss, an American journalist, freelance filmmaker, and founder of the testimonial website Voices of Rwanda, traveled to Uganda roughly two weeks ago to conduct some filming in hopes of pitching footage later to various media outlets. Krauss is no stranger to the region; he has been traveling back and forth to the country for…
Guinean journalist assaulted while covering attack
A group of persons with disabilities attacked Alhasane Bah, a journalist with the media group L’independent-Le Democrate, on July 4, 2013, as he attempted to photograph the group attacking another person with disabilities, according to news reports. The attack occurred near the Faycal Mosque in Donka district.
Government official publicly whips Nigerian journalist
An identified State Security Service agent publicly flogged a reporter on July 3, 2013, while he was on an official visit to the Benue State Government House to deliver a press invitation to the state governor’s chief of staff, according to news reports.
New Zealand, US may have spied on McClatchy reporter
Concern over government surveillance of journalists has washed up on the faraway shores of New Zealand, with a report in the country’s Sunday Star this week asserting that the military there, with help from U.S. intelligence, spied on an investigative journalist who had been critical of its activities in Afghanistan.
Attacks on Orient News illustrate Syria’s many threats
It is increasingly difficult to document violations against the press in Syria, let alone hold those responsible to account. It has always been hard to verify facts within the country. But now, the sheer number of violations and the expanding list of violators have become admittedly overwhelming.
Another reporter attacked, hospitalized in eastern Ukraine
New York, July 29, 2013–Federal authorities in Ukraine should take over the investigation into today’s brutal attack on a TV journalist who had regularly reported on allegations of corruption in the regional police force, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Sergei Ostapenko, a reporter for Irta, suffered a broken jaw and other injuries in…
In Egypt, journalists report being attacked, harassed
New York, July 25, 2013–Several journalists have reported being harassed, censored, or attacked over the past week in Egypt, according to news reports and local journalists. The incidents come as Egyptian authorities have announced their intentions to abolish prison terms for insult charges.