Zuhra Bahman assesses media coverage of the election in Afghanistan and reports on how many dared defy government censorship
Partial eclipse
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CATEGORY: Comment
Protection racket
The Iraqi draft media law sparks fears of return to dark days of censorship and repression, say David Dadge and Anthony Mills from the International Press Institute
Afghan commitment to free expression weakened by election pressures
Short-term restrictions on freedom of expression in the run up to Thursday’s Afghan vote may mask deeper and longer term steps to curtail the rights of the media that independent journalists may find harder to resist, says Rohan Jayasekera
Plight of bloggers gains international support
Vugar Gojayev assesses the impact on free expression and activism in Azerbaijan as bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Hajizada face trial
Life Class
A college lecturer is facing disciplinary action after showing erotic material to his students. John Ozimek wonders what the problem is
Leaks and whistleblowing: proposals do not go far enough
Christopher Galley doubts that the latest recommendations will protect whistleblowers. Investigations into leaks need to be wholly independent of politics
The trial of Senior General Than Shwe
Aung San Suu Kyi could be the Burmese regime’s greatest ally. The sentence today signals a missed opportunity as well as a travesty of justice, says Maung Zarni
Gambia’s war on journalists
News that six Gambian journalists have been jailed for two years for “ridiculing the head of state” signals that the country has become one of Africa’s worst abusers of press freedom says AllAfrica.com’s Brian Kennedy
Libel: Lord Sugar gets litigious
The Apprentice star and multi-millionaire’s pursuit of journalist Quentin Letts is yet another example of how England’s defamation laws favour the rich and powerful, says Toby Young
Venezuela: media under attack
Hugo Chavez has opened new fronts in his assault on independent media, says Daniel Duquenal