freedom of the press
We, the undersigned, view with extreme concern the unwarranted arrest of Rappler’s chief executive officer Maria Ressa on Wednesday, 13 February 2019, based on libel charges arising from a story published almost seven years ago by the online news site. These charges had initially been dismissed as baseless by the same public institution that is now instrumental in the prosecution of her case. We note that Ms. Ressa’s arrest was effected around 5:00 p.m., at the close of business hou...
Five years back, I took the highway to Grahamstown, South Africa. I had landed in Port Elizabeth, took a shuttle bus headed for Rhodes University and got off at the beautiful university campus. This year, many people like me will travel the same route to Highway Africa. But the 16th edition of this digital media conference will be something special. Africa rising? Organised by the university’s renowned journalism and media department, Highway Africa is “an opportunity to engage ...
The Republic of Macedonia is ranked among the poorest countries in Europe. It is isolated not only geographically, as it is landlocked, but also in the political and economic contexts. However, that is where the generalisations stop. For six years, a conservative government in Macedonia has increasingly monopolised public space: citizen participation is listless, associations curbed, journalist...
