23 July 2002
Volume 11 - 2002 Issue 29 (23 Jul. 2002)
International
Journalists in Kosovo fear for their safety and are in dire need of an effective organisation to better represent their interests. At least that's the observation of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) Kosovo Mission.
International
The United-States-based Fund for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) is accepting submissions until 1 October for the next round of grant applications. The fund provides grants of between US$500 and $10,000 for investigative reporters working without the benefit of financial backing from major news organisations. Only journalists doing investigative projects on corruption, malfeasance, incompetence and societal problems, as well as media criticism, can qualify for the grants.
International
ARTICLE 19 and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters' (AMARC) Africa office have embarked on a pilot project in partnership with the World Bank and Radio Netherlands to develop community radio in Nigeria, Malawi, Ghana and Zambia.
International
The Thai Journalists Association (TJA), ARTICLE 19, Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), the Burma Media Association and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have condemned moves by Thailand and Burma to ban journalists from traveling to either country amidst recent border clashes that have heightened tensions between the two countries.
International
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have expressed grave concern following the passage of new regulations in China forbidding online news sites from reporting on topics deemed subversive by the government.
Colombia
The Foundation for Press Freedom (Fundacion para la libertad de prensa, FLIP), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Institute for Press and Society (Instituto Prensa y Sociedad, IPYS) have reported yet another journalist murdered in Colombia. On the evening of 17 July, Dennis Segundo Sánchez, long-time radio journalist for 95.5 Estero, was shot dead in front of his house in El Carmen de Bolivar, a town north of Bogotá.
International
Israeli and Palestinian media professionals and authorities are being urged to come together to break the deadlock over media accreditation in the disputed Israel/Palestine region. Coming on the heels of a 16-20 June fact-finding mission to the region, the International Federation of Journalists' (IFJ) issued a report last week calling for talks to create a joint body empowered to issue press passes to all journalists wishing to work in the area.
Venezuela
Following a fact-finding mission to Venezuela last month, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has issued a report criticising both President Hugo Chávez and media organisations for contributing to a climate of censorship and hostility during the brief coup d'état in April.
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