13 May 2013 |
Marketing & Media | Africa |
Marketing & Media, Advertising, Branding, Cinema, CRM, CSI, Design, Digital, Direct Marketing, Education & Training, Events & Conferencing, Exhibitions, Magazines, Marketing, Media, Mobile, Newspapers, Online Media, OOH, PR & Communications, Printing, Production, Promotions, Publishing, Radio, Recruitment, Research, Retail, Sales, Sponsorship, Trends, TV, Youth Marketing, 2012 Design Indaba
|
|
The media blackout in LiberiaIt's been reported that newspapers in Liberia have printed black front pages after a government official was accused of threatening journalists, this is merely a week after World Press Freedom Day [3 May 2013]. A director of the presidential security service is said to have told a journalist to "Be careful, because you have your pens and we have our guns." Following a mass meeting on Thursday, 9 May, the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) has taken certain measures in response to the Executive Protection Services threats. They are: All independent newspapers will print black front pages with appropriate inscriptions to protest the threats and insults by Daniel Othello Warrick (Director of Executive Protection Services) and the insensitivity shown to the public so far by the president. Radio and TV stations will express their protest by suspending broadcast for 2 hours, from 9-11am daily beginning Friday, 10 May 2013 followed by a replay of Warrick's threat and the PUL response. As journalists feel unsafe in the presence of presidential guards who threaten their lives, correspondents assigned by media houses to cover the presidency are being withdrawn. There is a news blackout imposed on the Liberian presidency until there can be expressed and established guarantees for the freedom and safety of journalists across the country and an end to media impunity. The PUL is holding consultations with lawyers to explore the possible pursuit of legal action against the EPS chief for "terroristic threats". The PUL will further consult with the Africa Editor's Forum which, in 2011 recognised President Sirleaf as a Friend of the Media, to consider a public withdrawal of the award in response to the threats that this "friend" is condoning threats the future of journalism in Liberia. (Source: www.ifex.org).
I'd like to see pictures of the various newspapers, so send them to africanews@bizcommunity.com or tweet us at @Biz_Africa.
Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, recently wrote a letter to the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, asking the body to mark World Press Freedom Day today by calling for the release of all journalists imprisoned in Africa and appealing for justice in the murders of journalists killed in the line of duty.
So it's clear that media freedom, in some parts of Africa, is still an ongoing battle....
On a brighter note, have a wonderful week!
Evan-Lee Courie @evan1985, @Biz_Africa
Comment online in our ed's column archive. Go mobile with apps and m.bizcommunity.com. Engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. Subscribe to YouTube and via RSS. Send all your African marketing and media news to africanews@bizcommunity.com, exclusive opinion pieces to contributors-africa@bizcommunity.com and international news to internationalnews@bizcommunity.com. Read "How to contribute to Biz, from op-ed pieces to news".
Today's top storiesThe International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has supported journalists in Liberia who have issued a media blackout, by printing black front pages after a government official was accused of threatening them. Radio and TV stations are also protesting against the government by suspending broadcasts for two hours daily beginning on Friday, 10 May, 2013. Read more >> |
|
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has supported journalists in Liberia who have issued a media blackout, by printing black front pages after a government official was accused of threatening them. Radio and TV stations are also protesting against the government by suspending broadcasts for two hours daily beginning on Friday, 10 May, 2013. Read more >> |
On May 9 2013, Liberian journalists - under the banner of the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) - took several actions in response to disparaging and threatening remarks made against journalists. The remarks were made at programs marking the annual observance of World Press Freedom Day in Buchanan, Grand Bassa county on May 3, 2013 by the director of the Executive Protection Service (EPS), Daniel Othello Warrick. Read more >> |
| [Noƫleen Bruton] It's been exciting watching the phenomenal growth of digital media both locally and globally in the past say two decades. This, of course, has given marketers a whole new category of media in which to spend our advertising budgets. Read more >> |
|
| [Robert Sussman] Today's business environment is defined by the strategic application of Unified Communications technology, underpinned by virtual and cloud applications, to establish and sustain operations. Read more >> |
|
Africa cannot continue to be marketed as a country, when it is a continent of 54 countries, which, by 2040 will have the largest workforce in the world. The statement was made by the Economic Commission for Africa's Executive Secretary, Carlos Lopes at the World Economic Forum on Africa last week during a session titled: Myth Busting; investing in Africa. Read more >> |
A tsunami of investment is heading for Africa and business needs to be ready to capitalize on this in a sustainable way. Read more >> |
| More than 180 developers attended a BlackBerry Jam Session supported by Orange Botswana, in Gaborone at then end of April 2013, showing huge enthusiasm in the developer community in Botswana for creating apps for the BlackBerry platform. Read more >> |
|
A recent report entitled 'Mobile Trends 2020 Africa' compiled by experts in various industries including the Shuttleworth Foundation, health bodies and IT organisations has been made available to the local branch of The Starcom MediaVest Group's (SMG's) internationally-aligned Human Experience Centre (HEC). Read more >> |
| Involving low-income communities in markets and businesses across Africa is essential for economic growth to translate into sustainable development, according to a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report released on Friday, 10 May 2013. Read more >> |
|
| PTA Bank has approved a loan of US$11.5million to Burundi Backbone Systems Company S.M. (BBS) with a guarantee of US$1,767,058 for the construction of a national fiber optic network in the country. The financing was approved by the board members of PTA Bank during a board meeting of the bank in Nairobi early in April 2013. Read more >> |
|
| The Nigerian National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and MasterCard, recently announced at the World Economic Forum on Africa, currently taking place in Cape Town, South Africa, the roll-out of 13 million MasterCard-branded National Identity Smart Cards with electronic payment capability as a pilot program. Read more >> |
|
| The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced that this year, a selection of its content will be streamed live across the globe through Lions Live - a partnership between Cannes Lions, global media agency network Mindshare and YouTube. Read more >> |
|
| Entries are now open for the 2013 London International Awards, a global competition which celebrates creativity, the power of ideas and new technology in all forms of Advertising, Digital, Production, Music and Design. Read more >> |
|
| The World Editors Forum is calling on editors and publishers worldwide to contribute to a new report on how best to manage online comments with the best practices to be presented at the World Editors Forum annual conference in Bangkok in June. Read more >> |
|
More International...
| The trial of a duo of former employees of the Department of Labour's (DoL) Compensation Fund (CF) accused of defrauding the department will resume tomorrow, 14 May 2013, in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court with further cross-examination of State witnesses. Read more >> |
|
More Government news...
Click here to customise your jobs section
Click here to customise your events section
"Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else. (via Addicted2Success)" - Les Brown
Print - Print any item in this newsletter.
Email - Email any item in this newsletter.
Comment - Comment on any item in this newsletter.
|
|
|
|
|