Zambian government must move ahead with access to information bill

Media Institute of Southern Africa It is public record that the Patriotic Front (PF) government promised immediate enactment of the Access to Information (ATI) legislation as one of its flagship activities for further liberalisation of the media environment once elected into office in 2011. This was widely received as a move that would transform Zambia into a truly participatory governance system that enables its citizens to make informed decisions, which – in-turn – impact and add value to the process of development. The highly anticipated presentation of the ATI bill has stalled on…Read more

Cabinet agrees to meet with media over concerns in Trinidad and Tobago cyber crimes bill

International Press Institute The International Press Institute (IPI) today urged lawmakers in Trinidad and Tobago to take into account concerns by media stakeholders over a proposed cybercrime law. The country's Parliament is preparing for a third reading on a wide-ranging online crimes bill that targets, among other things, unauthorised data access, cyber-bullying and identity fraud. However, media groups, including the Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA) have raised alarm over the bill's potential to chill investigative journalism in the twin-island Caribbean state. At issue are two clauses, Arts. 9 and 13, intended…Read more

Launch of Hansard Society Magna Carta 800 Scholarship

To mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, two Scholarships (worth £10,250 GBP / $16,000 USD each) have been launched by the Hansard Society, with the support of the Magna Carta 800th Committee, to enable two outstanding undergraduate students to join the prestigious Hansard Scholars 14 week Autumn Programme from 5 September – 12 December 2015.  Founded in 1944, the Hansard Society is a charity working in the UK and around the world to promote democracy and strengthen parliaments. An independent, non-partisan political research and education organisation, The Hansard Society believes that the health of representative democracy rests…Read more

Third blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh this year

Committee to Protect Journalists Four unidentified assailants wielding cleavers and machetes killed a blogger in Bangladesh today, marking the third time in less than three months that a blogger has been slain in the country, according to news reports. Ananta Bijoy Das was hacked to death while headed to work in the city of Sylhet, the reports said. "The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina must take urgent steps to ensure the security of critical bloggers in Bangladesh given this series of murders," said CPJ Asia Program Research Associate Sumit Galhotra. "Authorities can…Read more

GEO TV journalist forced to leave Peshawar after latest detainment

International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) express deep concern at a series of incidents leading to the forced displacement of a Peshawar-based journalist, Rasool Dawar. Dawar, a special correspondent for Geo TV hailing from North Waziristan, left Peshawar in the last week stating that he felt insecure in the region, where he has been twice detained for hours under 'extremely torturous conditions' by the security agencies. In a letter to Geo TV's CEO and concerned government and non-government agencies,…Read more

Threats facing journalists in northern Kenya

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) is distressed by reports of persistent threats facing journalists working in northern Kenya, particularly in light of recent violence in the region. Kenyan journalists are increasingly being forced to make an impossible choice in their quest to report public interest stories, as they face attacks and threats from both militant groups and government officials. CJFE has received multiple reports from journalists working on the ground in northern Kenya that the continued incursion of the Al Shabab militant group into the region has…Read more

Independent news website shut down in Singapore for content “objectionable to state interests”

Committee to Protect Journalists Singaporean authorities on Sunday, May 3, 2015, ordered an independent news website to be shut down, citing the website's content as being objectionable to state interests, according to news reports. The Real Singapore is the first news website to be shut down under Singapore's licensing regulations, introduced in 2013, according to CPJ research. The Media Development Authority, a media regulatory board formed under Singapore's Ministry of Communications and Information, revoked the operating license of The Real Singapore for publishing content it said undermined "the public interest, public order, and…Read more

Maldives government takes control of broadcaster, creating state mouthpiece

International Federation of Journalists The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) condemn the Maldivian government's moves to take control of the national public broadcaster on April 29, 2015 as an attack on the country's press freedom. On April 27, the Public Service Media (PSM) Bill was tabled in the Maldives Parliament and passed with 41 votes in favor, and four votes against it. The new Act was then ratified by President Abdulla Yameen which dissolves the Maldivian Broadcasting Corporation. The President also proposed a seven person…Read more

Kenyan editor murdered by unknown assailants in Eldoret town

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret to do their utmost to identify and prosecute the killers of journalist John Kituyi on Thursday. Kituyi was walking home from work at around 7:30 p.m. when assailants on a motorcycle approached him, according to news reports and the journalist's family members and local journalists who spoke to CPJ. The attackers hit Kituyi repeatedly with a blunt object and seized his phone, but did not take his money or his watch, the sources said.…Read more

On World Press Freedom Day 2015, press freedom stories from around the world: The good, the bad, and the ugly

The theme of this year's UNESCO World Press Freedom Day [3 May] is deceptively simple: Let Journalism Thrive. Journalists need to be able to do their work, in the public interest, without interference or fear. But many obstacles make this hard - even impossible. And when that happens, we all lose. In a Story Map specially created for World Press Freedom Day, we take you on a world tour of events that IFEX members report are chilling - or, in some cases, warming - the climate for free media in countries around the…Read more