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MEDIA MONITOR: Justice for Vanunu
140/Barry White
Barry White was one of the seventy-odd members of the international delegation who travelled to Israel to welcome Mordechai on his release.
On 21 April, Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli whistleblower who had the courage to tell the world about Israeli’s nuclear weapons was released from his prison in Ashkalon, south of Tel Aviv. Sentenced to 18 years, he spent some 12 of them in solitary. Vanunu’s release was not welcomed by everyone. The Israeli authorities have placed him under severe restrictions. He has been refused a passport and the right to leave Israel. Many in Israel regard him as a traitor - and on his release he was met with death threats - ‘Who will be our Jack Ruby?’ asked some sections of the media. Only the day before the release, the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv published a reader poll which asked its reader if Vanunu should be killed after his release from prison. The poll attracted some 4,500 votes and asked readers to vote on ‘what should be done with Vanunu?’ Thirty three per cent voted that he should be killed, and 28% that he should be kept in prison. The majority (36%) voted that he should be allowed to leave the country. The paper received hundreds of emails complaining that the poll was an incitement to murder and peace campaigners organised protests and contacted the Israeli attorney general. Within days the poll was pulled from the newspaper’s web site and removed from the archive of daily polls. Vanunu has been released, but is not a free man. Whilst safe for a while, his life is under constant threat. We need to put pressure on the British government to secure Mordechai’s right to leave the country and travel without hindrance. Freedom of association is a basic human right, which he is being denied. It’s the least we can do for him.
Last modified: Monday, March 14, 2005
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World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
DOWNLOAD FREEPRESS NOW
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
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Previous stories
International
MEDIA MONITOR: Thumbs Down for Berlusconi
More MidEast links
The National Conference on Media Reform - 7-9 November 2003
Who does he think he is?
Latest GATS News
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LEGALISED PIRACY
The Shayler Trial
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The Response of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom to the Department of Trade and Industry Consultation Document Liberalising Trade in Services.
Public service broadcasting measures threatened by free trade agreement
