Nobel winner Maria Ressa acquitted of tax evasion though she faces 2 more legal cases
Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa has been acquitted of a final tax evasion charge though she still faces two remaining legal cases she believes the former Philippine president used to muzzle her critical reporting.
Tribunal probing journalist slayings opens in The Hague
.A โpeopleโs tribunalโ has opened in the Netherlands to highlight the number of journalists around the world who were killed for doing their jobs. The tribunal, convened by a group of press freedom organizations, has no powers to sanction perpetrators. Instead, it plans to present evidence to raise awareness about journalists targeted to silence their reporting. The first hearing took place on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, an observance declared by the...
3 US-based economists win Nobel for research on wages, jobs
A U.S.-based economist has won the Nobel prize for economics for pioneering research that showed an increase in minimum wage doesn't lead to less hiring and immigrants don't lower pay for native-born workers, challenging commonly held ideas.
Media groups welcome 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for journalists
Journalists, human rights groups and other activists enthusiastically welcomed the awarding of this yearโs Nobel Peace Prize to two journalists at a time when media groups around the world face new pressures and crackdowns from the authorities.
Gothams give virtual start to Oscar season, 'Nomadland' wins
The film won best feature at the Gotham Awards on Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Opening the show, Jeffrey Sharp, executive director of the Gotham Film & Media Institute, predicted that there would be โglitches and gremlinsโ throughout the event. All of the films nominated for best feature were directed by women, including lead-nominee getter โFirst Cow,โ by Kelly Reichardt. Zhao, whose โThe Riderโ won best feature at the Gothams two years ago, thanked the festivals that, like the Gothams, carried on despite the trying circumstances. Nicole Behaire won best actress for โMiss Juneteenth.โ โOh, my God,โ she mouthed while still on mute.
Q&A: Clooney on 'Midnight Sky' and his twilight as an actor
โThe Midnight Sky,โ which Clooney directed and stars in, is an apocalyptic sci-fi drama with some striking solitude. Debuting Wednesday on Netflix, โThe Midnight Sky,โ based on Lily Brooks-Dalton's novel โGood Morning, Midnight," is Clooney's seventh film as director and his biggest scaled production yet. ___AP: You finished shooting โThe Midnight Skyโ in February, right before the pandemic began. AP: What drew you to โThe Midnight Skyโ? I know people who are older -- older than me, even -- who live with real regret.
Facebook critics start rival, independent 'oversight board'
OAKLAND, Calif. โ A group of prominent Facebook critics, including one of the social network's early investors and a journalist facing jail time in the Philippines, are launching their version of an โoversight boardโ to rival the company's own. The group says Facebook is taking too long to set up its oversight panel, which they argue is too limited in its scope and autonomy. The announcement Friday comes a day after Facebook said its own, quasi-independent oversight board, which has faced numerous delays since the company announced its creation in 2018, will launch in October. The first four board members were directly chosen by Facebook. Facebook also pays the board membersโ salaries.
How COVID-19 gives cover to press crackdowns the world over
FILE - In this July 1, 2020, file photo, Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai pauses during an interview in Hong Kong. Governments around the world are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to justify crackdowns on press freedom. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu, File)Governments around the world are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to justify or to divert attention from crackdowns on press freedom. Jimmy Lai's arrest in Hong Kong, for instance, shortly followed enactment of a new national security law that gives China more power to squash dissent in Hong Kong. We dont see the robust condemnation that we would expect from the U.S. over press freedom crackdowns or deaths of journalists in custody, Radsch said.
'Don't shut up!' Film spotlights Filipino journalist
And I thought, Oh, doesnt matter. I laughed, said the countrys most well-known journalist and leader of the independent Rappler news organization. But the film shows how Dutertes populist campaign harnessed the platform to spread its message and target Ressa and other journalists. Social media, the tech platforms have created a system where lies laced with anger and hate spread faster than facts. She is seen in the film repeatedly pleading with Facebook representatives to delete violent posts or cut live streams. Diaz, who spoke from her home in Baltimore, hopes her film can help protect Ressa and other independent journalists.
US offers belated 'concern' over Philippine journalist case
(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)WASHINGTON The Trump administration has offered a muted and belated expression of concern over the convictions of two Philippines journalists on criminal libel charges. A one-sentence State Department statement titled On Press Freedom in the Philippines and released on Tuesday nearly 48 hours after a Manila court pronounced the convictions may raise new questions about the U.S. commitment to supporting press freedom abroad. Ressa and Santos were convicted Monday of libeling a wealthy businessman in a decision that human rights activists called a major blow to press freedom in an Asian bastion of democracy. Repeated requests for State Department comment about the case on Monday went unanswered. She posted bail for the case last year and will study possible appeals in the next 15 days, Te said.
Rappler case highlights decline of press freedoms globally
(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)NEW YORK The conviction of two Philippine journalists for libel is a blow to press freedom and comes as media watchdogs track declines in press freedoms and democratic institutions around the world. Philippine officials have maintained that the criminal complaints against Ressa and Rappler are not a press freedom issue. But the conviction is the latest move by the government to intimidate journalists, said Reporters Without Borders, which tracks press freedoms. Democracies are restricting press freedom more and more, he said. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has tracked more than 400 incidents in 60 cities.
Filipina journalist critical of Duterte convicted of libel
Ressa's verdict is expected to be announced Monday for a cyber libel case. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)MANILA An award-winning journalist critical of the Philippine president was convicted of libel and sentenced to jail Monday in a decision called a major blow to press freedom in an Asian bastion of democracy. The Manila court found Maria Ressa, her online news site Rappler Inc. and former reporter Reynaldo Santos Jr. guilty of libeling a wealthy businessman. The site's lawyers disputed any malice and said the time limit for filing the libel complaint had passed. Duterte has openly lashed out against the owner of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, a leading daily.