Archive for March, 2008
Today is election day in Iran. When polls opened, the state-controlled radio proudly declared: “Today, the Iranian nation once again will show its political maturity.”
There’s only one problem with that claim. Iran is barring reform candidates from running. The rest of the field is large, with around 4,500 people seeking to fill the […]
For 30 years pundits have been writing about the demise of the newspaper. And for most of that time, newspapers held their own. Despite challenges from other forms of communication, the old guard families - the Ridders of Knight Ridder, the Chandlers of the Times Mirror, the Bancrofts of Dow Jones, and […]
Sudan President Omar El-Bashir has his own theory on Darfur. According to him, the media is ‘exaggerating’ the reports of deaths, and the situation is fueled by Israel and the US, in attempts to focus attention away from Iraq and Palestine. “Arabs and Muslims are targeted by Zionists and imperial powers everywhere in […]
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Kenya’s government cleared another major hurtle today by approving the power sharing agreement struck last month between the rival factions.
Now, President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga - two rivals in last months ill-fated elections- must work with government officials from all parties to start repairing the damage to Kenya, which left over 1,000 dead […]
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The stunning news on NY Governor Eliot Spitzer today is also a reminder of how media is changing. Today is not a day to praise the New York Times. It is, however, a day to praise the NYTimes.com.
The Times did a marvelous job with its coverage online. Aside from breaking the story, it provided additional […]
These are difficult economic times in Zimbabwe. Hyperinflation is now running at over 100,000% percent annually. The unemployment rate hovers around 80%. On March 29th there is a presidential election to determine the future of this once proposerous nation. For the past 28 years, Robert Mugabe has ruled with little challenge […]
Journalism can be a risky undertaking, especially when covering conflict zones.
The Free Media Movement, a journalist watchdog group, announced that Sri Lankan police have arrested 5 journalists - mostly from the Tamil ethnic minorty. The journalists work for outreachsl.com, a liberal website that has been critical of Sri Lanka’s government. The Free Media […]
The two rival parties that won last months election in Pakistan have formed a new coalition government. What they have yet to determine is the fate of Pervez Musharraf.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari, the husband of the slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, held a photo-op for reporters as a show of […]
iConflict contributor Esther Agbarakwe emailed us an interesting report from Nigeria. Esther is working to improve conditions in her country and is a strong advocate for reform and change.
African youths attending the third Africa Sexuality Conference here have asked that they be given their fundamental human rights, which include their sexuality rights. In a session […]
Serbia’s President and Prime Minister do not see eye to eye on the issue of Kosovo. Several ministers in the government have also broken with Prime Minister Vojislav Kkostunica’s hard line stance against the independence of Kosovo.  To deal with this division, Kostunica has decided not to engage in further discussions with the government, instead […]