A new decree that places serious restrictions on the media became effective on 25 February. The new decree forces media outlets to reveal their sources, with a fine of $1,000 for not revealing them. It also includes a fine of $2,000 for publishing any unauthorised information. The decree further allows for the government to censor any news due to national security reasons.
Film blogger Michael Fleming was prevented from attending Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony. Fleming is the correspondent for entertainment news blog Deadline.com, which had published leaked details about the Awards. In response to these comments, the Motion Picture Academy officially revoked Fleming’s press pass. The Hollywood Reporter’s sources have confirmed that this ban was “punishment for the breaches of secrecy surrounding the show”. The blog’s editor, Nikki Finke, has made a formal complaint to Academy spokesperson Leslie Unger.
A journalist was attacked by a mob while covering the recent elections in Mbale district, south-eastern Uganda. Gerald Mutembu, who works for Wavah Broadcasting Service (WBS), was filming a scuffle between different groups fighting over the alleged bribery and intimidation tactics of supporters of the state minister for housing, Michael Werikhe. Six journalists have reportedly been attacked in different parts of the country while covering the elections.
“Death notice” posters against the editor-in-chief of independent TV station, B92, and the producers of one of its programmes have been put up all over Lazarevac, Serbia, following a report of alleged corruption in a state owned coal mine. This is the second time in recent weeks that such threats have been made against the station for its content.