For Tuesday, February 4, 2014, here are some media stories of note:
The trial of Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt has led one Dutch journalist to quickly leave the country for fear of imminent arrest, and the release of video of two of the arrests on a government-friendly television station is being seen as intimidation of journalists in the country. The New Yorker's Joshua Hersh looks at how journalism is suddenly an Egyptian crime.
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In Turkey, a bill about to pass through its Parliament would tighten the government grip on the Internet and further restrict what are already strong measures to suppress press freedom. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports the bill would permit the government to block URLs without court approval, mandate data protection for two years and consolidate service providers into a single association.
A new report by Freedom House chronicles the campaign by the Turkish government to exert media control and intimidation by limiting debate on issues central to the country's democratic ambitions.
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Late last week it emerged that a former New Jersey state official was shedding new light on the controversy involving Governor Chris Christie and a traffic tie-up last year in a district that did not support Christie politically. The governor has asserted he did not know his officials ordered the traffic snarl (on the pretense of a traffic study). Now a former official says there is evidence to refute the governor. Initially, The New York Times said the former official "had the evidence to prove" this. But the story later changed to say "evidence exists." Margaret Sullivan, the Times' public editor, says the newsroom should have noted the editing change for readers of the story because it was a significant iteration.
The trial of Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt has led one Dutch journalist to quickly leave the country for fear of imminent arrest, and the release of video of two of the arrests on a government-friendly television station is being seen as intimidation of journalists in the country. The New Yorker's Joshua Hersh looks at how journalism is suddenly an Egyptian crime.
---
In Turkey, a bill about to pass through its Parliament would tighten the government grip on the Internet and further restrict what are already strong measures to suppress press freedom. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports the bill would permit the government to block URLs without court approval, mandate data protection for two years and consolidate service providers into a single association.
A new report by Freedom House chronicles the campaign by the Turkish government to exert media control and intimidation by limiting debate on issues central to the country's democratic ambitions.
---
Late last week it emerged that a former New Jersey state official was shedding new light on the controversy involving Governor Chris Christie and a traffic tie-up last year in a district that did not support Christie politically. The governor has asserted he did not know his officials ordered the traffic snarl (on the pretense of a traffic study). Now a former official says there is evidence to refute the governor. Initially, The New York Times said the former official "had the evidence to prove" this. But the story later changed to say "evidence exists." Margaret Sullivan, the Times' public editor, says the newsroom should have noted the editing change for readers of the story because it was a significant iteration.
