SAMSN Blog

  • 16 Mar 2017
    I tweet but am very selective and very careful

    By Zofeen Ibrahim Comments

    If technology has made it easier to harass women in general and journalists in particular, it has also given women space to break the silence and talk about it. They will find they have a whole army behind them to back. For example, the #shoutingback...

  • 08 Mar 2017
    Neha Dixit: “Sexually Explicit Abuses Land in my Inbox”

    By Neha Dixit Comments

    In this extract from her hard-hitting speech* delivered while accepting the Chameli Devi Award for Outstanding Woman Journalist for 2016, Neha Dixit describes how she has been harassed by trolls over the years. After being called ‘antinational’ f...

  • 03 Mar 2017
    Sri Lanka’s RTI Law: Will the Government ‘Walk the Talk’?

    By Nalaka Gunawardene Comments

    Sri Lanka’s new Right to Information (RTI) Law, adopted through a rare Parliamentary consensus in June 2016, became fully operational on 3 February 2017. From that day on, the island nation’s 21 million citizens could exercise their legal right t...

  • 11 Feb 2017
    Mass Layoffs at ABP

    By Manisha Pande Comments

    Manisha Pande examines the alarming trend of newsgathering being replaced with news aggregation by the desk, and the accompanying job losses especially among reporters. Gautam Sarkar (47) did not know his job was on the chopping block when his editor...

  • 11 Feb 2017
    Getting Away With Murder

    By Saleem Samad Comments

    Despite assurances of speedy justice, investigation into the brutal murder of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi continues to languish, says Saleem Samad Justice is long overdue in the sensational murder of Sagar Sarowar, news editor of...

  • 01 Feb 2017
    Prioritising safety

    By Lubna Jerar Naqvi Comments

    Despite the race for stories, media houses in Pakistan are now putting safety of their staff at a higher footing than ratings, says Lubna Jerar Naqvi. Terrorism and murder are the main causes for media deaths in Pakistan and five media personnel were...

  • 08 Jan 2017
    Remembering Lasantha

    By Dilrukshi Handunnetti Comments

    Eight years after the murder of The Sunday Leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge, his colleague Dilrukshi Handunnetti remembers all that he stood for: truth, courage, and justice. Way back in 2007, when I was assigned one of the biggest investigative ...

  • 04 Jan 2017
    Journalism: A tragic adventure?

    By Sam Jahan Comments

    In Bangladesh, speaking the truth to power attracts jail sentences, not Pulitzer prizes, says Sam Jahan. Most people I meet in Bangladesh try their best to absorb the fact of my working as a full-time journalist in the country. “But why?”...

  • 31 Dec 2016
    Challenging Impunity in India

    By Geeta Seshu Comments

    In 2016, six journalists lost their lives in India and the hitherto unremitting spiral of impunity that shrouds each death is a chilling indicator of the overall state of press freedom in India, touted as the world’s largest democracy. On February ...

  • 23 Dec 2016
    First-aid training saves lives

    By Lubna Jerar Naqvi Comments

    Several international media organizations give their employees basic first-aid training which helps save lives in the field. Pakistani media organizations focus on how to protect oneself in dangerous situations like firing, riots and terror attacks, ...