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Newsletter n°7 |
14.03.08 |
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| NEWS FROM THE MEDIA SCENE
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| International Organisations Grade and Bolster the Media During the Kenyan Crisis |
Following the difficult political standoff in late December 2007 where President Mwai Kibaki was declared reelected after a campaign marred by fraud, Kenyan editors and journalists were faced with a dilemma: should their role be neutral, interrogative, or critical amid a political climate close to exploding?
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| PRESS FREEDOM
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| Independent Reporting in Sudan Endangered |
The parameters for the independent media in Sudan have been increasingly narrowed since the beginning of the year with the reintroduction of pre-print censorship and rampant harassment. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has referred to the clampdown on the media as a “campaign waged by the government” and the Sudan Organisation Against Torture has stressed its unlawfulness. According to RSF, censorship was officially repealed in Sudan in July 2005 following a peace accord that was signed with the rebels of the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. The Interim National Constitution also guarantees freedom of the press to the same level as a democratic society. There are still loopholes in the legislative framework-defamation and publication of “false information” are still criminal offences.
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| Media Law in Somalia Flouts International Press Freedom Standards |
The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) issued a report on 12 March 2008, which declared the country’s new Media Law (passed 8 December 2007 by the Transitional Federal Parliament of Somalia) short of meeting “international standards and principles of democratic media law.” The law, the second of its kind since the military government collapsed in 1991, is less severe than its antecedent. However, the report indicates at least 17 articles that lack clarity and predictability. Above all, the Media Law strays shy of fully encouraging a vibrant and open press.
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| Alerts from the Continent |
In Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nsimba Embete Ponte, editor of the privately-owned twice-weekly newspaper L’Interprète was arbitrarily arrested by unidentified armed men in Kinshasa. Ponte is being held in an undisclosed location under unreported charges. According to Journaliste en Danger (JED), Ponte received threats following a series of articles he wrote on the health status of President Joseph Kabila on 29 February.
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| The Business of Newspapers
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| An Online Magazine Reaches African Americans |
The Washington Post and Newsweek Interactive launched on 28 January 2008 an online magazine The Root to invite African Americans to engage in critical US domestic and world issues and cultural happenings and achievements. Heightening its uniqueness, it also serves as an online portal to African and African American history, culture, and expression. Online issues consist of articles and editorials from leading African American academics and personalities.
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| South African Newspaper Launches Sunday Edition |
The South African Zulu language newspaper Isolezwe will launch a Sunday edition on 30 March. Isolezwe ngeSonto (Zulu Sunday) will be launched across KwaZulu-Natal, the home of millions of Zulu, South Africa’s largest single ethnic group.
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| FELLOWSHIPS
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| Conference in Morocco to Help Mobilize Young Journalists |
American and Moroccan Journalism students along with young professionals are encouraged to apply to attend “Find Your Voice: A Cross-Cultural Forum on Political Participation and Civic Activism,” a two-day conference focused on youth mobilization in the political process and empowering emerging leaders in political parties and civil society. The deadline to apply is 25 March.
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