Europe
Le Prejugé de Presse: Anti-Sarkozy Bias in the AFP
May 8th, 2007 3:25 PM
Anti-conservative bias in the media is not unique to America. Agence France-Presse (AFP) practically portrayed French President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy as a modern day, Gallic incarnation of Nero, fiddling while France burns (emphasis mine).:France's next president Nicolas Sarkozy holidayed Tuesday in Malta
ahead of launching a radical reform programme, while back home cities
across the country…
Reuters and the 'Women Shunned Segolene' Meme
May 7th, 2007 12:13 PM
"Women voters shun Segolene Royal" reads one Reuters headline. Writes reporter Kerstin Gehmlich:The weak female support is a bitter personal blow for Royal, who had
played up her feminist credentials throughout the campaign, frequently
defending policies she would want "as a mother" and accusing critics of
male chauvinism.Yet Gehmlich noted that the Sarkozy-Royal split among women voters in…
Finnish Police Will Question Blogger Under 'Incitement Against Groups
May 3rd, 2007 5:56 PM
Over the past few days, Gates of Vienna discussed a very troubling story about Finnish blogger Mikko Ellila, “who has been summoned by the police for a hearing next week, all because of the content of his blog posts.” Mikko posts in Finnish but contacted several people in English about this, such as the Australian blogger Prodos, who owns the site that hosts the potentially criminal blog. Mikko…
Reuters Played Blame-the-Victim and Minimized Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Childh
April 27th, 2007 2:09 AM
Somali-born Ayaan Hirsi Ali immigrated to the US from Holland in 2006 after her controversial views of Islam (she called it “backwards”) resulted in serious death threats and the eventual murder of a friend. An April 24 Reuters article by Alexandra Hudson (picked up by the Washington Post website) stressed the theme that the Muslim women of Holland were relieved that she left for America. It…
EU Moving to Ban Online 'Hate Speech
April 25th, 2007 9:21 AM
In a typical move, Europeans want to ban something they don’t like. In an English-language article, the Danish Heise Online reported several members of the European Parliament, which is the elected body of the European Union, will submit a draft of a declaration next week that “calls on providers in somewhat vague language to make provisions against "hate pages" part of their standard terms and…
BBC Says They're Too Smart For Audience
April 2nd, 2007 3:37 AM
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) continues to refute claims that they are heavily biased to the left and the State run entertainers deny any claims that they pander to the elites of British society. But a new internal study seems to be saying that the programing "remains too middle class and highbrow and needs to be driven downmarket". Leave it to the BEEB to imagine that they are…
France Makes Effort to Criminalize Bloggers, Internet News Sites
March 8th, 2007 9:35 AM
In a warning to the sanctity of free speech in a democratic nation, France is about to show us what happens when the state is allowed to legally determine who is allowed to be a "journalist", or who is a "legitimate" source of news: You get the criminalization of speech.
France bans citizen journalists from reporting violence
The French Constitutional Council has approved a law that…