Zakaria Suspended from Time, CNN Over Plagiarism

Mirkinson and Shapiro wrote, “Conservative media watchdog Newsbusters was the first to spot the similarities between a Zakaria piece on gun control and an article by Jill Lepore that appeared in the New Yorker in April.

“The Atlantic Wire posted a statement from Zakaria on Friday afternoon, taking full responsibility for the incident:

” ‘Media reporters have pointed out that paragraphs in my Time column this week bear close similarities to paragraphs in Jill Lepore’s essay in the April 22nd issue of The New Yorker. They are right. I made a terrible mistake. It is a serious lapse and one that is entirely my fault. I apologize unreservedly to her, to my editors at Time, and to my readers.’

“Later, Time announced Zakaria’s suspension:

” ‘Time accepts Fareed’s apology, but what he did violates our own standards for our columnists, which is that their work must not only be factual but original; their views must not only be their own but their words as well. As a result, we are suspending Fareed’s column for a month, pending further review.’

“CNN also said it was suspending Zakaria because he plagiarized the same material for a CNN.com blog post:

” ‘We have reviewed Fareed Zakaria’s TIME column, for which he has apologized. He wrote a shorter blog post on CNN.com on the same issue which included similar unattributed excerpts. That blog post has been removed and CNN has suspended Fareed Zakaria while this matter is under review.’

“Zakaria took liberally from Lepore’s piece on gun control.”

The Indian-born Zakaria was described by Esquire magazine in 1999 as “the most influential foreign policy adviser of his generation” and has been called perhaps the most influential South Asian journalist in America.

Last year, Zakaria attempted to scale back the impression that he has been “advising” President Obama, having said on CNN that Obama consults him on world issues, engaging in “very thoughtful conversation.“

“The characterization that I have been ‘advising’ President Obama is inaccurate,” Zakaria wrote then on his Global Public Square blog. “Over the last few months I’ve had a couple of conversations with the president, off-the-record. At no point did President Obama ask me for advice on a specific policy or speech or proposal, nor did I volunteer it. I know that he has had similar meetings with other columnists.”

Tom Wright, Wall Street Journal: Zakaria’s Time-Out Prompts Indian Angst

More J-Graduates of Color Finding Jobs, Survey Finds

A survey of 2010 graduates of the nation’s journalism and mass communication programs showed that “once again faring worse than anyone in the job market were racial and ethnic minority graduates, according to a report by the University of Georgia’s James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research.

Last year, however, “There was . . . a notable rise in the percentage of minority graduates in 2011 who found full-time work — 58.7%, up from 49.9% a year earlier. Even so, that rate of hiring lags well behind the non-minority level of 69.9%,” the researchers reported this week.

“There’s no way of knowing from the data why the gap worsened last year and improved this year,” Lee B. Becker, professor of journalism and director of the Cox Center and the survey [PDF], told Journal-isms by telephone on Friday. “The gap this year is narrower and still present. One can’t be too pleased that the gap still exists, but it’s better to have a narrower one.”

Overall, Mark Jurkowitz wrote Thursday for the Project for Excellence in Journalism, “For the second year in a row, the employment situation for recent journalism and mass communication graduates has improved. . . But placed in the context of a ‘terrible’ job market in recent years, the report says the latest job numbers represent only a ‘modest…recovery.’ “

Census Would Change Hispanic, Arab American IDs

“To keep pace with rapidly changing notions of race, the Census Bureau wants to make broad changes to its surveys that would treat ‘Hispanic’ as a distinct category regardless of race, end use of the term ‘Negro’ and offer new ways to identify Middle Easterners,” Hope Yen reported Wednesday for the Associated Press.

“The recommendations released Wednesday stem from new government research on the best ways to count the nation’s demographic groups. Still it could face stiff resistance from some racial and ethnic groups who worry that any kind of wording change in the high-stakes government count could yield a lower tally for them.

” ‘This is a hot-button issue,’ said Angelo Falcon, president of the National Institute for Latino Policy in New York City and a community adviser to the census. ‘The burden will be on the Census Bureau to come up with evidence that wording changes will not undermine the Latino numbers.’

“Arab-Americans said they strongly support the Census Bureau’s efforts. ‘The Census Bureau’s current method for determining Arab ancestry yields a significant undercount of the actual size of the community, and we’re optimistic that the new form should be significantly better at capturing ancestry data,’ the Arab American Institute said in a statement.”

Reporter Swaps to Save Job of Laid-Off Colleague

One of two black journalists laid off two weeks ago at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had his job saved when another reporter with more seniority stepped up to leave in his place, as permitted under the Newspaper Guild contract.

“My editor told me ‘see you Monday,’ ” Marlon A. Walker, 31, told Journal-isms on Friday by email. “That’s all I wanted to hear. I’ve got a new beat I’ve been tentatively babysitting, and I cannot wait to go full speed next week.

Marlon A. Walker, left, and Johnny Andrews

“It’s a relief. The last two weeks have been a nightmare. I was told about the save more than a week ago, but it was not official until now.”

[Shannon Duffy, business representative of the United Media Guild, on Monday identified the reporter who stepped up as Terry Hillig, 67, of the Illinois bureau. In all, Duffy said, three reporters volunteered to take the place of three who were laid off. Also volunteering were three copy editors, but two of the three copy editors laid off did not want to come back.

[They included David Sheets, sports content editor and past president of the St. Louis professional chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Sheets wrote on his Facebook page:

[“Today, I was invited to rejoin the Post-Dispatch — and I turned it down. There comes a time when you realize that inviting long-term risk outweighs short-term reward. So, you chart a new course, initially petrified at the prospect of traveling without a road map. Yet, I believe that as Lisa and I forge ahead with encouragement from wonderful friends, the journey will become an adventure, and we will gain much more than we lose along the way.”]

The layoff of the second black journalist, photographer Johnny Andrews, 38, remained, however. Andrews said another photographer would have had to step up to take his place. “I’m no longer at the Post,” Andrews, a Post-Dispatch staffer for 4½ years, said by telephone. He said he would begin freelancing.

In all, 23 employees were to be laid off. [Updated Aug. 13]

Black Press Says Obama Shorts Them, Romney Ignores

“. . . The campaign war chests for President Obama and Mitt Romney total almost $3 billion! However, as of this writing, not one dollar has been spent in the ‘Black Press,‘ ” Cloves Campbell Jr., chairman of the National Newspaper Publishers Association and publisher of the Arizona Informant, wrote Thursday for the NNPA News Service.

“Once again the Black Press has been relegated to an ‘Oh, By the Way’ campaign that features a single half-page ad placed two weeks before the election in all black newspapers, totaling a shameful $1.2 million dollars! That is the money placed by the Obama for America Campaign (OFA). The Romney Campaign has zero dollars allocated!”

Clo Ewing, director of constituency press for the Obama campaign, did not respond to requests for comment.

Tara Wall, senior communications and coalitions adviser for the Mitt Romney campaign, told Journal-isms by email, “. . . I can’t provide specific details about any potential ad buys but will say that the Romney campaign plans to remain competitive this election and doesn’t take any voter for granted.”

Jeff Harjo Resigns as NAJA Executive Director

Jeff Harjo, executive director of the Native American Journalists Association, “is resigning after five years of serving the journalists and students who have been members of our organization,” NAJA announced Friday night.

Jeff Harjo

“Jeff is a longtime member of NAJA, and he was on the board of directors from 1995 to 2001. He helped in coordinating UNITY 2008 and 2012, and he attended the first UNITY conference in 1994 in Atlanta. Jeff has coordinated the NAJA student projects since 2009.”

In November, Darla Leslie resigned as president of NAJA, saying in a message posted on Facebook, “I believe NAJA is on the verge of financial ruin. My resignation is a reflection of the inability, in my opinion, of our Board of Directors to take immediate action to remedy this situation.”

NAJA is the smallest of the major journalist of color groups, with about 280 members, according to President Rhonda LeValdo. Its membership has been in decline.

Escobar Named CNN VP for Talent Recruitment

CNN, whose American operation has been criticized for its lack of Latino on-air representation, has hired Ramon Escobar as vice president of talent recruitment and development for CNN Worldwide, the network announced on Thursday.

Ramon Escobar

“Escobar, who will be based in New York, joins CNN after several years at Telemundo, most recently as executive vice president of network news,” the announcement said.

“In that position, he oversaw the entire network’s news division including all international news bureaus and the development of on-air talent. Prior to that, Escobar was vice president at Sucherman Consulting Group in New York where his clients included ABC News, Discovery Networks, BBC America and Telemundo. Previously at Telemundo, he ran the network’s entertainment division as senior executive vice president of entertainment (Sept. 2002-Dec. 2006) and senior vice president, news & creative services, Telemundo Stations Group, based in Miami. Prior to that position, Escobar was vice president, responsible for all live news programming at sister network MSNBC (through March 2002.)”

Hugo Balta, new president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, told Journal-isms by email, “I’ve had the good fortune to call Ramon Escobar mentor and friend. He’s been instrumental in my professional growth from a young Latino journalist to a seasoned manager in both English and Spanish language markets.

“Very few media executives match Ramon’s robust and diverse experience in broadcast journalism (having worked at NBC and Telemundo); his unique understanding of both markets will be key to his success and that of CNN.

“NAHJ celebrates CNN’s hiring of Ramon Escobar and looks forward to partnering with him on drawing from the well of talent and experience of NAHJ members in his recruiting initiatives.”

Escobar will report to Amy Entelis, senior vice president, talent and content development for CNN Worldwide. She said in the release:

“Ramon brings with him a depth of news experience on both the domestic and international fronts in network, cable and local television. From his work at major media outlets that include Telemundo and MSNBC, Ramon has demonstrated his strength at overseeing programming and developing top-notch talent.”

The Talent and Development department, created in January, is overseen by Mark Whitaker, CNN Worldwide executive vice president and managing editor.

Poder, Uptown, Vibe, Jet Magazines See Change

Poder Hispanic, which describes itself as “a bi-monthly publication for Latinos in power — and those who aspire to be,” recorded a 54.4 percent increase in circulation for the first six months of 2012, compared with the same period in 2011, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported this week.

For 'Latinos in power — and those who aspire to be'

The African American-oriented Uptown magazine, which says it “affords luxury purveyors the broadest access to this highly sought-after male and female demographic,” declined 42.3 percent over the same period, according to the ABC figures.

However, “In the latest sign that electronic dance music is invading the mainstream, Vibe magazine, is opening its pages and its website to the genre,” Nat Ives reported Thursday for Advertising Age. Vibe, founded by Quincy Jones and Time Inc. nearly 20 years ago as a hip-hop magazine, has been published by the Uptown Media Group since 2009.

Uptown’s circulation loss came primarily in subscriptions, which declined from 76,257 to 42,593.

The ABC figures showed a 9 percent drop in the circulation of Jet magazine, long a weekly but now published every two weeks, but “that was part of a planned strategy to spend less on boosting circulation and more on a remake of the publication, said Johnson CEO Desiree Rogers,” Lynne Marek reported Wednesday for Crain’s Chicago Business.

“. . . She also said she’s pleased that the Chicago-based company has been able to decrease the percentage of magazines that are distributed, sometimes free-of-charge, to beauty salons, doctors’ offices and other such commercial locations to 1.2 percent as of June 30, from 9.2 percent a year ago.

“Jet decreased its frequency to bi-weekly from weekly in January and on May 30 hired a new managing editor, Anslem Samuel Rocque, who was previously culture editor of the Source magazine and editor-in-chief of the Ave magazine. He replaced Candi Meriwether.”

In the latest ABC figures, Poder Hispanic, published by Televisa Publishing + Digital, was also the fifth-largest digital-replica magazine, a genre that “doubled their share of the North American market in the last year,” Laura Hazard Owen reported Thursday for paidcontent.org.

Among Poder’s contributors are Verónica Villafañe, a former president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists who wrote “ImpreMedia Infusion: Can Argentine media giant La Nación breathe new life into the longtime Hispanic newspaper chain?” for the August edition and “Chemicals and Cancer: Why won’t the government pay attention to problem substances?” for July.

Overall, “Magazines’ newsstand sales dropped 9.6% in the first half of this year, a worsening of the decline in recent years, even as growth in digital editions helped paid subscriptions rise 1.1% . . ., ” Keach Hagey reported for the Wall Street Journal.

Here are the January-through-June figures for the paid-and-verified circulation of magazines targeting people of color:

Black Enterprise, 518,602, up 3.7 percent from the same period in 2011; Ebony, 1,255,542, up 1.6 percent; Essence, 1,080,633, down 2.3 percent; Hype Hair, 66,276, down 13.2 percent; Jet, 745,809, down 9.1 percent; Latina, 502,640, down 0.5 percent; People en Español, 560,691, down 1.5 percent.

Also, Poder Hispanic, 430,376, up 54.4 percent; Siempre Mujer, 565,855, up 10 percent; Sister2Sister, 145,822, down 17.9 percent; TV y Novelas Estados Unidos, 313,094, up 11.4 percent; Uptown, 46,123, down 42.3 percent; Vanidades, 341,658, up 10.7 percent; Vibe, 202,439, up 2.0 percent; XXL, 114,875, down 22.1 percent.

Emma Bazilian, adweek.com: Lessons From ‘People’ Newsstand Woes
Erik Sass, MediaPost: Magazine Paid Subs Up, Newsstand Sales Down

Jamaicans, Women Celebrate Olympics Victories

It was a celebratory day in Jamaica, and worldwide, for women.

“Mission accomplished,” Paul A. Reid wrote Friday from London for the Jamaica Observer. “Usain Bolt came into the 27th Olympics Games with one aim, to become the first man in track history to win back-to-back sprint double, and he accomplished the feat last night at Olympic Stadium in Stratford, London, running a season’s best 19.32 seconds to lead a sweep of the medals for Jamaica.

“Yohan Blake also ran a season’s best 19.44 seconds for his second silver of the Games, while Warren Weir ran a brilliant final 60m to hold off American Wallace Spearmon for third in a massive personal best 19.84 seconds, shopping off 0.15 seconds off his previous personal best of 19.99 seconds set earlier this year.

Celebratory day in Jamaica: Usain Bolt become the first man in track history to win back-to-back sprint double.

“Bolt’s 19.32 is tied for fourth best of all time with Michael Johnson, the former world record holder.

“It was the first clean sweep of the Olympic men’s 200m medals by any country other than the United States, seventh overall and first since 2004 in Athens, Greece.

“The medal swelled Jamaica’s tally to nine — three of each colour, to leap to second in track and field behind the USA and 17th overall. Jamaica remain on track to surpass the 11 medals won in Beijing four years ago. . . . “

Meanwhile, Sarah Brown wrote for CNN, “. . . Women have been the center of attention throughout much of the Olympics, both within and without Games venues, as they broke records, sparked drama, impressed with immense skill and poise and won medal after medal. Indeed, for many, London 2012 has truly been ‘the women’s Games.’ “

Bryan Burwell, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Bolt proves he’s fastest and coolest
Eric Deggans, National Sports Journalism Center: Tape-delay shouldn’t be the biggest criticism of NBC’s Olympics coverage
Jemele Hill, ESPN: Gabby Douglas’ hair draws criticism (Aug. 3)
Jason Johnson, politic365.com: Lolo, Gabby, Serena: 3 Reasons This is the BLACKEST Olympics EVER
William C. Rhoden, New York Times: The Greatest Olympian in History Isn’t Michael Phelps (video)

Yolanda Sangweni, essence.com: Gabby Douglas & Mom Natalie Hawkins on Historic Win, Hair, and Inspiring Black Girls
John Smallwood, Philadelphia Daily News: Officials rip rogue condoms
Jerome Solomon, Houston Chronicle: U.S. boxing coach unhappy with Esparza scoring
Jason Whitlock, Fox Sports: Is Bolt too good to be true?

“José Luis Sin Censura” Out After 18-Month Protest

“The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) today announced that ‘José Luis Sin Censura,’ produced and broadcast by Liberman Broadcasting, Inc. (LBI) on the EstrellaTV network, has been permanently removed from the broadcast schedule,” the two groups announced on Thursday.

“NHMC and GLAAD were informed of this development in a letter from Winter Horton, LBI’s Chief Operating Officer. The show was broadcast during the daytime in over 30 markets across the country.

“The removal of the show comes after a campaign that included 18 months of sustained effort from GLAAD and NHMC, during which dozens of organizations and thousands of individuals were mobilized, many via a petition at Change.org.

“At the outset of the campaign, GLAAD and NHMC filed a nearly 200-page formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and contacted dozens of major advertisers whose ads appeared during the program. The campaign resulted in an ongoing investigation by the FCC and a number of advertisers withdrawing their support of the show including AT&T, Time Warner Cable, and Western Dental.

“To view video footage of the violence against LGBT people which was featured and encouraged on the show, along with photos of the delivery of the Change.org petition calling on LBI to take action visit: http://www.glaad.org/jlsc.”

Tang Named N.Y. Times Deputy Editorial Page Editor

“Terry Tang, whose 15-year career at The New York Times has included stints on the metropolitan, business and editorial desks and also involved building its online presence, has been named deputy editorial page editor,” the Times reported on Wednesday.

Terry Tang “Andrew Rosenthal, The Times’s editorial page editor, announced the promotion on Wednesday. He said that Ms. Tang was ideal for the job because of her experiences in editing, editorial writing and promoting editorial coverage online. Mr. Rosenthal added that he was confident Ms. Tang would help update the editorial pages and ‘bring the editorial board into the Internet era.’

“He added: ‘Having someone like Terry who knows as much about editorial writing and editing and is good at it and has such a good sense of the Internet seemed like a great combination for me.’

“Ms. Tang, 53, joined the paper in 1997 as an editorial writer. Before that, she worked for The Seattle Times as a columnist and editorial writer and as a staff writer at Seattle Weekly. In 2000, she became the paper’s Op-Ed page editor and oversaw its coverage through the Sept. 11 attacks. . . . “

Native Man Rejects Finding on “KKK” Carving

“A spokeswoman for a man who claims the letters ‘KKK’ were carved into his abdomen during surgery in Rapid City said South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley misled the public by saying an investigation found no wrongdoing,” Ruth Moon wrote Thursday for the Rapid City (S.D.) Journal.

“A news release Monday from Jackley’s office outlining the results of an investigation by the state Division of Criminal Investigation implies that the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services also concluded their investigations into 69-year-old Vernon Traversie‘s claims, when in fact those investigations remain open, Traversie’s spokeswoman, Kara Briggs, said in a news release.

” ‘There are two federal investigations ongoing, and neither has ruled out that a hate crime was committed,’ Briggs said. ‘Vern is just interested in accuracy.’ ” Briggs is a former president of the Native American Journalists Association and of Unity: Journalists of Color, Inc., now Unity Journalists.

Briggs released a statement from Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman Kevin C. Keckler that said, “. . . “Attorney General Jackley has no business rendering conclusions about our Tribal Government’s law enforcement investigation….Not only did the ways in which the local investigations were handled violate our Elder’s human rights but the State of South Dakota and Attorney General Jackley now distort those local investigations for their own purposes.

“. . . today we join our 69-year-old Tribal Elder Vern Traversie in calling for justice, and for a just investigation process, not only for him but as he has said so many times, for all Indian people — so no one is ever again treated the way he believes he was treated by the hospital and the State of South Dakota.”

Short Takes

“Interstate General Media, owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com, is looking to cut $28 million from all its union contracts, according to a letter from Newspaper Guild leadership to members obtained by The Philly Post,” Jeff Blumenthal reported Thursday for the Philadelphia Business Journal. “The proposed cuts would include $8 million from Newspaper Guild (editorial) workers through a wage reduction of up to 13 percent and buyouts.”
The National Association of Black Journalists has chosen Boston for its 2014 convention, to be held July 30-Aug. 3, NABJ announced on Thursday. It will be the first time NABJ has held its national conference in New England. The 2013 convention is scheduled for Orlando.
“For the first time since her abrupt and emotional departure from ‘Today’ in late June, Ann Curry appeared alongside her former co-host Matt Lauer on Thursday morning in a live broadcast from the London Olympics,” Meredith Blake reported Thursday for the Los Angeles Times. “In contrast to the spectacle surrounding her farewell, Curry’s interaction with her colleague was both tear-free and mercifully brief, but not entirely without tension.”
Morning host Robin Roberts of ABC News makes $6 million and her CBS counterpart Gayle King makes $2 million annually, according to a list of television anchor salaries compiled by the Daily Beast. TV Guide produced a similar list of the highest-paid stars on television.
“Last week we told you about Univision and ABC News completing the agreement to launch a cable news channel,” Merrill Knox wrote Wednesday for TVNewser. “Now, in what is the first step moving toward programming and launch decisions, the two networks are advertising for four senior management positions. The open positions, posted yesterday, are for VP-Chief of Programming, VP-Chief Financial Officer, digital executive producer and human resources director. The channel is slated for launch early next year.”
“African-American consumers are more emotionally attached to brands than whites, especially when it comes to media companies, according to a study from NewMediaMetrics (NMM),” Christopher Heine reported Monday for AdWeek. “On average, according to the New York-based marketing firm’s report, blacks are 7 percentage points more attached to broadcast and cable channels while showing 5 percentage points more affinity toward digital properties.”
A consortium of news media outlets filed motions seeking to have the court file unsealed in the case of suspected theater shooter James Holmes, John Ingold of the Denver Post reported Thursday. “. . . The news media’s motion, if successful, would give the public a much greater look into the legal proceedings against Holmes. Currently, almost all the documents in Holmes’ case file — as well as the record that shows what documents have been filed — are closed to the public.”
“[BuzzFeed’s] Washington Bureau officially popped its cork last night with a packed party at the U Street haunt Brixton, where a DJ spun vinyl records thanks to Bureau Chief John Stanton,” Betsy Rothstein and Eddie Scarry reported Thursday for FishbowlDC. BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith, formerly of Politico, asked by Journal-isms whether journalists of color were part of the bureau, replied by email, “Two white guys, John Stanton, the bureau chief, and Chris Geidner, who owns the gay news beat, down there at the moment. But we’re currently hiring for a capitol hill gig. . . .”
“While most newspapers are developing their online presence, the Spanish-language news website Latino California (latinocalifornia.com) is expanding into print,” Nu Yang reported Thursday for Editor & Publisher. “Fueled by a scandal centered on corrupt city officials, Latino California Bell was born. Bell, Calif., is a working-class city about 15 minutes outside Los Angeles that received national attention in 2010 when eight city officials, including the mayor and city manager, were arrested and charged with corruption.”
In Kansas City, “After at least two decades as a broadcast news reporter — ‘More years than I’ll ever admit in print,’ he says — Chris Hernandez completes his 8-year run as political and City Hall reporter for KSHB Channel 41 today by driving to St. Louis to cover tonight’s elections,” Charles Ferruzza reported Tuesday for the alternative newspaper the Pitch. “He’ll return tomorrow, pack up things from his desk and start his new job at the Unicorn Theatre on Thursday. Hernandez will become the theater’s new marketing director.”
“Detroit Public TV has received a $250,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for a national program increasing public understanding of the Arab-American community,” Dru Sefton reported Tuesday for current.org. “The project builds on the station’s 13-part series, Arab-American Stories. For the initiative, ‘Arab-American Stories — A National Dialogue,’ Detroit PTV will partner with PBS member stations, libraries and community centers to host forums.”
“The Obama administration is renewing an offer to help Nigeria marshal military and intelligence resources against a growing extremist threat that U.S. officials fear could spread to neighboring nations, a U.S. official said Thursday,” Anne Gearan reported Thursday for the Washington Post. Gearan was in Abuja, Nigeria, where she was traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In April, the Boko Haram sect unleashed a string of coordinated attacks on three media houses in Abuja and Kaduna, killing at least nine people. Meanwhile, “Hundreds of former militants invaded the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), in Warri, Delta State, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, threatening to burn down the building,” the Toronto-based International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House reported Thursday. Also, officials of a mortuary attacked a photojournalist, Steve Dada reported for the newspaper ThisDay.
“A Honduran reporter is seeking asylum in the United States with his family after his son was shot and wounded on Friday in what the journalist said was the third attempt on his life in recent years,” Steven M. Ellis reported Tuesday for the International Press Institute. “Honduran daily El Heraldo reported that José Encarnación Chinchilla López — a correspondent with Radio Cadena Voces in El Progreso, Yoro, in the north of the country — asked the U.S. embassy in Tegucigalpa for permission to travel to the United States.”
“The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Friday’s decision by Gabon’s state-run media regulator to suspend two private newspapers for six months over criticism of top officials,” the press freedom group said on Aug. 6. “In a press statement obtained by CPJ, the National Communications Council accused weeklies Ezombolo and La Une of disrespecting public institutions ‘and the personalities that embody them.’ ”

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