"OSCE media freedom representative calls for release of Tajik journalist facing 16 years imprisonment" - Representative on Freedom of the Media

I hope this will get some reinforcement in Vienna.

"Court Order Seeks Email Data of WikiLeaks Volunteer Jacob Appelbaum" - WSJ.com

I hope we can discuss this in some detail in Vienna. The move raises a complex array of issues that ought now to be of global importance. Let's be sure to ask Google about this. What will Google do?

"OSCE Media Freedom Representative calls on Moldova to release Russian writer and journalist blogger - Representative on Freedom of the Media" - OSCE

I still don't know if the OSCE will be represented in any way at the Congress in the OSCE's home city of Vienna. Here's hoping that someone attends. These are critically important issues.

"Newspaper Confirms Release of South Korean Journalists in China" - NYTimes.com

Good news!

"China Detains Journalist for Article on Sex Slaves" - NYTimes.com

I hope protests will arise immediately, and then again at the Congress. Or....an explanation provided as impossible as it is to imagine one.

"BBC, ITN and Sky News give riot footage to police " - guardian.co.uk

This is a worrying development for many, including me. News organizations cannot allow themselves to become the eyes, ears and video cameras for government and still retain either independence, or worse, credibility. Let's talk about this in Vienna?

"OSCE media freedom representative calls on Ukrainian government to allow independent Kharkiv broadcaster back on air" - OSCE

With the Congress set for Ukraine in September 2012, the Vienna meeting will provide an opportunity to talk with those attending from Ukraine about this and any other issues involving freedom of the media in Ukraine.

"Chinese Journalist Following 'Gutter Oil' Scandal Is Found Dead" - NYTimes.com

I hope we will learn more when we are in Vienna.

"London Police Relent on Demand for Reporters’ Sources in Hacking Scandal" - NYTimes.com

This is a good move, but surely not the end of the saga.

"Cartoons Against Bloodshed in Mexico" - PRI's The World

Cartoonists everywhere face all of the challenges of everyone else, and in the process manage to help everyone understand so many problem so much more clearly.

Golden Pen of Freedom - Dawit ISAAK

Here is the slightly edited text of an e-mail that I just received about Dawit ISAAK, who will receive the Golden Pen of Freedom at the Congress in Vienna:

"23 September 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the incarceration of Dawit Isaak, an Eritrean-born journalist with dual Swedish nationality who was imprisoned in Eritrea for speaking out for justice. In 2001, Dawit's newspaper Setit published a number of calls for reform that resulted in his imprisonment alongside other critical journalists and opposition politicians. To date, his family has received very little news of his health or whereabouts.

On 23 September 2011 we call on you to highlight the plight of Dawit Isaak and countless other prisoners of conscience in Eritrea by republishing some of our exclusive content. Please use and diffuse our materials widely, and be sure to visit www.freedawit.com to see how you can get involved in the campaign to Free Dawit Isaak.

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Free Dawit Isaak

Peter Englund is the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy for the Nobel Prize for Literature. He used the opportunity of this year's World Press Freedom Day campaign to highlight the plight of WAN-IFRA's 2011 Golden Pen of Freedom laureate, Dawit Isaak, incarcerated for a decade without charge in a notorious Eritrean jail. In his essay, Peter explores how the right to dissent and question strengthens a nation, and why this universal of rights should not be taken for granted.

Eritrea's Silent Shame

Aspiring independent journalists in any war-ravaged, poverty-stricken country face a daunting task. If you add famine, military dictatorship, and the fact that the particular country in question is Eritrea, this task becomes nigh on impossible. In such a context the achievements of Dawit Isaak, co-founder of the country’s first independent newspaper and laureate of the 2011 WAN-IFRA Golden Pen of Freedom, are all the more remarkable.

Dawit Isaak, 2011 WAN-IFRA Golden Pen of Freedom

In October 2010, The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers named Dawit Isaak the 2011 Golden Pen of Freedom, WAN-IFRA's annual award that recognises individuals or organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to the defence and promotion of press freedom.

Download and exclusive 'Free Dawit' cartoon by renowned French artist Michel Cambon."

"Peruvian Journalist Killed, 2nd This Month" - NYTimes.com

Exercising press freedom and reporting on corruption remains a high risk - and huge loss - undertaking.

Golden Pen of Freedom

Note the link to some background on this award and a list of previous winners.

"Algeria ends state monopoly of broadcast media" - guardian.co.uk

This looks like an important advance in press freedom in Algeria. We'll have a couple of opportunities to talk about this in Vienna, including with our Algerian colleagues.

"Raid on Egyptian Al Jazeera Affiliate Is Criticized" - NYTimes.com

I sense that we know very little about the state of press freedom and newspaper enterprises in all of the countries in and around the Arab Spring. Perhaps those attending the Congress will help educate all of us.

"Kenya Magazine Robbed - Corruption Files Stolen" - NYTimes.com

The winner of the 1991 Golden Pen of Freedom, Gitobu IMAYARA, founded this publication. Many Kenyan newspaper people will be with us in Vienna. For anyone interested in reviewing the names of previous winners, one hopes that this Wikipedia list is accurate.

"More, not less media freedom needed to combat terrorism, says OSCE media freedom representative" - Representative on Freedom of the Media

This from one of the two most important organizations impacting newspapers and the media based in Vienna - the other being, of course, the International Press Institute. The IPI will be participating in the program, and I hope that OSCE will as well.

"Iraqis mourn slain journalist amid protests" - Al Jazeera English

"In Malaysia, Freedom of the (Virtual) Press" - NYTimes.com

We are still hoping that someone from Malaysia will join us in Vienna to discuss this and other Malaysian issues.

"Malaysian journalist killed in Somalia" - CNN.com

We are fortunate to have several colleagues joining us from Somalia, and there will be much to discuss, including this tragic incident. Registered Somalian participants so far:

Mohamed Mohamud MOHAMED Journalist and Reporter C SOMALI UNION OF JOURNALISM DEVELOPMENT
Omar Ahmed QEYLOW Editor C SOMALI UNION OF JOURNALISM DEVELOPMENT
Abdikadir Ali SAID Reporter and Photographer C SOMALI UNION OF JOURNALISM DEVELOPMENT