Killing the story: How the Kashmiri press was silenced after the region lost autonomy
By IPSITA CHAKRAVARTY of the Reuters Institute at the University of Oxford Picture shows Indian security force personnel keeping guard during restrictions after the government scrapped the special constitutional status for Kashmir. Journalist Irfan Amin Malik was having a quiet evening at home with his family. It was August 14, 2019, the eve of Indian […]
PM laments quality of journalism
The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Keith Rowley, has lamented the calibre of journalism in the country and other parts of the region. He described the profession as being largely based on what he called “publish, beat down, ‘gotcha’ or simply ‘he say, she say,’ all largely, frequently, without context or recorded history. “A […]
Boost for investigative journalism in Africa
The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has issued a new report on investigative journalism in Afrixca. The growth of investigative journalism across Africa during the past ten years has led to reporting which has set the news agenda and highlighted issues often neglected by mainstream media. In a new account of investigative journalism across the continent, Ntibinyane Ntibinyane, a 2018 Reuters […]
Tanzanian legal hold on media attacked
The President of the Journalists Workers ‘Union of Tanzania (JOWUTA), Claud Gwandu, pictured, has called on the Tanzanian Government to stop issuing general penalties for errors committed by journalists. He said government was always in a hurry to close down a media house when such mistakes were made. Speaking at the opening of a seminar […]
Information freedom step closer in Gambia
President Adama Barrow of Gambia has signed the Access To Information Bill into law. The new measures are intended to facilitate the work of journalists and empower civil society to access government-held information to enhance accountability and transparency. Various stakeholders and civil society organisations including the Gambia Press Union had worked together to establish the […]
Media Freedom Principles “edging closer”
The CJA’s painstaking efforts to gain acceptance of its Twelve Principles on media freedom are making progress with Commonwealth governments, the CJA International Conference in March was told by one of the main advocates of the campaign, David Page, pictured. The conference was held online, from Delhi. “It’s possible that within the next few months […]
Stand with civil society, journalists told
The distinguished journalist and author Sir Mark Tully, pictured, has spoken of the huge debt journalism owes to civil society, and how the two institutions must work together to fight for each other’s interests and for the health of democracy. “In many countries, including India, civil society is under extreme pressure,” he told the online […]
Why media must have highest standards, before questioning others …
SYED BADRUL AHSAN examines the special significance of World Press Freedom Day Free expression matters. And it matters enormously in the media, for the media is an embodiment of all those finer sentiments which go into an expression of the yearnings of the human soul. Those who hold aloft the banner of a free press, […]
We back anti-corruption campaigner Chin’ono
The Commonwealth Journalists Association deplores the arrest of the distinguished Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, on charges of incitement to participate in public violence. He is currently out on bail after being arrested last July. The arrest followed extensive investigative reporting by Mr Chin’ono, in which he revealed the existence of contracts allegedly linking senior members […]
Reuter Fellowships open
Applications for the Journalist Fellowship Programme at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism are now open. The programme, based at the University of Oxford, is one of the world’s leading schemes for practising, mid-career journalists to take some time out from their day jobs to explore journalism in depth. Most of the Journalist […]