Articles by Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
CAPSULE REPORT: Journalists assert independence following prime minister’s latest criticism of the press
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 20 May 2005 SEAPA capsule report: Thai journalists assert independence in the face of latest Thaksin outburst The Thai press is disturbed over recent criticisms from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who has expressed displeasure over the media’s coverage of Thailand’s international standing. While Thaksin has long been known as […]
Information Ministry bans use of anonymous sources; weekly suspended for one month
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The Information Ministry has laid down new press regulations which ban the use of anonymous sources in all published news reports. Mizzima.com, a Delhi-based news service run by exiled Burmese journalists, says that according to the ministry’s new rules, all sources of the news must be clearly identified, lest resulting stories be deemed […]
Government imposes news blackout on recent bombings
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The Burmese junta has moved to restrict all coverage of the bombings that rocked Rangoon on 8 May 2005, banning the publication of stories on the matter and ordering medical and relief workers not to speak with reporters. Details of the news blackout have begun appearing in news services observing Burma – officially […]
Filmmaker called in for questioning, under investigation
(SEAPA/IFEX) – Singaporean filmmaker Martyn See has been invited for questioning by the police, news agencies have reported, two months after his documentary on a Singaporean opposition figure was forced out of a film festival in the city-state. See, 36, told Reuters that he is expected to present himself before the country’s police on 16 […]
Publisher of community-based weekly killed
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The publisher of a community-based weekly in a province north of Manila became the fourth Filipino journalist to have been assassinated in 2005, the Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) reports. On 10 May, Philip Agustin, publisher and editor of “Starline Times Recorder”, was gunned down in Dingalan town, Aurora province. […]
Indonesian Press Council expresses concern over draft Criminal Code
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The Indonesian Press Council is urging the government to revise a draft Criminal Code containing provisions specifically covering journalists. The council said the Criminal Code could be used to prosecute journalists, which would threaten Indonesia’s hard-earned press freedom and undermine press laws passed precisely to safeguard and encourage a responsible media. Leo Batubara […]
Participants at World Press Freedom Day forum discuss media reform, how political climate impacts on the media
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 4 May 2005 SEAPA press release: Political imbalance and anxieties in Thailand are challenging the Thai media and civil society to come forward in defense of freedom of expression, a public forum held in Bangkok concluded on May 3, World Press Freedom Day. The forum, titled, “How to Reform […]
Journalists alarmed over military suspicions and surveillance
(SEAPA/IFEX) – Philippine journalists are sounding the alarm over military actions purportedly designed to demonise the press and rationalise a campaign to “monitor” their activities. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) is alarmed over a Powerpoint presentation that is said to have been prepared by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces […]