|
 News From You
We receive dozens of news tips and press releases each week from ftm contributors. We want MORE. And we want to share the raw information as quickly as possible. NEWS FROM YOU is the forum for adding what you know to what we know. Share what you know...or what your hear. We will apply the light-touch of the editors axe for clarity. We will also accept NEWS FROM YOU in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese...without translation. (We do insist on being able to understand what you contribute.) You also must clearly indicate that your contribution is for publication in NEWS FROM YOU.
Please note: we cannot use PDF files, only text and .doc files.
Send us NEWS FROM YOU
Hot topics click link for more
Week ending October 8, 2011
Sky News Special Correspondent, Alex Crawford, was announced as the recipient of the James Cameron Memorial Award for 2011 at City University London this evening, in recognition of her significant contribution to reporting on the Middle East and, in particular, recent events in Libya.
The award is given in memory of prominent British journalist James Cameron, who passed away in 1985. It includes a prize of £1,000 awarded by the James Cameron Memorial Trust and is given before the annual James Cameron Memorial Lecture held at City.
This year the Cameron Lecture was given by Wadah Khanfar, who was until recently Director-General of the Aljazeera Network and spoke about "Journalism and a World in Transition".
In presenting the award, Professor George Brock, Head of Journalism at City University London, said that each year the prize was given “to a British journalist working on international affairs who, in the opinion of the judges, demonstrates James Cameron’s qualities in her or his work and shows professional integrity and moral courage.”
Alex Crawford is based in South Africa, reporting from across the continent, but is also deployed around the world.
Formerly based in Sky’s Dubai bureau, Alex has reported on the Gulf and the Middle East, most recently covering the August uprisings in Libya, where Alex and her team were the first journalists into Tripoli, providing riveting coverage of the rebel advance. In March Alex and her crew where the only journalists to get inside the besieged town of Zawiya when it was being attacked by pro-Gaddafi forces.
Following her reports on the Mumbai terror attacks from outside the Taj Hotel in November 2008, coming under fire live on air, Sky News was shortlisted for a BAFTA and won the coveted international Golden Nymph Award for News Coverage.
On hearing that she had received the award, Alex said: “James Cameron epitomises everything I aspire to be – a journalist of incredible integrity, grit and authority. Frankly, to be mentioned in the same breath as him is both astonishing to me and a massive honour. Thank you for this recognition. It means a lot.”
Professor Brock said: “During her career Alex has shown very great determination and courage. She has been arrested, detained, interrogated and faced live bullets and tear gas, going well beyond the call of duty in pursuit of the truth and the news. She is an outstanding role model for not only City journalism students embarking on their career, but for the sector as a whole.”
The award was collected on Alex’s behalf by Sarah Whitehead, Sky’s Head of International News.
A Turkmen court has convicted Dovletmyrat Yazkuliyev, a stringer for Radio Azatlyk, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Turkmen-language service, and sentenced him to five years in prison. The trial was conducted after normal business hours, behind closed doors, and Yazkuliyev was not represented by a lawyer during the proceedings.
Yazkuliyev was detained on September 27 by regional police in Turkmenistan's Akhal province on charges of "influencing or abetting" an attempted suicide by a family member. In a written appeal to Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and the country's General Prosecutor, Yazkuliyev's relatives sought to retract false statements against him that they had been forced to make by secret police. His relatives assert that the entire case is an effort to intimidate Yazkuliyev for his journalistic activities and say they have "sufficient documentation to prove that [Yazkuliyev's] case is politically motivated."
RFE/RL President Steven Korn called the case against Yazkuliyev "an outrage," noting that, "This was a bogus trial and a predatory sentence that shows that Turkmenistan authorities respect no law and no standards when it comes to their treatment of the media. RFE/RL protests the sentence vigorously and calls on others in the international community to condemn it as well."
Prior to the sentencing, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it was "extremely worried" about what it called the "sham trial" of Yazkuliyev. "It is clear from the absurd charge that has been brought against Yazkuliyev that he is being made to pay for his outspoken reporting for Radio Azatlyk and in his blogs,” RSF said in an official statement.
Yazkuliyev received a stern warning from security officials in July after blogging about deadly explosions in the city of Abadan. He was told he would be charged with "disseminating defamatory information through the media" and "causing national, social, and religious provocations" if he continued to blog about sensitive information.
He recorded an audiofile the day before his arrest in which he described surveillance by security agents and intimidation of his family, stating, "I believe it was done because of my work for Radio Azatlyk."
The case is reminiscent of one last April, when authorities used the pretext of a family conflict to forcibly confine RFE/RL contributor Amangelen Shapudakov to a psychiatric hospital. Shapudakov had criticized a local government official for corruption in an interview with Radio Azatlyk.
Yazkuliyev, 43, has 10 days to appeal the conviction. He has worked for RFE/RL's Turkmen Service since 2007.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has appointed Annika Nyberg Frankenhaeuser as its first Media Director, starting in February 2012. Ms Nyberg Frankenhaeuser will lead the newly formed Media Department, which consolidates the activities of the Television and Radio Departments as well as News Services.
EBU Director General, Ingrid Deltenre said: “Ms Nyberg Frankenhaeuser's numerous leadership roles in European media organizations make her ideal to lead our Media Department and provide the visionary thinking it needs. The Media Department will be a hub of inspirational creativity and expertise in new media trends and multiplatform opportunities for public service broadcasters. I am looking forward to working with Ms Nyberg Frankenhaeuser on making this idea a reality."
Since 2006 Ms Nyberg Frankenhaeuser, who is also an accomplished artist and linguist, has been the Director of Programmes, (TV, Radio and Internet) for the Swedish Language Services at Finnish EBU Member, YLE.
She said: "I’m looking forward to taking up this new position. I’m very dedicated to public service and I see the values both the EBU and its Member organizations adhere to as more important in today’s world than perhaps ever before. At the EBU, I will strive to construct a Media Department that drives forward the development of key EBU services while helping Members to achieve their goals and explore new multiplatform possibilities."
Throughout her career, Ms Nyberg Frankenhaeuser has been a journalist, an art teacher and an art critic. Among her numerous supplementary functions, she has also sat on the Finnish Red Cross Board for Youth Emergency Shelters and was the President of the World DAB Forum between 2002 and 2006. She has lived in Tanzania and Egypt, and travelled extensively during the 1980s and 1990s as a reporter for YLE.
Previous News From You
News From You: Week ending September 17, 2011
News From You: Week ending July 30, 2011
News From You: Week ending July 2, 2011
News From You: Week ending June 25, 2011
News From You: Week ending June 11, 2011
News From You: Week ending June 4, 2011
News From You: Week ending May 21, 2011
News From You: Week ending May 14, 2011
News From You: Week ending May 7, 2011
News From You: Week ending April 30, 2011
News From You: Week ending April 23, 2011
News From You: Week ending April 16, 2011
News From You: Week ending March 26, 2011
News From You: Week ending March 19, 2011
News From You: Week ending March 12, 2011
News From You: Week ending March 5, 2011
News From You: Week ending February 12, 2011
News From You: Week ending February 5, 2011
News From You: Week ending January 29, 2011
News From You: Week ending January 22, 2011
News From You: Week ending January 15, 2011
|