Archive for October, 2011
Monday, October 17th, 2011
The annual Society of Editors conference is this year organised in partnership with Index. The conference runs from 13-15 November in Egham, Surrey and is entitled: Magna Carta II: a modern media charter. The conference will focus on freedom – freedom of the media and freedom of expression — and the keynote lecture will be given by Lord Patten, the new BBC Trust chair. John Kampfner will be speaking on Monday 14 November. Click here for more information.
Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke will also give a keynote speech.
Index friends and supporters can receive a discount of £100 off the whole conference, or £50 off the day delegate rate plus £15 off the annual dinner. Please contact angela
societyofeditors
org (angelasocietyofeditorsorg) for special discounts.
Monday, October 17th, 2011
Thousands of demonstrators took part in an anti-censorship march in the
Tunisian capital on Sunday. As the debate between Islamic conservatives and secularists continues in the country, the liberal demonstrators gathered for the march, dubbed ”Aataqni” or “set me free” in Tunisian Arabic. The movement follows
opposing protests last week, after the decision by Nessma TV to air the film Persepolis. The demonstrators at the Aataqni protest were alarmed by the reaction of the Islamists to the animated film, claiming if that kind of censorship was accepted, it could lead to censorship of other programs.
Monday, October 17th, 2011
The car of a popular
Bulgarian journalist was
blown up on Thursday, after a makeshift bomb was attached to the vehicle. Sasho Dikov, programme director of the Channel 3 TV station, was not injured by the blast outside his home in a residential area of Sofia. The journalist, who has been a fierce critic of the center-right government said the attack was to intimidate him, and “anyone who speaks the truth.” Dikov said the attack would not stop him from discussing the alleged failure by Prime Minister Boiko Borisov’s government’s to cope with corruption and organised crime.
Monday, October 17th, 2011
A court in
France has ruled that internet service providers must
block access to a “cop watching” web site. The website,
Copwatch Nord Paris I-D-F, shows pictures and videos of police officers arresting suspects, taunting protesters and allegedly committing acts of violence against members of ethnic minorities, was deemed to incite violence against the police. Free speech advocates have said that the ruling restricted internet freedoms. The first complaint against the site was filed by a Paris police officer who received a bullet in his mailbox after his picture had appeared on the site.
Monday, October 17th, 2011
On 9 October, 27 demonstrators protesting attacks against churches were murdered outside Egypt’s state TV building. Yasmine El-Rashidi asks why the media is silencing one side of the story
(more…)
Friday, October 14th, 2011
Students at Bahrain Polytechnic are being silenced and expelled for social media posts. Sara Yasin reports
(more…)
Friday, October 14th, 2011
The editor of a
Colombian monthly newspaper has been handed a 20-month
suspended sentence and a $5,500 fine. Luis Agustín González, who is both founder and editor of
Cundinamarca Democrática, was convicted of criminal libel yesterday, after he published
an article critical of local politician. In a 2008 article, González expressed his dismay that Maria Leonor Serrano had announced she would be a senate candidate in the 2010 elections. The article also referred to allegations of corruption throughout her career, and covered a range of disappearances and assassinations which occurred during her tenure as a town mayor.
Friday, October 14th, 2011
A
Russian property developer who was punched during a talkshow, is suing for libel in England after his
assailant, fellow Russian tycoon
Alexander Lebedev said he deserved the beating. Sergei Polonsky is suing Lebedev, owner of the Independent and London Evening Standard for defamation following their
altercation in September. Lebedev told the
BBC that Polonsky had insulted him for 90 minutes. Criminal proceedings for assault have begun in Russia.
