Uncategorized

Alarming resurgence in Sri Lankan police attacks on Tamil journalists

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Sri Lankan authorities to punish those responsible for recent acts of violence and harassment of journalists and to ensure that the police stop harassing and intimidating reporters covering the problems that the Tamil minority still endure ten years after the end of the civil war. The 27 May violence against Kanapathipillai Kumanan, a journalist working for the Tamil daily Virakesari, was the third reported attack on a journalist of Tamil origin since the start of the year. Kumanan was working on a story about a Hindu temple in the…Read more

UK Editors’ Code of Practice revised

  • Posted on January 8, 2018
  • /Under UK
The Editors’ Code of Practice, under which the vast majority of Britain’s newspaper, magazine and news website journalists work, has been revised. The revised Code, came into effect on 1 January 2018, and  includes a change that offers increased protection to children accused of crime. In a move that goes further than the law requires, the Code will now state that editors should generally avoid naming children after arrest for a criminal offence but before they appear in court. The Society of Editors, which will look to republish and distribute its pocket-sized version…Read more

Nigerian journalist Ikechukwu Onubogu killed by gunmen

Media Foundation for West Africa In the third of such a tragic incident in Nigeria since the beginning of 2017, unknown gunmen shot and killed a journalist working with the Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS). Ikechukwu Onubogu, a cameraman with ABS based in the state capital Awka, was found dead, four days after he was reported missing by his family. According to the Premium Times newspaper, Onubogu on November 12, 2017 picked up his camera and left home in response to a phone call from an unknown person.  After failing to return home or…Read more

Indian police arrest journalist on charges of alleged extortion and blackmail

Committee to Protect Journalists Indian regional police arrested freelance journalist Vinod Verma on October 27, 2017, on claims that he used a sex tape to extort and blackmail a minister from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Chhattisgarh region-- claims the journalist denies, according to news reports. A committee member from the BJP in Chhattisgarh lodged a complaint against Verma on October 26, alleging an anonymous threat to release objectionable videos of the minister if he did not pay hush money, according to The Indian Express, which quoted unnamed sources from…Read more

2017 Astor Award Commemorative Ceremony in Karachi

  Owais Aslam Ali, Chairman of the Pakistan Press Foundation, accepted the 2017 Astor Award for press freedom at a commemorative ceremony hosted by The Center for Excellence in Journalism (CEJ) at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA)  in Karachi. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNZaaf_AvMYRead more

UK: Rudd’s plans to criminalise viewing of extremist content another threat to journalists

Reporters Without Borders  is deeply concerned by UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd's announcement on 2 October 2017 of plans to criminalise the viewing of extremist content. The new laws would reportedly see anyone "repeatedly" viewing extremist content online jailed for up to 15 years. Rudd's announcement was delivered during her keynote speech at the Conservative party conference in Manchester. "This will close an important gap in legislation", she stated. In responding to a question from a member of the audience, she said "I don't need to understand how encryption works to understand how…Read more

Nigerian blogger, publisher jailed on defamation charges

Committee to Protect Journalists Nigerian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release blogger Kemi Omololu-Olunloyo and newspaper publisher Samuel Welson, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The two have been held in a maximum security prison for more than a week as they await trial on charges of defamation and publishing false news. Police on March 13 arrested Omololu-Olunloyo, who runs the blog HNN Africa, at her house in the southwestern city of Ibadan, for publishing on Instagram a letterpurportedly from a churchgoer accusing a woman of using juju to convince a pastor and other men to…Read more

Commonwealth Day Message by Her Majesty The Queen, Head of the Commonwealth

"This Commonwealth Day, a baton will set out from Buckingham Palace and begin a long and extraordinary journey. Over the next twelve months, the Baton will visit people living in the nations and territories of our Commonwealth family in every continent and ocean. Carried on its way by thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds, by the time it reaches its final destination, The Queen’s Baton will have brought together through its route and symbolism, almost 2.5 billion people who share the special connection of being Commonwealth citizens. Contained within the Baton…Read more

Malawi media outlet closed after publishing stories on “maize gate”

Media Institute of Southern Africa MISA-Malawi is disturbed by news of the closure this morning of Blantyre Printing and Publishing Company (Times Group) offices by the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) over unpaid taxes. While MISA Malawi does not condone default on taxes, we strongly believe that the closure of Times Group is ill-timed and can easily be construed as an attempt by government to stop the media house from further publication of the 'maize gate' investigation specifically, and to silence critical voices generally. The issue of unpaid taxes could have been resolved through mutual business…Read more

Third journalist killed in India’s Bihar in eight months

The third murder of a journalist in the last eight months in India's eastern Bihar state on January 3, 2017 illustrates the danger of allowing such crimes to continue to be met with impunity, the International Press Institute (IPI) said today as it urged authorities to fully investigate the case. Unidentified men gunned down Braj Kumar Singh, a journalist for a Hindi daily, yesterday evening in Bihar's Samastipur district. Initial reports indicated that police believed Kumar to have been targeted due to a property dispute, but IPI Director of Advocacy and Communications Steven M.…Read more