African journo awards extends deadline

CNN International and MultiChoice announced at the end of last week that the deadline for entries for the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2012 Awards have been extended to Wednesday, 22 February 2012, and the judging to take place in April this year. 30 Jan 2012 10:02

CPJ report: 52 journalists jailed in Africa

[Theresa Mallinson] There are currently 52 journalists imprisoned in Africa, in nine countries. More than half the jailed journalists are held in that scourge of media freedom - Eritrea. The most disturbing news to come out of CPJ's recent report on journalists behind bars, is that the trend of imprisoning journalists - often on trumped-up charges - has seen a sharp increase over the last decade. 12 Dec 2011 10:05

Media cautioned against inciting violence

Media practitioners have been urged to always be mindful of information they disseminate as it can be destructive. 22 Nov 2011 21:05

Fresh Living now available in Mauritius

Fresh Living, the food magazine on South African shelves, continues to expand on its African footprint as it goes on sale this month in Mauritius. 10 Oct 2011 11:27

Bizcommunity.com

Bizcommunity launches new dedicated sectors, newsletters

Bizcommunity.com - South Africa's largest online B2B publisher - is set to grow even more with the introduction of 16 new content channels, with weekly newsletters, as from last week Tuesday, 20 September 2011. 20 Sep 2011 15:45

A focus on African media this weekend

An unprecedented summit of African media conferences take place Friday 16 September to Monday 19 September 2011: Highway Africa, Pan African Conference on Access to Information, Digital Citizens' Indaba, the African Forum for Media Development, various editors' forum meetings, and workshops for African journalism educators. 13 Sep 2011 13:53

Zambian ruling party members charged in TV crew attack

NEW YORK: Zambian law enforcement and judiciary officials must ensure that justice is fully served in Monday's attack against three television journalists and their driver, the Committee to Protect Journalists said on Wednesday, 20 July 2011. Two officials of the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) have been arrested in connection with the attack. 21 Jul 2011 11:25

Press freedom celebrations tempered with concerns

Yesterday, Tuesday, 3 May 2011, was the 20th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, begun in Namibia as the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of principles calling for a free, independent and pluralistic media throughout the world. Celebrations around the world were tempered with concerns about the erosion of press freedom and in South Africa, SANEF called on Government to review its proposed legislations that has seen SA downgrade from 'free press' to 'partly free'. 4 May 2011 09:13

Decline in press freedom experienced in key countries - report

WASHINGTON: The number of people worldwide with access to free and independent media declined to its lowest level in over a decade, according a Freedom House study released yesterday, 2 May 2011. The report, Freedom of the Press 2011: A global survey of media independence, found that a number of key countries experienced significant declines, producing a global landscape in which only one in six people live in countries with a press that is designated Free. 3 May 2011 14:00

Concern mounts over missing SA journo as govt scrambles to assist

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] As concern mounts over the fate of Anton Hammerl, a South African photographer missing in Libya alongside two US journalists and one Spanish photographer, the Presidency said yesterday, Wednesday, 20 April 2011, that President Jacob Zuma has been briefed on the attempts made by the SA mission in Libya to locate Hammerl. Reports from Washington DC also suggest that the White House is very concerned about their well-being and it is trying hard to assist them in any way it can. 21 Apr 2011 11:10

Newspapers and journalists face threats and legal pressure

Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by the steadily worsening climate of harassment and intimidation that the Ethiopian authorities have imposed on the media, especially the private media. 25 Mar 2011 06:25

African politicians ban media to avoid criticism - Henry Maina

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] The fundamental reason that many African governments ban and harass the media has more to do with personal connotations than other issues, Kenya's Henry Maina, director of Article 19 Eastern Africa, told delegates at the two-day Regulations and Rights media conference last week in Johannesburg. 16 Mar 2011 10:22

Dario Milo and media law: is legal sky a limit for journalists?

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] There is some substantiated regulation of what the media can do and what it cannot do, but the balance must be struck between what the law has prescribed and freedom of expression, Prof Dario Milo, Wits University media law visiting professor and Webber & Wentzel partner, said last week in Johannesburg at the two-day Regulations and Rights media conference. 15 Mar 2011 14:01

What to do with critical media: to regulate or not to regulate?

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] As governments across the African continent come under increasing pressure from critical media, 'vulture' ruling parties believe the only way to deal with this 'surrogate opposition' is to regulate it through statutory mechanisms that will eventually dent its wayward reporting. But some African voices of reason, such as Zambia's Fred M'membe, argue that the restriction of good media never produces good media. 14 Mar 2011 10:50