8 Jun 2010 | Uncategorized
Sometimes censorship is a very black and white issue. Sometimes it is a subject of debate on limits. And sometimes we come up against the, well, “inappropriate”.
Take a couple of stories from this week. Yesterday, it emerged that Miami Living magazine had managed to publish this ad for an online dating agency, featuring a silhouette of male genitalia, to widespread moral outrage.
The ad agency that created the shadow effect seemed quite pleased with itself, saying ” this ‘shadow penis’ ad seems to work and might become a staple of our campaign.”
Miami Living magazine has apologised, saying that no one had noticed the shadow. Now, I’ve laid out magazines. In fact, I’ve laid out magazines quite badly. But I can’t imagine ever missing something like that.
Meanwhile, back in Blighty, Ramsgate hairdresser Marcello Marino has been told to remove a poster of his wife from the side of his premises. The poster, showing the woman in a jacket and tie but NOTHING UNDERNEATH (not even a vest!) has been the subject of complaints. Jocelyn McCarthy of the Ramsgate Society (a local organisation for local people) said that it was distasteful to show “so much cleavage” in a public place. Which seems an odd thing for someone from a seaside resort to say.
Mr Marino was defiant, saying his wife was beautiful (aww) and people need something nice to look at in the recession.
8 Jun 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, News and features
Federal officials have arrested an Army intelligence analyst who boasted that he had given a classified US combat video and top secret State Department records to whistleblower site Wikileaks. Brad Manning is alleged to have leaked a video depicting a fatal helicopter attack on Iraqi civilians, including Reuters journalists. A former hacker said he turned Manning in out of concern for US national security. According to Manning’s family, the intelligence analyst is being held in custody in Kuwait but has not yet been charged. Wikileaks has claimed it does not know the identity of the person who leaked the video.
8 Jun 2010 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Two employees of Turkey’s Express periodical have been convicted of “making propaganda for a terrorist organisation”. Journalist Irfan Aktan was sentenced to 15 months in prison while editorial manager Merve Erol was fined TL 16,000 (€ 8,000). The charges stem from an article published last September entitled “Weather conditions in the Qandil region/No solution without fighting”. The Qandil mountains are home to camps run by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and several high-ranking members of the militant organisation. The journalists’ defence argued the article was written at a time when the discussions about the Kurdish initiative had just started and when PKK members had started to surrender.
8 Jun 2010 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
A pro-opposition journalist arrested and detained on 2 June has been released. Ani Gevorgian was covering a sit-in for the daily national newspaper Haykakan Zhanamak when police clashed with protesters and arrested 17 people. Police allege she struck a police officer. However, other journalists maintain that Gevorgian’s reports on local police had angered authorities. A video of the protests appears to show Gevorgian photographing arrests, before being detained herself. Gevorgian face charges of assaulting law-enforcement personnel and hooliganism.
