Swine Flu/Iraqi Journalists Who Work With U.S. Media Face Hurdles in /Access to Information is a Fundamental Human Right,

JOURNALISM IN THE AMERICAS
Intense Coverage of Virus Caused Unneeded Panic, Media Analysts Say
Almost overnight, the H1N1 virus, the scientific name for swine flu adopted by the World Health Organization, seized the attention of the media throughout the world and gained importance in the blogosphere and in social networks like Facebook and on Twitter.
However, some experts and observers believe the intense coverage of the illness has raised the public's anxiety level, Reuters reports, quoting blog publisher Arianna Huffington, among others.
"There's a distinction between obviously keeping our readers and viewers up to date and sensationalizing the story. The media tends to love doomsday scenarios like bird flu, Y2K (year-2000 computer scare) and the guy flying around with TB (tuberculosis)," Huffington says, according to Reuters.
In Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez criticized private media's reporting on the flu, calling it "irresponsible." Brazilian newspaper columnist Vinicius Torres Freire said the media had exaggerated the coverage. "Dengue fever, malaria, and dysentery kill thousands of people," he said. "But now a single media virus is sending crowds to the pharmacies," he said in his column (subscription required).
Hamilton Nolan, a blogger for Gawker agrees, noting that many more Mexicans have been killed in drug-related violence than by the H1N1 virus. "This is a page B-3 story that's gone all A-1."
A pack of reporters has descended on the Mexican village of La Gloria, in Veracruz state, at the home of a five-year-old boy who is said to be the first person to have contracted the current virus. He is healthy but under scrutiny by the international press.
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) has urged media to be fair and truthful and to refrain from portraying Mexican immigrants as scapegoats for the outbreak.
What do you think about the media's coverage of the virus?
***********************************************************************

Access to Information is a Fundamental Human Right, Participants of Hemispheric Conference Affirm
Journalists, government workers, and representatives of non-governmental organizations from 18 countries in the Americas, met in Lima, Peru, April 28-30, and developed a “Regional Action Plan to Advance the Right to Access Information.”
The plan will be released within a couple of weeks, as part of the conclusions of the Americas Regional Conference on the Right of Access to Information conducted in Lima by the Carter Center, in collaboration with the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas, the Organization of American States, and the Andean Commission of Jurists.
The 115 participants, from 18 countries in the hemisphere, reaffirmed at the end of the conference that the “access to information is a fundamental human right related not only to the fight against corruption and the improvement of development, but also to health, education, quality of life, and other essential rights.”
Elaborated by thematic working groups at the beginning part of the conference, the document was discussed in a plenary session coordinated by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who passed through Lima during a tour to personally ask the presidents of South America to promote the right to information access.
Access to information can change the environment of entire societies, Carter said. He emphasized the need to further promote the right to access, which is currently defended in the Americas only by a few members of civil society, an elite.
The plan of action that was approved specifically emphasizes the importance of participation by the media and by investigative journalists.
Editors, media owners, and journalists must promote the use of the transparency mechanisms for investigative journalism to increase the skills of journalists, the draft plan says.
***************************************************************

A Medical Reporter's Dos and Don'ts for Covering Swine Flu
As swine flu cases spread across Canada, journalist Maureen Taylor, former national medical reporter for CBC (now on leave), offers several "dos" and "don'ts" for coverage, including these:
DO:
*Hold goverment officials accountable for information they should have.
*Learn more about the influenza virus.
*Learn also about vaccines and anti-viral drugs.
*Know when to scale back coverage.
DON'T:
*Press health officials to predict what's going to happen.
*Report rumors from anyone, even health-care staff or patients in hospitals.
*Let editors and producers persuade you to twist the story.
*Wear a face mask if you're reporting in Canada or the U.S., unless you are in a room with a swine-flu-positive patient.
In a separate post, Larry Cornies, editor of J-Source Tools for Reporters, asked Canadian journalists for their assessment of the coverage so far.
Here are some of the responses:
*Andre Picard of the Globe and Mail said journalists need to be sure they understand basic science, so they don't sensationalize epidemics.
*Tom Blackwell of the National Post said the media needs to find out more about the outbreak in Mexico, because many more Mexicans are ill and the swine flu there has been more serious than everywhere else in the world. He says journalists should stress that many more Mexicans may have been infected than what has been reported, but they haven't had contact with the health-care system.
*David McKie of CBC News said journalists need to do investigative reporting and go after stories about accountability. Journalists need to ask questions about the nation's preparedness, while still getting people the information they immediately need.

***************************************************************

Iraqi Journalists Who Work With U.S. Media Face Hurdles in Seeking Refuge in States
An Iraqi woman who translates for a major U.S. newspaper has had to move five times since she began that work. She can't tell her family or friends about her job because militias in Iraq consider those who work with Americans as traitors. In addition, she and many other Iraqi journalists face difficulties in seeking refuge in the U.S., the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports.
The same Iraqi woman applied for refuge in the U.S. 10 months ago and received notice that she needed to send more documents last month. It will take another 10 months to hear a decision from the Department of Homeland Security. She has no idea whether she will be eligible to come to the U.S. and she must wait in Iraq, fearing discovery by the militias everyday.
This is the situation for many Iraqi journalists and even civilians who work with U.S. media. Under the Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act, individuals and their families with U.S. media ties should be able to quickly evacuate, but the program is working far too slow to be considered a "rescue" program, writes Elisabeth Witchel in the CPJ blog.
Iraq has been considered the deadliest place for journalists for the past six years, according to CPJ. In 2008, 41 journalists were killed in direct connection with their work. There are another 22 deaths of journalists in the country that CPJ is investigating to determine if they were related to the journalists' work.
***************************************************************
WATER CONCIOUSNESS

Water Consciousness is a solution-focused guide to the world's greatest environmental crisis. This book includes straightforward essays written by the world's leading environmentalists and stunning photographs illuminating our global water crisis and solutions. For more info, visit the Water Consciousness page.



XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Beware surfers: cyberspace is filling up/OSI Forum: Why Russia Says No to Methadone/

OSI Forum: Why Russia Says No to Methadone
Experts Discuss Barriers to HIV Prevention and Treatment in Russia

Location: OSI-New York
Event Date(s): April 27, 2009
Event Time: 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Speakers: Vladimir Mendelevich, Robert Newman, Daniel Wolfe


Methadone, a widely prescribed medicine for treating opiate addiction in many countries, is currently banned in Russia. Professor Vladimir Mendelevich will discuss the ban and why controversy still surrounds the use of methadone. He will assess the opportunities and challenges facing advocates who support the use of medicines to reduce cravings for illicit drugs, as well as the public health implications of not legalizing methadone in Russia.
Robert Newman, MD, MPH, who has played a major role in planning and directing some of the largest addiction treatment programs in the world, will offer his perspective on the methadone ban in Russia.

Daniel Wolfe, director of the Open Society Institute International Harm Reduction Development program, will moderate the discussion.
Refreshments will be served.
At What Cost? HIV and Human Rights Consequences of the Global "War on Drugs"
March 2009
OSI
A decade after governments worldwide pledged to achieve a "drug-free world," there is little evidence that the supply or demand of illicit drugs has been reduced. Instead, aggressive drug control policies have led to increased incarceration for minor offenses, human rights violations, and disease.
This book examines the descent of the global war on drugs into a war on people who use drugs. From Puerto Rico to Phnom Penh, Manipur to Moscow, the scars of this war are carried on the bodies and minds of drug users, their families, and the health and service providers who work with them.
The following topics are included in this volume:
• Police Abuse of Injection Drug Users in Indonesia
• Arbitrary Detention and Police Abuse of Drug Users in Cambodia
• Forced Drug Testing in China
• Drug Control Policies and HIV Prevention and Care Among Injection Drug Users in Imphal, India
• Effects of UN and Russian Influence on Drug Policy in Central Asia
• The Impacts of the Drug War in Latin America and the Caribbean
• Civil Society Reflections on 10 Years of Drug Control in Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam
• Twin Epidemics–Drug Use and HIV/AIDS in Pakistan

OSI Forum: Organizing in the Obama Era
The Perils and Promise of Civic Mobilization
Location: OSI-New York
Event Date(s): May 7, 2009
Event Time: 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Speakers: Zephyr Teachout, Ai-Jen Poo, Zack Exley

The Obama campaign vividly demonstrated the power of mass civic participation. But many organizers still struggle with questions of efficacy and legitimacy. Panelists will address the following questions:
• Can we mobilize large groups of people while also fostering a sense of engagement by individual participants?
• How can an organization's members hold their leaders accountable?
• What distinct challenges arise when working with communities that face social, economic, or political marginalization?
• How can we apply lessons from electoral campaigns, which are date-specific and focused on candidates, to community- and issue-based organizing?
Veteran organizers Zack Exley, Ai-jen Poo and Zephyr Teachout will discuss these and other questions as they draw lessons from past mobilizations—including the Dean and Kerry campaigns, Domestic Workers United, MoveOn.org and others—and offer ideas for building grassroots power today.
**************************************************************************************************************************

Media News - Monday, April 27, 2009
Beware surfers: cyberspace is filling up
Internet users face regular 'brownouts' that will freeze their computers as capacity runs out in cyberspace, according to research to be published later this year. Experts predict that consumer demand, already growing at 60 per cent a year, will start to exceed supply from as early as next year because of more people working online and the soaring popularity of bandwidth-hungry websites such as YouTube and services such as the BBC's iPlayer. It will initially lead to computers being disrupted and going offline for several minutes at a time. From 2012, however, PCs and laptops are likely to operate at a much reduced speed, rendering the internet an 'unreliable toy'. A report being compiled by Nemertes Research, a respected American think-tank, will warn that the web has reached a critical point and that even the recession has failed to stave off impending problems. Engineers are already preparing for the worst. While some are planning a lightning-fast parallel network called 'the grid', others are building 'caches', private computer stations where popular entertainments are stored on local PCs rather than sent through the global backbone. Telephone companies want to recoup escalating costs by increasing prices for 'net hogs' who use more than their share of capacity…

(Re- Edited by MUKTI MAJID as complementary)