August IWMFWire
World Updates

IWMF Asks Aristide to Protect Journalists in Haiti
Following renewed death threats against radio journalist and 1990 Courage in Journalism Award winner Liliane Pierre-Paul in Haiti, the IWMF asked President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in a May 12 letter to “personally intervene to make sure that all Haitian journalists, including Liliane Pierre-Paul, are free to broadcast the news without regard to the desires of -- and free from the threats of -- political factions.” For further information, go to http://www.iwmf.org/press/7525.

Reporters Without Borders Website Blocked in China
Chinese authorities blocked access to the website of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in April after the Paris-based organization issued a press release on the continued imprisonment of Chinese dissident Liu Di. China is among the world’s worst offenders when it comes to blocking websites it deems “dangerous or subversive.” Websites for Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the BBC and CNN were also blocked as of last October, according to RSF. China also leads the world with the most imprisoned cyber dissidents and journalists, with 42 currently serving jail terms.

IAPA Launches Anti-Impunity Campaign
The Inter American Press Association recently launched an advertising campaign in more than 100 print publications in the Americas to call attention to the impunity surrounding the murder of journalists there. The ads are part of IAPA’s “Unpunished Crimes Against Journalists” campaign, which began in 1995. The anti-impunity ads feature individual cases of murdered journalists and invite readers to sign petitions urging governments to bring to justice the perpetrators of these crimes. For more information or to sign an online petition, visit IAPA’s website at www.impunidad.com or contact info@impunidad.com.

IPI World Congress Cancelled
The International Press Institute cancelled its World Congress meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, originally scheduled for June 1-4 because of U.S. and U.K. government warnings about an “imminent” terrorist attack on foreigners and commercial aircraft. British Airways also suspended flights to and from Kenya. IPI hopes to hold the meeting in another country in September and to hold a congress in Kenya in the coming years. For more information, contact Christiane Klint, Assistant Congress Coordinator, IPI World Congress, at + 431 512 90 11 or ipi@freemedia.at or visit the IPI website at www.freemedia.at.

Iran Hands Seven Journalists Heavy Prison Terms
After a secret trial, the Tehran Revolutionary Court in Iran on May 10 sentenced seven journalists to prison terms totaling 52 years. Journalists Ezatollah Sahabi, Taghi Rahmani, Hoda Saber, Reza Alijani, Saide Madani, Ali-Reza Redjaï and Morteza Khazemian received sentences ranging from four years to 11 years, according to Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF). They were also stripped of their civic rights for 10 years.

The journalists were members of the banned National Religious Movement, a liberal, nationalist Islamic group. They were arrested during a police raid at the home of Mohammad Bablehnaghar, a progressive opposition figure, and were charged with “seeking to promote a conspiracy against the Islamic regime.” They had all been previously imprisoned on “anti-regime” charges. With 17 journalists behind bars, Iran is the leading jailer of journalists in the Middle East, says RSF.

Women’s Community Radio Station Launched in Afghanistan
Najiyah Hanifi, an Afghan radio journalist, has become the head of the first women’s community radio station in northern Afghanistan. The station, which is called Radio Rabi’ah Balkhi after a 9th century princess and poet, is located in Mazar-e Sharif. The station’s two-hour daily broadcasts include programs on public health, women’s rights and Afghan music. Supported by the Canada-based Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society, the station began broadcasting on March 8. Five female journalists and producers, a male technician and some 20 Balkh University volunteers work for the station.

United States Relaxes Media Ownership Regulations
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission loosened media ownership regulations in the United States on June 2, allowing broadcast media conglomerates to expand their reach in local and national markets. The move was opposed by numerous political, social and press freedom organizations, including the International Federation of Journalists. IFJ argued that the relaxed rules could come at the expense of democracy and pluralism. Under the new rules, a U.S. media company can now own a newspaper and broadcast station in the same city, except in the smallest markets, and up to three television stations in large markets, such as New York City or Los Angeles. A company can also control up to 45 percent of the national television audience, up from 10 percent, the previous cap.

The FCC said the decades-old regulations needed to be updated to account for cable channels and the Internet and that there are enough news outlets available for all voices to be heard. It kept a ban on mergers among the nation’s four largest television networks—ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC—maintained regulations limiting the maximum number of radio stations a company can own and put in place measures to prevent a company from owning all the radio stations in a town. Some opponents of the new regulations are now taking their fight to the U.S. Congress.

WACC Announces Global Media Monitoring Project 2005
The London-based World Association of Christian Communication’s Women’s Programme will co-ordinate the third Global Media Monitoring Project. The project is a study of the representation and portrayal of women in the media on one particular day. It will take place in 2005. Previous projects were carried out in 1995 and 2000. The findings of the 2000 study, which involved participants in 70 countries and analysis of more than 16,000 news stories, resulted in a book, Who Makes The News? For further information or to participate, write to the editor at women@wacc.org, or visit the website at www.wacc.org.uk.

New Media Monitoring Group Formed in Brazil
The Brazilian Newspaper Association (Asociación Brasilera de Periódicos, ANJ) has announced the formation of a national network to monitor violations of press freedom and free expression in Brazil and to facilitate information exchange among press freedom groups. The network will be run in partnership with the Brazilian office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. ANJ also plans to create a website and database for the network. For more information, visit the ANJ website at www.anj.org.br.

Somali Journalists Create Press Freedom Monitoring Network
A newly formed network of five correspondents in Somalia will, for the first time, systematically gather and report on press freedom violations in that country. The network, formed by the Somali branch of the Eastern Media Institute and supported by the Danish agency, International Media Support, will begin its work in the capital, Mogadishu. EAMI-S hopes to eventually expand the monitoring network to cover southern regions as well as the Puntland Autonomous Region in northeastern Somalia, where relations between media and local government are tense. For more information, contact Abdulkadir Mohamoud Walayo, Eastern Africa Media Institute Somalia Chapter; telephone: +252 1 217955; +252 1 650870; +252 59 32510; cell phone: +252 501600; or e-mail: walaayo@yahoo.com.

IWMF Participates on Forum on Journalism in the Americas
The IWMF recently participated in a forum on journalism in the Americas sponsored by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas in Austin. Representatives from 20 organizations and eight countries discussed ways to collaborate in their work. The Austin Forum will be repeated for the next three years with support from other institutions. Suggestions for the next forum included instruction on how to monitor and evaluate journalism training, guidance in obtaining funds from foundations and discussion of ways to involve U.S. Latinos in the training of Latin American journalists.
For more information, go to the Knight website: http://knightcenter.utexas.edu/.

Handbook Delves Into Media’s Peace Building Role
The European Centre for Conflict Prevention, in cooperation with the European Centre for Common Ground and the Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society has published a guide to effective and sustainable media interventions in conflict situations. The Power of the Media: A Handbook for Peacebuilders illustrates best practices and lessons learned in media training and development projects. The 246-page handbook includes a directory and profiles of 69 organizations working in conflict prevention worldwide, as well as a selection of key literature and reports, websites and audio-visual productions.

To order, contact the European Centre for Conflict Prevention, Korte Elisabethstraat 6, PO Box 14069, 3508 SC Utrecht, The Netherlands; telephone: +31 30 242 7777; fax: +31 30 236 9268; e-mail: info@conflict-prevention.net; or visit the website www.conflict-prevention.net.

U.N. Commission Says Women Need Access to Information Technology
At its March meeting, the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women asked governments to involve more women and girls — especially those in developing countries — in information and communication technology worldwide. The commission failed to come to an agreement, however, on what steps nations should take to reduce violence against women, the central reason for the meeting.

Knight Study Finds U.S. Newspapers Lacking in Diversity
The majority of American newspaper newsrooms do not reflect their communities, according to an April 8 report from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. According to the Newsroom Diversity Index, 372 U.S. newspapers have no minority employees and only three out of every 10 U.S. newspapers are at least halfway to parity with their minority communities. The findings, presented at the American Society of Newspaper Editors meeting in New Orleans, also revealed that most editors underestimate the size of minority populations in their communities. Minorities currently make up 31 percent of the U.S. population. To read the report, go to http://powerreporting.com/knight.

Number of Women in Daily Newspapers Declines Again
The number of women working in U.S. daily newspapers declined for the third year in a row in 2003, according to the American Society of Newspaper Editors annual Newsroom Census, released at an April 8 meeting in New Orleans. The census also found that minority women at daily newspapers in the United States increased by one percent. For more information, go to www.asne.org.

One-Third of Journalists in Mainstream Media are Women
Although more women than ever are graduating from journalism school, a decennial study by the Poynter Institute finds they still account for only one-third of all journalists working for mainstream media, a number little changed since 1982. According to the American Journalist Survey, released on April 10, women make up the journalism workforce as follows: they represent 43.5 percent at newsmagazines; 37.4 percent in television; 36.9 percent at weekly newspapers; 33 percent at daily newspapers; 21.9 percent in radio; and 20.3 percent at major wire services. But the survey has some encouraging data: Women account for 54.2 percent of journalists with fewer than five years of work experience, outnumbering men in that category for the first time. The survey, which began in 1971, also looks at age, salary, ethnicity and job satisfaction. For more information, go to www.poynter.org.