Yoani Sanchez, 60th World Hero(ine) of Press Freedom

Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez has been declared the 60th World Press Freedom Hero by the Vienna-based International Press Institute. Sanchez had already received a few prizes for her dogged dissenter's work in Cuba, like the prestigious Spanish Prize Ortega y Gasset.
Will she be allowed to travel to Vienna on September 13 to receive the award?
For more info: gp to http://www.freemedia.at/singleview/5130/

Grotius.fr prend son envol/takes off

Started on a shoe-string by RFI (Radio France Internationale) journalist Jean-Jacques Louarn the humanitarian news website Grotius.fr has been given a great facelift last week. The site is hipper without being gimmicky. It is user-friendly and above all provides a great selection of news and opinions on humanitarian assistance and human rights, becoming therefore one of the major French "crossroads" for this kind of stories.

News from Mozambique brought to you by "information-doers" and the new social media

Would we have known about the riots in Mozambique without the new media and social networks? Mohamed Keita, of the Committee to Protect Journalists, provides an interesting analysis.
http://cpj.org/blog/2010/09/new-media-brings-crisis-in-mozambique-to-the-world.php#more

Malware attacks against human rights defenders

This article reminds everyone that authoritarian governments have become expert at using the web as a weapon against human rights and dissident groups as well as their supporters abroad. They introduce malware into computers and take full control,compromising the security and the integrity of the legitimate computer users.

http://www.nartv.org/2010/07/29/human-rights-and-malware-attacks/

Colombian journalist gets his U.S. visa

Colombian journalist Hollman Morris has received the authorization to enter the U.S. and take up his Nieman fellowship at Harvard University. This decision by the State Department responds to a campaign launched by press freedom organizations, like the Committee to Protect Journalists, and academics. Hollman Morris who has been exposing the links between rightwing paramilitaries and the outgoing conservative Uribe government had been accused of "links with the FARC guerillas", an accusation rejected by most neutral observers as a ploy of the government to defame and discredit its opponent.

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2010/7/23/morris-state-nieman-human/

Amnesty International UK Media Awards 2010

I had failed to mention the Amnesty International UK Media Awards 2010, due to multiple travels and the gaps that this kind of jet hopping life creates in the flow of news.
Here is the info, published in early June, that I am sure you have already received. The awards celebrate in particular the courage of Burmese journalists that worked under brutal conditions to try report on and document the events in their country. Journalism as "conscience trigger", journalism as an essential tool for democracy and human rights, that is also the what these awards establish.

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=18785
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFlD41d65SI&feature=related

Two brilliant examples of investigative journalism

Investigative journalism is an essential ally of human rights awareness and "name and shame" campaigns. Two recent examples should be highlighted hor their ambition and for the choice of their subject:
The Washington Post two-year long investigation into the top secret world created in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the BBC research together with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists into the global scourge of the asbestos industry.
See: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/
http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/asbestos/