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Media Rights Monitor
November 2007 Vol I0 No.
2
MAIN NEWS
African Journalists Launch FAJ, Condemn
Repression of the Media
Leaders of the African
journalists’ trade unions and associations which gathered in Abuja,
Nigeria from November 12 to 14, 2007 for the African Journalists
Congress launched the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) to act as
the representative voice of journalists in the media in Africa.
Full story...
ECOWAS Court Defers Judgment in Gambian
Journalist’s Case
The Community
Court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on
November 28 adjourned its judgment to January 31, 2008 in the case of
the “disappearance” of Chief Ebrima Manneh, a reporter for the
pro-government Banjul-based Daily Observer newspaper. This was the third
adjournment on the matter in November.
Full story...
NIGERIAN NEWS
National Assembly to Pass the
Freedom of Information Bill Soon
The hope of Nigeria joining the league of
countries in the world with Freedom of Information law heightens with
the National Assembly adopting various legislative options to ensure the
quick passage of the Bill. Full story
...
Workers’ Action Forces ‘The
Guardian’ off Newsstands and Website
The Guardian newspapers have been forced off the streets and
newsstands, while the electronic version has disappeared from its
website since November 7 due to an industrial action embarked upon by
the two unions in the medium: the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ)
and the National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products
Workers (NUPPPROW) which are demanding a 50 per cent pay raise, complete
computerisation of the newsroom and a staff bus, among others.
Full story...
AFRICAN NEWS
Gambia's Leading Torturer Reported
Dead
Major Musa Jammeh, a man described as the leading torturer for the
regime of President Yahya Jammeh was reported to have died on November
18, 2007 after a sudden mysterious illness. Another member of the squad,
Captain Tumbul Tamba also died under the same circumstances last April.
Full story...
GLOBAL NEWS
New Global Survey on Protection of
Journalists' Sources
The first ever comprehensive global
study of protection of journalists' sources has found that there is
widespread legal recognition of the right around the world.
Full story...
WAN
Reports More than 100 Journalists Killed in 2007
The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) report on press freedom
worldwide for the year 2007 has disclosed that more than 100 journalists
have so far been killed this year adding that their death toll is
looking to surpass the record level reached in 2007.
Full story...
Canadian
Court Affirms Media's Right to Publish in the Public Interest
The Canadian media has been granted judicial latitude described as a
major breakthrough for freedom of the press in the country with an
Ontario Court of Appeal judgment which gave the media the freedom to
publish information deemed to be in the public interest.
Full story...
GFMD Seeks
Governments, others’ Support for Media
The Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) an
umbrella group of 500 NGOs working to develop the skills and capacity of
local media in 97 countries around the world has called on
governments, intergovernmental institutions and donors to pay more
attention to the role of media in informing the public and stimulating
discussion about climate change. Full
story...
AWARDS & FELLOWSHIPS
Reuters Research Fellowship at
Oxford University
Experienced journalists interested in pursuing
a specific topic in greater detail have up till January 30, 2008 to
apply for a research fellowship from the Reuters Foundation to attend
the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University.
Fellowships last for three, six or nine months and fellows can enter the
Institute in October, January or April.
Full story...
Application Invited for
Grants for Innovative Malaria Advocacy
Applications are invited from established
non-governmental organizations, institutions, and from individuals
associated with an organisation or institution for the Innovation Grants
for Malaria Advocacy for 2007.
Full story...
Award for
Excellence in TB Reporting Instituted
The institution of a new journalism prize, ‘the Stop TB Partnership/
Lilly MDR-TB Partnership Journalism Award’ was announced on the eve (8
to 12 November 2007) of the World Conference of the International Union
against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.
Full story...
NMMA
Rewards Nigeria’s Best Pens
The best of Nigerian journalists and media professionals were rewarded
with a total of 36 different prizes by the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA),
in three main categories during this year’s awards ceremony held at
Ada-Osogbo, Osun State, South-west Nigeria on November 17.
Full story...
ATTACKS
Joint
Security Agents Beat up Journalist
Mr. Chukwudi Akasile, the Akwa Ibom State correspondent of The
Punch newspaper was on November 15 severely beaten up and then
arrested by members of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) on security
in the state in Uyo, the State capital in South-south Nigeria. He was
taken to the “A” Division of the Nigerian Police, Akwa Ibom State
Command, where he was briefly detained.
Full story...
Mr. Aruga Joe Omokaro, an Assistant News
Editor with Independent Newspapers Limited (INL), publishers of
Independent titles alleged incessant threat to his life by one
Gbolahan Mohammed, a Superintendent of
Police (SP) who is the personal assistant to AIG Zone 2. On November 29,
he petitioned the Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro on the matter.
Full story...
Newspaper Vendors Embark on Strike in Imo State
Members of the Imo State Chapter of the Newspapers and Magazines
Distributors Council in Imo State, South-east Nigeria on November 21,
embarked on strike to protest incessant harassment by officials of the
State government. Full story...
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