To keep up, the embattled government has done everything in its power over the last year first to stanch the flow of stories and then to make the stories that inevitably leak out impossible for outsiders to verify.

Organised by the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), the event provided a forum for arts, culture and tourism journalists of several persuasions in the print and electronic media to rub minds on how to use their endeavour to projecct the socio-cultural cohesion and international diplomatic profile of Nigeria.

A U.S.-based global media network is to award a Tanzanian freelance journalist, Vicky Ntetema, for her courage in exposing the brutal killings of albinos and their families. The International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF) has announced in Washington, DC, that she will receive one of its 2010 "Courage in Journalism Awards" at a ceremony later this year.

A Lebanese newspaper says the global financial crisis coupled with regional tensions have derailed its hosting of a world gathering of newspaper executives and editors planned for next month. The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers has said that the World Newspaper Conference that was to be held in Beirut from June 7-10...

While President Obama's strenuous, year-plus effort to restore American prestige already has achieved measurable success, most of the Arab world remains suspicious and often hostile. Hurting more than helping is Al-Hurra, the official Arab-language broadcasting outlet sponsored by the U.S. government...

According to Media Tenor, a Zurich-based research institute, like other recent world expositions, Expo Shanghai only received scant attention in the international media prior to its grand opening on May 1.

This is hardly surprising. The Expo, as it is currently conceived and presented, is simply not a media magnet to start with.

State-owned broadcaster CCTV continues to launch foreign-language channels but their reach and influence are limited. The same is true for the news agency Xinhua, which is expanding its overseas footprint but is still a small and not especially well-regarded player in the global news world.