tagged w/ Freedom of the Press
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Journalist Rozanna al-Yami was ready to get 60 lashes inflicted by the Saudi court. But the King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz has revoked the sentence.
Otherwise she would have been the first woman to undergo a sentence so harsh.Journalist Rozanna al-Yami was ready to get 60 lashes inflicted by the Saudi court.... more
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Over the last 24 hours, a lot of self-congratulating hyperbole has appeared on and off line about how the popular short message service Twitter saved free speech in the UK.
This ill-informed back-patting follows the dropping of a secret UK High Court gag order which blocked the reporting of parliamentary questions by Paul Farrelly MP. The questions related to press freedoms and in particular, a leaked WikiLeaks report exposing a Western toxic dumping disaster inflicted on the Ivory Coast &mdash a disater which may have hospitalized as many as 100,000 people.
However, more the substantive earlier secret gag order against the report, which prevents the reporting of its contents remains in effect—and it is not the only one. Last month, the Guardian revealed that it had been served with 10 secrett gag orders—so-called "super-injunctions"— since January. In 2008, it was served with six. In 2007, five. Haven't heard of them? Of course not, they are secret gag orders. The UK press has given up counting regular injunctions.
(...)
Under pressure from legal costs, UK papers have silently removed some of the September 17 investigative articles into the dumping disater. For example, the Independent's "Toxic Shame: Thousands injured in African city" no-longer "exists" except at WikiLeaks.
Now is not the time to be distracted from this reality, or to see the unravelling of a gache attack on parliamentary reporting a step forward; it is a return to last week. We are back at the UK censorship status quo, which may be described, without irony, as privatized feudalism.
So take your hand from your backs, find your swords—and get to work.
Read the whole story at wikileaks!!!Over the last 24 hours, a lot of self-congratulating hyperbole has appeared on and off... more
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myhead
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1 month ago
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Tens of thousands of Italians protest in Rome against what they say are threats to press freedom by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.Tens of thousands of Italians protest in Rome against what they say are threats to... more
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This 25-minute documentary is about the violent, systemic harrassment and intimidation of the independent press in Sierra Leone.This 25-minute documentary is about the violent, systemic harrassment and intimidation... more
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tapeit
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2 months ago
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BERLIN — Germany defended itself Monday against international criticism of a devastating NATO airstrike that German forces in Afghanistan had requested last week, while the chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced that she would address Parliament on Tuesday about the episode.
The Japanese publisher East Press has sold 45,000 copies of the manga version of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler's manifesto Mein Kampf, amid renewed calls to drop the manifesto's ban in Germany. It has been illegal to publish Mein Kampf in Germany since 1945, and the government enforces the ban through an unusual application of copyright laws.
Since the German state of Bavaria inherited the printing rights upon Hitler's suicide towards the end of World War II, the copyright holder (which is currently the Bavarian Finance Ministry) can prevent others from publishing the book in Germany. However, since the copyrights are set to expire in 2015 (the 70th anniversary of Hitler's death), some government and Jewish figures have called for publication under controlled conditions.
German Jewish author Rafael Seligmann called for its publication as early as 2004. In June, the Bavarian minister of science and research advocated a “decently prepared and well-grounded critical edition” to counter “charlatans and neo-Nazis" who "could seize this disgraceful work when Bavaria's rights run out.” Stephan Kramer, general secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany endorsed the possibility of an annotated edition on August 5 “to prevent neo-Nazis from profiting from it” and to “remove many of its false, persistent myths.”
However, Bavaria upheld the ban last month and rejected the Munich-based Institute of Contemporary History's request to publish the book. Bavarian Finance Ministry spokesperson Horst Wolf said, “Scholarly as the aims of the institute are, we won't lift the ban as it may play straight into the hands of the far-right." On the separate matter of the manga version, the ministry told the Asahi Shimbun paper, "We have trouble considering manga as an appropriate medium for critically presenting this problematic material."
Kōsuke Maruo, a 32-year-old editor at East Press, explained why his company produced the manga version of Mein Kampf: "It is a famous book, but there are few who have read it. I think it is [studying] material for knowing Hitler, a man synonymous with 'devil,' and what sort of thinking created that level of tragedy." While his company had no expectations on the manga's sales, it has sold 45,000 copies since last November. That is above the 35,000-copy average of the other books in the Manga de Dokuha series from East Press.
end of excerpt
Source: ANNBERLIN — Germany defended itself Monday against international criticism of a... more
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Yesterday, Media Research Center Director of Communications Seton Motley again appeared in studio with Glenn Beck to discuss the Obama FCC's drive to regulate talk radio out of existence.
Motley focused on the views of FCC diversity officer Mark Lloyd. Motley argued that, armed with FCC "localism" and "diversity" regulations, Lloyd could prove instrumental in working a back-door regulatory alternative to the so-called Fairness Doctrine.
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It just seems that there is no end to the means or tactics that the socialist bureaucrats will attempt to end run the 1st amendment, in order to suppress the truth and to bring the American people into complete subjugation of the government.Yesterday, Media Research Center Director of Communications Seton Motley again... more
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Thursday's attack against Twitter and Facebook was designed to silence one, pro-Georgian blogger. Someone still believes the pen is mightier than the sword. Now, more than ever, it is necessary to protect freedom of speech worldwide.Thursday's attack against Twitter and Facebook was designed to silence one,... more
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Mark Weisbrot, The Guardian UK: "There is a much more oppositional media in Venezuela than in the US, and a much greater range of debate in the major media. This can be seen simply by looking at the most important media in both countries. In the US, for example, not even the most aggressive rightwing commentators such as Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity would present the idea that the president should be lynched. But Globovision, one of the largest-audience TV networks, had a show where a guest did just that."Mark Weisbrot, The Guardian UK: "There is a much more oppositional media in Venezuela... more
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Nel dossier Freedom of the Press 2009 Italia è l'unico Paese in Europa con una stampa "parzialmente libera". Piccola analisi del dossier, della metodologia dei rilievi effettuati da Freedom House e qualche considerazione sul complessivo scenario giornalistico italiano.Nel dossier Freedom of the Press 2009 Italia è l'unico Paese in Europa con una stampa... more
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Cuban President Raul Castro has said he is willing to talk to Washington about everything, including human rights, political prisoners and press freedom.
His comments came hours after US President Barack Obama said Cuba needed to make the next move if there was to be further improvement in relations.
Mr Castro was speaking in Venezuela ahead of a Summit of the Americas.Cuban President Raul Castro has said he is willing to talk to Washington about... more
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Obama's DoJ picks have their mouths tightly slurping on RIAA & MPAA bigwigs' peckers, but their claim of "national security" reasons to deny Freedom of Information Act requests about their intentions regarding copyright law changes and the new "multinational treaty" they intend to ratify really could choke a two-dollar whoreObama's DoJ picks have their mouths tightly slurping on RIAA & MPAA bigwigs' peckers,... more
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Cuba is a country right out of George Orwell's 1984 or Animal Farm. Journalists are frequently jailed and incarcerated for speaking out, even slightly against the government. There is no such thing as constructive criticism unless it comes from within the Communist party. Listening to American music can get you thrown in jail for months without trial, and reading books like Orwell's 1984 can get you trhown in jail for "subverting the internal order of the nation."
Despite occasionally releasing journalists, Cuba remains the world's second leading jailer of journalists behind only China, keeping in mind that China has a population of 1.3 billion people and that Cuba has only a population of 11 million.
Recently, Cuban dissidents like Oswaldo Paya and blogger Yoani Sanchez are just some of the number of internal critics of the government that have tried to challenge the system from within, similar to what happened during the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia in 1968. But the government has responded to this Cuban Spring by what has been referred to as the "Black Spring".
A wave of arrests of political dissidents has left the Cuban Spring in a tenous position were the majority of its leadership has been imprisoned. With Raúl Castro in charge, there have been hints at economic, agricultural, and administrative reforms. His government's decision to sign the four-decade-old International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, while a potentially encouraging move, was clouded by the vague caveats it immediately placed on the document.
"Signing this agreement is a positive thing," Payá says, "but in order for the decision to be coherent, the government must release the political prisoners who are jailed for peacefully practicing and promoting these rights."
If the situation looks bleak, it certainly doesn't help that outside of Cuba there is a huge number of people who see the Cuban revolution as "chic" and the way that characters like Che Guevara and Castro have been lionized and and depicted as caring leaders. It also doesn't help that many people outside of the island, especially in the US are amazingly ignorant of Cuba.
Many Americans believe wrongly that Cubans inside the island overwhelmignly support the revolution, when in fact, the vast majority of the population wants nothing more than t throw away its shackles. But unarmed, with no access to weapons, with no one in the outside world who cares, under constant state surveillance, and restricted by the natural boundary of the sea, Cubans' constant adversary, what is the underground dissident movement to do?
And please take the time to check out the linked article which goes into great detail of what is going on in Cuba.Cuba is a country right out of George Orwell's 1984 or Animal Farm. Journalists are... more
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Dan Rather and others talk about media bias. This is a preview of the Free Press at the Politics '08 Conference.Dan Rather and others talk about media bias. This is a preview of the Free Press at... more
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HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Pandemonium erupted outside Hofstra University tonight at around 8pm, an hour before the final presidential debate of the 2008 campaign was scheduled to begin there, when mounted police charged protesters and spectators.
Six people were reportedly arrested and three injured. Protesters included a contingent of the group Iraq Veterans Against the War. Members of the group intended to submit questions to the the candidates but never had the chance. Local police on horseback drove the protesters away from the university's David S Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex, where the debate was held, knocking some to the ground and in at least one case trampling them.
http://www.bethemedia.org/
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Pandemonium erupted outside Hofstra University tonight at around... more
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Are America's news media too chicken to ask the tough questions?
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Dan Rather talks about how Americans are starving for real news.
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GREENVILLE, N.C. — After weeks of limited contact with the news media, Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin ventured to the back of her campaign plane Tuesday and answered several questions from reporters.
The Alaska governor discussed why she and the McCain campaign have made an issue of Democrat Barack Obama's relationship with 1960s-era radical Bill Ayers amid a market meltdown that has many voters fearing for their investments. Palin repeatedly has claimed during the past two days that Obama had launched his political career with help from Ayers, a founder of the violent Weather Underground group responsible for bombings during the Vietnam War era.
Obama campaign aides said the Illinois senator did not know of Ayers' past when they first met in Chicago. Palin told reporters the lack of clarity about their relationship was precisely why it was relevant to raise it on the campaign trail.
"It's relevant to connect that association he has with Ayers, not so much he as a person Ayers, but the whole situation and the truthfulness and the judgment there that you must question if again he's not being forthright in all of his answers, "Palin said. "It makes you wonder about the forthrightness, the truthfulness of the plans he's telling Americans with regards to the economic recovery."
Pressed on whether she was saying Obama was dishonest, Palin said no.
"But in terms of judgment, in terms of being able to answer a question forthrightly, it has two different parts to it, that judgment and that truthfulness," she said.
Palin said also claimed her husband, Todd, is "an open book" on the controversy back home involving allegations that the couple pressured state officials to fire the governor's former brother-in-law, a state trooper.
"Nobody has anything to hide," she said.GREENVILLE, N.C. — After weeks of limited contact with the news media, Republican... more
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CLEARWATER -- Constantly under the watchful eyes of security, the media wasn't permitted to wander around inside Coachman Park to talk to Sarah Palin supporters. When reporters tried to leave the designated press area and head toward the bleachers where the crowd was seated, an escort would dart out of nowhere and confront him or her and say, "Can I help you?'' and turn the person around.
When one reporter asked an escort, who would not give her name, why the press wasn't allowed to mingle, she said that in the past, negative things had been written. The campaign wanted to avoid that possibility Monday.
-- Times staff writer Eileen SchulteCLEARWATER -- Constantly under the watchful eyes of security, the media wasn't... more
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Is this some kind of threat against freedom of the press, or just a completely incoherent ramble? I honestly don't know. Either she's sinister or just way too dumb to be president:
As we send our young men and women overseas in a war zone to fight for democracy and freedoms, including freedom of the press, we've really got to have a mutually beneficial relationship here with those fighting the freedom of the press, and then the press, though not taking advantage and exploiting a situation, perhaps they would want to capture and abuse the privilege. We just want truth, we want fairness, we want balance.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/do-over-palin-a.html
Is this some kind of threat against freedom of the press, or just a completely... more
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