Manila photojournalist slain

The Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility reports of yet another journalist gunned down in the Philippines in just two weeks. Prudencio “Dick” Melendres, a photojournalist for Manila-based tabloid Tanod (Guardian), was slain on 31 July in Malabon City, just north of Manila.

Malaysian official defends proposal to control web content

Malaysiakini reports on the information minister’s rationale for proposing stricter controls over Malaysian cyberspace–that is, to make the Internet media more credible.

Malaysia seen tightening restrictions on public discussions, online media

Malaysian rights advocates are sounding the alarm over a perceived trend for tightening restrictions on free speech and free expression in the country.
The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) notes that the Malaysian Cabinet has recently directed the media not to report on issues of race and religion. At the same time, the Internal Security Ministry also announced plans to review the restrictive Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA) to extend its jurisdiction to electronic media. These developments meanwhile follow a ban on public discussions about the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion, as organised by a coalition known as Article 11.

Indonesian journos decry online editor’s detention

The Jakarta-based Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) is calling on the international community to protest and help reverse the sudden detention this week of Teguh Santosa, chief editor of Rakyat Merdeka Online.

Another Filipino radio man slain

The Manila-based Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility is reporting that a broadcaster known for hard-hitting commentary was gunned down by unidentified men at around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday (July 18, Manila time) in Digos City, Davao del Sur, around 680 kilometers south of Manila. Armando ‘Rachman’ Pace, 51, an independent ‘block timer’ for radio station dxDS, was waylaid by two men on a motorcycle along a local highway, two kilometers from the said radio station.

Malaysian group decries government revamp of independent Chinese-language radio program

A coalition of media advocates and civil society groups in Malaysia is protesting a government move ordering a popular Chinese-language radio call-in program to revamp its format and content after it aired listeners’ views deemed inappropriate. Malaysia’s Ministry of Information on June 24 ordered the program, ‘The Mic Is On, With Love, Without Obstacles’, to be reorganized — a move tantamount to taking the program off the air — after it broadcast views critical of a policy relating to education in Selangor.

Heavy censorship forces Burmese mag to cancel latest issue

Burma’s new monthly magazine, New Spectator, has been forced to cancel its July issue after heavy censorship stripped it of four lead articles. New Spectator Publisher Ko Aung told Mizzima.com that the four articles rejected by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division included a cover story titled ‘Prospects for our People’ written by Whan Chukee and an article titled ‘Public Intellectual’ which was taken from another magazine titled, Prospect.

SEACEM to hold training on new media

• The Southeast Asian Center for E-Media (SEACEM) will be holding a training on new media from 27 August till 2 September 2006. This training is open to civil society groups and independent media organizations, and will cover such topics as planning for the web, online content management, and video for the web. Visit their website for more information.

Singapore officials, bloggers headed for showdown

A showdown may be looming in Singaporean cyberspace, with the censure of a popular blogger sparking a rare protest in the city state, and the government insisting that the suspension of his column from a state-owned paper is merely consistent with the country’s notorious policies for managing public discourse.
The Agence France Press says supporters of Mr. Brown – whose real name is Lee Kin Mun — gathered at a busy subway station on July 9 ‘for a silent protest at the suspension of his weekly newspaper column after the government criticised his latest satirical piece about high living costs.’ There were at least 30 supporters who turned up at Singapore’s City Hall dressed in brown attire, it was reported from a country where any assembly of at least five people legally needs a police permit.

Cambodian publisher sued for ‘criminal disinformation’

A charge of ‘criminal disinformation’ filed against a Cambodian newspaper publisher is raising concerns among free speech advocates in the country. The Alliance for Freedom of Expression in Cambodia (AFEC) says the legal action against Mr. Dam Sithek, publisher of Moneakseka Khmer (Khmer Conscience) newspaper, was made by a government lawyer on behalf to Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.