BBC World Service has restarted its FM broadcasts with SLBC, the Sri Lankan national broadcaster after a 14-month long absence. In a press release yesterday, Peter Horrocks, Director of BBC Global News guaranteed that programmes in English, Sinhala, and Tamil will have uninterrupted broadcasting, and that the BBC will remain true to “specific editorial values that include impartiality, editorial independence and seeking a relevant range of views on any topic”.
The People’s Daily newspaper published a lengthy article on ex-Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang on Thursday penned by President Hu Jintao. During his time in the Party, Hu Yaobang was known for endorsing a number of economic and political reforms, as well as helping those persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. His death and subsequent public mourning on 15 April, 1989 was the trigger for the ensuing Tiananmen Protests. Hu Jintao’s article has been analysed by many critics, and whilst some see it as a step forward towards greater openness, those more cynically minded regard it as a “calculated effort by China’s leadership to placate intellectuals, journalists and some retired party officials” in order to enhance its own national image.
A Nigerian journalist has been attacked while filming clashes in the build-up to elections in Ekiti State. Felix Vincent, a cameraman for the Nigerian broadcaster Channels Television, sustained a deep cut to the head during an attack on the vehicle of the Action Congress governorship candidate. The International Press Institute said that it is “unacceptable that journalists be attacked simply because they are doing their job”. Last month, three sports journalists were abducted in the Niger Delta region while travelling to an airport in Owerri
Web censorship and a compliant media are allowing the Thai government to turn the country into a police state, says Giles Ji Ungpakorn
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