31 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost
Khagendra Basnet, distributor of a local daily called Nigarani, was threatened on 22 August in eastern Nepal. According to reports, the individual harassed Basnet and threatened to burn down the daily’s facilities on the account of a cartoon published in the newspaper’s satirical section, Gaijatre. The section is named after the Gaijatre festival, also known as the festival of cows, in which important and powerful members of society are mocked.
24 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost
A court in Caracas has issued a temporary injunction to prohibit the publication and circulation of satirical magazine 6to Poder after it published a cover with six Venezuelan government officials portrayed as cabaret dancers on 21 August. On the same day, the Bolivarian Intelligence Service arrested the magazine’s editor, Dinorah Girón, and put out a warrant for the arrest of the president of the company, Leocenis García.
26 Nov 09 | Uncategorized
This is a guest post by Jenni Hulse
In Africa, where media repression is widespread and state-controlled broadcasters the norm, the success of a familiar form of televised political satire offers new hope for freedom of speech. South Africa’s ZA News and Kenya’s The XYZ Show are recognisable descendents of the UK’s Spitting Image and France’s Les Guignols, using latex puppets to ridicule major politicians and celebrities. Like their European predecessors, both shows are huge hits in their native countries, controversial in their content and provoke mixed reactions from the politicians they lampoon.
It is no coincidence that The XYZ Show and ZA News were both masterminded by political cartoonists. Print media in Kenya and South Africa enjoy relatively high levels of freedom and satirical cartoons, published in major dailies, are an important and popular form of political criticism.
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