Archive for the ‘Freedom of the press’ Category

Journalism, the BBC, and advertising

Monday, November 12th, 2007

The 'he said/she said' model of journalism is frequently problematic, reducing complex issues to two 'sides' and often unduly elevating a marginal or rogue opinion to parity with broad informed consensus. Sometimes, however, it can be rather helpful, and I think that this example from the BBC shows that in action. ...

Community radio for Bangladesh

Saturday, November 10th, 2007

I heard this first via a Twitter Tracking update, and then tracked down more detailed information online. It seems that Bangladesh may soon get community radio stations, something that has been pushed for for some time.

Editors arrested for disclosing broad trawl for user records

Friday, October 19th, 2007

A story developing before our eyes. Early this afternoon (Pacific Time) I got a mail on Lauren Weinstein's Privacy mailing list, pointing to a subpoena directed at the editors of the Phoenix New times:In a breathtaking abuse of the United States Constitution, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, ...

Irish media literacy conference

Monday, September 17th, 2007

I recently got a mail calling for proposals for a symposium on "Media | Literacy | Education" to take place 3rd November in Dublin. Proposals are due by 28th September:We are specifically looking for people to contribute to A) parallel breakout sessions and B) general assembly presentations. The facilitated parallel breakout sessions ...

Troubling attacks on community radio

Tuesday, January 30th, 2007

Two disturbing attacks on Community Radio activists today - both from areas that have been much in the news recently. In Oaxaca two community radio journalists were beaten and one arrested last Wednesday night, while in Nepal there have been attacks on community radio stations (and journalists) for the past week ...

RSF report on 2006

Sunday, December 31st, 2006

A year-end report from Reporters san Frontières - which notes that 2006 was the deadliest year since 1994 - includes mention of the censoring of 300 community radio stations in Thailand in the aftermath of the coup earlier this year:Thailand recorded the most cases of censorship. After a military coup ...

Record number of journalists killed

Wednesday, October 11th, 2006

It's still October, but already 2006 is looking to set an unhappy record, with the World Association of Newspapers reporting more journalists killed worldwide so far this year (78) than in any full year in the past decade (2004's total was 72). Iraq, unsurprisingly perhaps, has by far the most ...

Data retention and vehicle tracking

Monday, January 2nd, 2006

Just before I came home for Christmas I was Paul's guest on MediaGeek on WEFT. We had intended, originally, to talk about the state of community media in Ireland and Europe generally, but ended up spending most of the show talking about the Data Retention compromise that had just passed ...

New civil rights group for Europe

Tuesday, October 18th, 2005

The European Civil Liberties Network, or ECLN for short, is a new group founded by organisations like Statewatch and European Race Audit, along with individuals such as Gareth Peirce. Their initial press conference, launching the group, is due to take place in Brussels tomorrow morning. A timely intervention....

Data retention push continues

Monday, September 12th, 2005

Various news items in recent days point towards developments at an EU level regarding data retention. This is, of course, an issue prioritized by Blair in the wake of the London bombings, and I've written on several occasions previously regarding the earlier push for an EU directive requiring long periods ...