Topics in this digest:
1. Following Swine Flu Online & HealthMap; Google's Global Disease Aler
From: George Lessard
2. IFEX COMMUNIQUÉ WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2009 EDITION
From: George Lessard
3. Canadian Association for Sound Ecology (CASE)
From: George Lessard
Messages
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1. Following Swine Flu Online & HealthMap; Google's Global Disease Aler
Posted by: "George Lessard" media@web.net themediamentor
Date: Wed Apr 29, 2009 7:07 am ((PDT))
Following Swine Flu Online
by Michael Day
Tracking and communications could play a key role in combating a pandemic.
Read More »
http://www.technologyreview.com/web/22554/?nlid=1986
Flu flow: HealthMap, created by Google and the CDC, annotates a global map
with news articles, official medical alerts, and other data in real time.
Credit: Google
http://healthmap.org/en
[excerpt]
The World Health Organization (WHO) admitted on Tuesday that it's too late
to contain swine flu, and experts say that it is now vital to track the
spread of the virus in order to mitigate its effects. Vaccines and
antivirals will be crucial to the effort, but tracking and communications
technologies could also play a key role in monitoring the virus,
distributing accurate health information, and quelling outbreaks.
Bloggers and social-networking sites were among the first to follow the
outbreak's rapid spread from its epicenter in Mexico--where swine flu has
been linked to more than 150 deaths--to cities across the United States
and on to Europe, Israel, and New Zealand.
The need for fast information has seen the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) build up a large following on Twitter. Groups ranging
from fellow federal institutions, such as the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health, to local Red Cross divisions, as well as
many regular Twitter users, are employing the service to receive updates.
Some experts, however, warn that Twitter can just as easily spread
misinformation and panic. According to data from the medical tracking site
Nielson, conversations related to swine flu reached 2 percent of all
messages on Twitter over the weekend. By contrast, Google's Flu Trends, a
site that aims to spot flu outbreaks by monitoring search queries related
to flu symptoms and treatment, has shown little increase in activity in
recent days.
Messages in this topic (1)
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2. IFEX COMMUNIQUÉ WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2009 EDITION
Posted by: "George Lessard" media@web.net themediamentor
Date: Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:39 pm ((PDT))
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: IFEX COMMUNIQUÉ WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2009 EDITION
From: IFEX Communiqué <communique@ifex.org>
Date: Wed, April 29, 2009 17:43
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IFEX COMMUNIQUÉ WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY EDITION |
VOL 18 NO 17 | 29 APRIL 2009 | ------
INDEX
FREE EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT:
1. World Press Freedom Day 2009: Focus on media, dialogue and mutual
understanding
IFEX MEMBERS' AND PARTNERS' WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY EVENTS:
2. Africa
3. Americas
4. Asia-Pacific
5. Europe and Central Asia
6. Middle East and North Africa
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Visit the special World Press Freedom Day page on the IFEX website:
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/242/
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FREE EXPRESSION SPOTLIGHT
1. WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY 2009: FOCUS ON MEDIA, DIALOGUE AND MUTUAL
UNDERSTANDING
Today in Sri Lanka, the government claims the 25-year-old war against the
Tamil Tigers is finally winding down - an event any journalist would be
eager to cover. But the government has refused to allow reporters access to
the war zones, or to those areas where thousands have been stranded amid
the shelling.
In times of upheaval, people's need for reliable information is especially
great - their very survival may depend on it. "Whenever blood flows,
reporters' ink should flow too," says IFEX member Reporters Without Borders
(RSF), who is leading an international campaign demanding that journalists
be allowed to move freely in Sri Lanka's conflict areas.
The demand is timely, as journalists and others from around the world
converge in Doha, Qatar to celebrate UNESCO's World Press Freedom Day,
whose theme this year is the potential of the media to foster dialogue,
mutual understanding and reconciliation.
"Strengthening the principles and practices of a free and professional
media is the most sustainable way of encouraging a media culture that works
towards building peace," says UNESCO's Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura.
"Only a media that is vibrant, independent, pluralistic, inclusive and
fair, editorially free and beyond censorship and influence from owners or
interests can contribute to dialogue and reconciliation across divides."
In light of this year's theme, the UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize,
awarded each year to an individual or organisation that demonstrates
courage in defending free expression, is honouring a committed Sri Lankan
journalist who opposed the war, Lasantha Wickrematunge.
Wickrematunge, the high profile leader of the Sri Lankan paper "The Sunday
Leader", was on his way to work in Colombo on 8 January 2009, when he was
attacked by a group of men on military-style motorbikes. He died several
hours later.
Perhaps most remarkable about his assassination was that he predicted it:
three days after the attack, "The Sunday Leader" published his final
column. Wickrematunge talked about how much the press freedom situation had
deteriorated in the past few years in the midst of a civil war. He
condemned with equal fervour the army's occupation of Sri Lanka's north and
east, and the Tamil Tigers the government is fighting. And he convincingly
argued that when he would finally be killed, "it will be the government
that kills (him)."
"Jury members were moved to an almost unanimous choice by a man who was
clearly conscious of the dangers he faced but nevertheless chose to speak
out, even beyond his grave," said the jury. "Lasantha Wickrematunge
continues to inspire journalists around the world."
UNESCO points out that communicating across cultural differences is as
crucial in peace times as it is in war. So during its two-day international
conference in Doha, attendees will address the role that media can play in
intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding by eradicating hate speech,
ignorance and prejudices.
Media can not only serve to promote tolerance and acceptance of difference,
says Matsuura, but can also strip away "the ignorance that breeds mistrust
and suspicion," and challenge "prevailing attitudes and stereotypes about
other cultures, religions and peoples."
Hot off the heels of a "defamation of religions" resolution at the Human
Rights Council and lingering anger at the Danish cartoon controversy, the
specific role of the media in promoting inter-religious dialogue and mutual
understanding is an apt topic.
And how about the journalists themselves? The need for self-regulation and
high ethical standards, particularly during times of conflict, will also be
at the heart of the dialogue. The Media Institute for Southern Africa
(MISA), for example, is using this World Press Freedom Day to call on the
media in embattled Zimbabwe and Zambia to set up self-regulatory
mechanisms. "Such efforts… are not meant to shield the media from criticism
or infringe on editorial independence, but in fact enhance the interaction
of the media with its public as well as enhance media professionalism,"
argues MISA.
As we celebrate World Press Freedom Day 2009, this year's theme of media,
dialogue and mutual understanding aptly captures the ideal situation that
many in the media yearn for and are working toward. In Sri Lanka, IFEX
members continue to demand that the media be allowed to provide that vital
space in which opposing views can be aired and dialogue can get started - a
crucial foundation for reconciliation and reconstruction. Matsuura reminds
us that "a free press is not a luxury that can wait until more peaceful
times. It is, rather, part of the very process through which they may be
achieved."
Visit these links:
- IFEX World Press Freedom Day page:
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/242
- UNESCO World Press Freedom Day 2009 page:
http://www.unesco.org/webworld/en/wpfd2009
- Sri Lanka: Call for journalists to be let into area where "a major
humanitarian crisis" is unfolding with no media presence (RSF):
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=30813
- Emerging threats, the need for vigilance and consolidation on media gains
in Southern Africa (MISA): http://www.misa.org/
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IFEX MEMBERS' AND PARTNERS' WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY EVENTS
Every year, IFEX members and partners around the world mark World Press
Freedom Day with activities to promote the right to freedom of expression,
and to raise awareness of threats against journalists, writers and others
who are targeted for exercising this right. Find out here what is happening
in your area this year:
2. AFRICA
For the 15th year in a row, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)
is unveiling its hefty report, "So this is Democracy", which looks at the
state of the media in Southern Africa. MISA recorded 163 alerts in the year
2008, the most serious violations taking place in Tanzania - most notably
the acid attack on journalist Saed Kubenea of the "Mwanahalisi". The
government later banned the weekly, allegedly for publishing seditious
material. A similar distrust of private media has been the basis for media
closures in Lesotho and Zimbabwe, says MISA. On 3 May, find out about other
noteworthy violations by reading MISA's World Press Freedom Day statement
and downloading the report here: http://www.misa.org
The West African Journalists' Association (WAJA) is taking up UNESCO's
theme of "media, dialogue and mutual understanding" by participating in
demonstrations in Bamako, Mali and Dakar, Senegal and calling for talks
between government and the media in West Africa. WAJA has high hopes that
dialogue will help create an environment conducive to development of the
media sector, "to decriminalise press offences and to put an end to the
killings, assaults, arrests and imprisonment of journalists." See:
http://www.ujaowaja.org
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is teaming up with the Ghana
Journalists Association to put dialogue between the government and the
media in practice. On 4 May, press freedom advocates, such as Kwame
Karikari, executive director of MFWA, and the presidents of Ghana's
journalists', newspaper publishers' and independent broadcasters'
associations, can exchange views with the Minister of Information, Zita
Okaikoi at a symposium at the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra.
Two days later, on 6 May, more talks will follow on how to turn GBC - Ghana
Broadcasting Corporation - into a "true public service broadcaster." See:
http://www.mediafound.org
Worried about the growing intolerance towards independent journalism and
rising violence against journalists, the Eastern Africa Journalists
Association is organising a workshop on 2-3 May in Kigali, Rwanda. IFEX
members the Media Institute from Kenya and Somalia's National Union of
Somali Journalists will be just some of the attendees addressing the
situation facing journalists and media in eastern Africa, including
journalists' safety and working conditions, professional ethical standards,
the place of investigative journalism in the region, and media as a tool
for dialogue and reconciliation. Email: moise (@) eaja.org or omar (@)
nusoj.org
3. AMERICAS
On 24 April, radio reporter José Everardo Aguilar, who often talked about
corruption on his radio programme, was gunned down in his home in El Bordo,
in southwestern Colombia. To mark 3 May this year, the Writers in Prison
Committee (WiPC) of International PEN has released the "Declaration in
Defence of the Freedom to Write in the Americas".
Endorsed by 50 heavyweight writers, such as Noam Chomsky and Lydia Cacho,
the declaration condemns violence against journalists in Latin America and
the impunity that surrounds their cases. The situation is particularly dire
in Mexico, where in the past five years alone 20 journalists have died and
four others have disappeared - PEN is urging you to publicise the
declaration and to mobilise as many appeals as possible to the Mexican
President now and throughout the year, using the postcard found here:
http://tinyurl.com/cn34l8
It's official: Mexico has become the Americas' most dangerous country for
journalists. So this year, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) joined the
Overseas Press Club to present a panel in New York City to discuss
"Mexico's Pitfalls for Journalists" on 27 April for World Press Freedom
Day. Panellists, including three experienced Mexican reporters, discussed
the risks associated with covering the news in Mexico and on the
U.S.-Mexican border, from the drug cartels that target "curious"
journalists to press freedom violations by the security forces. See who
said what, here: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=30835
The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) knows that free expression is a
fundamental human right enshrined in international law - and wants to
ensure the world knows it too. IAPA is using 3 May to draw attention to its
public awareness campaign, "One word can make a thousand changes in your
life, and you have the right to say the next one." Download one of six ads,
each with a prominent figure in contemporary history (Simón Bolívar, Nelson
Mandela, Martin Luther King, Pope John Paul II, Pelé and Albert Einstein)
and a word or phrase that led to their success when they uttered it. For
materials, see: http://www.sipiapa.com/banner/regi/index.php?idioma=us
IFEX's member in Guatemala Centro de Reportes Informativos sobre Guatemala
(CERIGUA) punches in with its 2008 free expression report on Guatemala. The
results aren't good - besides growing media concentration, independent
journalists are at risk from organised criminals, which have penetrated the
small country and are one of the greatest threats to free expression. Read
about how they have made their mark on Guatemala here:
http://tinyurl.com/bpwxhf
What's it like reporting in conflict-ridden Afghanistan? Canadian
Journalists for Free Expression, together with the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation (CBC), is hoping to find out with a panel discussion on 29
April. Panellists will explore the challenges facing foreign and local
reporters, the pros and cons of embedded reporting and the role of
reporting in shaping Canadian public opinion and policy. Speakers include
Graeme Smith, a Canadian reporter credited with sparking debate in Canada
about the moral and legal parameters of Canada's mission in Afghanistan.
See: http://www.cjfe.org/releases/2009/28042009wpfd.html
"The recent conviction of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi in a
sham espionage trial in Iran puts a human face on the declining state of
press freedom, both in the Islamic republic and the world overall," says
Freedom House. Freedom House is launching its 2009 Freedom of the Press
survey on 1 May, which will highlight Saberi's case and other emblematic
stories. Has media freedom in the 195 countries and territories regressed
for a seventh straight year? Find out when the results are released on 1
May at Newseum in Washington, D.C., in front of Freedom House's massive
(36-feet-wide!) press freedom map. Bookmark: http://www.freedomhouse.org
Other activities:
- IFEX interim member the Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers (ACM) will
be in Grenada on 14-15 May, commemorating World Press Freedom Day in the
company of UNESCO Caribbean, as well as the Caribbean Broadcasting Union
and the Caribbean Institute for Media and Communication:
http://www.acmediaworkers.com/
- Canadian journalists facing threats to their right to free expression, as
well as international cartoonists whose work illustrates that right, will
be honoured at the World Press Freedom Awards, handed out by the Canadian
Committee for World Press Freedom, in Ottawa on 5 May. Media outlets can
download copies of the winning and runner-up cartoons, on the theme of
"Protecting Privacy?" - a concept used by government bodies to deny
releasing information to the public, here:
http://www.ccwpf-cclpm.ca/cartoons-2009
- The Center for International Media Assistance gave the floor to the
Committee to Protect Journalists and the International News Safety
Institute to lead a discussion on the "Dangerous Truth" - safeguarding
journalists - on 29 April at the U.S. Congress in Washington, D.C. See:
http://cima.ned.org/860/world-press-freedom-day-2009.html
4. ASIA-PACIFIC
The Federation of Nepali Journalists with UNESCO Kathmandu is gearing up to
host its South Asian neighbours to discuss their shared experiences at a
regional conference in Kathmandu on 3-4 May. Three themes are on the table:
media freedom, including security and impunity, how the media contributes
to dialogue, and the role of the media in countries in transition.
Participants from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and
Pakistan are coming to the celebration, which will also honour three
prominent Nepali journalists with the "Press Freedom Fighter" award. See:
http://www.fnjnepal.org/
The International Federation of Journalists and the South Asia Media
Solidarity Network will also be on hand to present their seventh annual
South Asia press freedom report, "Under Fire: Press Freedom in South Asia
2008-2009". The report, available on 3 May, records a worrying decline in
press freedom across the seven countries assessed - no surprises there,
considering the tumultuous year the region's had:
http://asiapacific.ifj.org/
Case in point: Pakistan. The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) with UNESCO
Islamabad is organising a 3 May conference to highlight the challenges to
free expression in Pakistan during these unstable times. Prominent
journalists will put chief guest, the former Minister of Information and
Broadcasting Sherry Rehman, to the test. PPF will also announce the winner
of its third Aslam Ali Award, worth 100,000 Rupees (US$1,300), which
recognises a person or group that has made a notable contribution to the
defence and promotion of press freedom in Pakistan. See:
http://www.pakistanpressfoundation.org/
It's no small feat that being the site of a continuing fierce political
confrontation, Bangkok is playing host to two major events organised by
IFEX members on 3 May at the Art and Culture Centre. The Southeast Asian
Press Alliance (SEAPA) and UNESCO Bangkok join forces to highlight the
importance of freedom of expression and media independence, especially
during and after conflicts and crises. Speakers will talk about the
post-conflict role of journalists after the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia,
President Suharto in Indonesia, and President Marcos in the Philippines.
SEAPA and UNESCO will also present a website of banned materials of the
region, which can be accessed from SEAPA's site in the coming days:
http://www.seapabkk.org
At the same time, the Thai Journalists Association is organising a panel
with a national focus, looking at the situation of media independence in
Thailand, where "the government is walking a tight rope of political
tension." See: http://www.tja.or.th/
Just this month, Indonesia's Supreme Court ruled in favour of "Time"
magazine in a US$106-million defamation suit filed by former President
Suharto for a story that accused him of amassing billions during his rule.
So it's only fitting that this World Press Freedom Day, the Alliance of
Independent Journalists (AJI), who campaigned tirelessly on the case, is
tackling one of the biggest threats to press freedom in the country -
criminal defamation - in an event at the Jakarta Media Centre on 6 May.
Also look out for AJI's 2009 Press Freedom report, which will be unveiled
at the event. See: http://www.ajiindonesia.org/
If you happen to be frequenting Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia between 15 April and
15 May, keep your eyes peeled for eye-catching banners and billboards that
reference the Mongolia Constitution and Media Freedom Law as well as
UNESCO's declarations on free expression. The signs, care of IFEX's member
in Mongolia Globe International and UNESCO Beijing, are just one tactic in
Globe's "For Fair and Responsible Journalism" campaign, aimed at raising
public awareness of the importance of a free and independent media. The
campaign also involves the "We want to tell the truth!" event on 30 April,
where journalism students can take media leaders and politicians to task on
Mongolia's censorship, media concentration and lack of self-regulation
issues. For those who can't make it, Globe is also publishing its 2008
media freedom report, which will be made available on Globe's website:
http://www.globeinter.org.mn/
"Building Courage under Fire": that's the apt title of a regional event in
the Pacific being put on by Pacific Freedom Forum, UNESCO and the
Secretariat of the Pacific Community, with support from IFEX, on 6-8 May in
Apia, Samoa. The event was originally meant to take place in Suva, Fiji on
3 May, but Fiji's declaration of emergency rule and an ensuing clampdown on
the media actually made holding the event illegal. Delegates from
Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Palau,
Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu will descend on Apia to gather
the latest info, skills and contacts to protect and promote media freedom
in their home countries. See: http://www.pacificfreedomforum.blogspot.com/
The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) in Australia knows that
good food is the way to your wallet. That's why it's hosting its annual
press freedom dinner on 1 May in Sydney, with all proceeds going to the
Alliance Safety and Solidarity Fund, which assists journalists and their
families across the dangerous Asia-Pacific region. Thanks to the fund, last
year the children of a dozen journalists killed in Nepal during the
country's decade-long civil war were able to go to school. Over dinner,
MEAA will unveil "Secrecy and Red Tape: The State of Press Freedom in
Australia 2009", an analysis of the successes and shortcomings of press
freedom in Australia. It's available from 1 May here:
http://www.alliance.org.au/documents/pf09.pdf
Other activities:
- IFEX interim member the Centre for Independent Journalism in Malaysia is
organising a public forum at Central Market in Kuala Lumpur on 10 May on
"Media Under Najib: Hope or Disappointment?" What options does the Prime
Minister have, vis-à-vis clamours for reform on one side and status quo on
the other, and can he deliver? See: http://www.cijmalaysia.org/
- The Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists is expecting
200 participants at a seminar on 4 May where local journalists will discuss
their challenges and the importance of free expression in a developing
country. Contact: umsarin (@) hotmail.com
- The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) is once again
organising a wreath-laying ceremony at Plaridel Shrine in San Nicolas,
Bulakan on 3 May in memory of the 100 journalists who have been killed
"since democracy was supposedly restored in 1986," says NUJP. Those
planning on attending the ceremony should wear white. See:
http://www.nujp.org/
- Who's more important to democracy, journalists or politicians? Three
members from New Zealand's Parliament will mull over the question with
three respected broadcasters on 4 May in Parliament. Proceeds of the
debate, conducted by the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, IFJ
Asia-Pacific and the Parliamentary Press Gallery, will go to MEAA's
Alliance Safety and Solidarity Fund. See: http://www.epmu.org.nz/
5. EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
It looks like a bullet-proof vest, but it's made of newspaper so doesn't
offer any protection at all. That's the image in an ad aimed at raising
awareness of the dangers journalists face in many countries as they go
about uncovering corruption, organised crime, government incompetence,
financial wrongdoing and more. The ad, along with a package of other
materials like interviews, articles and essays, is being offered by the
World Association of Newspapers (WAN) on the theme "Journalists in the
Firing Line", and is yours for publishing on 3 May. The free materials can
be downloaded in five languages - English, French, Spanish, German and
Russian, at: http://www.worldpressfreedomday.org
Taking up the theme of violence against journalists, the International
Federation of Journalists has renewed its agreement with the Brussels-based
Vintu Foundation to provide humanitarian assistance to 10 families of
journalists and media workers from around the world killed on duty. See:
http://tinyurl.com/cbxbw5
The International Press Institute (IPI) is using World Press Freedom Day to
name the winner of its 2009 Free Media Pioneer Award. This year's award
goes to... "Novaya Gazeta", the crusading Moscow newspaper that has
literally paid with staff members' lives to bring us in-depth, independent
reporting. According to IPI, four of the paper's correspondents have been
killed in the past decade, including the iconic Anna Politkovskaya. It's no
wonder Russia is Europe's deadliest country for journalists. "Novaya
Gazeta" has endured threats and government investigations but continues to
probe human rights abuses, corruption and the Kremlin's tough policies in
Russia's restive North Caucasus republics. See: http://tinyurl.com/dhh8lr
IPS Communication Foundation, better known as BIANET, will be making the
case for "Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech in Turkey on the Road
to the EU" at a conference of the same name on 3-4 May in Istanbul. At that
time, BIANET's quarterly report on free expression and press freedom in
Turkey will be available in Turkey and English on BIANET's website:
http://bianet.org/english
The Institute of Mass Information (IMI) has come out with a damning
"chronicle of confrontation for 2008" between the press and the authorities
in the Ukraine. Despite last year's conviction of three police officers in
the 2000 killing of journalist Giorgiy Gongadze, an outspoken journalist
who was highly critical of then-President Leonid Kuchma, the masterminds
are still at large. But the biggest offender last year was the economic
crisis, which has led to many journalists being the target of salary cuts,
arrears in wages and dismissals. The crisis gave the media the chance to
"discharge first" those journalists and editors who were independent, says
IMI. Find out who the other "Predators of Press Freedom in Ukraine" are
later this week on IMI's site: http://eng.imi.org.ua/
IFEX member Mizzima News, a Burmese news agency in exile in India and
Thailand, is trekking to Stockholm to visit Sida (Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency) on 29 April to talk about Burma's emerging
independent media, and the importance of media in exile to report on
countries where press freedom is violated. Attendees can catch "Burma VJ",
a documentary co-produced by Mizzima's own Soe Myint on the power of
protests in Burma. It's also where Frank La Rue, the UN's special
rapporteur on free expression, will be before heading to Doha for UNESCO's
main event. See: http://www.mizzima.com
On 3 May Adil Soz, IFEX's member in Kazakhstan, will be revealing the
winners of its third annual caricature contest, an event that has actually
revived a dying art: the editorial cartoon. Adil Soz has teamed up with
free expression groups in the region, including the Public Association
"Journalists" (PAJ) in Kyrgyzstan and the National Association of
Independent Mass Media, Tajikistan (NANSMIT) to collate the finest
depictions of free expression in the region into a calendar. The groups
will distribute 1,000 copies to media outlets and local and international
media advocacy organisations. The Central Asian groups have also run an
essay contest on free expression. Perhaps some of the young activists who
were detained in Almaty, Kazakhstan last week for planning a 3 May protest
on Internet censorship will share their experiences. After 3 May, winning
entries of both contests can be viewed here:
http://www.adilsoz.kz/?id=207&lan=english
Other activities:
- PAJ is inviting all journalists to attend a billiards tournament in
Bishkek. Apparently, billiard tournaments for journalists have become a
tradition in Kyrgyzstan on 3 May, a way to foster solidarity among
reporters and promote media workers' rights. See: http://www.monitoring.kg
- NANSMIT is meeting roundtable-style in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on 3 May to
discuss three hot issues that affect Tajikistan's press freedom: the
financial crisis, decriminalisation of defamation and media
self-regulation. See: http://www.eng.nansmit.tj/
- The International Journalists' Network (IJNet) wants to know if the role
of media really is to promote tolerance, understanding, and an acceptance
of diversity, as UNESCO calls for. Or is the media's role simply to report
the facts, even if such facts breed mistrust or fuel divides? Post your
comments here: http://tinyurl.com/c559dr
6. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Many of IFEX's Middle East and North Africa members will be in Doha to
attend official UNESCO events - the Egyptian Organization of Human Rights,
the Bahrain Center of Human Rights (BCHR), the Arabic Network of Human
Rights Information and the Observatory for the Freedom of the Press,
Publishing and Creation (OLPEC) from Tunisia. (See the programme here:
http://tinyurl.com/d6cd7k )
One member who is conspicuously absent is the International Federation of
Journalists (IFJ). IFJ is refusing to attend because "the event is held in
a country which supports an international media freedom centre, but which
refuses to allow local journalists to form their own independent union or
association," said IFJ. Instead, IFJ will be in Bahrain, where it has
opened a regional office to campaign for ethical journalism. See:
http://tinyurl.com/cept4j
IFJ is also calling for a radical overhaul of media laws in the Middle
East, many of which lead to the jailing of journalists. Check out "Breaking
the Chains", IFJ's annual report on press freedom violations in the Arab
world, which documents the cases of jailed journalists in the past year and
the key legal articles that need reform: http://tinyurl.com/dbgwvw
Meanwhile, disgusted with the government's continuing onslaught on free
expression in Bahrain - websites are being banned, writers prosecuted and
human rights defenders prevented from speaking to the media - BCHR is
fighting back. One of the ringleaders of the clampdown is Bahrain's
Minister of Information and Culture, Mai al-Khalifa, who strangely has won
many awards for her support of "culture" and "openness". BCHR is
circulating a petition demanding that al-Khalifa's prizes be withdrawn, and
is calling on the government to stop breaching its human rights
commitments. See: http://www.bahrainrights.org/en
Together with UNESCO's regional office and with support from IFEX, IFEX's
member in Lebanon, Maharat, is organising an event on 7 May to tackle why
Lebanon has continued to slip in regional press freedom rankings. Be sure
to get a copy of Maharat's 2008 report on the status of freedom of opinion
and expression in Lebanon, which combines legal data as well as first-hand
interviews with Lebanese journalists and media organisations. See:
http://www.maharatfoundation.org/
Other activities:
- In Palestine, look out for the "Free Media, Free Country" poster, which
is being plastered throughout Palestine and in media outlets during May by
the Palestinian Centre for Development & Media Freedoms (MADA):
http://www.madacenter.org/en/
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Messages in this topic (1)
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3. Canadian Association for Sound Ecology (CASE)
Posted by: "George Lessard" media@web.net themediamentor
Date: Wed Apr 29, 2009 9:46 pm ((PDT))
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [ncralist] Canadian Association for Sound Ecology (CASE)
From: "Ken Zakreski" <wash@shaw.ca>
Date: Wed, April 29, 2009 14:43
To: "NCRA general list" <ncralist@ncra.ca>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
For anyone not going to NCRC, this look like fun... Gabriola will be
very nice this time of year. Ken
Gabriola Island welcomes World Sound Ecologists
Submitted Article
Tuesday, April 28 2009
The Canadian Association for Sound Ecology (CASE),
http://interact.uoregon.edu/MediaLit/CASE/Homepage
in collaboration
with the Lulu Performing Arts Society, is very pleased to announce
the 2009 CASE Retreat and Symposium, which will take place at The
Haven on Gabriola Island this coming June 12th – 14th.
CASE is the Canadian affiliate of the World Forum for Acoustic
Ecology (WFAE),
http://interact.uoregon.edu/MediaLit/WFAE/home/
an international association of organizations and
individuals who share a common concern with the state of the world's
soundscapes. Members represent a multi-disciplinary spectrum of
individuals engaged in the study of the social, cultural and
ecological aspects of the sonic environment. The symposium will
gather together people from all over the world active in the acoustic
ecology field -- a group that is mostly comprised of sound artists,
but also includes biologists, geographers, architects, poets, visual
artists, philosophers, and writers, among others. Gabriola as a
location is a first for CASE, and has been chosen for the opportunity
that its rural setting provides for deeper listening.
The symposium will feature four keynote speakers, all seminal figures
in the field of acoustic ecology: Keiko Torigoe (Japan), a
musicologist, soundscape researcher and a professor at the University
of the Sacred Heart, in Tokyo; Helmi Jarviluoma (Finland), chair
person of the Finnish Society for Acoustic Ecology; Hildegard
Westerkamp (Vancouver), a pioneer in the sound ecology movement, and
a founding member of World Soundscape Project in the early 70s under
the direction of Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer; and Eric Powell
(Vancouver), a composer and sound artist working with the
interrelationship between space, place and sound. Speakers will
present their own work, and share ideas and insights relevant to
sound ecology today.
The symposium will also feature other artists' work, and plenty of
opportunities for lively discussions of topics related to sound
ecology. In addition, several Gabriola youth will have an
extraordinary opportunity to develop and create short sound art
pieces to be presented at the symposium. These pieces will be the
outcome of a series of workshops facilitated by Kelly Price, that are
designed to engage youth in analyzing and studying the acoustic
environment of Gabriola Island through recordings and sound journals.
Tickets and passes for the symposium will be on sale soon. For more
information, please contact Leah Hokanson at 247-9854, or email
leahokanson@gmail.com.
Messages in this topic (1)
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