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News Headlines Tuesday August 5th 2003 BBC No 2 BACKS CORPORATION'S WAR STANCE Jana Bennett, the BBC's director of television and deputy to Greg Dyke, has backed the corporation's stance over the Iraq War. US-born Bennett criticised the American news channels for their "unquestioning" and "patriotic" war coverage. In an interview she said: "When I went back to the US a year go, what shocked me was the unquestioning, patriotic way they covered the war. British broadcasting did a better job for its audiences. "If we retreat into writing news off the back of the press release & I don't think any journalist would sign up for that. Nor would any viewer want us to." She added that the recent furore over Iraq had "clarified" the importance to all staff of the BBC's news operation. Read More:
ABC BUDGET CUTS SLAMMED BY MINISTER The Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) has come under criticism for cutting key news programmes and up to 100 jobs in a bid to shave A$26.1m off its annual expenditure. Communications Minister Richard Alston said the public funded-broadcaster should have looked elsewhere to make the cuts instead of cutting "important" news programmes such as the World at Noon and Behind The News. Read More: US CRITICISED FOR FOREIGN MEDIA CRACKDOWN IN IRAQ The US has been criticised for harassing foreign journalists working in Iraq. The International Federation of Journalists listed several cases where journalists had been arrested by the US military since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. "There is a growing sense that military frustration over continuing hostility in Iraq is leading to acts of intolerance against journalists and media," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. "Putting pressure on reporters will not make the occupation any easier. If anything, it will only make matters worse." Read More: IRAN BAILS TWO GUARDS IN JOURNALIST DEATH PROBE Iran has released on bail two female guards who were detained during a probe into the murder of Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). The women were among five officials held for questioning in connection with Kazemi's death, which last week Iran's Vice-President Mohammad Ali Abtahi said was "most probably murder." The other three officials will remain in custody, IRNA said. Kazemi died three weeks after she was taken into custody for taking photos outside a prison in Tehran during student-led protests. After 77 hours of interrogation she was taken to a hospital and died of a brain haemorrhage two weeks later. Read More: FAMILIES OF IRANIAN TV REPORTERS CALL FOR THEIR RELEASE The families of two Iranian TV reporters held for more than a month by US troops in Iraq have urged Sweden to intervene to bring them home. Gathering outside the Swedish embassy in Tehran, the families of Saeed Abutaleb and Soheli Karimi, called on Sweden to pass on their "legitimate demands" to Washington for the release of the journalists. The two were detained on July 1 by US troops as they worked on a documentary about the life of the Iraqi people. Read More: SYRIA CLOSES COUNTRY'S SOLE SATIRICAL NEWSPAPER The Syrian government has been criticised for closing the Addomari newspaper - a weekly satirical look at the country. Reporters Without Borders has urged Prime Minister Mustapha Miro to rescind his order withdrawing the publishing licence from the weekly paper. Read More: EMPLOYER AGREES PAYOUT FOR SACKED STAFF A US newspaper group has agreed an out-of-court settlement with eight former staff who were sacked just days before a vote on union recognition. Journal Newspapers, which publishes three suburban Washington DC dailies, agreed to pay $71,500 in lost pay and benefits to the former reporters and editorial assistants who were fired in December, 2002. The employees' union, the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, had taken the publisher to an employment tribunal after accusing it of attempting to disrupt the vote. Journal Newspapers, which claimed it was reacting to a slump in advertising revenues, did not admit liability. Read More:
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