Washington, United States | AFP | Journalists faced growing dangers of being targeted for killing for their work in 2018 even as the risks from war and conflict declined, a media watchdog said Wednesday. The Committee to Protect Journalists said 34 of the 53 journalists killed on duty this year …
Read More »CPJ announces legal support to defend fearless journalists
New York, US | THE INDEPENDENT | The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and First Look Media’s Press Freedom Defense Fund today announced they are partnering on a fundraising campaign to provide legal support for journalists facing extensive legal battles meant to suppress critical journalism. The International Center for Journalists …
Read More »COMMENT: Stop killing the messenger
Reporters need be allowed to work because silencing them increases crimes and threatens democracy COMMENT | ROBERT MAHONEY | What does it cost to silence a muckraking reporter? In the Philippines, officials needed just $250 in 2011 to buy the services of a journalist-slaying gunman. In Slovakia, Ján Kuciak and his …
Read More »Press Freedom in Uganda not getting any better – Journalists
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Media practitioners have said media space in Uganda has been reducing despite good laws in support of press freedom. The concern comes as Uganda joins the rest of the world to commemorate World Press freedom under the global theme for this year “Keeping Power …
Read More »Uganda joins #WorldPressFreedomDay
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda has joined the rest of the World to mark World Press freedom day amidst growing concern about restrictions against media practice. The celebrations were held at Kampala Railway Gardens in Kampala where Journalists and media freedom advocates were flagged off for a peaceful procession. Uganda …
Read More »Prof Kiiza to Journalists: Stop being ‘Useful Idiots’
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Makerere University political economist, Prof Julius Kiiza, has challenged Ugandan journalists to resist being “useful idiots who parrot the narratives of forces who have formed an alliance of betrayal against the country”. In political jargon, a “useful idiot” is a derogatory term for a person …
Read More »Sanlam opens doors for Uganda’s financial journalists.
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Introduced in 1974, Sanlam Awards for Excellence in financial journalism are now open to Ugandan journalists. The awards are the premier financial journalism awards in South Africa and have become a prestigious event and fiercely contested accolade. The company’s Chief Executive Officer for Uganda, Gary …
Read More »Journalists protest Philippine move to close news website
Manila, Philippines | AFP | Philippine journalists took to the streets Friday in support of a news website facing state-enforced closure, accusing President Rodrigo Duterte of trampling on press freedom. The government withdrew the corporate registration of the Rappler website this week and has summoned its chief executive to answer …
Read More »COMMENT: The plight of journalists
Publicising violence against journalists will end an era of historically keeping it behind the headlines COMMENT | LEON WILLEMS | Every five days, on average, somewhere in the world, a journalist is murdered for being a journalist. Nine out of ten times, no one is prosecuted, creating an atmosphere of impunity that extends …
Read More »AGE LIMIT: Ugandan journalists protest
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Ugandan journalists have protested what they described as “gagging by the state” as the ongoing debate about changing the constitution to lift the age-limit for the presidency rages. Under their Uganda Press Freedom Forum, the journalists from leading media houses across the country blamed security and …
Read More »