From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Helen Thomas | San Francisco Chronicle | 28 November 2003 Washington -- THE RAID by the U.S.-appointed Iraqi officials on an Arab television network bureau in Baghdad and the ban on its broadcasts hardly fits my idea of how to spread democracy in the Middle East. Isn't that the first thing dictators do -- shut down broadcast outlets and newspapers? For those in power, tolerating a free press is difficult, even in a democracy.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Alan Read | The Times Higher Education Supplement | 4 April 2003 In this time of war, we must reclaim from celebrities our right to make significant gestures and voice opinions in the public arena, argues Alan Read The cliché "theatre of war" has been tripping off strategists' lips in recent days as though it describes something self-evident and uncontestable. But it's worth pausing to consider the association between the two ends of the phrase before leaping into battle armed with a metaphor that is as likely to expose the irrationalities of violent action as to conceal them.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Ciar Byrne | The Guardian | 11 November 2003 The BBC has created a new senior editorial post to advise on its Middle East coverage, as the corporation continues to come under fire for alleged anti-Israeli bias. Malcolm Balen, a former editor of the BBC's Nine O'Clock News, has been appointed "senior editorial adviser" based in London but working closely with the corporation's Middle East bureau in Jerusalem.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Tom Leonard | Daily Telegraph | 11 November 2003 The BBC has appointed a "Middle East policeman" to oversee its coverage of the region amid mounting allegations of anti-Israeli bias. Malcolm Balen, a former editor of the Nine O'Clock News, has been recruited in an attempt to improve the corporation's reporting of the Middle East and its relationship with the main political players. Mr Balen, who left the BBC three years ago, will work full-time with the official title of "
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Bernard Josephs | Jewish Chronicle | 14 November 2003 The BBC's appointment this week of a top broadcasting figure to oversee its Mideast coverage was welcomed by Israeli and Jewish community leaders as a recognition of their protests over alleged anti-Israeli bias. In and unprecedented move, the corporation name Malcolm Balen, a former editor of the "Nine O'Clock News," to monitor its coverage of the region.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) NUJ | 13 October 2003 Fifteen of Britain's top trade union leaders have issued a joint call for BBC Director General, Greg Dyke, to reinstate two sacked journalists. The union leaders, who include Sir Bill Morris, Tony Woodley, Billy Hayes and Michael Leahy have called for the BBC to enter talks with the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and negotiate the reinstatement of two Arabic Service producers sacked by the BBC on the eve of the war in Iraq.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Stuart Wilk | Associated Press Managing Editors | 12 November 2003 Mr. Larry Di Rita Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs The Pentagon Dear Mr. Di Rita: We are writing to protest actions being taken by U.S. troops that appear intended to discourage journalists from covering the continued military action in Iraq. During the past three months, journalists have been harassed, have had their lives endangered and have had digital camera disks, videotape and other equipment confiscated.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) SLOBODAN LEKIC |AP/Yahoo | 12 November 2003 BAGHDAD, Iraq - With casualties mounting in Iraq, jumpy U.S. soldiers are becoming more aggressive in their treatment of journalists covering the conflict. Media people have been detained, news equipment has been confiscated and some journalists have suffered verbal and physical abuse while trying to report on events. Although the number of incidents involving soldiers and journalists is difficult to gauge, anecdotal evidence suggests it has risen sharply the past two months.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Dima Tareq Tahboub | The Guardian | 4 October 2003 When my husband decided to go to Baghdad, he knew that I would protest. He told me that I was exaggerating the risks; that there was nothing to be afraid of because he was a reporter, an objective witness, neither on this nor that side, and because of that was protected by world protocol. He bid us farewell, apologising for having been so busy.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) | 8 September 2003 The International Federation of Journalists today condemned the arrest by Spanish officials of an Al-Jazeera Television journalist for alleged ties to al Qaeda members in what it warned “looks like developing into an international witch-hunt” against Arab-language media. On September 5, Tayseer Alouni, an Al-Jazeera reporter who had worked as a war correspondent in Kabul for the Qatar-based satellite network, was arrested by anti-terrorist police at his home in Alfacar, Spain and placed under police custody in Madrid.