MEDIABLAB DAILY DIGEST MAY 5: CAMBODIAN NEWSPAPER WAR; IHT ENTERS UAE; THAI MEDIA PROTESTS
May 5th 2008 04:07
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE CONFIRMS IT WILL PRINT IN DUBAI AND DISTRIBUTE AN EDITION IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
ArabianBusiness reports that the International Herald Tribune has confirmed its plans to start printing in Dubai, making the newspaper available for early morning distribution throughout the United Arab Republic next week.
The newspaper has forged an agreement with local daily Khaleej Times to print and distribute its Europe, Middle East and Africa edition in the region.
The agreement opens doors for joint marketing initiatives, co-branding of pages and future developments of the partnership into markets across the Arab world, Africa and the Indian sub-continent, Khaleej Times said in a statement.
CANADIANS ON PAR WITH GLOBAL AVERAGE FOR SOCIAL NETWORKING, BUT LAG BEHIND IN BLOGGING ACTIVITY
Social media is becoming a more important part of Canadian media consumption for internet users than some traditional media channels, according to a survey released yesterday by M2 Universal.
Media in Canada reports, "’Video clips, blogs, podcasts, social networks and RSS are now all essential components of the online media diet,’ the Toronto-based media agency states, after analysing the results of a survey of 1,500 Canadians. It was part of Universal McCann's global social media survey, which was conducted with 17,000 respondents in 29 countries.”
In Canada, a key driver for the growth of social media has been the rise of social networks. Specifically:
• 59 percent of online Canadians have created profiles on social networks, which matches with the global average
• 38 percent have installed a widget or applications
• 20 percent have shared their videos
• Facebook is the largest social network in Canada with 54 percent weekly reach
But, while Canadians are on par with the global average for social networking activity, the survey says they lag behind the rest of the world in our blogging activity. While global readership of blogs is 73 percent, it's only 65 percent among Canadians.
Only 23 percent of Canadians have started our own blogs, compared to 35 percent globally.
Another key finding of the survey is that watching video online now rivals television viewing in terms of reach in Canada:
• 78 percent of Canadian internet users have watched video clips online
• 27 percent have uploaded videos to a video-sharing website
• 42 percent have uploaded photos to a photo-sharing website
• 29 percent have downloaded a podcast
• 18 percent have subscribed to an RSS feed
WESTERN AUSTRALIA PREMIER GOES TO GREAT LENGTHS TO DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM POLICE RAID ON SUNDAY NEWSPAPER – BY LITERALLY GOING TO SIBERIA
Western Australian Premier Alan Carpenter has tried to distance himself from last week's "unfortunate" police raid on The Sunday Times, instigated by his own department' to uncover the source of an unflattering story.
According to The Australian newspaper, “Carpenter said Treasurer Eric Ripper ‘may have been annoyed’ on February 10 when he read the Sunday Times report revealing his plans to use A$16 million of taxpayers' money for Labor's re-election campaign, but he said his department was required by law to complain to authorities when it suspected the leak of a confidential document to the media.
"I understand why the Sunday Times journalists would feel as though this is completely unfair and of course I would be responding with the same sentiment but this response has not come ... as a direction from me or any minister as far as I'm aware," Carpenter, a former journalist, told ABC radio from Siberia, where he was completing a trade visit.
"There is no way that we'd direct the police to respond in that way."
Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance national secretary Chris Warren described the Government's stance as breathtaking hypocrisy, saying the Carpenter Government was aware of the push for shield laws for journalists.
Meanwhile, in a comments piece in The Australian, Tony Barrass wrote, “Believe it or not, Perth has become the toughest environment in the country in which to practise the public service of journalism. The boom state has become the goon state, where standover and intimidation against the media is the Labor Government's weapon of choice.
“Police raids by armed officers on busy newsrooms, secret telephone tapping, grilling of reporters by Corruption and Crime Commission investigators that can't be reported – or even whispered to wives, husbands or, incredibly, bosses and employers – are becoming commonplace.
“The days of the cabinet leak are over. Clarification: the days of the leak not organised by the Government Media Office are over, particularly those that have the potential to cause electoral pain to a Government led, ironically, by the former journalist Alan Carpenter.”
INVESTOR JOURNAL LAUNCHES IN CHINA TO TAP INTO THE TOP END OF THE RETAIL INVESTOR MARKET
XFMedia, a leading media group in China, has launched the Investor Journal. As previously reported in MediaBlab, the Investor Journal is a new Chinese weekly newspaper aimed at the large and growing retail investor market in China.
The Chinese language newspaper, modeled on weekly financial publications such as Barron’s, is headed by chief editor Zhao Li, one of the founding team of the influential Economic Observer in China.
The retail investor market in China is significant in size. According to China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation Ltd, there were 96 million active brokerage accounts in March 2008. The Investor Journal targets the top end of this group.
The paper has nationwide distribution and is aimed at sophisticated investors looking for in-depth market research, fundamental analysis and reliable information. The newspaper has attracted a strong team of journalists and columnists from other Chinese financial media and the international investment community.
Headquartered in Beijing, with news bureaus in Shenzhen and Shanghai where the stock exchanges are located, the newspaper currently has about 60 staff in total, among which 12 are analysts.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CELEBRATES ITS TENTH YEAR IN ASIAN REGION
Marketing magazine reports that National Geographic Channel will celebrate its 10th year in the Asian region with a major campaign asking viewers to vote for their favourite programs.
Viewers from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia can vote for their favourite documentary programs online.
A program to announce the top show will air in June.
Zubin Gandevia, managing director and executive vice president of National Geographic Channel Asia, told marketing that in the last 10 years National Geographic Channel has become the world's most recognised channels which now broadcasts into 120 million homes across Asia.
RADIO TELEVISION BRUNEI PLANS TO BROADCAST BEIJING OLYMPICS IN HIGH DEFINITION TV
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union reports that Radio Television Brunei plans to introduce HDTV soon and to broadcast the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in high definition.
RTB has been carrying out trials using a new 100kW transmitter with an HD channel at its Subok earth station near the capital, Bandar Seri Begawan.
The broadcaster has also built an HD studio in the town of Kuala Belait in the west of the country. It should be operational by the end of July, once all the necessary equipment has been delivered.
Meanwhile, RTB's production and engineering departments will make the long-awaited move next month to the station's new, fully digital complex at Sungai Akar, just outside the capital.
The other departments will move to the complex over the next two to three years. RTB has a total staff of about 1,200. Brunei and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have chosen the Digital Video Broadcasting Terrestrial (standard for their digital TV service.
AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT BLASTS FIJI INTERIM GOVERNMENT FOR DEPORTING AUSSIE NEWSPAPER EDITOR
Fiji’s deportation of Australian newspaper publisher Evan Hannah was a "reprehensible attack on human rights and freedom of speech", the Australian government, demanding an explanation.
According to The Australian newspaper, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith “blasted” Fiji's military-backed regime for its treatment of Hannah, the managing director of the Fiji Times which is owned by Murdoch’s News Ltd.
Hannah also accused Fijian police of manhandling an Australian consular official to prevent them from speaking at Fiji's Nadi airport as he was put on a flight to South Korea.
"It was dreadful what happened to the consul who came out to try to see me," he said from Seoul international airport, where he was awaiting a flight to Australia. "He was physically manhandled; I believe he was shouting to me through the door, managed to get his head and shoulders in and was pulled back through the door."
Hannah was arrested on Thursday night for alleged work permit breaches and forcibly removed from his home in the capital, Suva, in circumstances almost identical to the deportation two months earlier of Russell Hunter, the Australian chief executive of The Fiji Sun newspaper.
News Ltd chairman and chief executive John Hartigan said the deportation actions represented the latest attempt to intimidate the Fiji media.
Hunter said he feared for the future of freedom of the press in Fiji, and suspected the interim government's assault on the Fiji Times and the Fiji Sun would be the pretext for repressive media-control legislation.
ASSOCIATED PRESS CONVERGES ITS NEWSROOMS
AP's Kathleen Carroll in the US issued staff-wide email on Friday, obtained by FishbowlDC, in which she details "some important changes in News."
From: Carroll, Kathleen
Subject: Some important changes in News
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I'd like to tell you about some important structural changes in the News department.
The first involves AP's broadcast news operations. You may know that AP's radio and television journalists have historically reported up into a separate broadcast division headed by Jim Williams. You also know that my friend Jim retired last month and AP began looking at how we might logically be structured going forward.
Today, the company is announcing several changes that essentially join the once-separate broadcast units with the appropriate AP department overall. You'll hear more about that from Tom Brettingen, the chief revenue officer.
For us, it means that the news departments at the Broadcast News Center and AP Television News will report into the overall AP News department, effective immediately.
Kevin Roach, currently executive producer for Online Video, becomes acting head of all U.S.-based broadcast news operations. And Sandy MacIntyre, Director of News for APTN, will have the same role for all non-U.S. broadcast news operations. Both will report to me.
Now, the fact that broadcast and print colleagues were working for separate divisions may not have been noticeable to many of you. And rightly so.
AP text, photo, video and audio journalists already work together quite well in many ways. The new co-located newsrooms in Washington and London are excellent examples of that effective collaboration.
This structural adjustment will make it even easier for us to create more powerful journalism together, sharply focused on the needs of news consumers worldwide.
It's likely that we'll make additional adjustments as we dig into the details of how best to integrate. The successful newsroom projects in London and Washington give us a model to follow. We have two new showcase multi-format newsrooms because so many AP journalists worked on them together. So we'll be seeking your help on this structural integration as well.
The other development I want to tell you about involves the AP's Washington bureau. Sandy Johnson, who has led that bureau with great distinction and courage, is wrapping up her tenure there effective today.
Sandy has led AP's political coverage for more than two decades, as political editor, assistant chief of bureau, deputy chief of bureau and, since 1998, as chief of AP's largest bureau.
She has identified and nurtured many talented reporters and is deservedly respected as an editor with a fierce competitive thirst, a keen strategic mind and an amazing understanding of the American voting public.
In the presidential election of 2000, it was Sandy and a team of AP analysts who understood the voting patterns in Florida well enough to know that calling that state for George W. Bush was premature. She knew the vote could go the other way and she refused, despite enormous outside pressure, to call that race. As a result, AP stood alone and Sandy's judgment was ultimately proved to be the right one.
More recently, she was an important voice for sustained collaboration in the design of Washington new integrated newsroom.
Those of you who know Sandy away from the job know her as a thoughtful and generous friend.
We have offered Sandy a new assignment in the AP and she is weighing that offer, though has not yet made a decision.
We will be posting the Washington COB job. In the meantime, online political editor Ron Fournier will serve as acting Washington bureau chief, effective immediately.
Thank you for your attention to this long, but important note.
Kathleen
A LITTLE DAB OF DOG POO WILL DO YA TO DETER NEWSPAPER THIEVESThe Australian Newsagency blog carried this strange advice on how to stop people stealing newspapers delivered to a subscriber’s home:
- Keep an old paper and plastic wrap.
- Wrap fresh dog poo or similar into the old paper and wrap with plastic.
- The thief in is generally on the way to the train station and unwraps said paper on the train. Thief is embarrassed. Problem solved.
- Set alarm for the delivery of the next day’s paper.
- Swap paper over.
The alternative is the owner waits for the thief and gives him a hose down.
THAI JOURNALISTS PROTEST AGAINST PRIME MINISTER’S BULLYING INTIMIDATION OF THE MEDIA
The Thai Journalists Association, the Confederation of Thai Journalists and the Thai Broadcasting Journalists Association released a joint statement on Saturday denouncing the government’s poor treatment of of the media, to mark World Press Freedom day.
The statement dealt particularly with Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej’s intimidation of the media over the past three months, according to the Bangkok Post. .
Samak is known for his blunt and abrasive responses that are regarded as bullying the media.
He has also been accused of using his weekly talk show program broadcast on state-owned outlets to further criticise and intimidate the media.
He also cancelled his weekly press briefings are being accused of using impolite.
As part of the protest, reporters gathered in front of Government House wearing t-shirts with slogans that read, “Intimidating the media is intimidating the people.”
FAIRFAX BUSINESS MEDIA ASIA EXTENDS TIME FOR ASIAN IT AWARDS DEADLINEFairfax Business Media Asia said that in response to popular demand for extra time, the deadline has been extended for nominations to be submitted for one of Asia's leading annual IT Awards.
The MIS Asia IT Excellence Awards highlight the region's organisations - and their IT leaders - who demonstrate the best use of information technology for the past year. The deadline for this year's entries has now been extended to midnight, Wednesday, May 14, 2008.
The list of finalists will be published in MIS Asia magazine's July 2008 edition. The winners will be revealed at the annual MIS Asia IT Summit & Excellence Awards 2008, in Singapore on Friday, August 1 – the magazine's flagship event.
In addition to industry accolades and an impressive trophy, award winners receive comprehensive coverage and focus in the following year's editions of MIS Asia magazine, which circulates to some 10,500 senior IT executives across the region. Award winners will also be featured on the MIS Asia website. Winning an award is a valuable marketing benefit, highlighted in company newsletters and news announcements.
The prestigious MIS Asia IT Excellence Awards have been presented annually since 2003 to Asia's best performing enterprises and organisations, based on their excellence in management and attainment of business goals.
The awards are open to commercial and non-profit organisations and projects implemented in South East Asia, Greater China, India and Japan. Nominations are considered by a team of independent and expert judges from across the region.
Past award winners have included the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore; Malaysia's Commerce International Merchant Bankers; India's Tata Steel; China Minsheng Bank; and The Hong Kong Jockey Club.
MIS Asia editor, Ross O Storey, who is also Fairfax Business Media's managing editor, said that vendors and PR agencies are free to submit nominations on behalf of their clients.
"From past experience judges have been most impressed when nominations do not focus on products or technologies, but instead, on the management of the IT project," Storey said.
"Vendors are also welcome to nominate internal projects they consider to be worth highlighting, but I am told that it's a real turn-off for judges when submissions are primarily sales pitches. Winners have consistently focused on management strategies, creative and unique approaches plus innovative problem solving."
Organisations are free to submit multiple nominations for this year's MIS Asia IT Excellence Award categories. However, the same project cannot be nominated for more than one category.
This year's MIS Asia IT Excellence Award categories are:
1. Best Change Management
2. Best IT Governance
3. Best Security Strategy
4. Best Business Enabler
5. Best Knowledge Management
6. Best Bottom-line IT
For more information and to download the nomination form, visit MIS Asia IT Excellence Awards Microsite at www.mis-asia.com/ITExcel08
BOOK BURNERS AGAIN ATTACK LONELY PLANET OVER ITS MYANMAR GUIDE BOOK
The book burners are at it again: Lonely Planet's guide to Myanmar has been attacked by human rights groups who say income from tourism helps keep the generals in business.
“I am not going to be an ad agency for Burma, but going there is doing more good than bad," Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler said in an interview in Bangkok during a conference on tourism and global warming.
He argued that many tourists put money directly into the hands of individual Myanmar people rather than the state coffers and also help open up a society largely shut off from the world.
He said that BBC Worldwide, which bought a 75 percent share of Wheeler's company last year, was also being pressured by critics of the book.
"If BBC decides to withdraw the guide, it would be a deal breaker," Wheeler said, indicating he would sell his remaining shares. BBC Worldwide is the commercial arm of the London-based British Broadcasting Corporation.
Wheeler said his Planet Wheeler Foundation has started a health clinic and a number of other humanitarian projects in Myanmar and intends to fund more.
Wheeler told MediaBlab in Melbourne in 2006 that he was stunned by the outcry against the book when he first published it, but he added that such attitudes only made him more determined to keep publishing the Myanmar guide.
MediaBlab editor Peter Olszewski encountered similar hostility toward his book, land of a Thousand Eyes which was an account of the period he worked in Yangon for the Myanmar times as a journalism trainer.
The Irrawaddy Journal, for example, ran an extremely hostile review in which it distorted and misrepresented passages from the book.
The editor of the Irrawaddy Journal agreed to print an apology but failed to keep his word.
The Land of a Thousand Eyes book was criticised mainly because it concentrated on reporting about day-today life in Myanmar and didn’t regurgitate the usual list of human rights abuses.
The Irrawaddy Journal last week ran a piece about Wheeler and the Myanmar Lonely Planet guide book, which prompted well-know South Esat Asian journalist Nic Dunlop to post the following comment on the magazine’s website.
“Friday, May 2, 2008 No More Book Burning
Regarding “Lonely Planet Founder Defends Burma Guidebook” [The Irrawaddy online; May 1, 2008; URL: http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=11691 ]:
This is an old and irrelevant debate. Tourism in Burma is virtually non-existent, particularly after the violence last September. The kinds of tourists that use the Lonely Planet in Burma are the more interested and generally more politically astute than most. Far too much attention is placed on an old argument that is more than 10 years old. Things have changed, but not because of debates like this, and not for the better either. As far as Wheeler's defense that tourism actually helps the people of Burma in their quest for freedom is obviously self-serving. That's what I think the campaign really objects to. But the reality if no tourists went to Burma, or were permitted to go, then no journalists and human rights workers would get in to report on what is happening there first-hand either (remember the reporting from September?). My own view is that the energy and focus of so much debate would be better placed elsewhere, perhaps on Burma's neighbors who do business with the junta and are potentially more sensitive to campaigns of this kind—but not on a small guide book. (What would the US and European Union sacrifice in their relationships with China and India to use what leverage they have with the junta for example?) What, in my humble opinion, should be considered a great success, from the activists’ point of view, is the fact that the Lonely Planet actually raises much of the debates surrounding Burma's situation in the first few pages of the guidebook in question. That is all that they really can expect. Anything more is simply Breshnevian. Thant Myint U warned of a scenario where Burma's woes will deepen and worsen, "through an unholy alliance between those outside who favor sanctions and inside hardliners who advocate a retreat from the global community." I fear that banning books would be the next step in that direction. After all, banning books is what the regime does.
Nic Dunlop.”
Another reader, Diana Smith, posted this comments:
“I heartily concur: ‘..going there is doing more good than bad.’ I was in Burma a few years ago and fell in love with the country, the culture but mostly the people. Feeding the local economy is a plus for the folks on the street, as is conversation and communication. I've never been a believer in economic boycotts—they just deprive the poor folks of a decent life.”
NEWSPAPER WAR IN CAMBODIA; CAMBODIA DAILY FIRES BLANKS BULLETS AT PHNOM PENH POST.
The newspaper industry in Cambodia is hotting up with the entry into the sector of the sell-financially backed new Phnom Penh Post which will is now planning a daily edition.
This has rattled the cage of the Cambodia Daily which, until recently was the only English-language show in town and therefore got the lion’s share of advertising revenue.
But its production values and content are minimal and some critics say it has had a free rein for too long. Other critics say that its although it is a private enterprise business it has received funding as an NGO and has blurred the lines regarding the ethical nature f such a business model.
Either way, the paper’s owner, Bernard Krishner, who lives in Japan, obviously feels threatened and issued this heavy-handed memo to his staff:
“To the staff;
I understand that the Phnom Penh Post is approaching our staff and aiming to recruit then to join their newspaper and jump ship. I would like to tell you that I would consider such a move treason and would regard anybody who has moved or is moving, a person who is no longer on my good list.
The Phnom Penh Post is the enemy.
Michael Hayes, its founder and publisher declared war on me from the inception of the Cambodia daily and has never stopped to harm us and me. It began in 1993 after I tried to persuade him to publish a daily newspaper and even gave him a printing press which he rejected on the grounds that it was impossible to publish a daily newspaper.
After I started the Daily, he considered us unfair competition and even went as far as to write to the publishers of the New York Times and Washington Post to stop providing us news free of charge as they wished to support their aim to further the case of a free press and create an informed electorate.
But publishers of course ignored Michael Hayes but he has never stopped hating our paper and me.
Therefore anyone who is working for us or recently worked for me who moves to the Post and/or uses information gained in their jobs here or contacts made through us to the advantage of the Post may also be breaking confidentiality and clauses that are assumed when a person uses such knowledge to the advantage of a competing employer.
I would like you all to know that if you respect The Cambodia Daily, what is stands for, what its has contributed to Cambodia and if you respect me, you will consider seriously any move to the Post at this time. I would consider it personal betrayal if anyone makes such a move now.
Best regards
Bernard Krishner
American Assistance for Cambodia.”
The memo quickly appeared on a Phnom Penh-based blog, eliciting the following responses:
A POV said:
”Making veiled threats to employees in a company memo is a sign of weak leadership.
It is normal and natural for all of us to aspire to new, more challenging positions and earn more money as we progress on our chosen career path.
Strong leadership inspires, challenges and compensates its employees accordingly for helping the company improve its product, content and revenue.
In this instance, the Phnom Penh Post is likely going daily based, in part, on the fact the Cambodian Daily has such shallow local coverage. While I have been impressed by some of the well written local work, I think of the Cambodian Daily as a ‘cut-and-paste’ after thought where they wait for the NGO’s to call to place their ads, then call it a day.
If I ran the Phnom Penh Post, my assessment would be the Cambodian Daily is asleep at the wheel and now is the time to not only compete on a daily basis, but knock them out of the box entirely.
After reading this memo, I will see the Cambodia Daily less regularly.”
Anthony Galloway said, “Competition is healthy. At least the PP Post is running as a business as opposed to the Cambodia Daily which is run under the shadow as an NGO with funding … Bernie maybe it’s time to check out of the suite at the Intercon and come down to the real world instead of your funded ivory tower.”
(Anthony Galloway is an Australian publisher in Phnom penh who is about to publish a weekly entertainment freesheet.)
Khmerization says, “There should be good news for defections to the opposition sides. After all, Cambodia media need a balance.”
DISCLOSURE: Peter Olszewski is an employee of the Phnom Penh Post.
THAI JOURNALISTS LAUNCH INVESTIGATION INTO TESCO LIBEL SUIT
Media Asia reports that the Thai Journalists' Association has launched an investigation into hypermarket chain Tesco Lotus and its holding company, Ek-Chai Distribution Systems' libel suit and business operations, to determine their compliance with the country's Foreign Business Act.
The move follows a US$38 million suit by Tesco Lotus against two journalists from the Krungthep Turakij magazine and Jit Siratranont, vice general secretary for the Thai Chamber of Commerce, and ex-member of parliament.
The trio had questioned the hypermarket chain's rapid expansion in the country, which threatens the livelihood of smaller local stores and retail chains.
Thai Journalists' Association vice president Wanchai Wongmeechai said, "Tesco Lotus is exploiting the legal system to silence the freedom of the press in presenting facts and criticisms about its business plans and effects on communities."
Meanwhile, British writers' group, PEN, has published a letter in The Times to condemn Tesco's latest actions as "an unsettling message around the world."
INDIAN NEWSPAPER PROFITABILITY SET TO DROP FOLLOWING PRICE HIKES FOR NEWSPRINT
Followthemedia reports that while China and India usually come at the top of most print newspaper circulation growth surveys, profitability, that may now be a different matter. The culprit -- newsprint pricing that has soared through the roof in both countries, accounting for more than 50% of the cost of producing their newspapers.
Followthemedia said, “In India it has gotten so bad that the government has stepped in to help a little by reducing the already low tariff for imported newsprint down to 3 percent from 5 percent.
“Newsprint prices in Asia are far higher than those found in North America and are on par with Europe.”
It said that in March India newsprint prices rose 23 percent to US$760 a tonne, more than $100 higher than in the US and almost $30 less than in Europe. It’s thought Indian pricing will touch $850 per tonne by the end of the year, and possibly next year the price will hit $1,000 a tonne.
DEMOCRACIES HAVE A POOR RECORD FOR PROSECUTING JOURNALISTS’ KILLERS
Democracies from Colombia to India and Russia to the Philippines are among the worst countries in the world at prosecuting journalists’ killers according to the Impunity Index, a list of countries compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists where governments have consistently failed to solve journalists’ murders.
The countries with the worst records for impunity – Iraq, Sierra Leone and Somalia – have been mired in conflict. But the majority of the 13 countries on CPJ’s Impunity Index are established, peacetime democracies such as Mexico, pointing to alarming failures by those elected governments to protect journalists.
“Every time a journalist is murdered and the killer is allowed to walk free it sends a terrible signal to the press and to others who would harm journalists,” said CPJ executive director Joel Simon. “The governments on this list simply must do more to demonstrate a real commitment to a free press. Lip service won’t help save journalists’ lives. We are calling for action: thorough investigations and vigorous prosecutions in all journalist homicides.”
Most countries on the Impunity Index are democratic, are not at war, and have functioning law enforcement institutions, yet journalists are regularly targeted for murder and no one is held accountable.
Journalists in South Asia are particularly vulnerable. Countries from that region make up almost half of the index. They include Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India.
Even in countries in conflict, such as Iraq, the vast majority of journalist deaths are homicides, not a product of crossfire.
Local reporters covering their home countries are most vulnerable. Most of the murders ranked in the Impunity Index were local journalists in their home countries.
CPJ’s Impunity Index, compiled for the first time this year, calculates the number of unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of the population in each country. CPJ examined every nation in the world for the years 1998 through 2007. Only those nations with five or more unsolved cases are included on this Index. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained
In November, CPJ launched a global campaign against impunity. CNN chief international correspondent and CPJ board member Christiane Amanpour wrote about impunity in her preface to CPJ’s annual report, Attacks on the Press.
THE INDEX
Here are the 13 countries where journalists are murdered on a recurring basis and governments are unable or unwilling to prosecute the killers.
1. IRAQ
Iraq became the world’s most dangerous country for the press after the 2003 U.S. invasion led to armed conflict and sectarian strife. Journalists have generally not died in combat, however. Most are targeted for professional reasons and murdered. Most of the victims, such as Al-Arabiya correspondent Atwar Bahjat, are Iraqis. Seventy-nine cases are unsolved.
Impunity Index Rating: 2.821 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
2. SIERRA LEONE
The 11-year civil war, which ended in 2002, took a great human toll across Sierra Leonean society. Nine journalist murders remain unsolved. Many of these cases stem from a particularly brutal period in January 1999, when rebels took the capital, Freetown. More recently, however, newspaper editor Harry Yansaneh was beaten to death in 2005, allegedly by a member of parliament and her relatives.
Impunity Index Rating: 1.636 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
3. SOMALIA
Run largely by competing warlords since 1991, Somalia remains fragmented since Ethiopian troops helped install a central government in late 2006. No convictions have been obtained in five journalist murders. They include the slayings of radio journalists Mahad Ahmed Elmi and Ali Sharmarke, who were killed within hours of each other on August 11, 2007.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.610 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
4. COLOMBIA
The conflict among right-wing paramilitaries, leftist guerillas, and government forces has led to dozens of journalist deaths. In the vast majority of cases, journalists were targeted for their coverage and murdered. At least 20 cases are unsolved, including the 2003 slaying of the nationally known investigative reporter Guillermo Bravo Vega.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.439 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
5. SRI LANKA
Fighting between government and separatist forces has long bled the nation. But journalists are more likely to be assassinated than to die in crossfire, with many of the victims ethnic Tamils. The victims include senior Tamil journalist Mylvaganam Nimalrajan, shot in his home in 2000. Nimalrajan’s murder is among eight unsolved cases here.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.408 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
6. PHILIPPINES
While the country has a free and vibrant press, journalists covering corruption, crime, and politics have repeatedly been targeted with violence. Broadcast commentators and reporters in provincial regions are especially vulnerable. Politicians and police have been implicated in a number of slayings, but corruption in the local court system has stymied efforts to prosecute. No convictions have been obtained in 24 cases.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.289 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
7. AFGHANISTAN
Despite the prolonged armed conflict in Afghanistan, journalists are more likely to be targeted for murder than to be killed in a combat situation. Seven cases are unsolved, including the 2007 slaying of local reporter Ajmal Naqshbandi. Running counter to the international trend, most victims have been foreign rather than local reporters.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.279 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
8. NEPAL
Political instability and conflict between the government and Maoist insurgents have challenged Nepal, where five journalist murders remain unsolved. Four of the victims were abducted and executed while in captivity. All were local journalists. They include Birendra Shah, a radio and print journalist who was kidnapped and slain in 2007.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.185 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
9. RUSSIA
Business, official corruption, and human rights abuses are among Russia’s most dangerous beats. Fourteen journalists have been murdered with impunity since 1998. They include the well-known investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya, shot in her apartment building in 2006, and the American editor Paul Klebnikov, gunned down on a Moscow street in 2004.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.098 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
10. MEXICO
Drug trafficking, organized crime, and official corruption are Mexico’s deadliest beats. No convictions have been obtained in seven journalist murders. Most of the victims were local reporters, such as Francisco Ortiz Franco, a top editor for the muckraking Tijuana weekly Zeta who was shot in the middle of the day on a downtown street in 2004.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.068 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
11. BANGLADESH
Political instability and entrenched corruption are the toughest stories to cover in Bangladesh. Eight journalist murders are unsolved. The victims were all local reporters, and include the veteran correspondent Manik Saha, killed when leftists threw a bomb into his rickshaw in 2004.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.056 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
12. PAKISTAN
Political unrest, sectarian strife, and tribal warfare confront Pakistan. Eight Pakistani journalists have been murdered with impunity since 1998. The victims include reporter Hayatullah Khan, who was kidnapped in the tribal region of North Waziristan in 2005 and found dead several months later.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.051 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
13. INDIA
The world’s largest democracy also has one of the world’s freest presses, but in India, as elsewhere, politics and organized crime are dangerous stories to cover. Five murder cases are unsolved. All of the victims were local reporters. Among them is newspaper reporter Prahlad Goala, who was run down by a truck and then stabbed in 2006 after writing about timber smuggling.
Impunity Index Rating: 0.005 unsolved journalist murders per 1 million inhabitants.
AMERICAN NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS DOING OKAY IN A GLOOMY ECONOMY
MediaLife looked behind the steep circulation declines among US newspapers and reported that there’s hope yet for print.
MediaLife said, “The news would seem more depressing than ever for America's newspapers, with the latest circulation data revealing accelerating declines for the most recent six-month reporting period: 3.6 percent on weekdays and 4.6 percent for Sunday papers.
“But there's a bigger story in the Audit Bureau of Circulations numbers, and in some ways a downright encouraging story.
“A closer look reveals the most troubling losses are among the nation's large metro papers, those with circulations over 200,000, and that's been going on for several years.
“The large national papers, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The New York Times, are faring far better, with the first two showing modest gains. The Times was down 3.8 percent over the six months ended March 31, much of that the result of a price increase.
“What's encouraging is the number of papers that saw gains in circulation, or at least stayed flat.”
MediaLife also commented that raw figures sometimes do not reflect the full reality of a situation, reporting, “But perhaps the most positive thing to note about newspapers is that a good chunk of those circulation declines were managed, where publishers intentionally slashed what's these days referred to as junk circulation, papers being sent out to areas beyond the core readership or that are essentially given away.
“Papers are trimming outlying circulation in order to focus on providing deeper coverage of their core markets. They are also doing it to save money, of course.
“But it's a move that advertisers should welcome as well, since those outlying readers are not likely to be their target consumers. They lose nothing by seeing that circulation slashed. What they are left with is a more condensed readership, and those who are much more likely to buy their goods.
“This trimming of junk circulation has been going on for several years, and it continues.”
MediaLife also commented that many newspapers have also gained from the popularity of the internet, reporting, “Newspapers struggled in the early years of the web, seeing it as a threat, but they've become increasingly adept at building up their sites and traffic in these past several years. They've done so well at it that they've actually increased their total readership, more than compensating for the declines in print circulation.
“In first-quarter 2008, newspaper sites drew 66.4 million unique visitors, up 12.3 percent from the year earlier period, according to a Newspaper Association of America study.”
‘RACHEL’S LAW’ WILL NOR PROTECT US JOURNALISTS FROM ‘LIBEL TERRORISM’ The American Center for Democracy reports that New York State Governor David Paterson signed the ‘Libel Terrorism Protection Act’ on May 1, after it passed the state's Assembly and Senate unanimously on March 31.
Also known as Rachel's Law, the bill will protect American journalists and authors from foreign lawsuits that infringe on First Amendment rights. The bill also received unprecedented support from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
"New Yorkers must be able to speak out on issues of public concern without living in fear that they will be sued outside the United States, under legal standards inconsistent with our First Amendment rights," said Governor Paterson. "This legislation will help ensure of the freedoms enjoyed by New York authors."
Rachel’s Law is named after Dr Rachel Ehrenfeld. In Ehrenfeld v. Mahfouz, New York State's highest court held that it was unable to protect Dr Ehrenfeld from a British lawsuit filed by Saudi billionaire Khalid Salim Bin Mahfouz.
Britain's High Court ordered her to pay over US$225,000 in damages and legal fees to Bin Mahfouz, apologize and destroy copies of her books.
Instead, in November 2006, Dr Ehrenfeld sought a US federal court order to protect her constitutional rights. But a New York Court of Appeals ruling with national implications sent legal shockwaves throughout American newsrooms.
The New York court potentially undermined US journalists' ability to expose terrorism's financial and logistical support networks, when it ruled that the court lacks jurisdiction to protect Americans - on US soil - from foreign defamation judgments that contradict the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Rachel's Law declares overseas defamation judgments unenforceable in New York State unless the foreign defamation law provides, in substance and application, the same free speech protections guaranteed under the US Constitution. The law gives New York residents and publishers the opportunity to have their day in court.
"The truth is a critically-important component in the War on Terror," said US Senator Dean G Skelos. "This important new law will protect American authors and journalists who expose terrorist networks and their financiers."
Rachel's Law marks an important step in Dr. Ehrenfeld's efforts to stop Arab billionaires like Khalid bin Mahfouz from attempting to silence US writers who expose Saudi terrorist funding and global radical Muslim organisations.
2008 AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION
Local Radio Awards winners
A FULL list of winners of the public broadcaster ABC Local Radio Awards for 2008:
Station of the Year (Metropolitan)
666 ABC Canberra
Station of the Year (Regional)
630 ABC North Queensland
Broadcaster of the Year
Red Symons – 774 ABC Melbourne
Rural Reporter of the Year
Kim Honan – ABC mid north coast
Sports Broadcaster of the Year
Quentin Hull - general coverage
Online Feature of the Year (joint winners)
Fiona Churchman & Ping Lo for ‘Stolen Generation’
Kim Honan for ‘Eating Close to Home: The Locavore Challenge’
Website of the Year
Nick Kittel and Ping Lo for abc.net.au/canberra
Local Program of the Year (Metropolitan & Networked)
Mornings with Madonna King – 612 ABC Brisbane
Local Program of the Year (Regional)
Drive with Roisin McCann – ABC northern Tasmania
Outstanding Coverage of a Local Story or Emergency (by an Individual, Program or Station)
1233 ABC Newcastle for ‘The June Long Weekend Storms 2007’
The Paul Bodington Award for an Outstanding Radio Feature/Package by an Individual
Phil Ashley-Brown, 702 ABC Sydney for ‘Stella’s Lung Transplant’
Outside Broadcast of the Year (Metropolitan)
Breakfast with Adam Spencer, 702 ABC Sydney – World in Sydney
Outside Broadcast of the Year (Regional)
Northern Territory Country Hour – Outback Odyssey
Community Event of the Year
Heywire in Canberra 2008
Promotions Producer of the Year
Andrew Taylor – 774 ABC Melbourne & ABC Local Radio Victoria
Producer of the Year
Brad McCahon – 720 ABC Perth
Best New Talent on Local Radio (joint winners)
Andy Muirhead – 936 ABC Hobart
Ping Lo – 666 ABC Canberra
Marketing Campaign of the Year
Natalene Muscat and Felicity Greenland, 774 ABC Melbourne – ‘100% Pure Footy Finals’
WHY WAS AN ACTRESS CHOSEN TO ENDORSE THE AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINSTER’S LISTING IN TIME’S MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE’S LIST
AAP reported that Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made Time magazine's list of the world's most influential people, alongside the US president and Iraq's radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Just five months after he was elected, the magazine has included Mr Rudd in this year's list of 100 names, including world and business leaders, celebrities and sports stars.
But the bizarre aspect of this listing is that an Australian actress, Cate Blanchett, in a blurb written alongside Mr Rudd's listing, said it was his apology to the nation's stolen generations that had impressed her most.
The fact that Blanchett was chosen by Rudd for a lead role in last month's 2020 ideas summit in Canberra is clearly a sop to her celebrityhood, but why an actress with seemingly no hard political experience is chosen to endorse the listing of the Australian Prime Minister in Time magazine is a mystery to MediaBlab.
ACP IN JOINT VENTURE WITH HEARST TO PUBLISH GRAZIA IN AUSTRALIA
ACP Magazines last night announced that Grazia will be published as a joint venture partnership between ACP Magazines and the Hearst Corporation, under license from Mondadori.
The partnership continues the long running joint venture with ACP Magazines and Hearst in Australia, with Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar and Madison magazines currently published as a collaboration between the two publishers.
Scott Lorson, ceo, ACP Magazines, said,” “ACP Magazines has a rich history of successful publishing partnerships and we are delighted to announce this joint venture with Hearst.
“ACP Magazines and the Hearst Corporation have built a powerful business partnership which combines the talent and expertise of two of the world’s leading publishing houses.
“Grazia has found global acclaim in the magazine and fashion arenas and we are extremely proud and excited to introduce it in partnership with Hearst to Australian audiences.”
George Green, president of Hearst Magazines, said, “All of us at Hearst are delighted to be expanding our 20 year old joint venture in Australia with ACP Magazines to include Grazia.
“We admire the international success of Grazia and believe it will be well received in Australia. We are joint venture publishing partners with Mondadori in Italy too which means Hearst is pleased to be growing its international magazine business together with publishers we know and respect.”
The internationally acclaimed Grazia (Italian for Grace) was first published in Italy in1938 by Mondadori, Italy’s biggest publisher of consumer magazines and one of the leading players in the sector in Europe. Grazia is now published in nine countries.
Fabrizio D’Angelo, head of international activities, magazine division, Mondadori, Italy, said, “Not only is it the tenth launch of Grazia, but it’s the first launch in the southern hemisphere for Mondadori.
“Australia is a very significant market on an economic and strategic level and this move will make Grazia visible on a worldwide scale. We are extremely pleased to partner with two world renowned publishers in the Australian launch of Grazia.”
Grazia will launch in the Australian spring of 2008.
AUSTRALIA HAS MORE MOBILE PHONE SUBSCRIBERS THAN PEOPLE, WHILE THE NUMBER OF MOBILE PHONES IN MYANMAR HAS JUST SNUCK PAST THE QUARTER-MILLION MARK
Australia now has more mobile phone subscribers than people – figures from the Australian Communications and Media Authority show there are now 21.26 million active mobile phone services in the country, up almost eight pe cent on the previous year. More than 4.5 million of these are 3G phones.
But the number of fixed-line services dropped from 11.26 million to 10.92 million in the past financial year.
Meanwhile, the number of mobile phones in Burma reached 265,912 at the end of 2007, according to the state-run Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications.
Ther are 211,812 subscribers for GSM, with 30,390 using the CDMA system and 23,710 remaining with the older DAMPS network. According to the Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications, it doubled its network capacity during the year, although it was not clear who provided the equipment. A SIM card costs US$1,300 from Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications and between $1,600 and $2,000 on the black market.
Distributing active SIM cards has become a common form of patronage within state agencies.
MYANMAR JUNTA-FRIENDLY COMPANY SELLING SATELLITE TV RECEIVERS WHICH PICK UP CENSORED FOREIGN NEWS BROADCASTS
The Irrawaddy Journal reports that increasing numbers of Myanmar citizens are watching censored foreign news broadcasts and TV programs by purchasing satellite receivers from a junta-friendly company.
The Myanmar Ministry of Information, together with privately owned Forever Group, in 2005 created a homemade satellite receiver known locally as Family Entertainment, which now receives a maximum of 19 channels and also reroutes censored channels CNN and MTV.
A Family Entertainment satellite receiver currently costs 277,000 kyat (US $250) including the first year’s fee and involves no license fee, as opposed to the 1 million kyat ($900) fee for satellite dishes imposed by the military government in January.
The Myanmar government ordered a massive hike in annual satellite television license fees in January, from 6,000 kyat ($5) to 1 million kyat ($900).
THAI FILM DIRECTOR RELEASES MOVIE WITH CENSORED SCENES BLACKED OUT TO SHOW WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN CUT
AP reports that after a long fight with Thailand’s film censorship board, Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul has released his latest movie with six missing scenes blacked out to show where they have been cut.
The film, ‘Sang Satawa’ (Syndrome and a Century), won several international awards when it was released overseas last year, but in Thailand it fell foul of the censors.
Apichatpong was ordered to remove four “inappropriate” scenes – a monk playing a guitar, two monks with a remote-controlled toy, a group of doctors drinking whisky and a doctor kissing his girlfriend while the camera lingers on the groin area of his trousers.
When Apichatpong appealed to the board he was instructed to make two further cuts – of scenes showing statues of the Princess Mother and Prince Mahidol Na Songkhla, father of the present King.
The new Thai government not only ignored protests by Apichatpong and other leading representatives of Thailand’s arts scene, but enacted a new media law in December 2007 that entrusted the country’s film rating system to the censorship board.
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