On 8 February Yu Huafeng, former head of Guangzhou-based newspaper Nanfang Dushi Bao, was released after four years in jail. Convicted in May 2004 on charges of corruption, he was released following pressure and campaigns led by both international organisations and those based within China. In 2005 by more than 2,300 Chinese journalists signed a petition for his release.
The Kenyan government has lifted its month-long ban on live broadcasting one day prior to the hearing of a lawsuit that challenged its legal basis. The ban had been imposed to curb live political reporting after the hotly contested election of President Mwai Kibaki prompted violent riots and demonstrations that took over one thousand lives.
Ireland’s new media watchdog will itself be under severe scrutiny, writes Michael Foley
It was a long time coming, but after debates going back to the 1970s, Ireland has finally joined the rest of Europe and has established a press council, which opened for business in January.
The new press ombudsman, Professor John Horgan, and the 13-person press council opened their city centre premises in Dublin following a launch addressed by Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan. At the launch, the minister announced that privacy legislation, which has been approved by the cabinet, would be parked, “in order to allow the press council the opportunity to prove its effectiveness in defending the right to privacy from unwarranted intrusion by the media.”
He continued: “I don’t think I am breaching any state secrets when I tell you that not all my colleagues had boundless enthusiasm for this approach. I would not for a moment dismiss their reservations and, indeed, concern about media intrusion is not exclusive to those of us involved in politics.”
A bill submitted to parliament by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in late 2007 is garnering criticism for curbing press freedom.