Stories about Media & Journalism from July, 2008
Estonia: Russian Media Outlet Urges Boycott
Babel Tallinn reports that Russian news portal, Regnum, urges its readers to boycott Estonia, and also publishes a list of Estonian products and services to be avoided.
Barbados: Setting Standards
As the government is granted a US$5 million International Development Bank loan to upgrade the national standards system, Barbados Free Press continues its call for standards to be adopted with regard to public accountability and transparency.
Cuba, Venezuela, U.S.A.: Empty Dialogue?
Cuban bloggers Babalu and Ninety miles away…in another country focus on U.S. Republican senator Arlen Specter's upcoming Latin American trip, during which he hopes to meet with both Raul Castro and Hugo Chavez: “The Cuban government has made clear that the only thing it is interested in is the unilateral...
Guyana: Death Announcement Ban?
Living Guyana reports that the President plans to ban the broadcast of death announcements because they “are too negative and make people unhappy”, yet MediaCritic notes: “There is still no proper strategy to fight the rampant exploding crime in Guyana.” GT…Keep It Real chimes in: “Presi trying to jack up...
East Timor: Media for peace
The head of media agencies in Timor-Leste participated in a joint press conference to raise awareness for the 100 Day Peace Campaign celebrated around the world. The specific theme in Timor-Leste is this: “What are you doing for peace?”
Palestine: Anger at Young Boy's Needless Death
Israeli troops shot and killed 12-year-old Ahmed Ussam Yousef Mousa during a peaceful protest against the barrier being erected in Nilin. Up to 18 others were injured by rubber bullets during the protest. Ahmed was the only person hit by a live bullet. Jillian York sums up blog reactions in this post.
Serbia: More on Belgrade Rally
Eric Gordy of East Ethnia writes about yesterday's pro-Karadzic rally in Belgrade: “Meanwhile the only element of the meeting that made news was the violent confrontation between skinheads and police, who this time around did not have orders to let the hooligans destroy anything they wanted.”
No to Kuwait's New Internet Law
Kuwaiti bloggers are angry at a proposed new Internet Law, which they claim would make their days as free bloggers numbered, after Attorney General Hamad Al Othman announced that a new law dealing with Internet crimes will be issued soon. Abdullatif Al Omar takes a closer look at the Kuwaiti blogosphere and their reactions to the impending law.
Moldova, Ukraine: Floods
A Fistful of Euros writes about “huge floods across southeastern Europe” and the lack of reliable information in English from this region.
Barbados: What happened to I'Akobi Tacuma Maloney?
After a young Rastafari man died during a suspicious encounter with Barbados police, Rastafari activists and other Barbadian bloggers used online resources to ask hard questions and campaign for justice.
Africa: Mobile reporting
White African discussing mobile reporting in Africa, “Netherland’s based AfricaNews has been a pioneer in this space, starting last year with their “Voices of Africa” section of their site. I’ve been continually impressed with how they find, train and equip their journalists all over Africa.”
Nepal: On China, media and the Olympics
Blogdai on China deciding to reverse its pledge to offer complete media freedom, and planning to censor the Internet used by foreign media during the Olympics.
Barbados, Venezuela: Staking a Claim
Notes From The Margin is monitoring the “strident” tone of an article in the Venezuelan media which deals with the South American country's claim of Barbados’ waters: “Barbados has little reason to take on Venezuela’s claims other than Venezuela has the means to aggressively enforce its claims on the area...
Trinidad & Tobago: Searching for Truth
“One man says we are living under a dictatorship. The other asks, ‘What are you talking about? This isn’t dictatorship. Pinochet, now that was a dictator.’ Sometimes it’s so easy to identify with the first guy”: The Manicou Report plays “the armchair analyst” after an on-air showdown between a reporter...
Bermuda: Party Over People?
A Bermudian government senator declares his unequivocal support for the party's leader, causing Politics.bm to exclaim: “I could never say that my loyalty to any organisation, whether political or not, was ‘undividable and not partial’. That makes you subservient to someone else's agenda.”
Guyana: Blogger covers journalist ban
On 12 July, news broke in Guyana that a senior journalist had been banned from entering the office of the country's president, allegedly in response to a critical news report. As media representatives and others denounced the move as an instance of press censorship, the Living Guyana blog continued its trend of media rights scrutiny with hard-hitting online coverage of the story.
Ukraine: Flooding
Ukrainiana reviews media reports on the flooding in Western Ukraine, which has killed at least 22 people, including six children.
Arabeyes: Head Over Heels for Muhannad
A strange phenomenon has gripped the Arab world and Arabs seem to agree on something. It is an infatuation with a Turkish soap opera, dubbed in Arabic, and its stunning star Muhanned (played by Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ), whose romantic trysts are beamed on television screens across the region. The obsession of some people with the soap has also prompted the Grand Mufti of the Islamic world, Shaikh Abdul Aziz Al Shaikh, from Saudi Arabia, to issue a fatwa (religious edict) banning the drama, saying watching it is Haram (a sin).
Syria: In The Economist
The Blog and the Shower remarks on a recent article in The Economist on censorship in Syria.
Egypt Silences the Voice of Iran
Egyptian authorities shut down the Cairo office of an Iranian TV network over a film that justifies the killing of former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat by Islamic militants. Marwa Rakha sums up the opinions of Egyptian blogger Dina Ayoub about the incident in this post.
Azerbaijan: Media Course
Thoughts On The Road, the blog of an American journalist living and working in Azerbaijan, reports on a recent media course he gave in Sheki.
