A recent decision by the German Supreme court reversed the previous outcome of the Newsclub v. Mainpost case, which involved the Newsclub online search engines and the German newspaper Mainpost. The court decision had ruled in March 2003 that providing deep linking violated authors’ rights.
It transpires from the recent German Federal Supreme Court’s decision that Germany is definitely paving the way for supporting the legality of deep linking.
In a case involving the publishing house Holtzbrinck and the online search engine Paperboy, the German Federal Court of Justice held that Paperboy did not violate authors’ rights nor competition law by linking internet users to articles on…
Thank you Madame Chair,
On behalf of the International Federation of Journalists, the world’s largest journalists’ group, I want to make a few comments on the tasks facing this meeting from the perspective of the people who work in the information and communications industry.
The IFJ, as part of the global union movement, has submitted detailed comments on the draft declaration and the action plan. These speak for themselves and I hope that you will take these into account in the preparation of the summit material.
I should begin by saying that we welcome the opportunity to take part in this meeting and we acknowledge the work done so far, but there is still a long way to go…
The International Federation of Journalists today called on Iran to investigate the tragic death of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, and to “bring her killers to justice.”
Kazemi was arrested last month after taking photos of a prison where several student protestors had been incarcerated. Subsequently, while in police custody, it was reported that she was beaten into unconsciousness. She then died over the weekend after lapsing into a coma from a brain hemorrhage.
“This is a tragic and sad loss," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. "We send our most heartfelt condolences to her family, friends and colleagues.” “We demand that the Iranian authorities explain what happened…
The International Federation of Journalists today warned Israel that its boycott of the BBC announced this week challenges free speech and sends out a dangerous message in a region where press freedom is under pressure.
Ariel Sharon has barred the BBC from his meeting with the British press during his visit to London today, amid accusations that the corporation made false allegations against Israel in a report on weapons of mass destruction.
The bar follows a decision made by Mr Sharon's office a fortnight ago to "withdraw cooperation" from the BBC in protest at a documentary that looked at the lack of international scrutiny of Israel's nuclear and biological weapons programmes and…
The International Federation of Journalists today called on Iran to free 17 journalists currently in detention and demanded an investigation into police brutality, which has left one Canadian journalist seriously injured.
“There has been a series of brutal violations of journalists’ rights, which must be stopped,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary.
Security officers in civilian clothes arrested 54-year-old Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi last month during widespread student protests. She allegedly took photos of a prison where many protestors were jailed. She sustained injuries in the custody of the Iranian police.
“We are very concerned about her condition,” said…
World Press Freedom Day, May 3rd 2003
Owners pressurize - (some) journalists are slaves
ADJUST INFORMATION AS THE BOSS TELLS YOU
By: Jasmina Popovic
The traditional definition and role of informative media is being lost more and more. Not because this is what journalists want, but because such are the interests of the owners. In the British media, the owners are American movie and entertainment companies, and thus advertisement is more important than ever. Therefore the following question arises: How to publish a negative critique in a British newspaper, if the financier of the movie is a company, which co-owns it? The French are afraid that they are the next in line, and…
The International Federation of Journalists today strongly condemned the life sentence on Munawar Mohsin, sub-editor at the Frontier Post by a court in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) that sentenced the journalist to life imprisonment for blasphemy.
Munawar Mohsin, was convicted of publishing a letter that led to violent protests across the country. Two other defendants, former Frontier Post news editor Aftab Ahmad and computers chief Wajeehul Hassan, were acquitted. An arrest warrant was issued against a fourth man, newspaper managing editor Mahmood Shah Afridi, who has absconded.
“Although Mohsin committed an editorial mistake by publishing a letter that…
The International Federation of Journalists today condemned the kidnapping of Agence France Presse journalist Ali Astamirov and called on the Russian authorities to investigate the case.
On 4 July, Chechen journalist Ali Astamirov was accosted by three armed men, two of whom were wearing masks, in the town of Nazran in Ingushetia. The unknown individuals threatened him with a gun and bundled him into a white car without a license plate, according to an eyewitness report.
The IFJ claims that this is one of the most dangerous regions in the world for journalists. Since 1994, twenty-five journalists have been killed while covering the conflict in Chechnya and numerous journalists have…
The International Federation of Journalists today warned that Baghdad is “still a deadly war zone where no journalists safety can be guaranteed,” after a weekend in which a sniper shot and killed a British freelance and an Australian television soundman died of wounds he received in a grenade attack a week ago.
Their deaths bring the official media death toll of the war in Iraq to 19 journalists and media staff killed with two journalists still missing. “This war is by no means over,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary, “and more than ever all journalists and media staff must exercise extreme caution. Baghdad is still a war zone.”
On 5 July, journalist Richard Wild, who arrived…
The International Federation of Journalists today called for international action to secure the release of journalists being held hostage in Aceh, Indonesia, and issued a general safety alert over an “outrageous catalogue of violations of journalists’ rights” in the region where Indonesia is waging a military campaign against armed separatists.
Two Indonesian journalists, television reporter Ersa Siregar and cameraman Fery Santoro, are being held hostage by the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), one Indonesian journalist has been found dead, two foreign journalists have been arrested and severe media restrictions have been put in place by the Indonesian military. The two missing journalists,…
The International Federation of Journalists today appealed to journalists groups and media unions around the world to give their support to Chinese media staff fighting one of the most “infamous and flagrant” violations of union rights in the United States.
The IFJ says the long-running battle for union recognition and bargaining rights by 150 media staff at the Chinese Daily News in Monterey Park California is a shocking example of how international media employers disregard core labour values.
“These workers are not asking for the world,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary, “they want some basic rights, but the company is investing instead in a union-busting exercise that…
The International Federation of Journalists today condemned the “brutality” of police actions in Nigeria yesterday against journalists covering a general strike against oil price hikes.
“The violent and intimidating action of the police verged on brutality,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary, speaking over police tactics against union pickets and journalists covering demonstrations.
Nigerian unions launched a strike on Monday (June 30th) in protest at a more than 50% government increase in the prices of petrol kerosene and diesel on June 20th. Although officials claim that the hiking of prices has been necessary in order to end shortages and smuggling, such increments only…
The International Federation of Journalists has sent a letter of protest to the President of Indonesia, Megawati Soekarnoputri condemning the introduction of restrictions against foreign journalists reporting on the conflict in Aceh.
1 July 2003
Her Excellency Megawati Sukarnoputri
President,…
The International Federation of Journalists has protested to the Government of Bangladesh over the violent attack and kidnap of journalist Abul Bashar.
27 June 2003
The Hon Begum Khaleda Zia
Prime Minister
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
VIA FACSIMILE: 0015 880 2 881…
Download the full IFJ Report on Public Broadcasting in Serbia:
At the Crossroads :
Public Service Broadcasting on the Edge in Serbia
(DOC, 213 Kb)
On May 12-14 May 2003, an IFJ delegation met with main actors of the restructuring of Serbian Public Broadcaster RTS. On 27 June 2003, the IFJ organised a Round-Table with local representatives, as well as regional and international experts.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Programme of the Round-Table :
"Public Broadcasting on the Edge in Serbia"
Belgrade, 27 June 2003
Organised with support from the Council of Europe and
the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights
09.30 Opening session :
Ms…
International journalists today welcomed a climb-down by a top Defense Department official who had earlier attacked journalists in Iraq for being “afraid”, but the International Federation of Journalists says the incident reflects profound hostility within the administration of President Bush towards media reporting from the region.
“Since this war began the White House has been guilty of ignorance and inhumanity regarding the work of journalists,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “We are still waiting for the US authorities to carry out credible investigations into the killings of journalists and media staff by its troops.”
The IFJ welcomed the apology to correspondents…
The International Federation of Journalists today warned that a recommendation over editorial reforms within the BBC could undermine the right of journalists to protect the anonymity of their sources of information.
“Journalists at the BBC and elsewhere must maintain the right to protect sources of information and they must not be obliged to betray them to anyone,” said Arne König, Chair of the European Federation of Journalists, the regional group of the IFJ.
The recommendation comes in a report into BBC journalism, which was commissioned earlier this year after David Kelly, a source for a controversial broadcast on the government’s handling of information regarding weapons of mass…
The International Federation of Journalists today warned that changes in media law that open the door to more media concentration in Australia would be “bad news for democracy and bad news for journalism.”
The IFJ says the changes will reinforce the global trend towards media monopoly while threatening the traditional diversity of Australian media.
The Federal Government claims to have reached a parliamentary deal to pass its controversial Media Ownership Bill, which will lead to big media corporations getting bigger and more cross ownership between newspapers and television.
“This will be bad news for democracy and bad news for journalism,” said Christopher Warren, IFJ President…
The winner of the first edition of the South and Eastern Africa IFJ Journalism for Tolerance Prize was announced on June 23, 2003 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Anna-Maria Lombard of the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s investigative documentary and current affairs programme Special Assignment was awarded the prize for “The healing land” broadcast 16 July 2002.
The documentary follows the attempts by the people of Rwanda to deal with the release and return to society of more than 100,000 awaiting-trial killers, looters, rapists and arsonists. The Gacaca, described as a bold experiment in justice, an international legal “first” is an indigenous system of justice that seeks to…
The International Federation of Journalists has sent letters of protest to the President of Afghanistan, Mr. Hamid Karzai, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Abdullah Abdullah , the Afghan Ambassador to Australia Mr. H. Mahmoud Saikal and Martin Hadlow, Head of UNESCO Mission, Kabul voicing its concern over the arrest of Sayeed Mirhassan Mahdawi, chief editor of the Aftaab and the banning of the publication, and the subsequent removal of all copies from Kabul newsstands.
…
His Excellency
President Thabo Mbeki
President of Republic of South Africa,
And Chair of African Union
Dear Mr President,
We would like to extend our best wishes to your excellency and through you to the African heads of States and government, delegates and brothers and sisters who are participating at the African Union meeting of Heads of State in Maputo. We are convinced that the present AU summit would perform tasks that would have a major positive impact on the growth and development of the African peoples.
We hope that our newly established organization, AU would, among others, focus on and discuss the issue of the exercise of the rights to press freedom which is based…
The International Federation of Journalists expressed today its support for the appeal of the Western African Journalists Association (WAJA) to the Economic Community of Western African States (ECOWAS), calling for an improved level of respect for journalistic rights in Western Africa and particularly for regional solidarity in light of the appalling situation for journalists in Liberia.
Ibrahim Famakan Coulibaly and Malcom Joseph, President and Vice-President of WAJA respectively, were invited to participate in the work of the Parliament of ECOWAS from the 4th to the 13th of June, 2003 in Abuja (Nigeria). Their contributions at this session focused on the role of the media in the…
The International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) organized for the different regions of the world a “sectoral workers’ education programme with a special focus on multinational enterprises”, which took place in Turin Italy, from 26 May to 6 June 2003. Gabriel Baglo, General Coordinator of the IFJ Africa Regional Office, and Tuwani Gumani, Project Coordinator for Southern Africa, attended the workshop on behalf of the IFJ Africa Staff.
The course was sponsored by the ILO and conducted by the Bureau for Workers' Activities (ACTRAV) of the ILO. It was aimed at assisting the Global union Federations (GUF) to empower their regional structure in different…
The European Federation of Journalists today congratulated Swiss journalists on securing an unprecedented court victory against the global media group Metro that guarantees trade union rights.
The two EFJ affiliates in Switzerland, the Swiss Federation of Journalists and CoMedia, and a number of affected journalists, took the case after Metro, which produces newspapers in a number of metropolitan centres worldwide, carried out sackings of staff and closed its Zurich operation without warning.
The judgement of the Swiss Upper Court announced: “The sudden closure of the free newspaper Metropol and the resulting mass redundancies has violated the basic participation and information…
The International Federation of Journalists today called on United States forces in Iraq to explain why troops arrested three journalists in Baghdad working for the Arabic television channel Al-Aalam.
“These arrests are the latest in a series of incidents that raise questions over what media strategy is in place to protect journalists from harassment,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary.
The Al-Aalam network, one of the most popular sources of news in Iraq since the US-led invasion, says Sami Hassan, Zoheir Mostafa and Ghuran Tofiq, reporters and cameramen were detained yesterday in front of the central police building in Baghdad.
US officials have not commented yet on…
Sehit Salahi
Sveket Sokak - N°16/Arabahmet/Lefkosa
KIBRIS
Telephone: 0393 22 76 782
E-mail: [email protected]
President: Kemal Darbaz
General Secretary: Hasan Öksüz
Status: Full Member
