Olympics-China Media Watch: Zola live-blogs his detention
Global Voices Online noticed yesterday when guerrilla blogger Zola (Zhou Shuguang) began tweeting his own detention. His BlackBerry let the world know that local officials had intercepted him in the town of Fengmuqiao in Hunan province, and he posted updates as they forced him into a car to drive him home. If he leaves his…
News Wrap for 8/15/08
The Miami Herald is covering news out of Colombia that TV network Telesur has again been accused of having ties to FARC rebels. A journalist for the network has been fingered by the government after his name was allegedly found on confiscated FARC computers. CPJ is quoted in the story: ”The fact that Parra’s name…
Olympics: Guerrilla warfare online
First, a pointer to Rebecca Mackinnon’s Asia Wall Street Journal oped from yesterday, The Chinese Censorship Foreigners Don’t See . She makes many of the same points I did about how the Great Firewall is leaky, and the control of the Internet in China relies on much more than technology.
Olympics: Talking tough, much too late
During the war in Vietnam, the daily press briefings by the American military were called the “Five o’clock Follies” by the foreign press corps that was on the receiving end of the military’s damage control aimed at controlling the story from Vietnam. The Beijing Games have their own daily press meeting, at 10 am, hosted…
After Fox attack in Georgia, CPJ renews call for protection of journalists
We issued the following statement today in response to the attack on a Fox News crew in Gori, Georgia: “We are troubled that despite the ceasefire, journalists and cameramen have come under fire once again. This is unacceptable and we call on all the parties in the conflict zone to ensure reporters’ safety,” CPJ Executive…
Israeli army decision endangers journalists in Gaza
In the Gaza Strip, anyone with a camera is fair game. That’s the inescapable conclusion from the Israeli army’s investigation into why one of its tank crews fired at least two shells at a Reuters television journalist openly filming them from a mile away. The cameraman, Fadel Shana, 24, filmed the muzzle flash of the…
Finding light in a dark prison
On July 21, CPJ welcomed the release of Tunisian Internet journalist Slim Boukhdhir from prison. A contributor to Tunisian and Arab news Web sites, Boukhdhir was serving a one-year term in Sfax Prison because he had written articles critical of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the country’s first family. CPJ sent a mission…
Olympics-China Media Watch: Does Xinhua know gymnast’s real age?
NBC coverage of the women’s gymnastics team competition made incessant mention of the controversy over the Chinese athletes’ ages. Are they really 16, or are they underage? And what does that say about the awful and efficient “machine” that pumps out China’s Olympians? NBC announcers made sure that American viewers pondered the matter as the gold medal went to…
News Wrap for 8/14/08
BBC News has coverage this morning about the media’s reaction to Israel’s decision to clear the soldiers involved in the death of Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana. The “Editors’ Blog” on British site Journalism talks about Reuters’ “dissatisfaction” at the verdict and the Middle East Online Web site has a report that cites our alert on…