As Radio Grows Powerful, Challenges EmergeBy Abi WrightAt home, in the car, and even in the fields, more people across Asia are getting their news on the radio than ever before. Increasingly, this accessible and affordable medium is bringing real-time information to remote areas of Indonesia, Nepal, the Philippines, Afghanistan, and Thailand, parts of which…
New York, January 10, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in India’s northeastern state of Assam to fully investigate the death of Prahlad Goala, who was apparently murdered on January 6. Goala had recently written a series of articles on corruption in the Assamese-language daily Asomiya Khabar that linked local forestry service officials…
JULY 27, 2005 Posted: August 17, 2005 Arun Kumar Rajnath, South Asian Tribune HARASSED Rajnath, the New Delhi correspondent for the online South Asian Tribune, was harassed and threatened by Indian government agents, according to the news site. In a report released on July 27, the Tribune detailed a series of intimidating phone calls and…
New York, July 29, 2005—As many as eight journalists were injured today in Srinagar, the major city of Indian Kashmir, after a grenade attack triggered gunfire between militants and security forces in the area, according to international news reports and local reporters. At least one journalist, Muzzafar Ahmad Bhat, a cameraman for the Indian news…
Overviewby Abi Wright Threats to press freedom spiked throughout Asia in 2004, even as the news media claimed significant accomplishments. Across the region, 2004 was an election year, with citizens casting ballots in nations such as Afghanistan, whose landmark vote was peaceful and orderly, and India, where more than 370 million went to the polls.…
IndiaIn a stunning upset, India’s voters surprised the media and the world by rejecting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its Hindu nationalism in favor of the secular Indian National Congress party in general elections in May. However, despite the general disavowal of extremism at the polls, ethnic and religious tensions persisted in the…