CJA E-letter
from the Commonwealth Journalists Association www.cjaweb.com
Headquarters: c/o Canadian Newspaper
Association, 890 Yonge Street Suite 200 , Toronto
ON , Canada M4W
3P4
President: Hassan Shahriar (
Vice-presidents: Doyin
Mahmoud (
Martin Mulligan (UK) emsquared2002@yahoo.ie
Executive director: Bryan Cantley bcantley@cna-acj.ca
Newsletter editor: David
Spark david@dspark.fsnet.co.uk,
who would like to hear from you. Views expressed in this newsletter are
those of contributors, not the CJA
The CJA thanks
the Commonwealth Foundation for its financial support
Issue No 19 March 2007
Page 2 First woman to edit a big Sri Lankan paper
Page 3
Page 4 Reporter vanishes/President cures
asthma
Page 5 CJA
Page 6 Journalists protect source but face jail
Page 7 How Pacific association’s
Page 8 News from round the world
Page 11 So you can’t afford
Page 14 In the bookshops
Journalists in the firing line
Upheavals
in February-March in Bangladesh Pakistan Zimbabwe
A photojournalist and a fllm maker working for
the Associated Press – Tsvangirai Mukwazhi and Tendai Musiyu – were among those
detained and battered by police seeking to stop a Save Zimbabwe prayer meeting
in Harare. Victims included opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
In
Earlier,
pictures of bloodstained lawyers beaten by police led to the TV authority
leaning on TV stations to cease broadcasting them.
In
Using
emergency powers, police on March 9 arrested two journalists in
In
February, the head of two TV channels and the newspaper Amar Desh - Mosaddek
Ali Falu - was arrested in the anti-corruption drive. Three weeks later, his TV
and newspaper offices were gutted by a fire which killed three staff. He is an
associate of ex-premier Khaleda Zia.
First woman to edit big Sri Lankan paper
CJA executive committee
member Champika Liyanaarachchi is the first woman editor appointed to any major
newspaper in
It's
also claimed that Champika, who is 34, is the youngest editor ever appointed in
She
joined the Daily Mirror as a trainee journalist in 1996 and steadily worked her
way up the system, picking up a degree on the way.
She
says she doesn't feel at all challenged by her new job. "Since my school
days I've held leadership positions and enjoyed guiding others and achieving
success and sharing it with others. Somewhere in the back of my mind there was
always this feeling that one day I would make it big somewhere."
What
about the dangers of the new job in strife-torn
New information chief at Commonwealth Secretariat
A Canadian diplomat and spokesman,
Eduardo del Buey, is the new director of
information at the Commonwealth Secretariat. From 1999 to 2004 he was
information director at the Organisation of American States where he promoted
coverage of OAS activities. For the past two years, he has directed a Canadian
think-tank for the Western Hemisphere called the Canadian Foundation for the Americas
Caribbean and the CJA lose George John
George John with Jocelyn Mayne at the CJA’s
George John, one of the best-loved
editors and columnists in the Caribbean , died in March. He contracted cancer of the tongue several
years ago, but made a welcome recovery and attended the CJA conference in his
home country, Trinidad , in 2004.
George was life and soul of the
party at several CJA conferences and also helped run CJA training courses in Zambia Guyana West
Indies . A true
gentleman, he always met life with a smile.
He got involved with the CJA when
he was editor in London West Indies Federation .
George
was the son of another George, a West Indian fast bowler who got him his first job as
a sports reporter at the age of 15. In 1963 another cricketer, Learie
Constantine, recommended him to the Mirror Group in
The
Mirror had colour, up-to-the-minute design and staff who won six awards in a
year. Unfortunately it also had a maverick manager who – with George’s
assistants – produced a racy colour magazine called Calypso.
George
had a cautionary tale for journalists, about the humdrum diary job he got of
interviewing the visiting head of the Jamaica Cement Company. Much later, he
discovered there was more to the little old man in the wheelchair than he
thought. He had been a leading spymaster in the second world war and possibly
the model for James Bond’s boss M.
The reporter who vanished and the President who cures asthma
The independent media in The Gambia are still reeling under the onslaught that intensified after an alleged attempt by soldiers to overthrow the government of President Yahya Jammeh in March 2006,
Among
the numerous journalists detained was Chief Ebrima Manneh, a senior reporter
with the pro-government Daily Observer. The police deny holding him, but there
is compelling evidence that he was indeed arrested at the Observer’s office
last July by people assumed to be from the security forces. He has not been
seen since. Efforts by his family to trace him have come to naught.
Reports
suggest he has been moved from one detention centre to another, the latest
being Fatoto police station, about 500 kilometres from
Meanwhile,
three independent media houses remain arbitrarily closed down without any court
order - two independent radio stations, Citizen FM and Sud FM, and The
Independent newspaper. This was closed even though there was never any attempt
to connect it with the abortive coup.
More
trouble for journalists has flowed from President Jammeh’s claim, in January,
that he has the spiritual means to cure HIV/AIDS and asthma. The Daily
Observer, now transformed into a propaganda organ for the regime, writes
beautifully every day about President Jammeh’s supernatural capabilities.
For
a journalist, casting even a slight doubt on them can result in dismissal. In February, two Observer journalists were
summarily dismissed when what they wrote about Jammeh’s HIV and asthma cures
was found not quite palatable. However, the two; Lamin Dibba and Ebrima Jaw
Manneh, were reinstated a few days later.
Virtually
every day, the Gambia Radio and Television Services transmit long and boring
broadcasts about President Jammeh’s treatment sessions at the Royal Victoria
Teaching Hospital in
Fadzai
Gwarazimba, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme
and co-ordinator of the United Nations system in The Gambia, was given 24 hours to leave the country when she was quoted on Sky News
in February questioning the power of Jammeh’s medicine to cure HIV. So few in
the media ask questions about it.
Demba Jawo
CJA Sarawak holds its annual meeting
At CJA
Commonwealth Journalists
Association Sarawak, held its second annual meeting in Kuching on
She
said CJA Sarawak is also working closely with local non-governmental
organisations like AZAM, the Angkatan Zaman Mansang, which actively involves
print and electronic media in its development programmes by means of better
communication and training facilities
The
meeting accepted the annual report for 2006 presented by the secretary Adeline
Liong and the accounts by treasurer Liu Chin Sui.
Members
also approved the appointment of Rosalind Yang of AZAM as the new secretary to
replace Adeline, who withdrew because of work commitments. Rosalind is being
assisted by Caroline Jackson, who succeeded Jack Wong as the new assistant
secretary.
The
meeting was followed by a sumptuous dinner at the Lok Thian restaurant in
Kuching, where the meeting was held.
New posts for CJA
members
Farid Hossain, president of CJA Bangladesh, has been
elected senior vice-president of the National Press Club in
Another
Bangladeshi journalist murdered
Jamal Uddin, who wrote for a Dhaka news agency
and a regional daily, was found murdered at the Rangamati Tourist Complex on
March 6.
Reporters protect source but face
jail
Legislation allowing Australian journalists to protect their sources will come too late for two of them who have pleaded guilty to contempt of court for not naming their source. They may now face jail.
Michael
Harvey and Gerard McManus of
The
Chief Judge in Victoria, Michael Rozenes, said "They were disobeying a
direct order of the judge in this court in circumstances where they knew they
had no legal right to do so." He said, however, there was a conflict
between the law and professional journalistic ethics and reserved his decision
to a later date.
Federal
and state attorneys-general have agreed on amendments to the contempt laws to
give journalists the legal right to protect their sources in some
circumstances. However, under
How PINA’s Taiwan Beijing
In
gathering funds for its biennial conference the Pacific Islands News Association
(PINA) fell into the cracks of
In
January
Then
in early February an un-named spokesman at
The
Chinese diplomat said PINA, representing credible journalists in
MASI
replied that both
News from round the world
AFRICA
Reuters has launched a new website worth a glance from journalists
dealing with Africa .
Reuters Africa, at http:// Africa.reuters.com/. provides economic, business and
financial news and data and includes metals and mining, energy and oil, and
farm produce. It is edited by John Chiahemen who has been covering Africa for
25 years.
AUSTRALIA
Sydney East Timor town
of Balibo Sydney
FIJI
MAITonline.com has set up what it claims to be the South Pacific’s
first online TV.
GHANA
Soldiers had to intervene on February 28 when soccer fans at the goldmining
town of Obuasi Accra
The managing editor of the Ghanaian Observer got a death
threat in February by text message. It said: “All of you that are against Ewes
will die one by one.” The Ewe people live in the
Jailed Straits Times correspondent Ching Cheong, for whom
several CJA members signed an appeal to
Unable to pay Ł3,000 damages, Mburu Muchoki, editor of the sensational tabloid The Independent, was sent to prison in March for a year for defaming a minister.in 2004.
Four journalists including Thabo Thakalekoala, stringer for
South African Broadcasting and the BBC, have been deluged with threatening
calls, accusing them of causing confusion in the ruling party. A tombstone “to
minimise the cost of his funeral” was brought to Thakalekoala’s door at
MALAYSIA
Censors have banned two documentary films, one about the less
attractive side of Kuala Lumpur Malaysia Darwin
The
security ministry sent a warning in February to Harakah, a paper of the
Pan-Malysian Islamic Party. Harakah has covered protests against higher road
tolls and linked the deputy prime minister to a murder.
MALTA
Several journalists were hurt in March, covering a protest by hunters
and trappers.
MOZAMBIQUE
The Supreme Court has rejected appeals by six men convicted of
murdering investigative journalist Carlos Cardoso. It also rejected their claim
that live broadcasting of the trial was unconstitutional. Live broadcasting was
not forbidden and was justified by the public interest in the case, said the
court.
PAKISTAN
Independent TV channels are mushrooming in Pakistan Baluchistan find
themselves threatened by both security men and local militants.
Government
forces in February rescued a
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Divine Word University
SIERRA LEONE
Members of Kabala Town Youth, in the north, stormed the community radio
station in February, forcing it to close down. They wanted the station’s
manager to be fired.
SOUTH AFRICA
Blacklising of some commentators is alleged in a complaint against the
South African Broadcasting Corporation by the Freedom of Expression Institute.
SRI LANKA
Subramaniam Ramachandran, who writes for two Tamil dailies, disappeared
in February after leaving a school he runs in a village north of the Tamil city
of Jaffna Jaffna Jaffna
Dushantha
Basnayake, finance director for the Sinhalese weekly Mawbima, a critic of the
government, was arrested in February by terrorism investigators. In March, the
government sealed Mawbima’s bank accounts, threatening it with closure. A young
Tamil journalist with Mawbima, Munusamy Parameshawary, has been held under the
anti-terror law since November.
SWAZILAND
Pastor Justice Dlamini shocked a church gathering in March by praying
for the death of two Times of Swaziland
journalists “to teach the media a lesson”. The cause of his wrath was an
article about a church squabble. A few years ago, he prayed unsuccessfully for
the deceased editor of the paper to be brought back to life. Also in March,
however, the Times had a prayer answered. The High Court threw out a libel
claim by the minister for education. An MP is hoping for better luck with a
libel suit against the Swazi Observer.
UGANDA
MPs in February called for a reprieve for Nation TV after the
government shut it down, complaining that its equipment was too heavy for the
broadcasting mast.
The Uganda Journalists Association has called for an end to police harassment of journalists covering court cases.
The government is seeking to save money by curbing requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
ZIMBABWE
Sunsley
Chamunorwa, hard-hitting editor of the Financial Gazette, was suspended on
March 12. He has been running stories about politicians, security contracts and
smuggling at
Zimbabwe
Broadcasting failed in February to broadcast praise by President Mugabe for
would-be successor Emmerson Mnangagwa and an attack on the other candidate,
Vice-President Joice Mujuru. There are reports that Mugabe may not seek
re-election next year if he is sure the wealthy but controversial Mnangagwa
will succeed him.
Bill Saidi,
editor at The Standard, received in February a large brown envelope containing
a threat - a bullet and a copy of a cartoon published in January. The cartoon
showed three baboons laughing – after picking up a soldier’s pay slip. Army pay
in inflation-hit Zimbabwe
The High
Court in January rejected a government bid to deny citizenship to Trevor Ncube,
owner of
Two
journalists, one of them from a South African e-TV service, were fined in March
for practising journalism without accreditation. With a reporter and cameraman
from ZBC, the state broadcaster, they were arrested while covering illegal
mining in Manicaland. The ZBC men face charges of abuse of duty.
The
government has admitted jamming broadcasts from Voice of America’s Studio 7
which is run by Zimbabwean exiles. SW Radio Africa , which also gets jammed,
has started sending news by text message to 2,000 Zimbabweans with mobile
phones.
.
So you can’t afford Vista and such like
Working journalists (like
me) who are horrified at the cost of the new Microsoft Office released with
Windows Vista need alternatives for the software that every journalist must now
have, both at work and at home, writes Pieter Wessels.
Lots of alternative are as good, or almost as good. They start with
shareware, which you pay a small fee to download; freeware, which you can
download for free; and sponsored software, with which you have to accept
advertising.
Most
journalists avoid sponsored software because it can put a hole in their
security by continually downloading new advertisements. It's OK for those with
massive firewalls on their systems, but for the rest of us ....
Shareware
is next best, except for the increasing difficulty of sending small sums of
money overseas. But what journalists doesn't prefer something free rather than
cheap? So ....
Freeware
is the way to go for most working journalists, on their own computers or at
work. So let's look at what's available and gives working reporters or subs
what they need. All of the following run on Windows XP. Many run on the earlier
Windows 98.
Let's
begin with the big gun: a free replacement for the mighty Microsoft Office
itself. There is one that is almost as good as Office, and free. Check out OpenOffice
2 (www.openoffice.org).
This
not only looks like Microsoft Office but is compatible with all Office
documents. That facility is worth its weight in gold for us who receive many
documents in many formats.
The
OpenOffice 2 suite includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation,
database and drawing programmes. Each of these has just about every tool a
journalist needs in Microsoft Office but without the price tag.
Microsoft
Office is an amazing programme that can outgun OpenOffice in almost every
department. The latest Office 2007 is the best Office suite I've worked with.
However, most of you will probably find that OpenOffice 2 does just about
everything you want.
And,
even more important for reporters and sub-editors, OpenOffice is available for
Windows, Mac and Linux PCs, with 100 per cent document compatibility between
those systems - something Microsoft has yet to achieve.
If you want to edit PDFs
We receive these every day as press releases, and bump into
them every day in our online research. The free Adobe Reader lets you look at
them but, to make PDFs or unpack them so you can edit the text, you'll almost
certainly need Adobe Acrobat Professional - which costs about 350 US dollars in
most countries.
Don't
spend that (unless you can talk your boss into paying for it). Click to
http://www.primopdf.com and download the free Primo PDF 3.0. This saves
any document as a standard PDF but without the promotional footers or
watermarks of some other free PDF converters.
Primo
PDF takes up less space on your PC than Acrobat yet is as well featured, with
the ability to optimise the PDF file for print, screen or e-book resolution and
even commercial pre-press output.
Producing graphics for free
Print,
broadcast or online, we're all now into graphics and long for the expensive
Adobe Photoshop. Competing with Photoshop are two fabulous freebies. Paint.NET
3 (from http://www.getpaint.net) comes from a Microsoft team whose aim was
to replace the humble Windows Paint.
Paint.NET
evolved way beyond that. It now has professional tools such as layers,
unlimited undo, gradients and transparencies, curves and image enhancement
effects, just about everything you need for top line photo work and layout.
A
second choice is GIMP 2.2 (www.gimp.org), a popular open source
powerhouse that is available for Windows, Mac and Linux systems. GIMP is like
Photoshop, although it lacks a few features that professionals need such as
support for the Pantone colour matching system, spot colour and Photoshop
plug-ins.
If
you're a reporter or sub who mainly need to work with digital photos, try Picasa
(www.picasa.google.com). It's another goodie from Google. Picasa's
strengths are most noticeable in organising pictures into albums, and editing
and preparing images for use on the web.
CDs to brag about
What
journalist nowadays doesn’t keep his/her brag book on CD, copying best work to
CD archives, and sending CDs to editors? Usually you'll be referred to Nero. At
$199 it's reasonably good value but for skinflint journalists there's no going
past the free CDBurnerXP Pro 3 (from http://www.cdburnerxp.se) for the
basics.
CDBurner
XP writes to CDs and DVDs, creates bootable discs, handles data image files
(which are complete byte-perfect replicas of a disc). It also rips audio CDs
and can print simple case and sleeve covers for audio and data discs, if you're
young enough to be into all that.
Layouts and designs
Those
of us into community journalism (or just making a bit on the side) will
probably want a copy of Microsoft Publisher. It's good but expensive. First get
your feet wet with Serif PagePlus SE available at http://www.freeserifsoftware.com. PagePlus SE
has more than 500 preset templates, document layouts and designs, plus
automated shapes and tables. There are also dozens of free design packs
available for download, each containing themed templates and dozens of document
types.
Is there a catch?
So what price do you pay for freeware, in more limited functionality and assistance? Well, there's no pretty box to open and the only manuals or tutorials will be online or downloads. Probably there'll be no formal assistance and, if there is, it will be only if you are a registered user. However all the products above have active and comprehensive forums in which skilled users give help and advice to newbies who post their problems. Sometimes the forums are better than waiting days for more formal online help.
In the bookshops
by Pieter Wessels
Frontline: The True Story of the British Mavericks Who Changed the Face of War Reporting
by David Loyn.
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 480 pages, 2006 GBP 27.
ISBN: 9780141017846
The story of a group of freelance war cameramen and correspondents who operated in some of the most bloodstained places on earth. The story of Frontline's rise and fall, and of its members on and off battlefields across the globe, is a brilliant account of a few men prepared to risk everything in pursuit of truth. Ultimately, it is the story of how journalism lost its nerve...
Key concepts in journalism studies by Franklin B., Hamer M., Hanna M.
Sage Publications Ltd
ISBN: 9788178296357
A short and sweet summary of the fashions, moods and some of the issues besetting journalism today. It includes - Adversarial Journalism / Audience / Bad News / Bias / Context Analysis / Cyberspace / Defamation / Dumbing Down / Editor / Embargo / Embedded Journalist / Ethics / Focus Groups / Free Newspaper / Gatekeeper / Hard News /Ideology / Impartiality / Infotainment / Investigative Journalism / Mass Communication / Media Effects / Media Mogul / Multimedia / Myth / Narrative / New Media / News Management / Off the Record / Online Journalism / Photojournalism / Propaganda / Self-regulation / Sensationalism / Tabloid / Television / Watergate.
Looking for trouble: the life and times of a foreign correspondent by Richard Beeston
Tauris (IB) & Co Ltd, 200 pages, GBP 11
ISBN: 9781845112776
A vivid account of 35 years in journalism by a former foreign correspondent and bureau chief of The Daily Telegraph. Beeston describes what the restless, nomadic life of a foreign correspondent was like in his time. A delightful read, full of hidden tips and useful advice for the new generation of correspondents.
An introduction to journalism by Fleming C., Hemmingway E., Moore G.
Sage Publications Ltd
ISBN: 9788178296449
An up to date and reasonably priced text that examines the skills needed to work as a journalist in diverse media - newspapers, television, radio and online - and provides case studies as a guide to researching stories, interviewing and writing for each medium,
News writing by Anna McKane
Sage Publications Ltd
ISBN: 9781412919159
A clear and practical guide to constructing a story and a detailed analysis of style, language, and grammar. There are checklists to help inexperienced writers to measure their work. It is very good value and a reasonable price.
Newspaper Feature and Magazine Article Writing by Earl R Hutchison
Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780195179385
Focuses on the craft of writing. There are numerous
exercises and examples within each chapter, as well as a summary section with
even more exercises at the end of each chapter, all intended to hone the
writer's skills.
Our
thanks
We once again thank our
news sources including the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, the
International Freedom of Expression Exchange, the Committee to Protect
Journalists, the Freedom of Expression Institute (South Africa), the Free Media
Movement (Sri Lanka), the International Federation of Journalists, the Media
Foundation for West Africa, the Media Institute of Southern Africa, the
Pakistan Press Foundation, the Rural Media Network Pakistan, Reporters Sans
Frontieres and the South-East Asian Press Alliance
The
CJA’s officers
Past presidents Derek
Ingram (
Executive committee
East Pacific Lance Polu
(
West Pacific Reggie
Dutt (