26 Sep 11 | Uncategorized
On 23 September, a group of students known as the “Irvine 11” were handed three years probation, as well as 56 hours of community service and fines for disrupting the 8 February speech of Michael Oren, the Israeli ambassador to the United States.
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said that the students censored Ambassador Oren, and labelled their behaviour as “thuggery”. The decision was met with outrage from supporters, and at a town hall meeting held on 25 September, the students announced their plans to appeal the court’s decision, and one of the attorneys for the group, Jacqueline Goodman, vowed to continue fighting for the rights of the students, “even if it means going to the Supreme Court”.
20 Sep 11 | Index Index, minipost
The publication of Halkin Gunlugu (The People’s Agenda) newspaper was suspended for one month on 10 September. All copies of the paper were seized and distribution of the latest issue is to be stopped under Article 25/2 of the Press Law and Articles 6/2 and 7/2 of Law No.3713 (Anti-Terror Law). The decision stems from a series of articles in the 18th issue of the weekly paper which covered the deaths of militants in the Maoist Communist Party and its armed wing, the People’s Liberation Army, in armed conflicts. The prosecution ordered the publication ban on grounds of alleged “propaganda for an illegal armed terrorist organisation”.
19 Sep 11 | Asia and Pacific, China
China‘s version of Pop Idol, Super Girl, was on Friday suspended for one year by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT).
Li Hao, deputy editor and spokesman of the show’s broadcaster, Hunan Satellite TV, was quoted as saying that the channel will instead “air programmes that promote moral ethics and public safety, and provide practical information for housework”. He added that his channel will not broadcast any talent shows that contain mass participation next year.
The order from the broadcasting watchdog to Hunan TV reportedly stated that the programme had often exceeded its allotted time slot. However, some officials have seen the show as subversive, with audience voting allegedly mirroring Western-style democracy.
This is not the first time the show has faced scrutiny. In 2007, SARFT banned voting by text message, with some officials reportedly concerned that the democratic method of choosing the winner was a bad influence, and others criticising the show as “profane” and “unhealthy”. In the same year, SARFT also ordered talent shows not be shown during prime time (between 7:30pm and 10:30pm) or screened for more than two hours a day.
Launched in 2004, Super Girl has been wildly popular. At its peak in 2005, up to 400 million viewers tuned in for the final and voted for their favourite contestants via text messaging and phone polls.
19 Sep 11 | Index Index, minipost
Press access to Venezuelan ministry representatives has been restricted. The Venezuelan Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MTC in Spanish) told the newspaper TalCual that they would no longer be able to speak to representatives following the publication of a report detailing problems with the Metro system in the capital, Caracas. The Press and Society Institute has criticised the Ministry’s decision, stating that it is against the Venezuelan constitution “which guarantees the right to access of public information in Article 28”. In 2010, TalCual was closed by the government following their publication of a satirical editorial describing an imaginary Venezuela without President Hugo Chávez.
