Two days after parliamentary elections in Iraq marked by a voter turnout of over 60% despite attacks that killed 38 people, IPI calls on any new Iraqi government to respect media freedom In the run-up to the 7 March polling, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission (CMC) attempted to impose new restrictions on media outlets […]

Miklos Haraszti will end his six-year term of office as the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media on 10 March 2010. Haraszti, a Hungarian writer, journalist, human rights advocate and university professor co-founded the Hungarian Democratic Opposition Movement and was editor of the Beszélo journal, which was influential in shaping Hungary’s transition to democracy. […]

Italian state broadcaster RAI last week suspended political talk shows ahead of key regional elections. The board of RAI, dominated by supporters of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, voted to cease airing the shows in the run-up to the 28-29 March polls to avoid possible sanctions from a parliamentary committee, Reuters reported. RAI is temporarily replacing […]

The Ethiopian Supreme Court today ruled against four independent media houses, forcing them to pay fines that were originally rendered void under a 2007 pardon. The four publishing companies, Serkalem, Sisay, Zekarias and Fasil, must now pay a total of 295,000 Birr (approx. €16,100) – more than the average Ethiopian would earn in a century, […]