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Newsletter n°9 |
02.04.08 |
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| NEWS FROM THE MEDIA SCENE
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| The Swaziland Times: Caught at a Crossroad |
A recent lawsuit brought against the Kingdom of Swaziland’s only independent newspaper The Times of Swaziland reaffirms that that an absolute monarchy and a free, pluralistic press do not easily mix. RAP 21 in conjunction with the Media Institute of South Africa (MISA) explored the issue with firsthand insights provided from editor of The Times Martin Dlamini.
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| Newspapers Respond to Changing Landscape of Johannesburg |
One of South Africa’s media giants Caxton will launch another community newspaper, The Comaro Chronicle, in Southern Johannesburg on 9 April to better serve the changing demographics of the region. Like the rest of the city, the southern suburbs are expanding while to an extent continuing to embrace the contrasts and paradoxes ubiquitous to the city at large. Caxton’s move will aid in sustaining the vital connections with those moving to the emergent outlying areas of the city centre via the media.
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| PRESS FREEDOM
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| Press Freedom Heads the Agenda for the Media Foundation for West Africa |
In a conversation with RAP 21 Kwame Karikari, Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) highlighted the key steps his organisation is undertaking to assure safer and freer grounds for the media in the West African region. At the forefront, Karikari said, “is addressing press freedom violations.”
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| Chadian Independent Newspapers Create a United Issue |
The independent press in Chad has coalesced to proactively respond to the state of emergency proclaimed on 15 February and the subsequent media law amendments promulgated on 20 February. The independent media, as reported by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), initially halted publication in protest of the new law issued by decree that increased the maximum penalty for “false news” and defamation.
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| Alerts from the Continent |
On 28 March 2008, a group of journalists representing privately-owned Banjul-based newspapers in The Gambia were banned from covering President Yahya Jammeh’s annual opening of the The Gambia’s Parliament because they were lacking accreditation cards. Meanwhile, journalists from the government-controlled media without accreditation cards were permitted to cover the event.
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| CONFERENCES & SEMINARS
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| Course to Teach South African Photojournalists to Create Photo Stories |
Working and student photojournalists interested in being challenged to look harder and think more deeply about the people and places they are photographing have the opportunity to enroll in a hands-on course in photojournalism being offered by the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism in South Africa. The course begins on 21 April.
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| Journalist Summit to Discuss Role of Media in East Africa |
Given the current state of unrest in East Africa, the role of journalists in the region is especially critical. To that end, East African journalists will gather in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 11-12 April to discuss the role of the media in addressing the causes of conflict and instability and their prevention in East Africa.
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| AWARDS OPPORTUNITIES
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| Award to Honour Nigerian Human Rights Journalists |
Nigerian investigative human rights reporters working in print, broadcast, photography and online journalism can apply for the annual Wole Soyinka Investigative Reporting Award (WSIRA), named in honour of the Nigerian Nobel Prize Winner for literature and long-time supporter of human freedom Wole Soyinka. The deadline for submissions is 10 April.
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