journalism

Keeping Out The Cameras and Reporters Simply Doesn't Work

What is Israel afraid of? Using the old "enclosed military area" excuse to prevent coverage of its occupation of Palestinian land has been going on for years. But the last time Israel played this game - in Jenin in 2000 - it was a disaster. Prevented from seeing the truth with their own eyes, reporters quoted Palestinians who claimed there had been a massacre by Israeli soldiers - and Israel spent years denying it. In fact, there was a massacre, but not on the scale that it was originally reported.

Now the Israeli army is trying the same doomed tactic again. Ban the press.

Posted in journalism, Media, free gaza, Israel/Palestine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 5, 2009
9:00 AM

CONTACT: Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Tel: +1-212-216-1832
Email: hrwpress@hrw.org

Israel: Allow Media and Rights Monitors Access to Gaza

Total Ban on Foreign Journalists Since Offensive Began

- January 5 - Israel should immediately allow journalists and human rights monitors access to Gaza, Human Rights Watch said today. Their presence can discourage abuse by warring parties and help save lives.

Human Rights Watch urged the Israeli government to abide by an Israeli high court ruling on December 31, 2008 and allow foreign media into Gaza. The presence of journalists and human rights monitors in conflict areas provides an essential check on human rights abuses and laws-of-war violations, Human Rights Watch said.

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Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, we give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Our rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Links:

Posted in Human Rights, journalism, Media, Israel/Palestine

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 2008
9:31 AM

CONTACT: Park Center for Independent Media

Nominations Open for Independent Media Award Named for Maverick Journalist I.F. Stone

ITHACA, N.Y. - December 17 - The Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College is now accepting nominations from journalists, academics and the public at large for the first annual Izzy Award, named after legendary maverick journalist I. F. Stone.

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Launched in 2008, the Park Center for Independent Media is a national center for the study of media outlets that create and distribute content outside traditional corporate systems and news organizations. Located within Ithaca College's Roy H. Park School of Communications, the PCIM examines the impact of independent media institutions on journalism, democracy and a participatory culture.

Posted in journalism, Media

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2008
2:31 PM

CONTACT: ACLU

Mandy Simon, (202) 675-2312; media@dcaclu.org

Reporters’ Phone Records Tracked by CIA in May 2006

ACLU Slams Agency for Infringing on First and Fourth Amendment Rights

WASHINGTON - December 9 - ABC News revealed that its reporters' phone calls are being tracked by the CIA in an effort to reveal confidential sources. In response, the American Civil Liberties Union condemned the CIA's actions and called on Congress to increase oversight and accountability over the intelligence community.

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Posted in civil liberties, domestic spying, fisa, journalism

What Indy Media Heroes Can Teach Us

Independent media outlets that contributed so mightily to the stunning election result are about to be tested as to their “independence.” With Democrats in control, will these outlets be guided by principle or just partisanship? Will they speak truth to power and expose corruption and injustice over the long haul – no matter who’s in charge?

U.S. history offers role models. In this era when indy journalists reach mass audiences via blogs, viral video and podcasts, there is much to learn from the originators of dissident journalism.

Posted in journalism, media reform

Big Election Winner: Indy Media

Of all the factors contributing to Obama's victory – luck, economic crisis, Bush, Palin – a major factor is now so second-nature to us that we may overlook its transformative impact since just four years ago: the Internet and the progressive online boom.

Posted in election 2008, journalism, Media

Studs Terkel: He’ll Never Be Silenced

The irrepressible Louis "Studs" Terkel was many things – oral historian, radio and TV host, actor, activist, Bronx-born icon of Chicago, the "great listener" who was hard of hearing, Pulitzer Prize-winner. But most of all he was an inspiration. He inspired every younger activist or independent journalist who ever met him. And who among us wasn't younger than Studs

The self-described "guerilla journalist" died Friday at 96. He was almost 70 when I first met him, more than twice my age. But I couldn't keep up.

Posted in journalism, studs

Seymour Hersh: The Man Who Knows Too Much

Every so often, a famous actor or producer will contact Seymour Hersh, wanting to make a movie about his most famous story: his single-handed uncovering, in 1969, of the My Lai massacre, in which an American platoon stormed a village in South Vietnam and, finding only its elderly, women and children, launched into a frenzy of shooting, stabbing and gang-raping. It won him a Pulitzer prize and hastened the end of the Vietnam war. Mostly, they come to see him in his office in downtown Washington, a two-room suite that he has occupied for the past 17 years. Do they like what they see?