SAMSN BLOG
No justice for Maldives journalists
The trial of three Raajje TV journalists, charged with obstructing police officers while covering an opposition protest and a bomb scare, is set to close on November 8. If found guilty, the young reporters face up to a year in jail. Mohamed Wisam, Leevan Ali Naseer...
Defending the messenger
Journalists in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have been under siege for the past several decades while living and reporting on the conflict between the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) and the Government of India, with the vast majority of adivasi...
Why do you need a free media?
Do you know that only 13 percent of the world population enjoys a free press? According to Freedom House report “Press Freedom in 2016” the safety of journalists is guaranteed in just 13 percent of the world’s population. 41 percent of world’s population has a partly...
Circle of Impunity
Malini Subramaniam, freelance contributor for online news website Scroll.in, was based in Bastar, Chhattisgarh. She reported on human rights violations perpetrated by the police, security forces and vigilante groups and brought to the fore incidents of sexual violence...
Anti Defamation Law: Instilling fear
The new Anti-defamation Act in the Maldives serves to silence the media community which can face huge fines and imprisonment if found guilty of defamation. “… but after the law, I am not sure,” a blogger from the Maldives told me answering my questions about how long...
Uncovering Solidarity
At the recently concluded conference of investigative journalists, Raksha Kumar discovers that collaborative journalism is possible. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life. I sat in the middle of a football field sized room, decorated with golden motifs of...
When Knowledge is Power
The Right to Information in most countries of South Asia has been won after protracted struggles by the media and civil society activists. To mark September 28, the International ‘Right to Know’ Day, Laxmi Murthy traces this history and outlines the challenges. In...
Silencing Through ‘Regulation’
Aunohita Mojumdar, Editor, Himal Southasian provides the context for the suspension of the pioneering South Asian magazine. Why was the decision taken to suspend publication of Himal Southasian magazine? We see an increasing trend in the region where civil-society...
Media blackout in Kashmir
It has been a bad year for media in Kashmir. The current unrest that left 60 dead and thousands injured has also taken a toll on media. From raiding the printing presses to blocking the internet to newspapers, many methods have been used to muzzle the press. On July...
Calculating the Loss of a Maldivian Journalist
On Monday, August 8th, 731 days will have passed since Maldivian journalist and blogger Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla was taken from outside his apartment on the island of Hulhumale’. 609 days would pass before police conceded, last April, that the then 28-year-old had been...