· May, 2008

Stories about Freedom of Speech from May, 2008

Ukraine, Russia: Personae Non Gratae

On May 12, Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov was declared persona non grata in Ukraine, following his calls for Russia to take ownership of Sevastopol, a Ukrainian Black Sea naval port. On May 15, Russia denied entry to Vladyslav Kaskiv, one of the leaders of the 2004 protests in Kyiv and member of the Our Ukraine/People's Self-Defense faction in the Ukrainian parliament. LJ user varfolomeev66, a Russian journalist, compares the two cases.

31 May 2008

Bangladesh: Compromised Media

Ever since Bangladesh was put under a state of emergency by an interim government supported by the military it was a testing time for Bangladesh media. The credibility of Bangladesh’s Bangla and English-language press is in question as their recent role seems biased and appeasing. This post discusses the degrading situation of the Bangladeshi media.

30 May 2008

Russia: “Medialogia”

Scraps of Moscow writes about Russian politics and the media: “Sometimes, though, mediologists, not meteorologists, are the best way of trying to figure out which way the political winds are...

29 May 2008

Cuba: Free Speech?

Child of the Revolution sees the irony of the editor of Granma calling for a further restriction on freedom of speech laws in Cuba: “Instead of demanding greater freedom of...

28 May 2008

Lebanon: An Eyewitness Report

Lebanese journalist and blogger Lelia Mezher was one of several Lebanese bloggers who worked round the clock to keep the world informed about the crisis which rocked her country when different factions clashed in Beirut. Global Voices Online caught up with Mezher, who is involved with News Lab, in this quick interview.

27 May 2008

Cuba: Incipient Crackdown?

Both Uncommon Sense and Ninety miles away…in another country blog about an incident in which “police and thugs from a ‘rapid response brigade’ swarmed about two dozen people as they...

27 May 2008

Bermuda: Debate Shut-Down

As the Bermudian Premier shuts down a Parliamentary debate because of accusations of dishonesty by the Opposition, Vexed Bermoothes says: “By shouting down every question or request for accountability as...

26 May 2008

China: Q&A with Premier Wen

An increasing number of questions are being asked as China continues to mourn for the massive number of lives lost in the earthquake in Sichuan earlier this month. Veteran news figure Rose Luqiu has posted her recent questions to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on her blog along with his answers, in full.

25 May 2008

Hong Kong: Floating Voices

An independent video maker Law Man Lok has produced a video, called floating voices (with English subtitles), on inmediahk.net, a citizen journalist site in Hong Kong. (via inmediahk.net)

25 May 2008