News Headlines - Monday October 06, 2003

EX SKY REPORTER FOUND DEAD
Former Sky News reporter James Forlong has been found dead.

Forlong – who resigned in July after admitting a report filed from a British naval vessel during the Iraq war gave the false impression it was engaged in action – was found at his home in Hove, East Sussex, at the weekend.

Sussex police said there were no suspicious circumstances. A post mortem will be held on Tuesday.

Nick Pollard, head of Sky News, said in a statement: "This is a terrible personal tragedy and a shocking blow for James' family. Everyone here sends their deepest sympathies to his wife and children."

Forlong – a reporter with Sky News for 10 years, and an ITN staffer before that, said at the time his report was exposed as a fake that it was "a single lapse of judgment which for me is a deep source of regret".

Read more:
reuters.co.uk
bbc.co.uk

STEWART PURVIS TO TEACH TV JOURNALISM AT CITY UNIVERSITY
Former chief executive of ITN, Stewart Purvis, is joining London's City University as its first professor of television journalism.

He will lecture to students across the department and will share his 31-years' experience at ITN by teaching on the new television current affairs course.

Purvis joined ITN in 1972 as a newsroom producer. He was made editor in 1989, editor-in-chief in 1991 and chief executive in 1995. He remained with the TV company until June this year, when he announced his retirement.

"I am delighted to be joining City's journalism department, which is so highly regarded within the industry," he said. "I have always been impressed by the work of the department and the professionalism of its graduates, some of whom now work at ITN," he added.

Read more:
media.guardian.co.uk

CNN CAMERAMAN 'BEATEN UP' AT AIRPORT
A CNN cameraman was beaten up by Nigerian security officials at Lagos airport, his colleague said.

Correspondent Jeff Koinange, CNN's west Africa correspondent and cameraman Simon Munene were detained for three hours and threatened with expulsion from the country after arriving on a flight from Ghana.

After being told to leave the country, Munene attempted to film the scene. The Nigerian officers then became aggressive, beating Munene up and slapping him whilst he was on the floor, according to Koinange.

Koinange, who has joint US-Kenyan nationality and fellow Kenyan Munene were apparently released when other reporters phoned to ask for information about the detentions.

Read more:
abc.net.au

CHILEAN COURT OVERTURNS BAN ON TV PROGRAMME
TV viewers in Chile will be able to view a hard-hitting documentary about a lawyer's assassination, after a court lifted a previous ban.

The programme, an edition of the 'Enigma' series, was blocked in July following a request from the family of murder victim Patricio Torres Reyes, who argued that their honour would be violated if the documentary from the TVN TV station was broadcast.

The lawyer was allegedly stabbed to death during a wild party with two sister prostitutes.

However the Fifth Chamber of the Santiago Appeals Court dismissed the banning order last week.

In their ruling Judges Jaime Rodríguez Espoz and Raúl Rocha Pérez said "The case the Enigma programme was focusing on referred to a robbery, that also involved a homicide and a fire. It is a matter that is in the public interest and does not fall under the right to privacy."

Eduardo Yáñez, president of the Comité Pro Defensa Ciudadana organisation, welcomed the ruling calling it, "a sensible and intelligent decision that will hopefully discourage courts from taking similar actions in the future".

Read more:
ifex.org
mercopress.com
oas.org

SIX SA SPORTS REPORTERS KILLED IN BUS CRASH
Six South African sports reporters were killed and another seven are in hospital after their minivan spun out of control following a burst tyre.

The reporters were returning to Johannesburg after covering the Masakhane Games in Vanderbijlpark when the tyre on the van burst and the driver lost control.

The vehicle flipped several times before landing on its roof. The journalists were from different news outlets.

Read More
sundaytimes.co.za

US TO CONTINUE EMBEDDING JOURNALISTS
The practice of embedding journalists with combat troops during US military operations is here to stay, says the US Navy's chief of information.

"Embeds were able to tell the story watching our side of the operation, that was in the papers first," Rear Admiral T L McCreary, a former spokesman for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, told a weekend conference on the subject.

"There is no way to back out of the embedded process. It's here to stay," he said.

Read More
story.news.yahoo.com

SUNDAY NEWSPAPER LATEST TO FACE CLOSURE IN ZIMBABWE
President Robert Mugabe's government is threatening another independent newspaper in Zimbabwe with closure, it has been reported.

The Zimbabwe Standard, the country's only independent Sunday newspaper is being investigated by the state media commission, it has been told.

The move follows the clamp down on another independent newspaper, The Daily News. It was refused a licence and when it continued to publish, its equipment was seized and the editors were called in for questioning. Only licensed newspapers can publish under the new laws.

Read More
news.independent.co.uk

VENEZUELA ORDERS PROBE INTO ANTI-GOV'T STATION
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered a criminal investigation into private TV network Globovision and warned the United States and Organisation of American States (OAS) not to interfere.

The probe comes two days after officials from the telecommunications watchdog raided Globovision's office and seized satellites and other transmission equipment, claiming the 24-hour news channel was broadcasting illegally.

Within hours a grenade exploded outside the watchdog's office, prompting Chavez to order the investigation.

Chavez has dubbed Globovision one of the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" for its frequent criticisms of his administration.

Read More
famulus.msnbc.com

WINNERS OF PRESS FREEDOM AWARDS ARE ANNOUNCED
Journalists from Afghanistan, Morocco, Russia and Cuba have all been named as winners in the International Press Freedom awards.

Abdul Samay Hamed, Aboubakr Jamai, Musa Muradov and Manuel Vázquez Portal were all named in the Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ) 2003 International Press Freedom Awards.

The awards, which will be presented at the CPJ's banquet in New York City on November 25, are in recognition of their "courageous reporting in the face of repression".

"The four journalists have endured hardship, violence and deprivation for reporting honestly and accurately on what they see each day," the CPJ said.

Read More
cpj.org
ifex.org

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