Journalists interested in learning more about LinkedIn can attend this free online training session.

LinkedIn is offering a tutorial and a free one-year upgrade to LinkedIn Executive. The 35-minute session will take place on October 3 at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

The tutorial will be hosted by Krista Canfield, senior manager of corporate communications for LinkedIn.

The session and access to LinkedIn Executive is available to all professional journalists and members of the media. To join the session, participants must be logged in to their LinkedIn account. LinkedIn will provide a call-in number, depending on where participants are located.

For more information, click here: http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Next-LinkedIn-Journalists-training-is-3753151.S.160253604?qid=48c6aedf-0586-4abe-bd41-206a44d16f27&trk=group_most_popular-mc-rr-ttl&goback=%2Egmp_3753151

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Next-LinkedIn-Journalists-training-is-3753151.S.160253604?qid=48c6aed

Journalists, scholars and practitioners worldwide who are interested in public policy can apply for a fellowship.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is accepting applications for its 9-month residential fellowship program in Washington, D.C.

Fellows will conduct research and write in their areas of interest, while interacting with policymakers, Wilson Center staff and other scholars in residence. The center accepts policy-relevant, non-advocacy fellowship proposals that address key challenges confronting the United States and the world.

Fellowships include a maximum stipend of US$85,000 and 75 percent of health insurance premiums for fellows who elect center coverage, along with travel to and from the fellowship location.

The application deadline is October 1 at 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

For more information, click here: http://www.wilsoncenter.org/fellowships-grants

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/fellowships-grants

Tajik customs officials say they are holding equipment from Iran that reportedly is meant for a joint Persian-language television project.

The Customs Service says the equipment is at their depot in Dushanbe.

They say no duties are required if the gear is for use by the Iranian Embassy.

Otherwise, they say customs duties must be paid by Iran.

Earlier, the Iranian Embassy in Dushanbe said a $400,000 customs fee was set for the import of equipment costing $2.5 million.

The launch of the joint television channel has been postponed several times since the presidents of Afghanistan, Iran, and Tajikistan agreed on the project in 2006.

People in Iran, Tajikistan, and many parts of Afghanistan can understand each other because they all speak dialects of Persian.

http://www.rferl.org/content/tajik-customs-agents-hold-iranian-gear-for-joint-tv-project/24707173.ht

ORAL, Kazakhstan — One of Kazakhstan’s most prominent independent journalists, Lukpan Akhmedyarov, has gone on trial in his native western city of Oral.

A local policeman filed a lawsuit against Akhmedyarov saying his reputation was damaged by the journalist’s article and demanded 3 million tenges ($19,700) from Akhmedyarov as compensation.

Akhmedyarov, a correspondent for the «Uralskaya nedelya» weekly in Oral, survived a vicious attack by unknown assailants who stabbed him and shot him with a pneumatic pistol in April.

He was later found guilty of insulting a local official in West Kazakhstan Oblast and ordered to pay the official 5 million tenges ($32,800).

Akhmedyarov says the attack and lawsuit against him were politically motivated.

Last month, Akhmedyarov won the prestigious international Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism.

http://www.rferl.org/content/kazakh-journalist-attack-survivor-tried-for-libel-again/24706288.html

Professional and amateur photographers worldwide can enter this contest.

The Freedom of Information Advocates Network is accepting submissions for its 10th Right to Know Day Photo Contest, which will celebrate Right to Know Day on September 28.

Anyone who feels able to illustrate the right to information, transparency, accountability and openness through photography can participate.

The jury will award three prizes, for a total of EUR?1,000 (roughly US$1,260), made available by the Open Society Institute. The first-place winner will receive EUR?500 (about US$630), the second-place winner will receive EUR?300 (about US$380) and the third-place winner will receive EUR?200 (about US$250).

The submission deadline is September 12.

For more information, click here: http://www.foiadvocates.net/

http://www.foiadvocates.net/

The US-based organization Human Rights Watch informs that the Tajik journalist Urunboi Usmonov has been awarded a 2012 Hellman-Hammett Grant.

Usmonov was nominated to this award by the National Association of Independent Media in Tajikistan (NANSMIT), as well as by a decision by the Hellman-Hammett selection committee.

The Hellman-Hammett grants assist writers who have suffered persecution as a result of their work, and are in financial need. In addition to offering individuals financial assistance, by highlighting individual cases, they are intended to help focus attention on repression of free expression.

The grant program is funded by the estate of the late American playwright Lillian Hellman. Ms. Hellman’s bequest was prompted by her experiences and those of her companion, the novelist Dashiell Hammett. Hellman and Hammett were both interrogated about their political beliefs and affiliations by congressional committees in the United States. Hellman suffered professionally and had trouble finding work for a number of years. Hammett served time in prison.

Human Rights Watch

KABUL — The Afghan Ministry of Culture and Information has brought legal proceedings against two popular entertainment television channels.

The ministry said Setara TV and Saba TV had broadcast «inappropriate» content, including «revealing» foreign music videos.

The ministry said the content violated a new media law, which bans programs that are deemed an affront to Afghan culture.

The ministry did not provide further details, including whether the channels would stop broadcasting while proceedings were under way.

In related news, Afghan journalists have boycotted sessions of the lower house of parliament, saying the sessions were being censored by the government.

Previously, journalists viewed sessions from behind a glass partition while they received a live feed.

Reporters say they now receive a distorted feed that cuts out controversial remarks and incidents involving lawmakers.

http://www.rferl.org/content/legal-proceedings-brought-against-afghan-tv-channels/24703805.html

Representative to the United States Mission to the OSCE Permanent Council, Ambassador Ian Kelly

Vienna, Austria

2012-09-07

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The United States recalls its statement of July 26 about violence in the Gorno-Badakshan Autonomous Region of Tajikistan. We note that the situation is calmer, but that tensions remain and a large number of security forces are still deployed to the region. We encourage the Tajik authorities to allow access to Gorno-Badakshan for international organizations and diplomatic missions. Given its mandate for early warning and conflict prevention, the OSCE could play an important role in assisting the Tajik authorities.

In addition, the United States calls on the Tajik authorities to ensure transparent and impartial investigations into the recent killings of a leader of the Gorno-Badakshan branch of the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan, Mr. Sabzali Mamadrizoev and the former field commander of the United Tajik Opposition, Mr. Imumnazar Imomnazarov.

We call for due legal process to be followed in any trials of those detained as a result of recent events, and strongly urge Tajikistan to fulfill its OSCE commitments by conducting transparent investigations of the incidents that have occurred at the border, and guaranteeing the rights of detainees, including access to legal counsel, humane treatment, and fair trial.

We reiterate our call for Tajikistan to abide by its OSCE commitments to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the protection of freedom of expression and the free flow of information at all times. A number of websites in Tajikistan remain blocked. We recall the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media’s statement of July 27 when she noted that “blocking is a restriction on free media and, most importantly, deprives citizens of their right to know, to receive and impart information about developments in their own country.” The United States calls on the Tajik authorities to lift these restrictions.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

HumanRights.gov

Источник: http://www.humanrights.gov/2012/09/07/statement-by-ambassador-kelly-on-the-situation-in-tajikistan/?

Journalists interested in environmental reporting can apply for a spot in this course.

The Knight Science Journalism program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is accepting applications for its 2012 Energy and Climate Boot Camp, which will take place at MIT’s campus in Cambridge December 5-7.

Ten to 12 journalists will be chosen to attend the course. Those selected will be reimbursed for up to US$750 in travel expenses, and will be provided accommodations and most meals.

The boot camp will explore topics from the latest solar power research, such as the artificial leaf and wearable solar panels, to the mechanics of climate models. Course leaders will discuss the intersection of science and politics, and the question of whether leaders have begun to turn their backs on science and progress in challenging political times.

Applicants may be freelance or staff reporters, writers, editors or producers, and must have at least three years of full-time experience in journalism.

The application deadline is October 12.

For more information, click here: http://ksj.mit.edu/fellowships/boot-camps/medical-evidence-boot-camp-fall-2012

http://ksj.mit.edu/fellowships/boot-camps/medical-evidence-boot-camp-fall-2012

Journalists worldwide can apply for a one-month fellowship in Colombia.

La Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano and the Ministerio de Cultura de Colombia are offering the Gabriel García Márquez scholarship on cultural reporting.

The fellowship will take place January 7-27 of 2013 in Cartagena de Indias and Barranquilla. Participants will receive training on cultural reporting, and will have the chance to report and produce their own stories.

Twenty journalists will be selected. Applicants must be fluent in English, have at least three years of experience and have published stories in print or digital media.

Applicants should submit an 800-word autobiography in English, Spanish or Portuguese, with emphasis in the applicant’s experience in cultural reporting; a letter from the applicant’s employer specifying that the news outlet will publish the pieces produced during the fellowship; and a long-form piece published within the last year.

The application deadline is October 2.

For more information, click here: http://www.fnpi.org/actividades/2012/the-gabriel-garcia-marquez-fellowship-in-cultural-journalism/

http://www.fnpi.org/actividades/2012/the-gabriel-garcia-marquez-fellowship-in-cultural-journalism/