The release of CBC correspondent Mellissa Fung, who had been abducted by a criminal gang in Afghanistan, is the focus of a few stories today. The Associated Press has coverage of her month-long ordeal, and that piece has been picked up by various papers including The Boston Globe and The Baltimore Sun.
The Web site
BlogHer has a
posting on the recent rise in journalist kidnappings in Afghanistan and questioned the procedure of a “media blackout” during such abductions. CPJ noted the release of another journalist, Dutch reporter
Joanie de Rijke, who was released on November 7, a few days before Fung.
There are reports out of Pakistan that a journalist was killed late Saturday night by security forces at a military checkpoint. The
BBC and
Monsters and Critics have coverage of the death of Qari Mohammad Shoaib, a reporter for the
Khabar Kar daily, who was shot when he failed to identify himself, according to a Pakistani official.
Making headlines today in The China Post is the news that the Chinese government will ask journalists to register for press cards, allegedly to “crack down on ‘fake’ reporters.” The article argues that this a move designed to limit the growing number of freelance reporters working and China, and increase the state’s tight grip on all media outlets operating within its borders.