Media and human rights

Using satellites to report on human rights crises from Darfur to Syria

2012-01-31T12:23:00.000-08:00

Journalists and human rights activists are not always welcome in repressive states. They are denied visas, escorted by stern-faced minders or even beaten and shot at. How to get around these limitations to free reporting? Some have found part of the answer: using satellite technology to monitor and document crises and human rights abuses. The idea is not completely new and has been already used

The power of Chinese journalists

2012-01-31T10:02:00.000-08:00

China has a very bad press freedom ranking, recalcitrant journalists are harassed and jailed but that does not mean that Chinese "citizen" or "mainstream" journalists are totally powerless or subdued. On key concrete issues like pollution or corruption they dare to report and the authorities do not always react with a heavy stick. "Chinese press has impact, against the odds", writes Kristin Jones

The responsibility to report on mass atrocities. Reflections on a New York conference

2012-01-29T10:17:00.000-08:00

« Journalists are participants, they are not observers ». Canadian philosopher Michael Ignatieff hit a nerve when he addressed the 20 journalists convened in New York City on January 17 by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to protect and the Stanley Foundation. Ten years after the report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, which had framed the

Learn how to protect your sources online from spies, thugs and terrorists

2012-01-29T01:43:00.000-08:00

Ingelligence agences, drug cartels and terrorist organizations, warns Frank Smyth, know how to monitor their adversaries' communications and this expertise can also be applied to journalists. There is an urgent need for news organizations, schools of journalism and media assistance specialists to integrate computer security in their work and programmes. Read F? Smyth's blog on CPJ's website http:

Twitter under pressure from online anticensorship activists

2012-01-29T01:34:00.000-08:00

Online press freedom advocates mobilized yesterday 28 January to slam Twitter's decision to censor Tweets on a country basis. That decision by the (up to now) highly popular company risks indeed to submit Tweets to the censorship rules of specific countries, providing comfort to authoritarian regimes that are increasingly concerned by the capacity of social media to circumvent their repressive

Turkish press freedom: a priority for journalists'organizations

2012-01-23T05:57:00.000-08:00

While Turkey is lauded for its role model as a "Muslim democracy" in the context of the Arab spring its governement has been increasing its pressures on journalists. In the last months dozens of media professionals have been detained under vague anti-terror laws and submitted to intimidating legal proceedings. The European Federation of Journalists has made Turkey its top priority and the

The future of Al-Jazeera, according to Philip Seib

2011-12-29T23:50:00.000-08:00

I had missed this story, branded as one the best "webbased articles" on the Foreign Affairs website. Written by professor Philip Seib, one of the leading analysts of global media and journalism, it explains the evolution of the Arab mediasphere through the changes at Al-Jazeera, the famous and at times controversial Qatar-based broadcaster that revolutionized Arab and global news coverage in the

Best Books of 2011: the choice of Foreign Affairs

2011-12-29T23:15:00.000-08:00

Foreign Affairs, the magazine published by the New-York based Council on Foreign Relations has just published its lists of the "best books of 2011", reviewed by leading academics and classified according to regions (Europe, Asia, etc) and themes (military, economy, etc.) The selections are of course subjective but quite a few refer to issues close to the "mandate" of this blog. Among these "human

43 journalists killed in 2011, Committee to Protect Journalists

2011-12-20T03:51:00.000-08:00

2011 has been again a bad year for the press. 43 journalists have been killed around the world in direct relation to their work, with Pakistan infamously topping with 7 deaths. This tallly by the Committee to Protect Journalists, reminds us that journalists pay a heavy price to inform the public, in particular on conflicts and issues that have a strong human rights angle, like wars or street "

The potential and pitfalls of "drone journalism"

2011-12-20T02:16:00.000-08:00

Drones are being used to "neutralize" targets in the new wars of Afghanistan or the Near East. But these unmanned small flying machines are also being used to gather video and cover news stories, like street demonstrations and police repression. Drones were used for instance in Moscow to report on protests against the recent elections. There are however some problems in th use of drones. Strict

Social media and Arab revolts: how to make the most of technology

2011-12-20T01:21:00.000-08:00

Social media have been -to some extent, some will correct - at the centre of the Arab spring but also at the center of the world attention to these events. Mohamed al Abdallah reports on a conference organized by Victoria University that describes new original ways of using new technologies to communicate, inform and organize. http://ijnet.org/blog/

Russia: know who are for human rights and press freedom

2011-12-13T06:01:00.000-08:00

The protests against Putin and last week's elections have produced great examples of journalism. Not only on how to interpret what has come as a surprise to many observers but also to know who is who in this democratic movement. Among these media jewels, I have selected In Foreign Policy, the anti-Putin brigade, a photo essay on the "new" Russian dissidents as well as Tanya Lokshina's (Human

OSCE: A new guidebook on the safety of journalists

2011-12-13T05:42:00.000-08:00

The Vienna-based Organization for security and cooperation in Europe has just published a new guidebook on journalists' safety, meant for its member states. It has been written by William Horsley, international director of the Centre for freedom of the media at Sheffield University and the representative of the Association of European Journalists at the Council of Europe and other

Jean-François Julliard stands down as Reporters Without Borders secretary-general

2011-12-13T01:54:00.000-08:00

Jean-François Julliard stands down as secretary-general announces of RSF (Reporters without borders) on 31 January. The organization’s board of governors is currently looking for a replacement. Olivier Basille, Reporters Without Borders’ representative in Brussels, will be acting head of the organization until a successor is appointed. Reporters Without Borders president Dominique Gerbaud

Cairo 678: Celebrate human rights and fight sexual harassment with the OHCHR

2011-12-13T00:24:00.000-08:00

With some delay and with my excuses please read this presentation of Celebrate Human Rights organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the occasion of Human Rights Day 2011. The Brussels office of the OHCHR (led by the Czech Republics former commissioner for human rights Jan Jarab) offered a wonderful event on December 9 with a debate on women's and travellers' rights

No-disconnect: the European Commission's strategy to defend on-line democracy and human rights

2011-12-12T23:42:00.000-08:00

The EC Digital Agenda Commissioner, Neelie Kroes has announced on Monday the launch of a new strategy, called "No-Disconnect", aimed at helping human rights activists around the world to protect their Internet freedom. This initiative follows another move adopted a few days ago by the European Parliament under the guidance of Dutch liberal MEP Marietje Schaakje to create an Internet freedom Fund.

The laureates of the EU Lorenzo Natali Prize 2011

2011-12-12T23:18:00.000-08:00

17 winners from all around the world were awarded the Lorenzo Natali Prize for outstanding journalistic work covering issues of development, human rights and democracy during the award ceremony in Brussels tonight. They have been chosen from more than 1300 participants. The top winner is a Danish TV journalist Tom Heinemann who has authored a documentary debunking the myth of micro-credit.

RSF/Le Monde award their press freedom prize 2011

2011-12-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

With the support of TV5MONDE, Reporters Without Borders and Le Monde have awarded the 2011 Press Freedom Prize to two symbols of courage, Syrian newspaper cartoonist Ali Ferzat and the Burmese newspaper Weekly Eleven News . http://en.rsf.org/reporters-without-borders-le-monde-08-12-2011,41523.html.

CPJ's 2011 prison list : 179 journalists behind bars

2011-12-08T01:57:00.000-08:00

The 2011 edition of the Committee to Protect Journalists' prison list draws a dark picture: the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide shot up more than 20 percent to its highest level -179- since 1996. Iran has become the world's top jailer of journalists (42), before Eritrea, China, Burma, Vietnam, Syria, Turkey, Ethipoia and Israel/Occupied territories.. Jailing journalists does not only

Meet hacktivists of Telecomix

2011-12-07T08:07:00.000-08:00

Authoritarian states woud like to "clean" the Internet from opponents, dissenters and free minds. Yesterday for instance Russia and a few other states opposed the adoption of a Declaration of freedom in cyberspace at a meeting of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) held in Vilnius (Lithuania). Some "hactivists" however fight from the other side and devote their

The launch of the Journalism Foundation in London

2011-12-05T04:42:00.000-08:00

A new foundation, called the Journalism Foundation, has just been launched in London with a view to develop and sustain free and fair journalism across the world. Supported by Alexander and Evegeny Lebedev (chairman of the London dailies The Independent and the Evening Standard) and directed by renowned journalist Simon Kelner, the Foundation means to boost quality journalism in the public

Tunisian media: the need for a democratic reform

2011-12-04T01:03:00.000-08:00

Last week I was in Tunis at the invitation of INRIC (Instance nationale pour la réforme de l’information et de la communication), an institute led by Kamel Labidi, a leading Tunisian journalist who went into exile in the mid-90s, in Cairo and Washington, where he worked as a senior advisor for the Committee to Protect Journalists.During

The European Parliament votes to fund Internet freedom and help online human rights defenders

2011-12-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

Liberal Dutch MEP Marietje Schaake, a leading voice for press freedom and freedom of expression at the European Parliament, has convinced her colleagues to approve her proposal to include internet freedom as a key objective in the EU's foreign and international trade policy. It is a major breakthrough in the struggle to make sure that Internet be really a "liberation technology" and not a new

Unreported World: a human rights-focused programme on Channel 4

2011-12-02T07:52:00.000-08:00

Human rights reporting is often at the heart of breaking news, as demonstrated by the current Syrian drama. However it also means an assignment on so-called "neglected crises" or "forgotten peoples". Uncovering and publicizing issues that do not show up on the world news radar screen is an essential commitment of human rights journalism: because all human lives are equal, be they trapped in the

CPJ International Press Freedom Awards: "buck the system"

2011-11-25T00:29:00.000-08:00

The 2011 edition of the Committee to Protect Journalists' dinner in New York was a tribute to courage in journalism. It not only rewarded 4 prominent foreign journalists who risk their life to report but also reminded everyone of the necessity of solidarity and of the key role of the press in defending the rights of all. Read here the highlights of the ceremony: http://www.cpj.org/blog/2011/11/

Journalists helping journalists on Tahrir Square

2011-11-25T00:12:00.000-08:00

The Vulture Club Facebook page which was started by Peter Bouckaert, the seasoned top emergency researcher at Human Rights Watch, is a barometer of Egypt's temperature in the mean streets around Tahrir Sqaure. With security forces breaking all civilized rules of engagement and criminally aiming their rubber bullets (and some say live ammunition) and gas canisters at the heads of demonstrators all

RSF warns: do not send women reporters to Egypt. And triggers a controversy.

2011-11-24T23:54:00.000-08:00

Violent sexual attacks against women journalists have prompted Reporters without Borders (RSF) to advise the media against sending women reporters to Egypt at least momentarily. This warning, which is questioned by some women journalists (see Lindey Hilsum's letter to RSF), comes after two new mob attacks have been reported against a France 3 journalist Caroline Sinz and the Egyptian-American

Prestigious Roland Berger Prize awarded to Arab democratic activists

2011-11-24T23:05:00.000-08:00

The prestigious German Prize, the Roland Berger Human Dignity Award, has been given to Radhia Nasraoui (Tunisia), the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information founded by Mr. Gamal Eid (Egypt) and Mr. Mazen Darwish, the founder of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression. http://www.rolandbergerstiftung.org/index.php?id=243

The International Day to End Impunity : against those thugs that get away with murder

2011-11-22T09:26:00.000-08:00

Impunity is one of the reasons why attacks against journalists continue. In most cases killers run free and the names of their paymasters nearly never appear in the lazy investigations that follow most murders or attacks. Besides the World Press Freedom Day on May 3 the international community of press freedom groups and journalists' associations assembled within IFEX (the Toronto-based

Juan Mendez, Taking a Stand. The Evolution of Human Rights

2011-11-21T06:30:00.000-08:00

Juan Mendez has spent all his life in the human rights movement, as a militant lawyer, a dogged war crimes investigator, a UN expert and an academic. Now a professor at the American University in Washington he is also the United Nations Rapporteur on Torture.I had the honour and the pleasure to meet him a couple of times, first as a journalist covering Latin America in the 80s when he was the

Video advocacy: the WITNESS toolkit

2011-11-20T23:07:00.000-08:00

The production of video has been a major advance in human rights reporting and documentation. The US-based organization WITNESS has developed a particular expertise and accumulated a lot of experience in this field. They are sharing it with you: http://www.ushrnetwork.org/content/toolkitsmanuals/witness-video-advocacy-planning-toolkit

Books: The Fear. Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe

2011-11-20T07:07:00.000-08:00

The International Crisis Group has just published a sobering account of the attempts at bringing a real solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe (http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/africa/southern-africa/zimbabwe/B082-resistance-and-denial-zimbabwes-stalled-reform-agenda.aspx ) Robert Mugabe's forces still hold a monopoly on the security services that have been behind most of the violence against

The VanDyke deception: imperiling other journalists by pretending to be a journalist

2011-11-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

CPJ's executive director has just published a justifiably angry blog on how an "alleged" U.S. reporter, Matthew VanDyke, who was arrested in Libya and kept in detention was in fact a soldier of fortune on the side of the rebellion. CPJ mobilized to get him freed, diverting precious time and resources away from real cases of attacks against journalists. More dangerously sitll, by pretending to be

The Martin Adler Prize for "fixers" goes to two Libyan citizens

2011-11-18T06:59:00.000-08:00

Fixers are increasingly essential in getting the story out in hostile environments. Athough they often forgotten by the international media when they are victims of abductions, retaliations or killings they also see their merits and courage rewarded. "One small but significant attempt to redress that balance is the Martin Adler Prize" writes Joel Gunter in Journalism.co.uk. "The prize, which is

CPJ's 2011 International Press Freedom Awards

2011-11-18T03:01:00.000-08:00

Honoring courage and defying repression CPJ's 2011 International Press Freedom Awards New York, November 16, 2011- Four outstanding journalists who have endured and defied media repression in Bahrain, Belarus, Mexico, and Pakistan will be honored with the Committee to Protect Journalists ' 2011 International Press Freedom Awards, an annual recognition of courageous journalism. All have

Refuting extremism: the U.S. Army's Digital Engagement Team

2011-11-18T02:59:00.000-08:00

There is at least one part of the cyberwarfare that is transparent: the Digital Engagement Team set up by the US Central Command in Tampa (Florida). Experts working in this base called Tampa-stan (since they cover many countries in -stan, like Pakistan or Afghanistan) scan the Net to try to identify information and discussions deemed to disseminate "lies, misinformation and just misperceptions,

The U.S. authorities and the journalists' right to cover social protests

2011-11-18T02:43:00.000-08:00

In the USA, the country of the First Amendment, the authorities are supposed to guarantee and protect the reporters' right to cover social protests. The attitude of the U.S. police towards working journalists should indeed set standards for the rest of the world, particularly in those countries where the U.S.government is officially promoting press freedom and the right to report. Now according

The new frontlines of online reporting

2011-11-14T21:47:00.000-08:00

Danny O'Brien has posted a great blog on the CPJ website based on a conference in Istanbul on the challenges facing online journalists. http://www.cpj.org/internet/2011/11/defending-the-middle-ground-of-online-journalism.php">

How the media can halt mass atrocities: a conference in Montreal

2011-10-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

The Montreal Institute for Genocide Studies is organizing a promising conference later this week on "the promise of the media in halting mass atrocities". I will take part as a panelits in this event that commemorates the 10th anniversary of the principle of the Responsibility to Protect. To know more about this event please consult

A rain of international prizes for committed journalists

2011-10-11T02:13:00.000-07:00

Brave journalists have been collecting international prizes, in recognition of their efforts and courage in confronting authoritarian states or groups. The Committee to Protect Journalists has released the names of the recipients of its international press freedom awards http://www.cpj.org/awards/2011/cpj-international-press-freedom-awards-2011.php The Anna Lindh Foundation, based in

Obiang Prize: "we won"

2011-10-11T01:48:00.000-07:00

The UNESCO executive board has wisely decided to postpone its decision to spring next year on the ill-famed Obiang Prize, named after the President of Equatorial Guinea (see previous blog on this site http://www.humanrightsmediaproject.org/2011/09/campaign-to-stop-obiang-prize-at-unesco.html). The victory is not complete since the campaign to reinstate the Prize might still be pushed by President

Birmanie: changement ou pas changement?

2011-10-11T01:43:00.000-07:00

Les théories s'entrechoquent sur la réalité et l'ampleur des réformes introduites par le gouvernement "quasi civil" de l'ex-général Thein Sein. Pour apprécier l'intensité et la diversité du débat, je vous joins ma chronique du 20 septembre dans Le Soir et mon blog du 9 octobre sur lesoir.be. Deux regards un peu différents, qui cite en particulier un rapport, résolument optimiste, de

Burma: the transition has not really started. A CPJ report.

2011-09-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

The "quasi-civilian" Burmese government formed after the flawed November 2010 elections tries to prove that it is really on the way to reform the country's authorititarian rule. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has been referring to "positive developments" lately and the Brussels-based and respected International Crisis Group has just published a report highlighting that "major reform

A campaign to stop the Obiang Prize at UNESCO

2011-09-26T23:23:00.001-07:00

UNESCO must stop discredited prize New York, September 26, 2011—UNESCO should reject a new bid to honor Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea and now Africa's longest serving ruler, with a prize in his name, a group of nine human rights organizations said today. UNESCO’s executive board, which is meeting in Paris until October 6, 2011, is to consider a proposal

Unesco inter-UN meeting on fighting impunity in journalists' murders

2011-09-16T03:12:00.000-07:00

I took part on Wednesday in a UN Inter-agency meeting convened in Paris by UNESCO. This organization which has among its mandate the defense of press freedom (as illustrated by the World Press Freedom Day each year on the 3rd of May and the Unesco/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize) relayed the concerns raised by the high level of attacks against the press around the world and the extent of

Keeping the Syria revolt and repression online

2011-09-15T12:39:00.000-07:00

Syria is one of the toughest news assignments. Foreign journalists are banned and take great risks if they try to sneak into the country. So how do we get some news about the revolt and the repression? Through daring online activisist like the ones described here in this BBC report. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14914765

How Wikileaks blew it : an Ethiopian journalist under fire

2011-09-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

The risk that human rights defenders and journalists might get into trouble if their names would appear in the State Department cables distributed by Wikileaks has become reality. As denounced yesterday by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) an Ethiopian journalist Argaw Ashine was summoned by officials of the Government

South Sudan: how to respect press freedom in a newly independent country

2011-09-09T00:51:00.000-07:00

It seems to be a pattern when a people fights for its independance or liberation and then its leaders accede to power. Journalists who were seen as supporters of the cause are suddenly subject to mistrust and submitted to censorship and repression.It happened in Nicaragua in the early 80s when the Sandinista government started harassing

UN Inter-agency meeting in Paris on violence against journalists and impunity

2011-09-06T06:20:00.000-07:00

A big UN Inter-agency meeting on the safety of journalists and the issue of impunity will be held on 13-14 september 2011 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. It will bring together UN officials, press freedom groups like CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists), INSI (International News Safety Institute) or RSF (Reporters without Borders)

9/11: an IFJ conference on Journalism in the shadows of terror laws

2011-09-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

Journalists have been victims of terrorist organizations: let us remember Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl or Libération special envoy Florence Aubenas who was held hostages for months in Iraq. Many have been murdered. Many have been intimidated. Journalists have also been victims of counterterrorism. They have been targeted, arrested, detained, spied upon or banned from doing their job

Human Rights Watch launches a prize honoring a human rights photographer

2011-09-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

Photojournalism is intimitaly linked to the human rights story. Remember Capa and Taro in the Spanish civil war or Larry Burrows in Vietnam. Human Rights Watch which has been in the forefront of working with photojournalists to document abuses and to mobilize public opinion has established with World Press Photo an annual "visual journalism award" and it has named it after the late Tim

Ukraine: a breakthrough in the Gongadze case

2011-09-01T01:52:00.000-07:00

The killing of Ukrainian investigative journalist Georgy Gongadze in 2000 was a shock. The suspicion that he had been the victim of foul play by top authorities gave a special significance to the case. And impunity seemed to be the rule, as in so many murders of journalists around the world. Until yesterday, when the major suspect, a former general, admitted to the killing and directly

Are local "foreign correspondents" better than foreigners?

2011-09-01T01:45:00.000-07:00

Are local correspondents of international media better or less free than the traditional foreign correspondent? The question has been debated for many years, some arguing that local correspondents provide a wealth of knowledge, contacts and context that expatriate journalists and parachute journalists cannot offer. Others however fear that local correspondents can be more fearful of speaking

Watch the Libya revolution "live" with the Vulture Club

2011-08-22T01:18:00.000-07:00

Following the fall of Kadhafi is made easier through the Vulture Club page on Facebook. The exchange of information, the questions on how to find a fixer, whether a specific passage point is safe between Tunisia and Libya, tell a lot on how the situation evolves in Libya. This page also provides an incredible look at the way

INSI to set up in Latin America

2011-08-18T23:01:00.000-07:00

LONDON 18 August - The International News Safety Institute has joined forces with Abraji, the Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism, to set up a new organisation, INSI Latin America, which will work to promote the safety of journalists in the region. INSI and Abraji are natural partners. Abraji is a year older than INSI and was formed in response to the brutal murder

Former French hostages insist: "we must cover Afghanistan"

2011-07-02T00:14:00.000-07:00

While the controversy is still there concerning if and how much ransom money was paid to the Taliban to free Stéphane Tapenier and Hervé Ghesquière, the two France 3 journalists held captive in Afghanistan for 547 days, the challenge for the profession is to defend the right to go to dangerous places. This was the message that the two freed men repeated in front of their colleagues at France

South Asian Journalists Association annual journalism awards

2011-06-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

SAJA is a professional association of South Asian journalists based in New York. It strives in particular to promote in-dept and quality reporting on countries of the region through convention debates, reporting fellowships and its annual awards.Click on the links to this year's awardees. They highlight great journalism on issues that often emphasize human rights.http://www.saja.org/ The South

Journalists forced to flee their country: the 2011 CPJ exile report

2011-06-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

Some 70 journalists have been forced to leave their country over the past 12 months, among them 18 from Iran and 18 from Cuba. This new tally established by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also provides figures on the last decade when CPJ started keeping detailed exile records and it describes the difficulties that these journalists have to confront in their new

Autocratic Arab regimes media counteroffensive

2011-05-23T02:34:00.000-07:00

The Washingtoin Post has an interesting piece on how autocratic regimes are using the Internet, the blogosphere and social media to intimidate and repress dissidents. "It is Repression 2.0", says Daniel Baer, deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor. They sabotage access to Internet, swamp Facebook accounts with junk, threaten by email, send false information,

Claude Estier rend hommage aux journalistes engagés/ A book on committed journalism

2011-05-21T05:12:00.000-07:00

A lire (si vous le voulez bien!) dans mon blog du Soir une recension du livre de Claude Estier sur les "journalistes engagés". Committed journalism is part of a great humanist tradition in France. Claude Estier has devoted a great essay to this form of journalism that has given J'Accuse of Emile Zola and Claude Bourdet, fighting Nazi occupation first and then torture in French controlled Algeria.

Al Jazeera English winning the global media war

2011-05-21T03:34:00.001-07:00

The hierarchy is changing among global media news players. A comparative study by the Columbia school of journalism (New York) is a great guide to understanding the ranking on credibility, the coverage of big stories, etc. of the “new kids on the block”.This study compares Al Jazeera English (AJE), described as the most credible, Russia

Four women journalists are honored for their courage

2011-05-10T00:16:00.000-07:00

The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) has just released the names of the laureates of its Courage in Journalism Awards. Three women, from Mexico, Thailand and Iran have been celebrated as well as Kate Adie, the famous BBC correspondent, who has received a Lifetime Achievement Award. http://iwmf.org/honoring-courage.aspx

"Torture led to Bin Laden"? Not so sure...

2011-05-05T01:36:00.000-07:00

Being the first to frame a story is key to winning the « information wars », at least its first battles. When it emerged that a tip that led to the localization of Bin Laden came from a Guantanamo prisoner it was inevitable that some would try to give a spin to that.Former members of the Bush administration – John Yoo, the author of the

Press freedom day: "The 10 tools of online oppressors"

2011-05-03T00:40:00.000-07:00

On this day of celebration of press freedom dozens of events are taking place around the world. Press freedom groups are releasing reports, indexes, essays and statements in order to “frame” the agenda and give as much visibility as possible to the issue..Things have changed since the launch by the United Nations General Assembly of World Press Freedom day in the mid-nineties. Even though no one

How to crack the North Korean "firewall"? The experience of Seoul-based news pirates

2011-04-26T22:16:00.000-07:00

Former President Jimmy Carter is in North Korea for talks on touchy issues – nuclear weapons, human rights – and might meet with President Kim Jong-il.Will we get independent reporting from this isolated country?North Korea is the “hermit kingdom”, a country where news is totally controlled by the regime. However according to an interesting article by Robert S. Boynton, http://

The difficulty of reporting from Syria

2011-04-25T23:01:00.000-07:00

How to report on Syria’s events ? As the regime has banned foreign journalists the news from Damascus or the besieged city of Deraa depends on an informal network of online activists. According to articles on the BBC website and the New York Times, these activists are using Twitter and Facebook accounts to set up an alternative newsgathering and news distribution system.The Facebook page of

The winners of the Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma

2011-04-23T01:36:00.000-07:00

The well-respected Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, a project of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism (New York) has just released its 2011 list of winners of its Prize for Excellence in the Coverage of Trauma. The prize rewards a commitment to in-depth and even crusading journalism in the public interest The media that have been honored this year are: The Boston Globe, the Dallas

New awards and a new site for top investigative Center for Public Integrity

2011-04-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

Read this well-deserved self-congratulation from the Center for Public Integrity. They have been doing great work for years and they are harvesting what they deserve: prestigious journalism prizes in fields and on issues that are close to the interest of our International Project on human rigths and the media. "This week, the Center and NPR won a prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award

Novelists are better than the CIA at predicting trouble and unrest

2011-04-22T01:34:00.000-07:00

On the eve of the opening next week of the World Voices Festival of International Literature in New York, courtesy of the PEN American Center, it might be interesting to think about the prescience of novelists in predicting the deep trends in their societies. In this blog, published in Le Soir (Brussels), I relay some examples that demonstrate, from Egypt in 2011 to Uruguay in 1955, the talent of

Homage to Tim Hetherington, a photographer at the crossroads of journalism and humanism

2011-04-20T23:29:00.000-07:00

Photojournalism is often embedded with human rights. Major stories of repression, war, suffering and hope would have never made it in the news if photojournalists had not been there, in the field, often at an immense risk for their satefy. Many have died to get the story; like Robert Capa and Larry Burrows in Vietnam and others in Bosnia or Iraq. Tim Hetherington who was fatally hit in the battle

GlobalPost is winning its challenge to cover world news

2011-04-20T01:29:00.000-07:00

Credated in January 2009, GlobalPost was based on two facts: international news matters and U.S. media are downsizing their international coverage. It seems to be winning. Read the interview with its CEO, courtesy of the International Center for Foreign Journalists. http://ijnet.org/stories/globalpost-thrives-looks-expand-journalism-model

Prix Pulitzer: comment le New York Times a convaincu Microsoft et la Russie

2011-04-20T00:13:00.000-07:00

J'ai annoncé hier les prix Pulitzer en anglais, voici mon blog sur Soir sur la manière dont Clifford Levy et Ellen Barry ont amené Microsoft à changer de politique afin d'empêcher les services de sécurité russes de harceler les journalistes et activistes indépendants. Bonne lecture http://blog.lesoir.be/lalibertesinonrien/2011/04/20/

Fukushima: the threat of a complacent press/une presse trop conformiste

2011-04-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

The Japanese mainstream media are on the grill. They are accused of being too close to the nuclear industry and the government and of undercovering their failings. Safety is also a human right and the freedom to report as well. Read Madeline Earp's blog on the Committee to protect journalists website http://www.cpj.org/blog/2011/04/japan-discourages-freelance-online-reporting-on-nu.php and if you

Pulitzer for International reporting to the New York Times Moscow team

2011-04-18T21:32:00.000-07:00

The Pulitzer jury definitely rewarded great human rights reporting this year. The prestigious award goes to Clifford Levy, the Moscow New York Times bureau chief (until early 2011), and Ellen Barry (Moscow correspondent and current bureau chief), for their series Above the Law on corruption and abuse of power in Russia two decades after the end of communism. It deals in particular with attacks

I am back!

2011-04-18T21:16:00.000-07:00

With excuses to my readers. Life has been too hectic in the last months with the publication of a new book (L'éthique de la dissidence, the start of a event-driven blog on Le Soir website and, of course, the rolling news story of Arab revolts. I will be back with articles, links and news about reporting human rights, which means very often just "reporting" since human rights are part of most of

CPJ: 42 journalists killed in 2010

2010-12-16T21:06:00.000-08:00

The Committee to Protect Journalists has just released its 2010 "journalistic death" report. 42 journalists have been targeted and murdered or killed in crossfire and dangerous assignments. Pakistan tops the list.Read the report online on CPJ's websitehttp://cpj.org/reports/2010/12/journalists-killed-pakistan-deadliest-nation-press.php

CPJ list of imprisonned journalists 2010

2010-12-16T20:57:00.000-08:00

The Committee to Protect Journalists has released its 2010 list of jailed journalists. 145 colleagues are in prison mostly after being accused of "antistate activities". It is the highest tally in 14 years. Iran and China are the worst offenders.Four winners of CPJ International Press Freedom award are on the 2010 census.-Awardee Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, a Cuban journalist held since the 2003

The Wikileaks controversies

2010-12-16T20:49:00.000-08:00

The Wikileaks controversy is in full swing in journalistic and press freedom circles. Declarations are pouring in, columnists are taking a stand, the U.S. government tries to find a way to prosecute Julian Assange under the 1917 Espionage Act. The House of representatives in the U.S. even held a hearing. In order to help get a better sense of the debates, I will regularly relay and post documents

Istanbul Calling: A Boycott for Mr. Naipaul

2010-11-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

Istanbul Calling: A Boycott for Mr. Naipaul: "What is it about Turks and winners of the Nobel prize for literature? Their own home-grown one, Orhan Pamuk, has more-or-less been hounded ..."

Google uses the free trade argument to defend internet freedom

2010-11-16T23:10:00.000-08:00

Internet freedom can be defended on the basis of human rights and freedom of expression (Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights) but it can also be considered as a free or fair trade issue. This is the angle chosen by Google in this "white paper".Google Press ReleaseToday we’re releasing a white paper [PDF] that explores the ways that governments impose limits on the free flow of

The danger of relying on one partisan source in reporting conflict

2010-11-16T03:36:00.000-08:00

The International Federation of Journalists has reacted to the publication in some Spanish media of a photograph presented as coming from Western Sahara although it came from Gaza. As IFJ's general secretary observes, although the Spanish media have quickly reacted, removed the picture and expressed their apologies it reminds everyone that journalists should be particularly cautious when covering

CPJ targeted by Chinese cyberwarriors?

2010-11-13T03:20:00.001-08:00

Last week end staff at CPJ have received a "personal invitation" to the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to be held in Oslo in early December. The document attached to the email contained a malware that might have had devastating consequences for the integrity and security of CPJ internet traffic.Danny O'Brien, the Internet advocacy coordinator at CPJ has written a very interesting blog on the risks

CPJ launches an appeal to help journalists in need

2010-11-10T07:31:00.000-08:00

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)delegation to Moscow in late September was moved by the case of Mikhail Beketov, a journalist and environmental activist - based in the town of Khimki close to Moscow- who was brutally beaten and left for dead in the cold winter in 2008. He had one leg and 3 fingers amputated and now after a long stay in hospital he is back home in a wheelchair. And he

Russian journalists again under attack

2010-11-08T21:44:00.000-08:00

Russian journalists have been again under attack. Last September I met in Moscow with a CPJ delegation another journalist, Mikhail Beketov. He had been brutally assaulted in 2008 while he was covering the dirty deals behind the construction of a highway between Moscow and St Petersburg through the Khimki forests, one of the last forests close to Moscow. His leg has been amputated as well as three

Chinese authorities "post Liu Xiaobo", continue arresting dissidents and block websites

2010-10-28T22:40:00.000-07:00

By Human Rights in ChinaPut Under House Arrest as Chinese Authorities Intensify Crackdown Following Nobel Peace Prize Announcement DATE: October 28, 2010 Human Rights in China (HRIC) has learned through communication with those affected and online sources that nearly forty individuals inside China have been put under house arrest in the weeks following the announcement of Liu Xiaobo’s (刘晓波) 2010

A new fellowship for international reporting

2010-10-25T05:01:00.000-07:00

Internews and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reportint announce a new fellowship honoring Persephone Miel. Read here the announcement by Internews.Christina Maria PaschynPublished on October 21, 2010On October 20, friends and colleagues of Persephone Miel gathered to remember the former senior advisor of Internews, who dedicated her life to advancing the work of journalists across the globe.

Muckraking and human rights

2010-10-24T23:46:00.000-07:00

The defense of human rights has often gone in parallel with the practise of "muckraking",or of investigative forms of journalism bent on watching the powers that be. In this post, published on the site of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Michael Schudson, lists the best books on investigative journalism.http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/icij/global_muckraker/

Chinese journalists fighting for their "space". A CPJ report

2010-10-21T23:55:00.000-07:00

Excellent and balanced report by the Committee to Protect Journalists on how Chinese journalists in a general context of censorship and repression open up spaces for investigative reporting.

Guillermo Fariñas receives the Sakharov Prize

2010-10-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

21 October 2010, Strasbourg - Cuban dissident Guillermo Fariñas has been declared the winner of the 2010 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The announcement was made on Thursday by European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek following a decision by the EU Parliament's political group leaders. Mr Fariñas will be invited to attend the award ceremony on 15 December in Strasbourg."Guillermo Fariñas

A Russian journalist laureate of the Peter Mackler Award

2010-10-21T22:54:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 19, 2010Peter Mackler Award Winner to Speak at Columbia School of JournalismIlya Barabanov, 25, winner of the 2010 Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism, will speak at a Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism on Monday October 25, 2010 at 5:30 PM. Details of the event can be found on the school's website. The event is open to the public, RSVP is

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

2010-09-05T02:44:00.001-07:00

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/

Grotius.fr prend son envol/takes off

2010-09-05T02:36:00.000-07:00

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 "

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

2010-09-05T02:33:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-05T22:47:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-24T22:48:00.000-07:00

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

Amnesty International UK Media Awards 2010

2010-07-22T02:43:00.000-07:00

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

Two brilliant examples of investigative journalism

2010-07-20T23:55:00.000-07:00

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

David Ignatius and Biz Stone, ICFJ laureates

2010-07-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

Two media leaders will receive awards from the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) for outstanding work. Washington Post Columnist David Ignatius will get the Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism for his commentary on international affairs. Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone will receive ICFJ's first Innovation Award. His real-time information network has opened new ways to break

Haiti: how the media coped with the catastrophe and what to do now

2010-07-20T22:41:00.000-07:00

The CIMA(Center for International Media Assistance, a branch of the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy) has held a semianr on the impact of the Haiti earthquake on the media, especially local media. The website offers information on how local media coped with the catastrophe (the worsening of already poor conditions for independent reporting but also the rise of social media). It

No U.S. visa for a Harvard fellow

2010-07-19T01:43:00.000-07:00

The U.S. denial of a visa to Colombian TV producer Hollman Morris -invited for a Harvard University fellowship - has been condemned by prominent press freedom and human rights organizations, like the Committee to Protect Journalists, and by mainstream and liberal media. Charges by the Colombian government that Morris is an "ally of terrorists" have not been sustantiated, writes the CPJ, who also