News

Azerbaijan leading by example as more journalists are jailed

As Azerbaijan took up its chairmanship of the Council on Europe on Wednesday, WAN-IFRA raised concerns that this prominent position would be seen as tacit approval of the country’s appalling human rights and press freedom record. Following publication, Council of Europe spokesman Daniel Höltgen spoke to Douglas Grant to explain the organisation’s position.

Turkish Journalist Füsun Erdoğan Released from 300 Year Jail Sentence

Sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 300 years, Fusun Erdogan went from a hard-working radio journalist in Istanbul to being confined to a prison cell. For two years after her arrest by plainclothes police in September 2006, Erdogan, who holds Dutch and Turkish citizenship, didn’t even know her crime. Overall, her trial lasted more than eight years.

De Benedetti: Why I, Like Mr. Döpfner, Fear Google

Italian media mogul Carlo De Benedetti responds to Mathias Döpfner’s recent concerns about Google, and expresses his fear and admiration for the search-engine giant. He suggests five points which could form an industrial strategy against “global operators.” Benedetti will be speaking at the World Newspaper Congress in Torino, Italy on Wednesday, 11 June.

Journalists behind bars as Azerbaijan takes centre stage

Today Azerbaijan takes up the chairmanship of the Council of Europe, the self-described “leading human rights organisation” on the continent. Meanwhile in Baku, the ruthless crackdown on so many of the freedoms protected in the European Convention on Human Rights continues unabated.

New Spanish law “raises very serious questions under international law” says Cyber-Law expert.

New legislation set to be introduced in Spain will have a “chilling effect” on freedom of expression and will pose “very serious questions under international law,” according to academics. Paul McClean speaks to three cyber law experts to discuss the effects of the proposed law against aggregators.

Ukrainian journalist warns: Russian troops are targeting reporters as Putin’s propaganda reaches ‘Goebbels levels’

“Who will protect the journalists?” Oleksandr Akymenko asks urgently as he describes the deliberate targeting of Ukrainian journalists in Crimea by Russian troops and separatists. Akymenko, one of the founders of the impressive YanukovychLeaks collaborative investigative journalism project, visited Paris this week to try to activate the global journalism communuity in support of Ukrainian journalists.

Gendered online abuse ‘shuts women (journalists) up’

Gendered online abuse is “…keeping women outside of that area of work (online journalism) and it’s really working to shut women up, which is its intention”, says Elisa Lees Munoz from the International Women’s Media Foundation. She spoke to the World Editors Forum’s Emily Bennett at UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Day Conference in Paris.

Joint Declaration for Freedom of Expression

In a joint statement by Special Rapporteurs, the 2014 Joint Declaration on Universality and the Right to Freedom of Expression was launched at UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Conference today.

Journalist in exile: Makaila Nguebla

“Without the press there is no democracy in a country”, Makaila Nguebla told WAN-IFRA at the World Press Freedom conference in Paris. Speaking after his appearance at the discussion on the safety of journalists, the exiled Chadian blogger lamented the dire state of press freedom in his own country, and expressed concerns about the lack of progress being made across the world.

Protecting journalists in the face of impunity

Representatives from organisations like Reporters Sans Frontières and Al Jazeera spoke about the pressing importance of protecting journalists, the worrying increase in attacks going unpunished, and the steps that can be taken to resolve these issues.