Think you've got it bad? Check out the latest on Egypt by The Journalists Against Torture Observatory. Its quarterly report found 106 cases of harassment against journalists during July-September this year. Leading the pack: bannings from covering events (36), physical assaults (16), stop-and-searches (10), insults and threats (7), and official complaints filed to prosecutors (7). Over a dozen journalists are in detention or prison, facing such charges as publishing false news, incitement, libel, and defamation.
Source: Egypt Daily News
Posted on: October 11, 2016
Exiled Russian oligarch and opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky has launched an "Open Media” project to provide financial and technical support to journalists and civil society activists working on investigative projects. The initiative will reportedly support five to seven projects with $50,000 to $500,000 each. Khodorkovsky has previously backed Meduza, now one of the most popular independent Russian news websites.
Source: GlobalVoices
Posted on: October 8, 2016
The Committee to Protect Journalists today warned of a growing chill over the Nepal press, highlighted by the flight of prominent journalist Kunda Dixit after facing prosecution by what he termed a "political witch hunt." The CPJ story notes that Dixit skipped out on GIJN's Asian Investigative Journalism Conference which his Centre for Investigative Journalism co-sponsored. "The popular word" among Nepalis at the conference, wrote CPJ's Steven Butler: "self-censorship."
Source: Committee to Protect Journalists
Posted on: October 6, 2016
A survey of 20,000 millennials from 181 countries has found that corruption and a lack of transparency are their countries' "most serious issues" and the top factors contributing to inequality. The World Economic Forum's Global Shapers Annual Survey reports that corruption and lack of transparency beat out unemployment, lack of education, and poverty as the most challenging national issue.
Source: World Economic Forum
Posted on: September 1, 2016
The Philippines, a holdout among states lacking a freedom of information act, looked ready to join the open government movement with an order by new President Rodrigo Duterte mandating a FOIA. But Duterte's office has now submitted no less than 166 exemptions to its new order. Among the exemptions: records from "decision-making or policy formulation" and release of officials' asset holdings -- a main driver of the campaign for a FOI law.
Source: FreedomInfo.org
Posted on: August 29, 2016
The International Reporting Project is offering new fellowships focused on women’s rights and LGBTI rights. The fellowships are intended to provide in-depth coverage of important, under-covered international issues such as discrimination and violence; migration and human trafficking; reproductive, sexual and maternal health; and effects of conflict upon marginalized communities. Special consideration will go to applicants from and projects in Central America, Francophone West Africa, and South and Southeast Asia.
Source: IRP
Posted on: August 22, 2016
WikiLeaks, once an inspiring, tech-driven effort at transparency, now seems "driven by personal grudge and reckless releases of information," according to this critique by Backchannel's Sandra Upson. The group's rigid "claim to radical transparency" endangers "potentially millions of private individuals caught up in the leaks" while its uncurated files are rife with dangerous malware .
Source: Backchannel
Posted on: August 19, 2016
Amazon is planning a movie based on the life of Ida Tarbell, the pioneering muckraker who took on the abusive practices of the Rockefellers and the oil industry a century ago. The film will focus on Tarbell’s groundbreaking 19-part series, The History of the Standard Oil Company.
Source: Guardian
Posted on: August 17, 2016
The online Daily Beast is under heavy criticism for a piece using undercover tactics to "out" gay Olympic athletes. The story fails the test for use of undercover reporting, such as over-riding public interest and exhausting other ways to tell a story first. Worse, it outs athletes in repressive countries, which could have serious consequences. Daily Beast has withdrawn the story.
Source: Slate
Posted on: August 12, 2016
With news that the Toronto Star – home to one of Canada's few investigative teams -- is laying off 45 newsroom staff, the Canadian Association of Journalists is calling for government action to support public-interest journalism. Such a move, the CAJ said, could include allowing charitable support for non-profit journalism, as has happened in the United States and other countries. The CAJ is Canada's largest national professional organization for journalists
Source: Yahoo Finance
Posted on: August 12, 2016