Argentine President Cristina Kirchner’s push for a new media law has pitted her against one of Latin America’s biggest news empires.
If passed, the law would limit the amount of broadcast licences any one organisation can hold. Kirchner says the law would increase competition.
Her opponents argue that it is a power grab. Al Jazeera’s Latin America editor Lucia Newman reports.
Human rights groups in Azerbaijan are highlighting what they say are shrinking freedoms in the country, after two video bloggers were arrested and charged with hooliganism.
Activists say the charges were fabricated to punish the young opposition members, for their criticism of the government.
Matthew Collin reports from Baku.
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Reporters Without Borders is callling for the immediate release of two Azerbaijani bloggers detained pre-trial for two months by a court in Baku.
The two, Adnan Hajizada and Emin Milli, are described as youth movement leaders, civil society activists and citizen journalists.
Reporters Without Borders described the decision as ‘disproportionate’.
“They were not allowed to see a lawyer and the charges brought against them are baseless. We are worried about their state of health and call for their immediate release.”
According to reports on several blogs, Facebook and postings on Twitter, the charges against the two could result in their imprisonment for up to two and a half years.
It’s reported that the two men were beaten and then arrested in a Baku restaurant.
According to Human Rights House Network, the two were sitting in a restaurant with other young adults, discussing the activity of youth organisations related to the Internet when two men told them to stop talking politics and then attacked them.
Ali S. Novruzov a blogging researcher based in Baku who also writes for Global Voices Online and the FrontLine Club blog says the two months of pre-trial detention is the maximum period that they could have been held for.
Novruzov writes that during the two months the investigation has to be concluded and their case brought before the judge.
If the investigation is not concluded, their detention period can be extended for additional two months.
“While detained, they won’t be able to receive any guests, instead of their lawyers.
“They will be held in a new detention center in a town of Kurdokhani, a small town in an hour’s drive from Baku,” he writes.
Campaigners are calling for supporters of the two to write to the US Embassy in Baku to try to get help for the two detained bloggers.
Onnik Krikorian, a journalist and photo-journalist and blogger who covers the Caucuses writes on Global Voices that the two were subjected to a trial behind closed doors.
“One Facebook status line update reported that the German Human Rights Ombudsperson, coincidentally in Baku at the time, considered its conduct to be in violation of Azerbaijan’s international commitments.”
Adnan Hajizadeh is one of the founders of OL! Youth Movement which has a Facebook site, the group tweets @olmedia and have a YouTube site. Emin Milli helped set up the Alumni Network (AN). All sites are being continually updated.
Jason Calacanis moderates a conversation with bloggers Jeff Jarvis and Nick Denton on the future of the newspapers. This panel took place at the Aspen Ideas Festival in early July.
At least 35 Iranian journalists have been arrested since protests against the result of recent elections began.
Some foreign journalists were also detained. Iason Athanasiadis, a Greek-British reporter, was held for three weeks in Tehran’s Evin prison.
He’s now back home in Athens, where Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Phillips asked him to describe what happened after his arrrest.
Al Jazeera’s Inside Story looks at the coverage of the Western Media of events in Iran.
Al Jazeera’s The Listening Post looks at the role of the media, both new and old, in Iran’s election.