Yemen SMS news ban attacked by journalists

Today I see the first example of a Government blocking new technology for the delivery of news via SMS, I wonder how long it will be before they block the recording of it by Citizen Journalists?

Yesterday I put up a piece form the BBC about how Blair saw the media as a feral beast and said that "The arrival of web based news and blogs and 24 hour television news channels meant reports were driven by impact"
Also in May I did an article on how the UK Government and mobile phone suppliers met to look at how to shut down cameras and video on mobile phones "The Government , Your Mobile Phone and it's Criminal Tendency"

Government bans news sent to mobile phones by SMS message


Reporters Without Borders today condemned new media censorship in Yemen, where access to at least two websites has been blocked since the start of the year, in one case for three months, and the information ministry is now censoring the distribution of news to mobile phones by SMS message.


“It is disturbing that the Yemeni government is attacking new technology in this way,” the press freedom organisation said. “It never showed any open-mindedness towards the opposition media and these new arenas of expression offered a fresh opportunity for the media. The authorities have again demonstrated their determination to control news and information that is critical of them.”


The al-Shora website, which regularly posted opposition articles, was closed on 24 February. It was finally allowed to reopen on 23 May. The socialist website aleshteraki was similarly closed for a week, from 16 to 23 May. The government was worried by the fact that they were controlled by opposition parties. It was also concerned about their coverage of the fighting with the al-Houthi rebels in Saada province.


The information and telecommunications ministry has now banned several mobile phone news distribution services, including those proposed by the companies Nass mobile and Bela Qoyod mobile, on the grounds that they were not subject to sufficient control. The ministry nonetheless said that the authorities could offer such services.


SMS messages expressing criticism of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s government had circulated in the weeks prior to the ban. The opposition parties denied being behind them. On 7 June, the government announce the start of a debate about a new press law, one concerning new media in particular.

Source: rsf.org

Also more on Journalism.co.uk

Tags: citizen_journalism | citizen journalism | %% | MINISTRY | Paris | Politics | UK | USA | Yemen | Yemeni | ATTACKED | ban | governing | journalists | mobile | news | reported | services

The Future of Photo Editing

The future of Photo editing?



And this one

A tuff job

You want to know what it is like being a photographer in a conflict zone?

Well take a look at this breif video clip by Kloie Picot's video
Shots that Bind trailer

Jailed Chinese journalist sues Yahoo!

A Chinese journalist who was jailed for leaking state secrets is demanding compensation from Yahoo! after the internet portal provided information that led to his arrest.

Shi Tao, a 39-year-old former Contemporary Business News reporter, in 2004 re-distributed by Yahoo! Mail an official Communist Party dictate that requested journalists refrain from reporting June 4 protests by dissidents commemorating the 1989 Tianamen Square clashes.

Following a Chinese government request, Yahoo! handed over Tao's identity, after which he was detained and later imprisoned for 10 years.

Shi Tao was awarded the Golden Pen press freedom commendation, last week at the World Editors Forum in Cape Town, for his actions.

At a news conference in Hong Kong yesterday, Mao's mother, Gao Qinsheng, announced he had joined a lawsuit, started by the World Organisation for Human Rights USA, seeking damages from Yahoo!.

Source: journalism.co.uk

Read more

Tags: Chinese | %% | communist | JAILED | Politics | Yahoo | Compensation | DETAINED | DISSIDENTS | Government | Identity | IMPRISONED | journalist | leaking | protests | reporter | request | SECRETS | sues

Quick Tip

Ok so it is nearly summer and I get a phone call for a very urgent rush job late in the evening. You know rush like mad to get there on time, all traffic against you and you think that every one is conspiring to stop you from being on time.
Then you end up waiting, and waiting, and waiting some more…by now you are getting cold as the night still is not warm; there is a cold breeze moving in that creeps through your summer coat, there is too much stuff in my pockets so no room for my hands in there and I wait some more…

The person who I need to take the portraits of, now turns up and I find my hands and fingers are cold and a quite numb, but not enough to function on the controls, but if it had been longer that might have been a different story. During winter I have a pair of gloves that live in my camera bag, but they do take up quite a bit of room

I also have the problem in that I still have not found the ideal glove that allows me to keep my hands warm, give me a good grip and allow me to use all the controls on the camera in a hurry,

All my camera bags and chestvest now all boast a lightweight, space saving, waterproof, gripy and very functional pairs of gloves in them and they cost very little.

Latex gloves like the surgeons use can be brought at chemists and are ideal, but I brought mine from a tattoo artist and they are textured surface and black. Your hands get a little sweaty inside but they keep the wind off give warmth allow you to use the controls on your camera and provide good grip as for very cold weather ill have to wait for winter but could be warn under/over a thin thermal pair.

I got 10 pairs for a quid (£1.00 sterling) simple Black Latex gloves

Flickr no longer accesable from China

Copied from Flickr's forum

Since around 12:30pm (Beijing time) on June 7th, users in China have been unable to view images on flickr.com.

Our technical staff have looked into this and determined that it's not a technical issue from our end. Evidence suggests that our image servers are being blocked for many users in China.

We are checking periodically to see if the block is still in place, but haven't detected any change. We hope that this is a temporary issue and we currently believe that it will be. In the meantime, we are investigating our alternatives. Thanks for your patience.

As Stewart stated earlier,

"Unfortuantely, the firewall's administrators don't provide contact details, so we can't just call up someone who makes decisions about which sites are blocked and plead our cases. All we can do at this point is continue to monitor, seek advice from colleagues closer to the region and/or with more experience.

We definitely haven't forgotten about you, but there is not much for us to announce publicly at this point. As soon as anything changes, will let you know. And we're all rooting for you!"

Access to earlier forum topics on this subject now seem inaccessible for some China-based users, so I'm adding this as a locked topic so that we can at least keep you updated.

I'll keep digging for more info, but this is not a good news and it will not help us with our plans to spend some time in China next year for a project using online social networks and web technologies.

Reporter arrested on orders ofGuiliani Press Secretary

Aaron Dykes & Alex Jones / Jones Report | June 5, 2007


Manchester, NH - Freelance reporter Matt Lepacek, reporting for Infowars.com, was arrested for asking a question to one of Giuliani's staff members in a press conference. The press secretary identified the New York based reporter as having previously asked Giuliani about his prior knowledge of WTC building collapses and ordered New Hampshire state police to arrest him.

Jason Bermas, reporting for America: Freedom to Fascism, confirmed Lepacek had official CNN press credentials for the Republican debate. However, his camera was seized by staff members who shut off the camera, according to Luke Rudkowski, also a freelance Infowars reporter on the scene. He said police physically assaulted both reporters after Rudkowski objected that they were official members of the press and that nothing illegal had taken place. Police reportedly damaged the Infowars-owned camera in the process.



Reporters were questioning Giuliani staff members on a variety of issues, including his apparent ignorance of the 9/11 Commission Report, according to Bermas. The staff members accused the reporters of Ron Paul partisanship, which press denied. It was at this point that Lepacek, who was streaming a live report, asked a staff member about Giuliani's statement to Peter Jennings that he was told beforehand that the WTC buildings would collapse.

Giuliani's press secretary then called over New Hampshire state police, fingering Lepacek

Source: jonesreport.com

Tags: America | %% | credentials | Debate | freelance | Giuliani | Manchester | New Hampshire | New York | official | orders | Politics | reporter | Secretary | Staff | arrest | Asked | camera | members

New Trespass Laws Enacted

Entering Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and the prime minister's country

house Chequers as a trespasser has become a criminal act.

Police could not previously make an arrest if that person agreed to be escorted off the site.

But under law which comes into force on 1 June, residences of the Queen have been added to a list of areas where trespassers can be arrested.

Offenders can be jailed for up to 12 months or fined.

The legal changes follow several high-profile incidents where Royal sites

were breached by protesters.

The
law could have consequences for press photographers who are
legitimately covering news stories and I expect to see a further
"additions" to the list of places where trespass is a
criminal  act, as protesters occupy places that the
authorities don't want them.

Source BBC

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