1. Freedom

Category Archives: Freedom

Freedom from Religion Foundation threatens suit against Union Co.

Posted on by

by WCNC.com Staff

WCNC.com

Posted on May 6, 2013 at 12:47 PM

Updated yesterday at 12:50 PM

UNIONCOUNTY, N.C. -- Union County leaders could soon be facing a lawsuit over how they start County Commission meetings.

A group called The Freedom from Religion Foundation is warning the county to drop the opening prayer or face a lawsuit.

It's a topic Rowan County leaders are familiar with. The County Commission has been sued by the ACLU over its Christian prayers before meetings.

The Wisconsin-based nonprofit foundation set their sights on Union County in February after receiving complaints from a local resident. FFRF says Union County leaders never responded to their initial letter demanding the commissioners end the practice of opening their meetings with prayer.

Union County board Chair Jerry Simpson told the Charlotte Observer that commissioners take turns offering the invocation, or they designate someone to do it for them, such as a local pastor. Spirituality, he says, is a part of the lives of a huge majority of county residents, and they appreciate that commissioners make prayer part of their meeting.

Commissioner Jonathan Thomas says Union County residents knew his valuesand those of his fellow commissioners when they voted them into office.

More:

Freedom from Religion Foundation threatens suit against Union Co.

NZ: 'Media Freedom Worrier' Stirs Lively Response

Posted on by

NZ: 'Media Freedom Worrier' Stirs Lively Responses to Press Threats Speech

http://www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/pacific-media-watch/nz-media-freedom-worrier-stirs-lively-responses-press-threats-speech-8281

Anna Magavu

AUCKLAND (Pacific Media Centre / Pacific Media Watch): Media commentators, media freedom advocates, journalists and academics welcomed New Zealand's inaugural UNESCO World Press Freedom Day speech with searching questions and lively debate.

Professor Mark Pearson, author of The Journalist's Guide to Media Law, had voiced concern at the high levels of digital surveillance facing journalists today and he urged journalists to adopt a new ethical model of reporting for social good.

Dr Pearson, professor of journalism and social media at Griffith University in Australia and the Australian correspondent for Reporters Without Borders, delivered the inaugural WPFD lecture on Friday, May 3, organised by AUTs Pacific Media Centre.

He said the lack of press freedom in the Asia-Pacific region was well documented with media in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Fiji needing government licences to operate, and journalists in Malaysia facing 53-year-old internal security laws under which they could be detained for long periods for prejudicing national security.

But Dr Pearson added his concerns were not limited to these cases, and that his major worry was the ever-increasing government regulation of media and social media everywhere, including the anti-terror laws introduced all over the world since 9/11, modelled on the US Patriot Act.

These laws typically give intelligence agencies unprecedented powers to monitor the communications of all citizens. There is also an inordinate level of surveillance, logging and tracking technologies in use in the private sector often held in computer clouds or multinational corporate servers in jurisdictions subject to search and seizure powers of foreign governments Dr Pearson said.

This had disturbing implications for journalists protection of their confidential sources, especially if these sources were government or corporate whistleblowers, he added.

Here is the original post:

NZ: 'Media Freedom Worrier' Stirs Lively Response

Freedom of information expansion delayed

Posted on by

UPEI has its own freedom of information system, says Justice Minister Janice Sherry, and may not need to be included under legislation. (CBC)

P.E.I. municipalities and post-secondary schools won't be included under the province's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act any time soon, says Justice Minister Janice Sherry.

In January, Sherry said she was thinking about adding municipalities, the university and colleges to the act. Charlottetown, Summerside and Cornwall all told CBC News they had no serious objections.

UPEI has an administrator who handles freedom of information requests, but if that person denies the request there's no recourse.

The issue has taken on a new urgency for some, as the university struggles with how to deal with a $9 million deficit that will affect students, staff and faculty.

"The faculty association membership would be very interested in knowing what the salary of the university president is, what the salary of senior administrators is," said UPEI faculty association president Betty Jeffery.

"That information would be available if freedom of information Legislation applied to the university sector."

Sherry said since UPEI has its own system it may not have to be included under the act. P.E.I. and New Brunswick are alone amongst Canadian provinces in not including post-secondary institutions under freedom of information laws.

As for municipalities, Sherry said there is more work to be done.

"There is a duty to consult and to get feedback and that's exactly what the department is in the process of doing," she said.

Go here to read the rest:

Freedom of information expansion delayed

Michele Bachmann May Face Lawsuit Over 'Religious Freedom in The Military' Campaign

Posted on by

Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R- Minn., is facing a possible lawsuit for fundraising off of claims that the military was persecuting practicing Christian soldiers.

A series of media reports that allege thePentagon could startcourt-martialingsoldiers for their Christian faith has been debunked by the fact-checking websitePolitiFactand eventhe Pentagon itself.

But that didn't stop Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., from sending out a fundraising email Monday asking supporters to sign a "Protect Religious Freedom in the Military Pledge," along with a plea for donations to her campaign so she can "have the funds necessary to continue fighting for religious liberty and our troops."

[PHOTOS: Christians Around the World Celebrate Good Friday]

Now, the man at the center of the court-martial allegations, Mikey Weinstein, says he may sue Bachmann for "propagating complete and utter lies."

It was Weinstein, a former Reagan administration lawyer and founder of the civil rights advocacy group Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), who allegedly influenced the Pentagon to punish Christians who pushed their faith on other members of the military, according to media reports. Weinstein met privately with Pentagon officials to discuss religious issues in the military in April.

In her pledge, Bachmann calls Weinstein "radical" and "anti-Christian."

"We are caucusing with our legal counsel to consider the most expeditious course of action we can take in a federal court to stop these bald-faced lies," Weinstein tells Whispers of Bachmann's email and pledge. Bachmann's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. "About 96 percent of our members [at MRFF] are Protestant or Roman Catholic... of our unpaid volunteers, at least well over 80 percent are Christian... I say [to Bachmann]: Tell it to the judge."

[READ: Campaign Finance Issues Plague Bachmann Campaign]

Josh Glasstetter, research director at the progressive People For the American Way, which was founded in the early 1980s to counteract the rhetoric of televangelists, says he also believes Bachmann's petition is misleading.

View post:

Michele Bachmann May Face Lawsuit Over 'Religious Freedom in The Military' Campaign

Challenges to Press Freedom

Posted on by

Challenges to Press Freedom

Bhanu Bhakta Acharya

Press freedom is cornerstone in building strong democracies, enhancing good governance, and promoting justice and peace. It plays a vital role in the transformation of society by reshaping its political, economic and social aspects to defend and promote freedom of expression.

Along with the countries around the world, Nepal is celebrating the 21st World Press Freedom Day with the slogan Safe to speak: Securing freedom of expression in all media emphasises the safety of journalists and media workers, combating impunity of crimes against freedom of expression, and securing a free and open Internet are the key themes included in the slogan, which are very contextual in the Nepalese press freedom scenario. In the context of high level of political vulnerability, after the failure of the Constituent Assembly, and uncertain election, the relevance of the theme is significantly contextual to our socio-political milieu.

Over the past two decades, the world has experienced the revolution in newsrooms, such as the rise of the 24/7 news cycle, online journalism, blogs, social networks, podcasts, webcasts and citizen journalism. Social media, notably Facebook and Twitter, have provided a wide platform to democratic voices against the decades old totalitarian and repressive regimes. However, these developments have not yet opened the way to greater respect for basic freedoms because new threats to freedom of expression keep emerging in the digital news environment. Moreover, the challenges of press freedom in Nepal has not been diminished in the period of past one year. Some of the key challenges of press freedom in our context are as follows:

Security of journalists

Nepal ranks 118th position in the international press freedom index by Reporters' Without Borders' stepping down 12 places than previous year. There have been reports of threats, misbehavior, manhandling, physical attacks, detention, harassment and incidents of censorship recorded at different levels during the period of one year. In addition, different interest groups including persons of authority, leaders of political parties, and cadres of armed groups targeted journalists, seized equipments and vandalised their vehicles as an expression of their resentment. However, the perpetrators were rarely brought to justice system since they had strong political back up. This trend rapidly promoted self-censorship among journalists; as a result issues of public importance were seldom reported. Recurring threats, interference in editorial independence, physical attack and blackmailing tactic pushed the country's press freedom scenario into a deep vulnerability.

Protection of news source

It is one of the basic conditions for press freedom. Many countries have clearly mentioned this provision in their legal documents including the constitution. Journalists in Nepal, however, are compelled to divulge the information source during the process of administrative justice or court proceedings. Death threats and other forms of systematic harassment also force them to reveal the sources of information, which is, by profession, every journalist has to keep confidential. Even though, this provision is evidently articulated in the code of conduct for journalists, Nepal has not developed a comprehensive legal framework till date so remains cause of threat to press freedom. Owing to this, the vulnerability of press freedom remained manifested during the period.

Partisan press

See the original post here:

Challenges to Press Freedom


  1. Freedom