International Correspondents Blog

May 2, 2008

The shocking case of the Austrian father who imprisoned his daughter for 24 years in a cellar beneath his house and fathered seven children by her is our top story this week.

The ramifications of this story for the woman and her children are, of course, immense and paramount; the implications for the media, also compelling.

In Austria, it is actually illegal to publish the name of someone who has been detained and yet to be charged. Most of the Austrian media decided to go ahead and publish Josef Fritzel's name as did much of the international media. As the week went on and more details emerged, media in Austria and around the world published a composite of the daughter, aged 42 and how she may look now.

Where lies the boundary between what is in the public interest and in the victims' interest?

To help answer those questions and more, we are joined in studio by CNN's Phil Black who spent most of the week in Amstetten, covering the story and from Vienna, by Eric Frey, the managing editor of Der Standard newspaper. His paper has yet to publish Fritzel's name or a photograph of his house.

Both he and Phil explain the complexities and different challenges both the Austrian and international media face in covering this story.

Allowing killers to get away with murder; the killers of journalists that is. The Committee to Protect Journalists has released a report on the countries it says are doing little or nothing to solve the killings of reporters.

The usual suspects are at the top of the list; Iraq, Somalia, Sierra Leone but also in there are several democracies from South Asia including India and the Philippines. Also in the top twelve but lower than last year is Russia but one of the more shocking revelations is Mexico; now the most dangerous place in Latin America for journalists.

To this end we speak to Joel Simon in New York of the Committee to Protect Journalists and in the London studio we're joined by Rodney Pinder. He's the Director of the International News Safety Institute.

A few months ago, four to be precise, we told you about the detention of a Saudi blogger, Fouad al-Farhan. He is now celebrating his release from prison without charge.

Al-Farhan had written under his own name, using his Web site to criticize alleged corruption and to demand democratic reforms in Saudi Arabia.

His detention had been protested by many bloggers and pressure for his release had come from international human rights groups. Many saw al-Farhan's detention as symptomatic of the wider issue of bloggers in the Arab world demanding greater freedoms. CNN's Mohammed Jamjoon has more.

Till next week.

April 25, 2008

This week was Primary week and so we top off this week's program with the seemingly never-ending Democratic nomination race.

A year ago, the media were saying Hillary was going to win the nomination; Barack Obama would not be able to make a dent; in January the refrain became that the longer Obama stayed in the race, the better his chances. And now in April, the media are saying he cannot seal the deal.

We speak to Jordan Lieberman, publisher of Campaigns and Elections Politics Magazine and we welcome back Chris Lockwood, U.S. editor with the Economist.

Chris has a knack of knowing what to watch for in this race; we ask him and Jordan where they think the story is going next and the relationship between the media and the candidates.

Has Hillary Clinton been given a rougher ride in the media than Barack Obama and if so, why?

Still in the news this week, Zimbabwe. Four weeks after the election, there is still no final election result. International reporters are largely barred from going into the country to cover the story.

We speak to one reporter, Laura Lynch of CBC who was one of the few journalists given official accreditation by the government of Robert Mugabe. It didn't stop her and her colleagues getting into scrapes with officialdom, however -- some of her co-workers were detained by police.

We ask her about her experiences there and also speak to Patrick Smith of Africa Confidential about whether international coverage has helped or hindered the people of Zimbabwe.

We also discuss how the British media have dealt with the situation and whether for them, this is essentially a story based on former colonial ties and what impact it has had on Robert Mugabe and ultimately his people.

And finally, the issue of celebrity.

Alison Jackson is a photographer who has won acclaim for the pictures she takes, or should I say, makes. Her work includes photos of Britain's Queen Elizabeth walking past a betting shop with corgis; David Beckham in an American football uniform and President Bush playing with a Rubik's cube. But take a second look and you realize the subjects are lookalikes.

We ask Alison, who claims to hate photography, why she does it and whether she is in fact anti celebrity or keeping the celebrity culture momentum going by producing such pictures.

Enjoy the show.

April 18, 2008

The political situation in Zimbabwe continues to occupy the news agendas of international media outlets. Following the recent election, foreign journalists defied the Mugabe government ban and entered the country without permission, often posing as tourists.

Our Paula Newton was among three CNN journalists who went in, aware they could be arrested and jailed, in a bid to find out what is really going on in the country which was once the breadbasket of the region.

She talks to us about what she saw, namely an impoverished land where ordinary Zimbabweans are hungry for information as well as food. Paula tells us about the difficulties and dangers of covertly trying to cover the story and ask her where she thinks the story is heading next.

We also have the story of the release of the Associated Press photographer held by the U.S. military in Iraq.

36-year old Bilal Hussein had been accused of having links to insurgents. He was held without charge for more than two years and AP had launched an aggressive campaign to have him freed.

We also have a report from Baghdad on the release of CBS journalist, Richard Butler who had been detained and held by insurgents for more than two months. He was being held in a house which was raided by Iraqi military forces who were looking for insurgents and who found Mr Butler instead.

Pope Benedict is in the United States in a country where 25 percent of the population is Roman Catholic.

His flock in America is troubled and divided, not least because of a sex scandal which rocked the Church a few years ago. At the time, the Vatican wasn't the best at dealing with it, to put it mildly and many Americans are now wondering whether the 81-year old Pontiff can re-energize the Church during his six days there.

We talk to Luke Coppen of the Catholic Herald in Britain and in Washington, and Robert Blair Kaiser, author and former correspondent with Time and Newsweek magazines and a commentator on the Catholic Church.

We discuss to what extent the Vatican thinks the media is important and whether the Pope is comfortable dealing with a media which has changed hugely even since he became Pontiff, not least because of the Internet.

And finally, the United Arab Emirates has a new newspaper; The National was launched against an international backdrop of declining readership and falling revenues for the newspaper industry in general. Wilf Dinnick takes a look at what prompted the publication of the new broadsheet and whether there is the market for it.

April 11, 2008

If you were a member of either the Chinese government or the International Olympic Committee, you would more than likely be increasingly concerned about the Olympic torch as it wends its way across the globe in the face of numerous protests over Tibet. And it's only April! A full four months until the Games themselves begin.

This week we look at how the controversy is being reported within China. We ask whether Beijing is actually concerned about the protests in the long term and look at whether the demonstrations are going to snowball and force a change of policy on Tibet and, perhaps, even other matters.

I'll be speaking to Bob Dietz in New York of the Committee to Protect Journalists who tells us about how much, or indeed how little of the torch relay is being reported in China and Rob Gifford of NPR Radio who spent six years reporting from Beijing.

Rob is of the view that many middle class Chinese don't particularly know or care about what's going on re Tibet and indeed other matters, and that if they do know, they tend to side with the authorities' viewpoint.

Also this week, we visit a new exhibition just opened in London. It features photographs shot by Reuters journalists in Iraq since just before the U.S.-led invasion five years ago.

Some of the photos are already seared in our memories as we ask what makes a good photograph and indeed, whether in five years' time, there will be another exhibition of photographs marking 10 years since the invasion.

We also speak to one journalist who nearly lost her life when a U.S. missile hit the Palestine Hotel in which she was working with her colleagues, one of whom died.

Samia Nakhoul was lucky to survive; perhaps unsurprisingly, she hasn't returned to Iraq since and yet she is responsible for one of the more memorable "good news" stories of Iraq; that of Ali who lost his family and his arms when a missile hit his house. Samia arranged for him to travel to London where he now lives, having been fitted with prosthetic arms.

And finally, we talk to Nick Davies; a journalist who has just written the book "Flat Earth News."

He argues that many media outlets are owned by big corporations these days and, as a result, it's having a detrimental effect on the news business -- where reporters are under pressure to come up with stories, but without being able to make contacts and check facts.

Nick joins me in studio where we discuss how much should we believe in what we see, hear and read.

April 4, 2008

Zimbabwe dominates our show this week. Uncertainty about the impoverished country's future means Zimbabwe is in limbo.

What makes it more difficult is that journalists find it hard to operate in the country. If they are Zimbabwean and do not work for one of the state organs then they literally risk life and limb. International journalists are not allowed in without special accreditation which costs roughly $1,800 per journalist.

That means it's virtually impossible for freelance journalists to cover the story, even if they are allowed in. CNN, like other international broadcasters, has been banned from the country.

So this week, we look at how accurate the information is coming out of Zimbabwe, given the obvious restrictions and whether current events there bode well for the future of journalism.

We speak to CNN's Robyn Curnow in Johannesburg who has been reporting from the Zimbabwean border this past week; also joining us, Andrew Meldrum, a journalist who was jailed for a time by the Mugabe regime in 2003 for his reporting. He is currently a Nieman Scholar at Harvard University and he joins us from Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Also with us in London is Zimbabwean journalist, Forward Maisokwadzo. He is based in Britain these days and is also co-coordinator of Exiled Journalists Network in the UK.

They may be eight months away but hardly a day goes by without some news of the U.S. Presidential elections. The Democratic race for the nomination is working its way towards a nail-biting finish.

The coverage of the various primaries and caucuses has caused many a viewer to stay up late in the night. So this week we ask, what makes this year's race one of the most exciting yet? Is it the personalities or the policies?

I recently had the opportunity to catch up with two of CNN's most experienced U.S. based correspondents, Jill Dougherty and Richard Roth, to mull over the pickings of what still is quite a journalistic feast.

And Spring arrived in the Northern Hemisphere this week with the clocks going forward and a noticeable change in the air. It also coincided with the beginning of April; April 1st, also known as April Fools' Day.

While not every country marks it, many take it to the limit with the British media at the forefront of the high jinks. Phil Black spent the day on the trail of the best jokes around. Enjoy.

March 28, 2008

An absolutely jam-packed show this week and all nicely topical. We kick off with Tibet and the recent protest by three members of Reporters Without Borders at the lighting of the Olympic flame ceremony in Greece.

We ask Vincent Brossel, one of the protesters, what the protest achieved and whether by using their press cards to get into the event, that other journalists legitimately wishing to cover Olympic related stories might now be adversely affected.

We are also joined in studio by our Beijing correspondent, John Vause who tells us how the Tibet issue is of little interest to ordinary Chinese, largely because they don't get to hear about it. And given the obvious parallels with Myanmar, we ask Dan Rivers who has covered that story why it is no longer on the front pages.

The second topic of the day is a film shot during the final days of the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel conflict in southern Lebanon.

A moving story, it follows the journey of one woman as she searches for her missing son and sister. A Shia woman, she manages to convince a taxi driver who happens to be Christian to take her on the hazardous journey from Beirut. The storyline follows their platonic but increasingly complex and evolving friendship as they make their way south.

We speak to the film's Lebanese director, Philippe Aractingi about how he conceived the script and how much was improvised due to the dangers of the conflict and the people they met along the way.

And finally, the state visit to Britain this week of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his new wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.

Just as the French had become acclimatized to their president's new domestic arrangements, along comes the British media, relentless in their pursuit of a "good" story. Did the presence of the new French First Lady by her husband and the Queen's side, help the Entente Cordiale become the Entente Amicable as much as her husband's speeches on the similarities between the two countries?

We speak to our own Jim Bitterman, Paris based correspondents about the Carla factor as well as James Blitz, Diplomatic Editor of the Financial Times.

Join us at the times on your screens.

March 21, 2008

A few months ago it was Burma, now it's Tibet.

There are many parallels to be drawn between the two situations; one distinction is that Myanmar's rulers hardly care what the world thinks. China, on the other hand -- with Beijing being much more an integrated member of the international community and with the Games coming up -- is very sensitive to anything which might destabilize its showcase Olympics.

We speak to CNN's John Vause, usually based in Beijing, who has been scouring the roads and byelaws to find a way of entering Tibet. Alas, in vain. The Chinese authorities have clamped down on international journalists so John joins us from Chengdu in China to bring us up to date with what's happening for journalists there.

Also, from Washington, we speak to Karma Dorjee with Radio Free Asia about his network's efforts to gather information from, and get information to Tibet.

This week sees the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War. Shock and Awe, we were told by Washington would be the defining element of the U.S.-led military campaign.

Some five years later, at least 90,000 dead and a war that has cost at least billions of dollars we ask three journalists for their thoughts: John F. Burns, former Baghdad bureau chief of the New York Times; Iraqi journalist, Ahmad al-Rikaby; and CNN's Michael Holmes who himself survived an attack which saw two of his colleagues killed and another injured.

And Zimbabwe is having elections again. CNN has been banned from covering them so instead Robyn Curnow in Johannesburg sits down with a group of Zimbabwean journalists and civil rights campaigners for their views on the upcoming vote.

March 14, 2008

This week's news in the States has been dominated by the Eliot Spitzer scandal.

As news of the story broke, the media pack en masse delved in and dug for more. But how much of this story is about Eliot Spitzer the public figure, his prosecution of prostitution rings and possible law breaking and how much is about his family?

Indeed, how much should we find out about the other "clients" apparently recorded by the FBI? And how much focus should there be on the former New York Governor's wife?

We speak to journalist and Spitzer biographer, Brooke Masters in London and Jon Friedman, Senior Columnist with the Media Web section of Marketwatch who is based in New York.

Also this week, the plight of a jailed journalist sentenced to death in Afghanistan for allegedly defaming Islam.

Sayed Pervez Kambaksh is 23 years old. His brother is also a journalist and has written several investigative pieces about the Taliban. Last October Pervez downloaded a document about Islam and women's rights from an Iranian Web site. He was arrested and ultimately sentenced to death at a hearing, which he claims lasted four minutes.

Some believe it is actually his brother who is being targeted for his work. Either way, the case has resulted in an international outcry, partly as a result of the attention given to it by The Independent newspaper in Britain.

The case is about to go to appeal and President Karzai has promised not to sign the execution order should it cross his desk. We speak to Kim Sengupta, Defence and Diplomatic Correspondent of the Independent and from Reporters Without Borders, Lucie Morillon.

And as the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war approaches, we look at how much of the country remains off limits to journalists.

France24 sent two of their more seasoned journalists to Iraq recently to see how life there has changed since 2003. One of their achievements in making their film was to be able to travel to the troubled city of Falluja, unaccompanied by U.S. troops -- no mean feat given the city has been virtually a no-go zone for journalists.

Lucas Menget joins us from Paris to tell us of his experiences there and about the highs and lows of working in a country which is still extremely dangerous for reporters.

March 7, 2008

It is still anyone's game - when it comes to the Democrats at least. Hillary Clinton wins three of four state contests. But the victories fail to put much of a dent in Barack Obama's delegate lead. But in the Republican battle, it was a clean sweep in all four states for John McCain, enough to put him over the top and win him his party's nomination.

For more on the winning strategies, and what comes next in this long-haul race Bill Schneider, CNN's Senior political analyst, London Bureau Chief of USA Today Jeffrey Stinson and Michelle Henery of the Times weigh in.

While the possible tides of change in the presidential race keep Americans gripped. The world is also hooked on the very close election drama.

In Lebanon, the anti-Syrian governing coalition has been locked in a 16-month-old power struggle with an opposition led by Hezbolla. While in Pakistan, political uncertainty also reigns: President Pervez Musharraf's party suffered losses in last months elections and faces pressures to step down.

CNN talks to Hisham Melham of Al Arabiya and Anwar Iqbal, of the Pakistani paper DAWN.

Also on this week's show, the deadly cycle of attack and counterattack continues. Rockets are fired from Gaza, and the Israelis fire back. Jerusalem was also the scene of a deadly attack on a Jewish seminary.

Covering the conflict is anything but black and white, we dissect the headlines with CNN's Ben Wedeman in Gaza and Akiva Eldar of Ha'aretz an Israeli newspaper.

-- From International Correspondents Producer Jenifer Fenton

February 29, 2008

A right old media storm this week as Britain's Prince Harry is pulled out of Afghanistan following a media leak.

The UK government and certain media outlets, including CNN, had agreed not to publish news of Harry's arrival in Afghanistan 10 weeks earlier in exchange for access, including footage of him while serving there. A U.S. Web site, The Drudge Report, published the story and within 24 hours Prince Harry was pulled out of Afghanistan.

The outcry has been phenomenal ranging from accusations that The Drudge Report put British troops' lives at risk, to condemnation from some quarters that sections of the media had agreed to embargo themselves in the first place about Prince Harry's whereabouts.

Tessa Mayes, journalist and commentator joins us to debate the issues as does Mark Saunders, journalist and author of a book on Prince Harry.

The plight of freelance journalists in Mexico is also in our rundown this week. Many in the news media find the prospect of being a freelance journalist attractive; it allows individuals to work when and where they want and for whom they like. But being a freelance journalist in Mexico comes with great risks.

A new study by the Rory Peck Trust says Mexico is the most dangerous country for freelancers in Latin America.

And for many journalists in the country, there aren't many options about being freelance -- employment opportunities being so few and far between. Freelance journalists earn on average between $300 and $500 a month, and half of them have been threatened or attacked.

We speak to Phil Cox, himself a freelance journalist and previous winner of the Rory Peck Trust Award and Maria Idalia Gomez, a freelance journalist from Mexico who herself has been threatened. She is working with the Rory Peck Trust to bring more attention to the issue in her country and explains why Mexico is so incredibly dangerous and why so many there just don't seem to care.

And freedom of speech raises its head again in the program. This time the focus is on the Arab World.

The recent adoption of a charter by the Arab League encourages countries to crack down on anything undermining what it calls "social peace, national unity and public order." Information Ministers of member countries except Lebanon and Qatar (home to Arabic language channel Al Jazeera) want authorities to have the right to revoke a broadcaster's license if the broadcast defames politicians, national figures and religious leaders.

Al Jazeera has reacted furiously to the charter, calling it a dark day for freedom of speech in the Arab world. Often on the wrong sides of Arab governments, the channel wants to see the charter revoked although it remains to be seen how and whether it might be implemented.

Marwan Bishara, senior Political analyst with the network joins us in London to talk about the issue along with CNN's Senior Editor for Arab Affairs, Octavia Nasr.

February 22, 2008

A packed show this week. We start by going to Pakistan, where the much anticipated elections led to the defeat of President Musharraf's ruling party and take a look at the role of the media in these elections and whether government restrictions had any impact on the result.

We speak to the Washington Post's Candace Rondeaux in Islamabad who tells us about the huge tidal rise of the media and the middle classes in Pakistan. She equates politics in the country to talk show politics due to the proliferation of satellite TV stations under President Musharraf's rule.

In London we'll be talking to Aamir Ghauri of Geo TV. He says that ironically President Musharraf, if he were to step down now, would have the right to claim, as part of his legacy, that he had led to the opening up of Pakistan's media.

And we're joined by Shahed Sadullah of the English language paper, The News. He points out Pakistan's high illiteracy rate and how that has contributed to the huge growth of broadcast media in recent years.

To Havana, Cuba next and the week's big announcement that after nearly half a century in power Fidel Castro is to step down as President.

Reporters without Borders regularly cites the government's harsh treatment and imprisonment of journalists. We ask whether Castro's resignation will mean journalists enjoy greater or less press freedom in Cuba.

CNN's man in Havana, Morgan Neill, against the backdrop of a beautiful sunny Havana day, tells us that young people are increasingly questioning why they cannot access the Internet more freely.

Due to the U.S. economic embargo, underwater Internet cables have been difficult to lay and therefore Internet growth has been slow. However, despite this, many wonder whether greater accessibility would result in a loosening of restrictions by the government.

In London, we're joined by journalist and author, Stephen Wilkinson of London Metropolitan University who believes that eventually, if not immediately, we will see greater media freedoms in Cuba under a new President.

And finally to Hong Kong where journalist Ching Cheong has been released after being jailed for almost three years by Chinese authorities. He speaks about his ordeal in a much publicized news conference.

With the run up to the Beijing Games gathering pace, China is only too aware of the international scrutiny of its journalists either in Hong Kong or on the mainland.

And our question of the week is "Can governments stop the spread of the electronic media?"

February 15, 2008

A packed and varied show this week. We start with a study from "Reporters Without Borders" which looks at media freedom around the world. It, like last week's report from the Committee to Protect Journalists makes for uncomfortable reading.

It says 86 journalists were killed in 2007, the highest number since 1994. It also focuses on what it says is media repression by the Chinese government ahead of the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer. And it predicts that upcoming elections in Pakistan, Russia, Zimbabwe and Iran will cause problems -- both professional and physical -- for journalists in 2008.

We speak to Lucie Morillon, director of "Reporters Without Borders" in Washington and, with Pakistan's elections upon us, we talk to Khalid Hasan of the Pakistani Daily Times newspaper and the Friday Times, also in Washington. He tells us about the restrictions on journalists in his country and whether he expects things to change in the near future.

From media freedoms to court reporting restrictions. The tabloid frenzy over this week's divorce proceedings between former Beatle Paul McCartney and Heather Mills was in high gear as it sought to cover a story without the story, so to speak.

The hearings were held in private with the judge warning both sides not to leak to the media. As a result, every move by the two entering and leaving court was subject to the most intense scrutiny as though any display of emotion might give an indication as to how the hearings were going inside the closed courtroom.

We speak to Michael Booker, deputy editor of the Daily Star Sunday about the challenges of filling newssheets without much to go on. And we talk to CNN's Phil Black who has been covering the story for the network about how he grappled with the task of writing reports without the benefit of having a story or many sound bites.

And finally to Afghanistan. Vanity Fair sent photographer Tim Hetherington to spend several weeks with U.S. troops on the frontline. He recorded a number of images as part of a year long assignment for Vanity Fair. Hetherington tells us, in his own words and pictures about his time there.

And our question of the week is "Do you think celebrity divorce hearings warrant widespread media coverage?"

Till next time.

February 8, 2008

Six months ago the media roundly predicted that the Democrats would choose their presidential candidate quickly and quietly; it would be the Republicans who would slug it out to inherit George W. Bush's mantle while simultaneously distancing themselves from his legacy.

Oh, and John Mc Cain was apparently finished.

This week's Super Tuesday may not have provided a clear winner but it did prove that six month old premise wrong. But were the media mistaken last summer or merely following events as they unfolded?

We talk to Michelle Henery, an American journalist with the London Times who recently wrote that Barack Obama's success had made her think it possible to return to live in the States, some eight years after leaving it.

Last time he was on International Correspondents, Chris Lockwood, U.S. editor of the Economist, quietly predicted off camera, the rise of Mike Huckabee. How right he was! This weekend sees only two men in the Republican race and Huckabee is one of them. So this week we ask where is this story headed and have reporters become so caught up in the drama of the Democratic race that the hard questions are not being asked of either party's candidates.

We also talk to CNN's White House Correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux about what it's like covering the Obama candidacy as the momentum of his campaign continues to build.

Also this week, drama of a different sort in the form of the annual report of the Committee to Protect Journalists. "Attacks on the Press in 2007" makes for uneasy reading.

65 journalists died in connection with their work in 2007, with Iraq and Somalia the most dangerous places. Indeed, Iraq is now the uncomfortable titleholder of the world's most dangerous assignment ever for journalists.

We talk to Michael Holmes in Baghdad who himself survived a murder attempt there four years ago. Two of his CNN colleagues were not so lucky that day.

Michael has returned to Baghdad many times since and this week reports on the difficulties facing journalists, particularly Iraqi, who daily risk life and limb to tell their countrymen and women what is happening in their country. The irony, Michael tells us, is that there is a thriving, healthy media in Iraq with a population hungry for news and certain elements of that society just as hungry to stop journalists telling that news.

But if there is an appetite in wartime Iraq for news, the same apparently cannot be said of peacetime Russia. According to the CPJ report, the former Soviet state has become the third most dangerous place in the world for journalists. The CPJ describes what is happening to the media in Russia as the criminalization of journalism.

We speak to Joel Simon of the CPJ and Dmitry Muratov, editor in chief of Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper for which the murdered journalist, Anna Politkovskaya wrote.

Muratov outlines his difficulties trying to publish a newspaper which is neither wanted nor supported by the authorities and which consequentially must strive against the odds for advertising and distribution. Nina Ognianova of the CPJ tells us what she has been doing to try and improve conditions for journalists in her home country

February 1, 2008

It seems more like a concept fit for reality television. Contenders fight it out to represent their team in a final battle when one candidate will be declared the winner.

In this case that winner will become President of the United States. This is the reality of U.S. politics and the eyes of the world are firmly placed on the election campaign. But why is the international news media so interested in what's happening in the U.S. so early on in the race? Perhaps it is because of the personalities involved, the contest itself, or just because there will be a change of administration.

In this week's show we try to gauge the pulse of the world's media looking in and how they're covering and selling the story to their audiences. We hear from Political Editor of Reuters, Sean Maguire; CNN's U.S. Affairs Editor, Jill Dougherty and Kim Landers from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The story was always going to create waves. A special investigation to reveal the extent of sex trafficking operating between Eastern Europe and the UK. It's obviously a sensitive subject and a very difficult story to tell through the means of television.

Chris Rogers from Britain's ITV News spent seven months looking at the issue which saw him go undercover, set up a bogus Internet site and pose as a brothel owner. Becky Anderson speaks to Chris Rogers about the story, the emotional impact it's had on him and the difficulties of staying impartial when you're covering such a topic. The three-part series was compelling and the insight from Chris helps us to put it all into perspective.

Leading up to the Beijing Olympics, you'll hear plenty this year about China and press freedom. The country has faced criticism on that and its human rights record ahead of the games.

This week, new rules were introduced on video sharing Web sites in China. Under the changes companies will need to be licensed, and in turn they need to be state owned in line with other media companies. How regulators will enforce the restrictions is still unknown.

We look at the potential impact and ask whether it's fair to level so much criticism on China. We speak to Vincent Brossel from Reporters Without Borders.

-- From International Correspondents Producer Matt Cargill

January 25, 2008

The markets dominated this week's news with a plethora of commentators riding the airwaves trying to explain what it's all about. And while certainly something has gone very wrong, we ask whether journalists fueled the panic with headlines such as "Crash," "Turmoil" and "Meltdown."

In New York, Jon Friedman of the Dow Jones Media Web MarketWatch gives us his take on how U.S. journalists handled the crisis while in London, Phil Coggin, Capital Markets Editor of the Economist unravels the intricacies of reporting on the disparate forces at work on the world's stock exchanges.

Iraq was barely out of the headlines in 2007 and with the fifth anniversary of the invasion looming, a new book by esteemed Guardian journalist, Jonathan Steele attempts to explain where it all went wrong. "Defeat: why they lost Iraq," is his explanation of why George W. Bush and Tony Blair lost their war and indeed, in his view, were bound to do so.

Jonathan Steele who has covered Iraq extensively and has twice been named International Reporter of the Year, joins us in studio for an illuminating discussion of his book which is bound to prove controversial in certain quarters.

Cuba and press freedom is considered by many a contradiction in terms. Our Havana bureau Chief, Morgan Neill, looks at one Cuban blogger who is testing the limits of freedom of expression.

A few years ago blogging was practically unheard of in mainstream journalism, but it has proved itself to be a powerful force in countries such as Burma as a means, not only of freedom of expression, but also often the only way news in those countries can transcend borders.

These days, the Committee to Protect Journalists has taken up the cause of many bloggers struggling to be heard against various authoritarian regimes.

Join us at the times shown on our web page.

January 18, 2008

An eclectic mix on this week's show. On the back of President Bush's visit to the Middle East and the media coverage of the fate of jailed Saudi blogger, Fouad al-Farhan, we focus on the plight of bloggers in the region.

With bloggers fast becoming the rallying point for those advocating greater democracy and free speech, we talk to Wael Abbas, an Egyptian, who has been receiving threats for writing about police brutality. At one point, Abbas had both his accounts at YouTube and Yahoo suspended. They have since been reinstated.

We also talk to the Committee to Protect Journalists about the growing trend in blogging in the Middle East as an outlet for free speech and the extent to which governments are trying to suppress it.

Also this week, we speak to Christina Lamb. One of the most unassuming and brilliant journalists in Britain today, Ms Lamb has just published a book comprising her dispatches in the 20-odd years since she embarked on a career in print journalism.

Accompanied with anecdotes of her travels through Afghanistan, Pakistan, South America, Africa and beyond, the collection is a beautifully written and highly illustrative account of all she has encountered, from the complexities of Benazir Bhutto, to the beauty of the beaches of Rio, to near death with the British Army in Afghanistan.

And finally, the seeming inability of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to stay out of the spotlight, whether for his love life or his proposed reform of France's broadcasting laws. Obviously, on such a seriously minded program as International Correspondents, we focus on his plans to make French broadcasting more like the BBC and his plan to scrap all advertising on state television.

But it doesn't end there. President Sarkozy wants to give the brainchild of his predecessor, Jacques Chirac, a complete makeover; replacing France 24 with the more globalist France Monde which will broadcast in French only, as opposed to the current French, English and Arabic on France 24.

We're joined by TV 3's Christian Malard who accompanied President Sarkozy on his recent Middle East and Gulf trip. Oh and somehow, we manage to slip in a question about the head of State's love life.

And that brings us to our Question of the Week. We're asking whether you think the media gives too much coverage to Nicolas Sarkozy's private life?"

A beintot!

January 11, 2008

Hello and welcome to my first edition of International Correspondents of 2008!

We have a packed show this week. First up, the Kenyan Crisis. I read a week or so ago about how all the Kenyan newspapers had joined together to issue one headline, "Save Our Country." An appeal to the international community as much as to Kenya's politicians, it demonstrated how far Kenyan media has come in the years since multi party politics came into being.

But it hasn't all been plain sailing for newspapers and broadcasting outlets since this election crisis began; some interference has been reported and there are those who argue the media's response could have been stronger.

We talk to two veteran Kenyan journalists; from Nairobi, David Makali, Director of Kenya's Media Institute and in London, Solomon Mugera -- Head of BBC World's Swahili service.

Of course, being the week that it was, there was plenty of journalistic soul searching to be done following Hillary Clinton's surprise win in the New Hampshire Primary. As newspaper after newspaper, blogger after blogger and television and radio news reporters heralded the impending end of Mrs Clinton's campaign -- how did they almost all get it wrong?

Can it all be blamed on the polls which while showing a clear lead for Obama, also showed a significant number of undecided voters who in the last 24 hours before Tuesday had yet to make up their minds? Indeed, many reported only deciding on the way to the polling booth. Either way, the media had more than the result to digest on Wednesday morning.

CNN's Colleen McEdwards who covered the campaign in New Hampshire and Michelle Henery, herself an American journalist with the London Times, join us to perform a collective mea culpa.

And, he is one of the most dynamic and controversial characters on the world political stage. She is one of the world's top supermodels with a reputation for having a temper and now it seems, a journalistic bent.

GQ Men's Magazine (lads' magazine as it's colloquially known) is not the obvious forum for an interview with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. However, there he is in February's edition being interviewed by none other than Naomi Campbell herself. Would he have given an interview to a more news focused magazine? Are the charms of Ms Campbell enough to elicit some hitherto unknown insights into the President's character?

Deputy Editor of British GQ, Bill Prince, tells us about the magazine's endorsement of celebrities interviewing other famous people and answers the inevitable charge of whether it is "real journalism."

Oh, and that leads us nicely to our question of the week. We're asking whether you think celebrities have the credibility to act as journalists?

A belated Happy New Year.

January 4, 2008

Each week we speak to journalists from around the world on how and why they cover the news. In the past year we've covered stories from Iraq to Somalia, Myanmar to Mexico. This week Adrian Finighan is at the helm as we revisit a selection of stories and topics featured on the show in 2007.

Our first topic is a story that sparked unprecedented media interest -- the disappearance in May of British girl, Madeleine McCann from a holiday apartment in southern Portugal.

News outlets scrambled to the resort of Praia da Luz as a global campaign was launched. There's been criticism that the media went overboard in their coverage of the case. With few details released by investigators to feed a hungry and competitive reporting core, media outlets appeared to generate headlines based on rumor and speculation. We examined the media's handling of the case in September when the McCann's appointed a new family spokesman to present their side of the story. In our discussion, Fionnuala Sweeney spoke to Rita Jordao -- London correspondent with Portugal's Jornal De Noticias and Charlie Beckett from Polis.

There's no doubting the rise of the Internet in news gathering. Almost anyone with a little know-how and a computer can create a Web page and post an item that can be visible around the world. Then there are the media outlets that are relying more on the public in what's known as user generated content. But what impact is all this having on the journalism trade? Is it killing off a profession? Some believe the Web is not such a good thing, others argue it's an invaluable tool. This Web site, for example, gives us exposure to a whole new audience. We mull it over with Andrew Keen, the author of "The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture and Assaulting Our Economy," and Tyler Brűlé -- Editor in Chief, Monocle Magazine.

Also highlighted in our 2007 review is the issue of Darfur and how one filmmaker is trying to highlight the plight of children there. Phil Cox is one of the few in the media trade who has risked his life to capture pictures of the crisis that were first beamed worldwide back in 2003. He's returned several times to the region and is now working on a feature film. So, what attracted Phil Cox to a place like Darfur in the first place and what is the motivation for returning? It's a fascinating interview that we conducted back in May.

If the last few weeks are anything to go by, 2008 is shaping up as a busy year for journalists. We'll be sure to keep our critical eye on the media on International Correspondents.

-- From International Correspondents Producer Matt Cargill

December 28, 2007

The news business is a dangerous one. 2007 has been the deadliest for the press in 12 years. The New York based Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 64 journalists died in direct connection to their job in 2007. Iraq again has the highest number of deaths with almost half coming from the country. Our Paula Hancocks has been investigating this story for us.

We also speak to Rob Mahoney from the Committee to Protect Journalists for his take on the year. As 2007 comes to a close, we look at media coverage of political events over the last 12 months. We've seen major changes in leadership in France and Britain for example. Next year the spotlight will be firmly on the United States as that country prepares to elect a replacement for George W. Bush. We assess the media's coverage of politics on both sides of the Atlantic with our European Political Editor, Robin Oakley and Mark Jurkowitz from the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

And, rethinking Africa. The media's focus on the continent is often on conflicts, the aids epidemic or matters relating to corruption. This week on the program, we look at Africa's success stories. The Associated Press has been rolling out series concentrating on Africa. It found despite challenges, progress is being made. Progress that in most cases is being led by Africans themselves. We speak to the AP's Mary Rajkumar and John Daniszewski on why they commissioned the series and what they found.

December 21, 2007

This week we look at a story from Saudi Arabia that sparked outrage around the world. A woman was raped and then sentenced to six months in jail and 200 lashes. Her crime was being alone with an unrelated man. Saudi King Abdullah pardoned the woman last week. It's a case that drew widespread international media attention while news outlets in some countries barely mentioned it. We look at the media's coverage of the story since the King intervened and examine whether the media did influence the outcome. Will it also set a precedent? Journalist with the Arab News, Ebtihal Mubarak has been following this story from early on. She joins us on the program along with Mai Yamani, a Saudi political analyst and author of the book "Cradle of Islam."

Also on the show this week, Britain's handover of security of the Basra province to Iraqi control. We speak to Jane Corbin from the BBC's Panorama program who recently investigated what sort of place British troops are leaving behind. She tells us that it's now too dangerous to report in areas where once journalists could work freely. Given Basra has been safe enough to hand over to Iraqi control, what impact will the pullout have on news coverage?

We also have the story of the unlikely visitor to the U.S. Senate press room. It's not a politician making the headlines this time. It's a bird that ruffled reporter's feathers before a press conference kicked off on Capitol Hill.

December 14, 2007

Divisions still run deep in Kosovo and there is concern that more violence could erupt the day that Kosovo declares independence.

International opinion on the future make-up of the province is divided. In this week's show, we look at Kosovo's media landscape with Kim Sengupta, The Independent's Defense and Diplomatic Correspondent, who was recently in Kosovo; and Iain King Co-author of "Peace At Any Price: How The World Failed Kosovo."

King also spent 2003 as head of planning for the United Nations mission in Kosovo. Hear if they think international journalists are playing the story straight.

Also on this week's show, we look at a different face of Afghanistan. While press headlines are dominated with news of peacekeeping and war, Afghan women are forging a new future. Co-authors of "Women of Courage: Intimate Stories from Afghanistan," Katherine Kiviat and Scott Heidler, give voice to a culture that has long been silenced.

Finally, reunited Rock 'n Roll legend Led Zeppelin play their first full concert in nearly three decades. Was it just a one-night stand? Legendary rock writer Steve Turner and Mark Sutherland, Billboard's London Bureau Chief, look at the recent wave of high-profile reunions, including Led Zepellin, The Police, The Spice Girls and The Eagles. Are these bands trying to recreate the magic or just drum up some extra cash? Hear what our guests think.

-- From International Correspondents Producer Jenifer Fenton

December 7, 2007

For months, the White House had been warning that Iran was rushing to produce nuclear weapons, but this week, a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) report told a different story. The report says Iran stopped developing nuclear weapons in 2003.

In this week's show we look at the reaction playing out in Tehran with CNN's Middle East Correspondent Aneesh Raman and in Jerusalem with CNN Senior Correspondent Ben Wedeman. Iran declares "victory" after the NIE report, but Israel's Defense Chief Ehud Barak is not convinced that Iran has killed its program.

Also on this week's show, a segment on the "Teddy Teacher" controversy; a British teacher returns to the UK after spending eight days in a Sudanese Jail. She was pardoned from blasphemy charges for allowing her student to name a stuffed bear Muhammad.

It's a case that echoes the storm that grew over a Danish newspaper's printing cartoons of Muhammad in 2005. Should the media be religion "neutral" when reporting on these and other rows? We ask Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester and a Persian-speaking scholar of Islam and Jenny Taylor, the founding director of Lapido Media, a media consultancy specializing in religion and world affairs.

Finally Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement, turns 20 this December. The organization has changed considerably since the group was founded by the late Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. In January 2006, Hamas won the Palestinian Authority's general legislative elections. So in Palestinian politics, Hamas may now have the upper hand, but is the group making errors in the media war? Zaki Chehab, author of "Inside Hamas" and a prominent Palestinian journalist born in a refugee camp, answers that question and more.

-- From International Correspondents Producer Jenifer Fenton

December 1, 2007

This week's show features an interview with this year's winner of the Rory Peck award for freelance journalists. It's one thing to see video from Somalia; it's quite another to meet the man who has taken so many risks to capture them.

Farah Roble Aden is 42 years old and a freelance cameraman.

His family has been threatened as he himself has, for doing his job. A quietly spoken man, my conversation with him brings home that it is often the most unassuming characters who take the bravest risks to tell their story.

In his words, he does what he does for freedom of expression. His countrymen, he says, have had a taste of it now and there's no going back.

Hopefully not, for Somalia has almost become one of the world's forgotten conflicts. Too dangerous for even the aid agencies to deliver food and medical supplies throughout the country; some say the security situation was better under the short-lived Islamist regime reign.

Looking at Farah's video, I recognized many of his shots as having been used by CNN in the past and it illustrates the dearth of fresh footage from Somalia precisely because of the risks to journalists there.

Also on this week's show, a segment on Internet wars; how NATO feels it has to take on the Taliban in cyberspace as well on the ground.

The "cavemen" fighting NATO's high-tech weaponry have discovered that by using the Internet and YouTube they are proving a formidable force in the PR war.

But is such a PR war necessary? Surely it's what takes place on the ground that counts?

Apparently not, as we see in our discussion with CNN International Security Correspondent, Paula Newton who has just been in Afghanistan and Jason Burke, Foreign Correspondent with the Observer newspaper; himself something of an expert on the country.

And, finally, it's still almost a year away yet the U.S. presidential campaign is slowly but surely gaining momentum. This week saw the latest in the CNN/YouTube debates, this time featuring the Republican candidates.

"We don't like it," said journos covering the debate in Florida to CNN's Senior Political Analyst, Bill Schneider. Not the debate itself, mind you, but the YouTube video contributions from "ordinary members of the American public." Thus illustrating the ongoing debate about new technology vs. traditional journalism.

Are journalists the true gatekeepers of the sacred cow of reporting and analysis? Does YouTube and indeed this week's deal between FaceBook and ABC make for greater public participation in the election and ultimately, greater democracy? We'll be discussing that with Nico Pitney, National Editor of the Huffington Post and none other than our own Bill Schneider. E-mail to a friend