The government-controlled public media remained poor watchdogs of the unity government’s compliance record according to the terms of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).[more]

Comment: Was ZMC a victim of ‘horse-trading’?

The authorities’ professed commitment to genuine media reforms as promised under the Global Political Agreement suffered another blow during the week following renewed accusations of manipulation in the selection process for nominations to the board of the Zimbabwe Media Council (ZMC). [more]

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) during its Steering Committee Meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia noted with deep concern and condemned in the strongest possible terms the continued threats against journalists Thierry Ngogang, editor in chief of the private channel STV2, Alex Gustave Azebaze, independent journalist and second secretary of the National Union of the Journalists of Cameroun (SNJC), Anani Rabier Bindzi, journalist of the private television channel Canal2 International and Manassé Aboya Endong, Director of publication of Africa Top Secret, who have all be summoned to appear before the penal court of Douala on January 12, 2010[more]

Hundreds of people are expected to converge at the Kwame Nkurmah Circle on Wednesday January 27, 2010 in Accra, from where they will march to the offices of the country’s Attorney General to present a petition to the government on the status of the Right to Information Bill which was approved by cabinet in November 2009.[more]

The recent controversy about an e.tv story featuring two criminals who threatened robbery and violence during the 2010 World Cup, has raised once again the controversial issue of whether journalists should have a right to protect their confidential sources of information.[more]

When Arab information ministers meet in Cairo on 24 January they are to discuss a joint proposal by the Egyptian and Saudi governments for the creation of a regional office to supervise Arab satellite TV stations.[more]

THE Freedom of Expression Institute will be asking the Law Reform Commission to urgently review the Criminal Procedure Act's subpeona provision in the light of its impact on the media, and will be asking for a shild law to protect journalists, according to an FXI statement.[more]

Roger Stringer, a Harare publishing consultant, is challenging the Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo to explain the verification process that led to the short-listing of nominees subject to final appointment to serve on the statutory Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC).[more]

On 23 January 2010 the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) banned ‘The Post’ Newspaper Reporter Kalumiana Kalumiana from talking to Zambian soccer team players at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Angola.[more]

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia Chapter has observed that Zambia is running out of time to prepare for the mandatory migration of broadcasting services from analogue to a digital platform.[more]

The case against two e.tv journalists subpoenaed by police was postponed indefinitely in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on 25 January 2010, pending mediation between e.tv lawyers, the South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) and the police. eNews Editor Ben Said and Reporter Mpho Lakaje were subpoenaed under Section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act to reveal their sources.[more]

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the African regional organisation of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), is calling on the Zambian authorities to immediately end attacks on Zambian media as they work to establish self-regulatory mechanism. [more]

The Year 2009 can be considered as one of the worst years for press freedom in the African continent. Considering the year under review, 13 journalists were killed across the continent; 32 journalists imprisoned, a significant number of journalists arrested, some violently attacked and wounded, while threats and intimidation against journalists continued unabated.[more]

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today condemned the four year jail term handed down to Tunisian journalist Fahem Boukadous on 13 January by a court for his reporting on the demonstrations against unemployment and corruption in the mining town of Gafsa in 2008.

e.tv journalists appears in court for concealing sources

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1. General Comment

As Zimbabweans anxiously celebrated the beginning of a new decade, their hopes for comprehensive political, social and economic reforms remained clouded by uncertainty as none of the current developments appear to guarantee anything like the envisaged transformation that civil society has been demanding.[more]

The Banjul Magistrate Court on January 7, 2010 granted bail to Sulayman Saidy, a reporter with the Gambia News and Report, a privately-owned Banjul-based weekly magazine.

[more]

eNews journalists subpoenaed after story on thugs' world cup plans[more]

(Freedom House/IFEX) -Freedom House condemns the arrest of 19 activists in Egypt - among them leading bloggers, political party representatives, and journalists - and demands their immediate release without harm.

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On 10 January 2010, a journalist with the privately-owned Times of Swaziland newspaper, Manqoba Nxumalo, was attacked, harassed and had his notebook confiscated by church-goers whilst he was covering a church service in Manzini, Swaziland’s second main city.

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THE Public Service Broadcasting Bill is constitutionally flawed in a number of respects, says the SOS - Supporting Public Broadcasting Coalition in a media release, and there should be thorough policy review process before such radical change to the broadcasting sector should be attempted. [more]

MISA-Namibia condemns the attack on freelance journalist John Grobler and calls on the Namibian government and law enforcement agencies to create a conducive environment were media practitioners can continue to operate without fear, or intimidation from any political sources.[more]

The Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA) has condemned the action by The Guardian Limited of Tanzania to send its junior journalists on an indefinite leave, terming the decision “un-procedural and unlawful”.[more]

Tanzania government has de-registered Leo Tena newspaper and suspended the publication of Kulikoni for 90 days effective from Monday, 11 January 2010.[more]

The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the African regional organisation of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), is calling on the Zambian authorities to immediately end attacks on Zambian media as they work to establish self-regulatory mechanism. [more]

Alleged political interference has led to unanticipated departure of the Acting Director General (DG) of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation, Mathew //Gowaseb. [more]

MISA-Zimbabwe cautiously welcomes the final appointment by the President of commissioners that will serve on the statutory Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC).[more]

MISA-Zimbabwe cautiously welcomes the final appointment by the President of commissioners that will serve on the statutory Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC).[more]

The newly elected Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) executive on 29 December 2009 opted to stand down and allow fresh elections to be held on 27 February 2010.

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Traditional media - mainly newspapers - still generate the bulk of the information that reaches the public, according to a research report by the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism. A study into the 'news ecology' in Baltimore, US, found that new media platforms and services like Twitter mainly repeat information generated elsewhere.[more]

The fundamental flaw in the new Public Service Broadcasting Bill is an assumption that the state is the only custodian of development, writes Jane Duncan in SACSIS. While the attempt to push the SABC away from a commercial direction is to be welcomed, this can only be truly developmental when it encourages a clash of ideas. [more]

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is concerned over the continuing violence being directed towards the journalists in Somalia following the injury of Radio Journalist in Beletweyne town of Hiran region on Sunday 10 January 2010. [more]

The Government of Swaziland has banned the privately-owned Times of Swaziland Sunday newspaper from publishing weekly opinionated articles by leader of the banned opposition party, Mario Masuku, who is President of the Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO).[more]

Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Ronnie Shikapwasha, says government has abandoned its demand that media associations should establish a credible, self-regulatory system within six months, failure to which it would legislate for a statutory one. [more]

A court in the capital N’Djamena yesterday found the privately owned weekly La Voix “not guilty” of charges against it and lifted a provisional order for automatic seizure of all copies of the paper made on 3 December 2009. An appeal will be heard on 13 January[more]

The 2009 is a year of darkness, death, displacement, detention and violence against journalists and the entire media fraternity in Somalia, according to the annual report unveiled today by the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ)[more]

How can the digital technologies be more extensively and appropriately harnessed to address the major development issues - from global to local - we all face? [more]