Entries for June 2007

More than 30 journalists have been killed in the past six years in Mexico, according to an article in The Washington Post. Many others have been kidnapped in a campaign of intimidation largely attributed to the drug cartels.  Read the article in The Washington Post.

Elena Poniatowska, renowned journalist and author from Mexico who received the 2006 IWMF Lifetime Achievement Award, was awarded the Romulo Gallegos literature prize June 26 for her novel El Tren Pasa Primero (The Train Passes First). The prize is awarded every two years for what is judged the best Spanish-language novel. Past winners include Colombian Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa.

Narda Zacchino, a former IWMF board member who now serves on the Advisory Council, is leaving the San Francisco Chronicle July 7. Zacchino, deputy editor at the Chronicle, has worked there since 2001. Prior to that, she spent 30 years at the Los Angeles Times.  Click here for more details.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJune 25, 2007 For more information:Lindsey Wray(202) 496-1992LWray@iwmf.org Australian Journalist Sally Sara Name...

Peta Thornycroft, the recipient of the IWMF's 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award, received a special James Cameron Memorial Award for her reporting from Zimbabwe. Thornycroft, a Zimbabwean citizen, has worked for the The Daily Telegraph since 2001.  Click here to read more

An Iraqi reporter working for The New York Times was shot dead on his way to work in Baghdad July 13. Khalid Hassan, 23, was killed just one day after two Reuters employees died in Iraq. Circumstances of the attack remain unclear. Hassan was the second Iraqi employee of the Times to be killed during the Iraq war.   Read a Reuters article about the incident.

Lydia Cacho, a 2007 recipient of the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award, has been named as one of the State Department's eight "Heroes Acting to End Modern-Day Slavery" for 2007. Cacho, a Mexican journalist and human rights activist, works to exposes abuses against women and children.  Read more about Cacho’s award.

Zakia Zaki, owner of a radio station in Afghanistan, was shot and killed in her home north of Kabul. Zaki, 35, was one of the country's few female journalists to speak out during the Taleban's rule. She had also headed the US-funded station, Radio Peace, since it opened in 2001. Another Afghan woman journalist, Shakiba Sanga Amaj, was killed last week. The 22-year-old worked for the privately owned Shamshad TV.  Read the BBC article.

POUR PARUTION IMMEDIATE 6 juin 2007

Pour plus d’informations: Lindsey Wray (202) 496-1992 LWray@iwmf.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJune 6, 2007 For more information:Lindsey Wray(202) 496-1992LWray@iwmf.org Grant from Howard G. Buffett Foun...

Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho's car was sabotaged May 8. Cacho was also threatened earlier this month when she testified at the trial of a pedophile.  Read (in Spanish) about the incident on Cacho's website.

Journalists and media professionals in Afghanistan can now turn on their radios for valuable journalism skills and information. Radio Nai, a radio station dedicated to supporting journalists, began broadcasting in December 2006. The station, which broadcasts eight hours of programs daily in and around Kabul, was funded by Nai, a local Afghan organization working for the development of open media in Afghanistan.  Read the Internews article.

Jill Carroll, a 2006 recipient of the IWMF's Courage in Journalism Award, criticizes cutbacks in foreign news coverage in a report she wrote as a fellow at Harvard University's Shorenstein Center. Carroll, who spent 82 days in captivity in Iraq in 2006, researched the drop in numbers of foreign bureaus and correspondents as media companies face financial pressures.

Raghida Dergham, a member of the IWMF's board of directors, recently launched a new website. Dergham is a columnist and senior diplomatic correspondent for the London-based Al Hayat, the leading independent Arabic daily newspaper. The website includes her columns from Al Hayat, video clips of her television appearances and an archive of her past work.  Click here to visit the website.

The International Research & Exchanges Board has released the Media Sustainability Index, which provides analyses of the conditions for independent media across nearly 40 countries.   To read more, visit the IREX website.