Explore Business Standard
Press Freedom
A former Hong Kong reporter at the Wall Street Journal began testifying Monday against the newspaper she accused of terminating her due to her union activities in a trial a closely watched case that has raised concerns about press freedom in the city. Former WSJ reporter Selina Cheng, also chairperson of the trade union Hong Kong Journalists Association, launched a private prosecution against her ex-employer, Dow Jones Publishing Co. (Asia) Inc., the parent company of the Journal, after losing her job in July 2024. At that time, Cheng said she believed that the termination was linked to her refusal to comply with her former supervisor's request to withdraw from the election for the union role, instead of the news outlet's restructuring, as she was told. Dow Jones faces two charges under the city's Employment Ordinance. The company pleaded not guilty to both charges, each of which carries a maximum fine of 100,000 Hong Kong dollars (about $12,850). Two charges faced by ...
Bedeviled by leaks to the media during his short tenure, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a series of restrictions on the press late Friday that include banning reporters from entering wide swaths of the Pentagon without a government escort areas where the press has had access in past administrations as it covers the activities of the world's most powerful military. Newly restricted areas include his office and those of his top aides and all of the different locations across the mammoth building where the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Space Force maintain press offices. The media will also be barred from offices of the Pentagon's senior military leadership, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen Dan Caine, without Hegseth's approval and an escort from his aides. The staff of the Joint Chiefs has traditionally maintained a good relationship with the press. Hegseth, the former Fox News Channel personality, issued his order via a posting on X late on a Friday afternoon ...
India's ranking on the World Press Freedom Index improved to 151 among the 180 countries surveyed by Reporters Without Borders this year from 159 the previous year. Finland, Estonia and the Netherlands take up the top three positions in the index that sought responses from more than 5,000 persons from across the world to finalise the rankings. "We have surveyed 5,000 respondents across the world. It comprises a diverse set including policymakers, journalists and other stakeholders," Thibaut Bruttin, assistant director general of Reporters Without Borders, said at a press conference in Delhi. The organisation does not reveal the respondents' identity, he said and insisted that it was a diverse set representing different ideologies. India has nearly 900 privately-owned TV channels, half of which are dedicated to news. Around 1,40,000 publications are published in more than 20 languages, including some 20,000 daily newspapers with a combined circulation of more than 390 million copie
Pope Leo XIV on Monday called for the release of imprisoned journalists and affirmed the precious gift of free speech and the press in an audience with some of the 6,000 journalists who descended on Rome to cover his election as the first American pontiff. Leo received a standing ovation as he entered the Vatican auditorium for his first meeting with representatives of the general public. The 69-year-old Augustinian missionary, elected in a 24-hour conclave last week, called for journalists to use words for peace, to reject war and to give voice to the voiceless. He expressed solidarity with journalists around the world who have been jailed for trying to seek and report the truth. Drawing applause from the crowd, he asked for their release. The church recognises in these witnesses I am thinking of those who report on war even at the cost of their lives the courage of those who defend dignity, justice and the right of people to be informed, because only informed individuals can ma
A federal judge ordered the White House on Tuesday to restore The Associated Press' full access to cover presidential events, ruling on a case that touched at the heart of the First Amendment and affirming that the government cannot punish the news organisation for the content of its speech. US District Judge Trevor N McFadden, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled that the government can't retaliate against the AP's decision not to follow Trump's executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico. The decision handed the AP a major victory at a time the White House has been challenging the press on several levels. "Under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewher it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints," McFadden wrote. "The Constitution requires no less." It was unclear whether the White House would move immediately to put McFadden's ruling into effect.
The Delhi High Court has held as arbitrary and malafide the Centre's decision to terminate its lease deed with Express Newspapers for the Express Building' at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg here and quashed the 37-year-old notice seeking ejection of the media house from the premises. Justice Prathiba M Singh, while dealing with the lawsuits by both the central government and Express Newspapers Ltd filed over three decades ago, said the action of the authorities was an attempt to "muzzle Express Newspapers and dry up its source of income." The court nonetheless directed Express Newspapers to pay around Rs 64 crore to the Centre as payment towards conversion charges, ground rent and additional ground rent in relation to the building. The termination of the lease dated 17th March, 1958 by notice dated 29th September, 1987 and 2nd November, 1987 is arbitrary and mala fide, it ruled on Friday. The re-entry notice to Express Newspapers as also the notices to the tenants (in Express building) b
The UK government said on Wednesday it will back legislation banning foreign state ownership of British newspapers and magazines, a move that could upend a planned takeover by a United Arab Emirates-led consortium of the Telegraph Media Group. The development comes after numerous lawmakers from across the political divide urged for an explicit ban, rather than using a regulatory approach to ensure that publications don't parrot views of state actors. The minister in charge of media, Stephen Parkinson, said the government will table an amendment to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill currently making its way through Parliament. The bill, which is expected to pass easily, will prevent the takeover of British publications by foreign governments. However, foreign individuals and firms will continue to be able to own papers and magazines. Freedom of the press is fundamental to a functioning democracy," said Parkinson. What freedom of the press means is freedom from ...