· February, 2012

Stories about Media & Journalism from February, 2012

Costa Rica: Turning to Facebook to Fund TV Show

  29 February 2012

Sürrealista is a media producer in Costa Rica that has worked with many local bands. Now they want to have a 30 minute TV Show and to make that happen[es], they are asking for people to watch their pilot show online, give it a “like” on facebook and share it.

Trinidad & Tobago: Battle with Media

  29 February 2012

Afra Raymond outlines what he believes is a “sinister pattern” towards the media in Trinidad & Tobago, since the People's Partnership has been in government. According to Raymond, who elaborated on his views in an accompanying webcast, “…given the boundless nature of the new technology, we are going to see...

Trinidad & Tobago: Carnival is My Time

  28 February 2012

“In an attempt to imitate art…culture in T&T seems to have perverted itself and in trying to become something else, may have succeeded all too well; the business model of Tribe and the other new ‘Rio’ styled bands seems to be built on encouraging excess for profit”: Plain Talk suggests...

Jamaica: Inmate Beatings

  28 February 2012

Following reports that several high-profile inmates are being beaten, Active Voice wants to know “what’s going down at the Horizon Adult Remand Centre”, which seems to be “a virtual Guantanamo Bay.”

Iran: A blogger and journalist was released

  28 February 2012

Marzieh Rasouli, an Iranian blogger and journalist who was arrested 6 weeks ago, got free on bail.Marzieh writes stories and narrations of her daily life in ‘3 Rouz Pish‘ [fa]. Earlier the Iranian Revolutionary Guards has accused [fa] her of serious charges including ‘espionage’. Reporters Without Borders says [fa] Iran...

Peru: Problems with Access to Information and Forestry Transparency

  27 February 2012

The Peruvian Press Council reported on a “Public Hearing: Access to Information and Transparency Forest,” accompanied by a training workshop on related issues in the town of Nueva Cajamarca, San Martin. Journalist and blogger Juan Carlos Lujan, who was one of the trainers, recounts [es] the problems faced due to...

Cuba: Working for “The Enemy”?

  27 February 2012

Havana Times reports that “the leading Cuban government website…unleashed a front page attack on blogger Yoani Sanchez…with an article accusing her of working for the enemy (USA) for pay”; Sanchez herself sees a news report “in which the blogger Miriam Celaya and other acquaintances appear, surrounded with epithets such as...

Cuba: More Sunday Detentions

  27 February 2012

Uncommon Sense blogs about yet another Sunday of repression as members of Las Damas de Blanco were again detained by authorities.

Australia: Political Paralysis Before Leadership Vote

  25 February 2012

Australia’s governing party will decide between the leadership of the country's current Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the one she deposed in 2010, Kevin Rudd. After months of speculation, Australian Labor Party parliamentarians will vote after a very self-destructive confrontation this week. Twitter is aflutter.

Cuba: Prisoners’ Rights

  24 February 2012

Uncommon Sense republishes a statement by Amnesty International about “former prisoner of conscience Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia [whose] whereabouts are unknown following his alleged arrest in central Havana, Cuba, on 21 February”; Pedazos de la Isla, meanwhile, reports that “the political prisoner on hunger strike, Ernesto Borges, was taken from...

Colombia: Citizen Journalist Threatened Over Viral Video

  23 February 2012

Citizen journalist Bladimir Sánchez has already received threats for posting a video showing the forced evictions of farmers and fishermen protesting the construction of a hydroelectric dam in the department of Huila, Colombia. In less than three days, more than 600,000 people have watched it.

Haiti: Students in Sheds

  23 February 2012

Haiti Grassroots Watch explores the issues surrounding the non-reconstruction of the state university in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.

Tunisia: Court Quashes Verdict Ordering the Filtering of Pornography

  22 February 2012

Today, the Cassation Court of Tunis (highest court of appeal) threw out a verdict to censor pornography on the Internet. On May, 26, 2011, a court of first instance issued a ruling ordering the Tunisian Internet Agency (ATI), to filter X rated websites. At the time, the decision was criticised by by bloggers, and free speech advocates, who believed that such step could limit freedom of speech, and thus pave the way for the return of censorship. Today's decision received a more favourable response online.

Syria: Call to Free Human Rights Detainees

  22 February 2012

Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi appeals to supporters to exert pressure on the Syrian government to release her colleagues at the Office of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression in Damascus. Ghazzawi herself was among those detained when the centre was raided on February 16. She has since...