"Reporters at the frontlines are at risk as never before. But with many countries moving towards democracy, the role of local journalists has never been more important." The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) has launched a comprehensive handbook for local journalists. In addition to journalism safety, the 200-page manual entitled "Reporting for Change: A Handbook for Local Journalists in Crisis Areas" also offers detailed information on practical aspects of journalism such as establishing story structure, use of quotations, and defining the type of story you are writing.

PrepCom III, leading to the Tunis phase of WSIS, will be held from 19 to 30 September. It will take place in Palais des Nations, Geneva. During the Inter-Sessional period between PrepCom – 2 and PrepCom –3, the Group of Friends of the Chair (GFC) will continue to draft proposals for Chapter one (Implementation Mechanisms) and four (The Way Ahead) of the operational part. All the governments and other stakeholders can contribute to this process during this period.

Creative Commons could be a very useful initiative in West Africa, but there are a number of challenges that need to be taken into consideration before we will see any significant African participation in the global movement. This was the general consensus of participants at a workshop held by the Association of Progressive Communications in collaboration with the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT in Accra, Ghana.

Reporters Without Borders protested against the disproportionality of the one-year suspended prison sentence imposed by a Kigali appeal court on Charles Kabonero, the editor of Rwanda's main independent weekly Umuseso, for "attacking the dignity of a high authority." The court also imposed a heavy fine which Kabonero will be hard-pressed to pay. "The obstinacy of the plaintiff, parliamentary deputy speaker Denis Polisi, has had derisory results inasmuch as the courts found Umuseso not guilty of libel or sowing division, but a very heavy sentence has been imposed on a charge lacking in substance, to say the least," the press freedom organization said.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has voiced amazement after Pap Saine, co-owner of "The Point" newspaper and partner of murdered journalist Deyda Hydara, was interrogated on 17 March 2005 at the headquarters of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in Banjul, as a suspect in Hydara's murder. Saine was questioned at length about the newspaper's management and tax situation. "Deyda Hydara's killers are still at large, but the Gambian intelligence services find nothing better to do than treat his partner with suspicion," RSF said.

With the stories and perspectives you're not getting anywhere else, OneWorld completes your news cycle. OneWorld Daily Headlines brings you the most engaging and relevant articles on the environment, development, human rights, U.S. foreign policy, globalization, and more--direct from over 1,600 non-profit and media organizations across the globe. If you're not reading OneWorld, you're not getting the whole picture. 

The public hearing on the Freedom of Information Bill scheduled to take place at the Senate yesterday, March 22, has been postponed to April 12, 2005.  The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information, Senator Tawar Wada, announced to scores of disappointed stakeholders that the public hearing had to be postponed due to the crisis that had engulfed the Senate over allegations that some members of the National Assembly had received a N55 million bribe from the now dismissed Minister of Education, Professor Fabian Osuji, to ensure the passage of the Ministry's budget for 2005.

For the past week, a historic university town in South Africa's Eastern Cape province has reverberated with some unlikely noises: the sound of rockets igniting, robots chirping and home-made cars racing. Most of all, though, it is the voices of thousands of pupils racing between venues to hear lectures, see films or peruse another installation which remind Grahamstown locals that 'Sasol SciFest' is underway. The annual science festival, the biggest in Africa, is primarily sponsored by Sasol, a South African oil, gas and chemical giant that specialises in converting coal to fuel.

What is advocacy, and how might this strategy play a role in communication-centred development initiatives and analysis around the world? This issue of The Drum Beat focuses on development through advocacy as well as the building of advocacy capacity. It examines just a few of the ways advocacy can be used strategically to foster social change. The Drum Beat - Issue 291 - can be accessed online at http://www.comminit.com/drum_beat_291.html. Subscribe online at http://www.comminit.com/subscribe_drumbeat.html

The University of Westminster announces the launch of the world's first international 'how to reform a government' course for future world leaders. The one-year course, available starting September 2005 – MA Economic and Governmental Reform - is a unique Masters programme designed by the Global Economic Policy Institute. Its aim is to prepare senior civil servants and politicians for leadership roles in government. The course includes a forensic international examination of why reforms go well or go badly, and examines closely the conflicts that often arise between different types of economic & governmental reform.

We are looking for an innovative and creative individual able to handle the challenges inherent in a new institution in a developing country. You will have a diploma or other approved qualification in information systems and a minimum of 3 years work experience preferably in a medium to large organisation across two or more sites.

A group of conservationists are hoping to keep a track on the elephants in the Samburu National Park in northern Kenya, by using mobile phones, so they can send SMS messages giving their latest location through a SIM card that is fitted after an elephant has been sedated.

Five South African members of parliament were convicted of fraud on Friday but were spared prison terms in one of the country's highest profile graft cases. The MPs, all members of the ruling African National Congress, were ordered to pay fines of between 40,000 rand and 80,000 rand each and received suspended sentences for their part in a 17 million rand "travelgate" scam.

'Masterclass - How to build relationships in Fundraising' on 31 March 2005 in Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa is a one-day seminar with special guest speaker Jon Duschinsky, President of Union pour la Generosite from Paris, France who will share a success story of applying direct marketing techniques for the largest French AIDS Charity over a 4 year period.  Also speaking will be: Joe Araujo, Director of Girls & Boys Town, on how to ensure a balanced and sustained income; Nicholas Wolpe of the LilesLeaf Trust, who has just wrapped-up a capital campaign and raised over R39m for the restoration and development of the infamous Lilesleaf Farm and former base of ANC activists during the 1960's. Rae Bagus from SOS Children's Villages will present two case studies on long-term corporate relationships and Andrew Miller, CEO of Project Literacy, offers good advice on how to prepare and what to do when foreign donors and mega size corporates change criteria and you no longer meet their focus.  To book contact:  Liz Findlay [email protected]  or Tel: +27 11 789 1347 or www.fundraisingtraining.co.za to download a booking form.

Mobile phone use in Africa is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, according to a report. The study, backed by the UK mobile phone giant Vodafone, said African countries with greater mobile use had seen a higher rate of economic growth.

A "Digital Solidarity Fund", a voluntary financing mechanism designed to provide community computers, was launched in Geneva recently, with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcoming the initiative as contributing to the fight against poverty and bridging the information divide.

Biowatch South Africa has applied for leave to appeal against the Pretoria High Court order that the organisation pay the legal costs of Monsanto South Africa (Pty) Ltd. The organisation is also applying for leave to appeal the absence of any costs order in its favour. The costs order in favour of Monsanto SA (Pty) Ltd arose out of the major victory which Biowatch South Africa achieved to gain access to information about genetically modified (GM) crops in South Africa. The Registrar of Genetic Resources was ordered to release this information by 30 April this year – a development which will at last lift the veil of secrecy which has shrouded this industry and enable the public to know how decisions are made about the growing of GM crops in South Africa.

The Zimbabwean, the only newspaper available to Zimbabweans internationally, goes online on Monday at www.thezimbabwean.co.uk. The publication, which was launched on February 11 with simultaneous weekly editions in the UK and South Africa, has been hailed as a major step in bridging the information gap between millions of Zimbabweans in the diaspora and their troubled homeland. It is also a vital source of independent and accurate information to Zimbabweans at home who have been snapping up the 10 000 copies shipped in weekly from Johannesburg in a matter of hours.

Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe has established that transmissions of SW Radio Africa are being deliberately jammed. Although government has denied jamming SW Radio Africa's broadcasts, a report by the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) revealed that the jamming appears to emanate from Zimbabwe using Chinese equipment at Thornhill in Gweru. According to the IBB report, three jammers are being used to jam the three short wave frequencies used by SW Radio Africa. "One kHz tone is used to jam the broadcasts; and is continued till the transmitters become too hot; then 'noise' is used to avoid over driving the jamming transmitters. ...", says the report.

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-Zimbabwe is dismayed by yet another Supreme Court judgment upholding certain sections of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) as constitutional. The Constitutional challenge brought by the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) against the Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the Office of the President and Cabinet as well as the Media and Information Commission (MIC) sought the nullification of sections 39, 40, 41, 65, 66, 69, 70, 71, 76, 79, 80, 83 and 89 as well as paragraph 4 of the Forth Schedule of the Act as unconstitutional. The case was heard on March 3, 2004, with judgment only being delivered on March 14, 2005, over one year after the matter was heard.