211 journalists in world’s jails in 2013 – with three countries holding most
There were 211 journalists in the world’s prisons at the beginning of this month, meaning that 2013 had the second highest total since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began its annual census 17 years ago. It is close to the record high of 232 the previous year.
According to a special report by Elana Beiser, CPJ’s editorial director, Turkey was the world’s leading jailer of journalists for the second year running, followed closely by Iran and China.
In fact, those three countries accounted for more than half of all the imprisoned journalists. Beiser writes: “Intolerant governments in Ankara, Tehran and Beijing used mostly anti-state charges to silence a combined 107 critical reporters, bloggers, and editors.”
Turkey improves – but 40 are still held in jail
World?s leading jailer of journalists Turkey: Watchdog
Turkey was the world?s number one jailer of journalists for the second consecutive year, followed closely by Iran and China
CBC Radio?s Day 6 had a 14-minute story this weekend on the recent hubbub around hoaxes and viral media. (You may have seen the Times story on similar ground.) The hook here is the Elan Gale jerks-on-a-plane hoax. I show up near the end of the piece, but the reason I?m linking is that it features an extended exchange with BuzzFeed?s Lisa Tozzi which is an interesting window into how the site thinks about its obligations toward verification. The show?s host, Brent Bambury, also has on a CBC staffer since the network (like the Times!) aggregated the story itself. |
In suburban D.C., a network of hyperlocal news sites expands and bets on local advertising
When the Curbed network of websites ? local outlets focused on dining, real estate, and fashion ? was bought by Vox Media last month for around $20 or $30 million, Digiday?s Josh Sternberg asked founder Lockhart Steele how a media company so laser-focused on local could grow to be a company of that value when, as we all know (or think we know), local doesn?t pay.
Q&A: Sarah Marshall on leaving Journalism.co.uk for the WSJ and the state of media across the pond
For three years, Sarah Marshall has held a job that?s pretty similar to, well, my job. And I think she?s pretty good at it! But Marshall is moving on, from Journalism.co.uk, the 15-year-old journalism news site based in London, to The Wall Street Journal, where she?ll be the inaugural social media editor for news coming out of Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Earlier this month, the BBC broadcast a story shot entirely on a drone. Not one second of imagery in the minute-long report from a massive protest in Thailand was from the ground. Not one human being touched the camera while it recorded. Even the closing shot of the reporter ending the story was shot from the drone as it slowly descended into the crowd where the reporter stood, dutifully informing the viewer of just how big the protests were.
The rise of the fluid beat structure A favorite editor of mine used to say that you can tell a news organization?s values by what it chooses not to cover. I always liked that, especially as it applies to news judgment in a content-choked digital world. We have access to oceans of information online. For any news organization to produce meaningful journalism, it must figure out how to elevate its work above the rest of the riffraff retweeting the same things, broadcasting the same livestreams, and quoting the same press releases. |
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