EU expresses concern over jailing of Gambian journalists

The European Union on Tuesday expressed concern over the jailing of six Gambian journalists by a high court to two years in prison and a fine of D500,000 (about US $20,000) each. In a statement made available to PANA in Banjul the EU said it had been closely following the trial of the six Gambian journalists accused of seditious and defamatory publications and noted the verdict. The statement said that the EU was concerned by the heavy sentences handed down and the negative impact of these prosecutions on freedom of expression in the Gambia. The EU reiterated its appeal to Gambia to act in conformity with its international human rights and treaty obligations in considering any appeals. The six journalists, including a nursing mother, were convicted last Thursday. They were arrested on 15 June after reprinting a press release from the Gambian Press Union that denounced comments made on national television by President Yahya Jammeh about the unsolved murder of veteran Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara. (Africa en ligne)
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EJC Press Releases
Fourth Regional Conference on Innovation Journalism
Journalists from Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, Austria, Italy and Hungary are invited to the Fourth Regional Conference on Innovation Journalism Stanford after Stanford 2009.
Organised by the European Journalism Centre and Vibacom, House for business solutions, the conference will take place on 3 September in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The event looks at the key points of the IJ6-6th Conference on Innovation Journalism at Stanford University in the United States in May, 2009. It will also discuss innovation as a journalistic topic, education and professional development of journalists and new media business models.
Speakers include David Nordfors, Executive Director of the VINNOVA Stanford Research Center of Innovation Journalism at Stanford University, Wilfried Ruetten, Director of the European Journalism Centre, Claude Erbsen, Director and Consultant, INNOVATION Media Consulting, Grega Repovž, chief editor, Mladina, president of Slovene Association of Journalists; Dr. Turo Uskali, senior research scholar from the University of Jyväskylä, Dr. Noam Lemelshtrich-Latar, Dean of Sammy Ofer School of Communications and Information etc. Download the draft programme here.
The conference targets journalists, editors, communicators and all people working with media, especially in the fields of innovation, economy, technology, IT, science, etc.
EJC has space for 12 journalists, so please apply now! Accommodation and travel expenses will be covered by the organisers. Please send your CV (in English), including your area of specialisation and examples of your work to: Biba Klomp and Estera Lah.
Posted on July 28, 2009 by EJC
Filed under events.
EJC leads innovations in youth media and learning systems
The European Journalism Centre is organising another two-day event in our series of conferences on issues affecting the innovation ecosystem.
EJC has space for 20 media professionals, so please apply now!
The first day, 15 October, will focus on Innovations in Youth Media and explore how basic information, networks, entertainment, user-generated content and classic content can be combined to create new and significant approaches to education. The workshop will have speakers working on the “cutting edge” of the youth issue, including representatives from the World Association of Newspapers, the BBC as well as other delegates from the press and academia doing youth-related research.
On the second day, 16 October, we will join the Get in touch with Creativity and Innovation event in Maastricht while hosting a workshop on the topic of Innovations in Learning and looking at best practice examples.
We will explore novel teaching practices with our keynote speakers, Richard Gerver, one of the most inspirational teachers of his generation and David Nordfors, Executive Director at the VINNOVA Stanford Research Center of Innovation Journalism, Stanford University . We have also invited the Director of the Amsterdam based Creative Learning Lab, specialists in creativity, technology and education and a senior spokesperson from the European Commission, who will bring us up to date on the developments and challenges facing Europe on its way towards a true “knowledge economy.”
Co-founder of the International Curriculum Foundation, Richard Gerver helps schools and authorities worldwide. He develops education systems tailored to youth needs and lectures worldwide on the links between education and industry, 21st century learning and leadership and management.
The Creative Learning Lab inspires and mobilises the educational institutes to make use of digital educational tools and showcases how these can be applied effectively.

Programme details will be online at ejc.net from September, 2009. Accommodation and travel expenses will be covered by the organisers. Please send your CV (in English), including your area of specialisation and examples of your work to: Biba Klomp.