The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists from over 115 countries, has called upon the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to strongly condemn the recent decision of the Swaziland government to introduce a new censorship policy.

Zimbabwe journalist Michael Hartnack has received an honorary doctorate in literature from Rhodes University, in recognition of his working life spent, the university said, "in service of the truth and the vision of a just and non-racial Zimbabwe, displaying courage and integrity." Hartnack, 57, a regular commentator for ZWNEWS, a columnist for South African newspapers and a correspondent for several overseas media outlets, has spent most of his 38-year career in Rhodesia and then Zimbabwe.

Mandate The Future, an Internet forum for sustainable development, has unveiled its online forum on the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS), the Event 2003. The forum is devoted to the discussion of issues pertaining to the WSIS in Geneva 2003 in particular, and the information society in general.

Recently appointed Minister of Information Abednego Ntshangase announced on Tuesday, April 8, a new censorship policy for state media in the southern African kingdom of Swaziland. Speaking at his first official appearance before the House of Assembly, Ntshangase told parliamentarians, "The national television and radio stations are not going to cover anything that has a negative bearing on government."

An all-Africa editors' forum is to be established. Editors from all over the continent met at a two-day conference in Midrand, an initiative of the SA National Editors' Forum (Sanef). A steering committee, including regional representatives and convened by Mathatha Tsedu, the Sanef chairperson, was nominated to further develop the idea of the continent-wide forum. According to a declaration drafted at the conference, the editors agreed that Africa and African issues should get prominent media coverage.

Umqol'Uphandle is a fortnightly briefing on corruption in South Africa, produced by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) - Organised Crime and Corruption Programme. The e-briefing plans to offer a dedicated platform for discussing corruption related issues in South Africa. Umqol'Uphandle will highlight the results of recent research, initiatives to combat corruption as well as a selection of recent corruption related stories appearing in the media. This will be complemented with critical analysis hoping to engage readers in this important debate. To subscribe to Umqol'Uphandle: SA Corruption briefing, please send an e-mail to [email protected]

Terminator technology - plants genetically engineered to render sterile seeds - is being developed as a biological mechanism to extinguish the right of farmers to save and re-plant seeds from their harvest, thus creating greater dependence on the commercial seed market. As a lead-up to the Cancún WTO Ministerial in September, the US government plans to showcase new and controversial agricultural technologies at its Sacramento Ministerial Meeting on agricultural technologies in June. The US government should be held accountable for developing and licensing a technology that threatens food security for over 1.4 billion people in the developing world, says this briefing from The Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration, an international civil society organisation headquartered in Canada. The organisation says the right to food must include the inalienable right of farming communities to save, exchange and develop plant varieties without restriction. "Terminator technology should be condemned as an offense against food sovereignty, farmers’ rights and the right to food."

During a 7-week period from April 14, 2003 through May 30, 2003, the World Bank and Public World will co-host a moderated electronic discussion on the forthcoming WDR 2004: "Making Services Work for Poor People". The e-discussion is an opportunity for a wide range of stakeholders from government, business, and civil society to exchange views about the content and main ideas of the draft report.

In early April a group of highly skilled international ICT-consultants called eRiders will start their journey to various countries inside Southern Africa. Over the next four months, the eRiders will be addressing the technology needs of over thirty non-profit organisations in the SADC region.

Swazi Minister of Information Abednego Ntshangase this week announced a new censorship policy for the state-owned electronic media, raising concerns about the validity of a bill of rights promised in an upcoming palace-written constitution.

It is nearly eight years since the Internet was first introduced in Kenya. Though the technology is changing the way consumers and businesses communicate, the number of dial-up subscribers is yet to hit 50,000. So if the technology is that revolutionary, what has prevented the Internet from getting a mass market acceptance?

President Ismaïl Omar Guellah of Djibouti is supporting a national strategy to move the country, strategically located on the Horn of Africa at the mouth of the Red Sea, into the digital age by 2010 to promote development and reduce poverty.

The Internet and other interactive media continue to penetrate more and more deeply all world society, and provide a means for instantaneous personal dialogue and communication across the globe. The collective power of texting, blogging, instant messaging, and email across millions of actors cannot be overestimated. Like a mind constituted of millions of inter-networked neurons, the social movement is capable of astonishingly rapid and sometimes subtle community consciousness and action. Read about the emerging second super power of online activists.

The Global Information Technology Report is the most comprehensive assessment of networked readiness and its effects on economic growth and productivity. As the world experiences an economic slowdown, the report highlights that the use and application of information and communication technologies remain among the most powerful engines of growth.

The Internet is not likely to replace traditional media in the foreseeable future, according to SA's media owners. However, they say the Internet and digital devices can offer significant value in adding to the ‘out of home' delivery of content. This emerged at an International Communications Forum conference hosted by Telkom in Cape Town.

Business-to-business e-commerce applications are being promoted as tools that will enable producer firms in developing countries to reduce their costs substantially, thereby easing their access to global markets. Internet-based business-to-business e-commerce, the argument goes, should help producers in developing countries obtain better information on global markets and give them direct access to new customers.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has called on the Liberian authorities to search for four journalists who have been missing for more than two weeks in the country's eastern and central regions, where government forces are battling rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Development (LURD) movement. The missing journalists are Grody Dorbor, editor of "The Inquirer" newspaper, Oscar Dolo, Nyahn Flomo and William Quiwea, all local correspondents for the radio station Talking Drum Studio-Liberia.

e-Africa - Journal of Governance and Innovation will be launched on May 1 by the South African Institute of International Affairs Johannesburg, South Africa (www.wits.ac.za/saiia ) . It will be a free e-publication to the leaders of nations, policy makers, key business and NGO people, academics and journalists across Africa. If you wish to receive a free copy of the journal please send an email with your name, job category, the name of the organisation you work for and your email address to [email protected] - in the subject line write: For e-Africa Subscription Database.

The offices of an Ivorian human rights organisation, the Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains (MIDH), were ransacked on Saturday by two armed men in plain clothing, MIDH sources told IRIN. According to the sources, the men went to the organisation's offices in the high-income Abidjan neighbourhood of Deux Plateaux a few minutes after the secretary arrived and asked her for an MIDH document issued on the previous day. They beat her up when she said she was not aware of the document, searched the premises for about 45 minutes and took some documents away.

The National Assembly has been urged to pass the freedom of Information Bill before the end of its tenure. The call was made by the executive secretary of the Human Rights Commission, Bukhari Bello, at a roundtable in Abuja on the Bill which is pending before the National Assembly. The Human Rights Commission has been paying advocacy visits to a number of government organisations to drum up support for the quick passage of the Bill.