BUYING JOURNALISTS

Following the lead of the LA Times, the NY Times reports today:

U.S. Is Said to Pay to Plant Articles in Iraq Papers

:”A covert campaign is under way to plant paid propaganda in the Iraqi news media and pay Iraqi journalists monthly stipends.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/01/politics/01propaganda.html?hp&ex=1133499600&en=3af8aaf9fa1cb0bc&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Juan Cole asks: Did Bush Plan to Bomb al-Jazeera?

The American press is predictably ignoring the story. Yet it is only too plausible that Bush wanted to wipe out what he saw as a nest of terrorists.”

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/113005Q.shtml

On this issue see my new piece for TomPaine.com–up on the Mediachannel.org website.

KURDISH BLOGGERS ASK: SHOW US THE TRIAL

Global Voices carries a pieces on criticisms of the way the Saddam Trial is being covered in Iraq. Deborah Ann Dilley writes:

”This week was fairly quiet in the Kurdish Blogosphere compared to week’s past. Many Kurds have been focused on the upcoming/ongoing trial of Saddam Hussein. One such blogger, Kurdo from Kurdo’s World remarked that after watching the first day of the trial that it was unfair…to Saddam’s victims. He gave 3 reasons:

1. The trial is not live. We get 30 minutes delay. Let’s hear what the man has to say. Why he did that to us LIVE and without censors.

2. The trial video is edited and censored. This is not fair. So many people have died and so many mothers and fathers and orphans want to hear the facts. Why is the video censored and edited ?

3. All we get to see is Saddam being defiant, his aids crying for help….but nothing about facts…Saddam wanted to explain what he was doing in the video and he was stopped from doing so. Let’s hear what the man has to say for fairness’s sake…”

globalvoices.online@gmail.com

TUNISIA: CIVIL SOCIETY CALLS FOR U.N. PROBE ON FREE EXPRESSION ATTACKS AT INTERNET SUMMIT

More than 140 civil society organizations have signed a joint letter urging U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to launch an investigation into attacks on freedom of expression and other human rights during the World Summit on the Information Society which ended more than a week ago in Tunisia.

The groups said that in the run-up to, and during, the Summit, attacks included the harassment of delegates, assaults on Tunisian and international journalists and human rights defenders, denial of entry to the country, the blocking of websites, the censorship of documents and speeches, and the prevention and disruption of meetings (see: http://campaigns.ifex.org/tmg). They said civil society participation in the WSIS had been severely disrupted by Tunisian officials, raising questions about the adequacy of U.N. mechanisms in ensuring civil society participation at U.N.-led summits.

VIA IFEX:
http://www.citizens-summit.org/Letter-SecGen-241105.shtml

EJC reports: US website depicts foreign press coverage of America

”WatchingAmerica.com is a website dedicated to showing Americans howtheir country is reported on in the foreign press. The site is edited by William Kern, former copy editor for the International Herald Tribune, and provides translations of interesting stories sourced from newspapers and broadcasts in Europe, The Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

“Kern and his business partner British entrepreneur Robert Koerner view site as responding to the growing interest among Americans in their country’s image abroad.

“The importance of translating articles from foreign sources is highlighted by Koerner, who asserts that there is a ‘key distinction’ between information published in English by foreign media, and stories written in native languages. No commentary is provided for any of the articles as the aim of the site is to be politically neutral.”

Source: http://www.editorsweblog.org/news//2005/11/us_website_depicts_foreign_press_coverag.php#more - Editors Weblog