Freedom of Speech Roundup

In the Weekly Freedom of Speech Roundup Sampsonia Way presents some of the week’s top news on freedom of expression, journalists in danger, artists in exile, and banned literature.

China's ad at the London Book Fair. Photo: The Upcoming/ Katherine Alexander

This week, good news comes from Burma where a new Press Council is scheduled to be formed in June. Under the new Council the government claims reports will no longer have to pass through censorship before publication. A new prize from the Knight Foundation that supports innovations in African media was also announced this week. On the other hand, Sampsonia Way shares awful news from Mexico, Iran, and Uganda in the deaths of two journalists and a video director. Also of note are an article about China’s censorship at the London Book Fair and a full transcript of Nick Hanauer’s censored TED talks presentation. Below are links to these and other relevant stories from May 5 to May 16, 2012.

Organized Crime Stifles Journalism in Latin America

In Sight. …the challenges facing journalists in Latin America who report on criminal groups once again comes under the spotlight. Read Here

China: Bringing Censors to the Book Fair

The New York Review of Books. The special guest of this year’s fair was the Chinese Communist Party’s censorship bureau. Read Here

Burma Art Show Provides Arresting Display

The Irrawaddy. “Most of the pictures were done secretly during their prison sentences, but some were created after their release.” Read Here

Javier Sicilia, on Caravan to Stop Mexican Drug Violence

Huffington Post. Since his son’s murder, Sicilia has put down the pen and taken up the fight against drug violence in Mexico… Read Here

Iranian Cartoonist Gets 25 Lashes for Drawing Politician as Soccer Player

Deadspin. Shokraiyeh will be called and given a time to come in to get his lashings, then he can leave. Read Here

Pakistani Journalist Killed by Gunmen

Comitee to Protect Journalists. Gunmen in a group of about 20 shot Aurangzeb Tunio, a TV reporter for the news bureau of the Sindhi-language Kawaish Television Network, along with Rustam Tunio, his brother, and Deedar Khaskheli, a family friend, on Thursday night. Read Here

Mexican Journalist Found Dead in Trunk of his Car

Press Tv. The body of Mexican reporter René Orta Salgado has been found by police in the trunk of his car in central Mexico. Read Here

The Prize to Create African Media 2.0

Free African Media. Although a lot of money has been thrown at African journalism projects before, this prize, with its strong focus on technology, is designed to do something different. Read Here

Video Director Gunned Down in Uganda

Reporters Without Borders. Amon Thembo Wa’Mupaghasya was shot dead at around 1 a.m. on 12 May as he was returning to his home on the outskirts of the western city of Kasese after covering a wedding. Read Here

Iranian Rapper Faces Death Threats for Song

BBC. “The ayatollah’s decree does not refer to me because the song and lyrics bear no insult to Shia Imams” Shahin Najafi Read Here

The Travails of Ethiopian Journalists Serkalem Fasil and Eskinder Nega.

The Root. Charlayne Hunter-Gault relates the travails of married journalists Serkalem Fasil and Eskinder Nega. Read Here

Media Censorship to be “Abolished” in Burma

The Irrawaddy. Burma’s media will not have to pass through censorship once the new Myanmar Press Council is formed in June, according to a senior director at the Press Scrutiny and Registration Department (PSRD). Read Here

Full Transcript of Speech that was “Too Hot” for TED

The Atlantic. Nick Hanauer, a venture capitalist from Seattle, gave a speech on economic inequality in the United States at the TED University conference. The speech, while well-received at the conference, was deemed “too politically controversial to post on [TED’s] web site.” Read Here