CJA E-letter
Issue No
The CJA Newsletter
is moving into cyberspace. This is the first e-mailed edition
Page 2 CJA course in a Pakistani town
Page 3 Editors on charges in
Page 4 Award for the late Mark Chavunduka
Page 5 Namibian radio makes a comeback
Page 6 News in brief
Page 7 CJA branch elections
Widow seeks apology for
AN ISRAELI advocate-general has called in
the guns of soldiers present when James Miller, a British journalist, was shot
dead in the Gaza Strip in
Miller was shot dead while making a documentary film for TV showing the Israeli Army demolishing a house in Rafah. According to Channel 4 News, an Israeli spokesman claimed that a Palestinian shot him from behind. An examination showed he was shot in the front of the neck with an Israeli bullet. Channel 4 said that Miller was one of a group who identified themselves as journalists before the shooting.
The Israeli Army now requires journalists visiting the Gaza Strip to sign a waiver, promising not to complain if injured.
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CJA course in a Pakistani town
WRITING a special issue of the local paper,
Nawa-i –Ahmedpur Sharqia, was the focus of a short CJA course led by writer
and broadcaster Michael Griffin in the Pakistani town of
The lead story is based on
One of Michael Griffin’s problems was that
women were able to take part in the course only if they met separately from the
15 men. Fortunately, he had the help of Zia ul-Islam Zuberi, a member of
Transparency International and a columnist for
Ahmedpur East is located in southern
The course was dogged by security concerns
for a British journalist whose visit had been widely publicised. Police feared
an incident calculated to embarrass President Musharraf
during his visits to the
Most of the women who took part had degrees but little chance of employment except as teachers. Most of the men had other income than from journalism but all had accreditation as newspaper correspondents. They particularly relished a session on reporting elections.
The course was financed by the CJA Trust.
Editors on charges in
THREE
Bill Saidi, of The Daily News on Sunday, is accused of publishing a false report from a South African agency. He says he was not in charge of the paper at the time. The case against Francis Mdlongwa, an editor-in-chief at Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, relates to an advertisement published in the Financial Gazette last year when he was its editor. He says he did not see or approve the advertisement
Two reporters for the short-wave radio Voice of the People were seized by Zanu-PF youths and war veterans on June 2 when they sought to speak to students on the first day of a national anti-government stayaway. They were beaten and their mobile phones and minidisk recorders were stolen. After a further beating at Zanu-PF headquarters, they told questioners that VOP’s broadcasts are sent for broadcasting from a computer at the home of VOP co-ordinator John Masuku. Police seized the computer but, failing to find anything suspicious, returned it the following day.
Also on June 2, Zanu-PF supporters destroyed thousands of copies of independent newspapers and attacked people reading them.
In early June, police twice raided the
Andrew Meldrum,
who reported
The media commission chairman has demanded that journalists who joined the independent Daily News should surrender accreditation cards issued previously.
A government paper, the Sunday Mail, has put its political editor, Munyaradzi Huni, under 24-hour guard, because of threats he has received.
In April, the Supreme Court struck down the section of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act which makes it an offence to publish false news. Daily News reporter Lloyd Mudiwa and former editor Geoff Nyarota argued that the section breached their constitutional right to free expression. The court decision also ended a case against Norna Edwards and Kennedy Murwira of The Mirror, Masvingo.
A challenge to another section of the Act
caused suspension of a case against Mutare freelance
Stanley Korombo. He was accused of practising
journalism without official accreditation. The Act was amended on June 11. The
Media Institute of
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Award for the late Mark Chavunduka
MARK CHAVUNDUKA, founding editor of The
Zimbabwe Standard, has been selected by
Chavunduka, whose struggle for editorial independence
rallied journalists in
The 2003 class of Nieman Fellows praised Chavunduka for his courage and integrity and his
contribution to the development of the privately owned press in
In 1991 Chavunduka became editor of Parade. In 1997
he was the founding editor of The Zimbabwe Standard, an independent Sunday
which was an instant success.
In January 1999 Chavunduka and Ray Choto, the Standard’s chief reporter, were arrested by the
military after the paper published a story claiming 23 army officers had been
arrested following an attempted coup. Chavunduka and Choto were beaten, subjected to electric shock all over
their bodies and had their heads wrapped in plastic and submerged in a water
tank. They were held for nearly two weeks despite court orders for their
release.
The Lyons Award carries a $1,000 honorarium, to be shared by Chavunduka’s children and the
WALTER MARWISI, news editor of The Standard, has been named by CNN as African Journalist of
the Year.
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Namibian radio makes a comeback
AFTER LOSING its broadcasting licence two
years ago, Katutura Community Radio in
“Our aim is not to preach, but to do good community journalism”, said Liz
Frank, a board member at KCR. Community organisations will be enlisted to produce
relevant and topical programmes.
KCR, which had a big listenership in Katutura and other areas, has been off air since February
2001. The Namibia Communications Commission revoked its licence because it was
not broadcasting and had failed to pay its fees. It went off air when
volunteer staff went on strike, accusing management of ignoring their appeals
for improved working conditions. Some strikers also objected to a planned cut
in the broadcasting time devoted to music.
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News in brief
Malaysian journalist held for two years
HISHAMUDDIN RAIS, Malaysian filmmaker and
columnist for the website Malaysiakini, was released
on June 4 after two years’ detention without trial. He was one of ten people
detained when they were about to submit a “people’s memorandum” to
Uganda/Malawi Police closed Radio Kyoga Veritas, a Catholic station
broadcasting to North and
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CJA branch elections
FOLLOWING Hassan Shahriar’s election as the CJA’s international president, the Bangladeshi chapter has elected the following:
President Farid Hossain
Vice-presidents Saleh Chaudhury, Shamsuddin Ahmed, A.S.M.Habibullah
Secretary-general Abdur Rahman Khan
Secretaries Mukhlesur Rahman Chowdhury, Shyamal Dutta
Treasurer Abdul Jalil Bhuiyan
Organising secretary Saiful Amin
Publicity secretary Pavel Rahman
Commonwealth and international affairs secretary Nadeem Qadir
Cultural secretary Baby Maudud
Media relations secretary Nayeed Nizam
Committee members Zaglul A.Chowdhury, Monirul Huq, Md Rousshanuzzaman, Shafiqul Bashar Chapal, Joynul Abedin, Parveen F.Chowdhury, S.M. Zohurul Alam, Abdul Gofran, Shamim Ahmed, Subash Chandra Badal, Osman Gani Mansoor, Abdul Qayyum
THE NEWLY-FORMED Trinidad branch elected the following:
President emeritus George John
President Dale Enoch, broadcaster, 92.5 FM
Vice-president Kris Rampersad, columnist, The Guardian
Secretary Ucill Cambridge, editor, The Express
Treasurer Juel Brown, reporter, The Guardian
Address: c/o Dale Enoch, 92.5 FM, Cor. Rust and
Thank you, Ifex and MISA
THE EDITOR thanks the International
Freedom of Expression Exchange and the Media Institute of Southern
.