Today’s MediaWireWorld roundup of journalism news from outside the U.S. Send tips to Kristen Hare: khare@poynter.org
United Kingdom
BBC’s Mary Hockaday, head of the newsroom, reminded employees to keep their political opinions to themselves, Tara Conlan reported Friday in The Guardian.
It came after the impartiality row prompted by news channel editor Jasmine Lawrence who tweeted: “#WhyImVotingUkip – to stand up for white, middle class, middle aged men w sexist/racist views, totally under represented in politics today.”
Lawrence’s account has been deleted, and she’s been removed from covering the upcoming election, Conlan reported. Hockaday reminded staff of the BBC’s guidelines for using social media: “They can all be summarised as: ‘Don’t do anything stupid.'”
Thailand
Fourteen television stations and six radio stations have now been closed by the military in Thailand, Reporters Without Borders reported Friday.
After the failure of talks between the opposing political factions, the Thai army announced in a nationally televised message yesterday that it was taking control of the government “in order for the country to return to normality quickly.” The television networks are now limited to relaying news and information from the army (see video). Foreign network transmissions have been blocked nationwide. Thai Public Broadcasting Service (TPBS), a public network, tried to broadcast its programs via YouTube, but was shut down by military personnel, who then arrested the network’s deputy director, Wanchai Tantiwithayapitak.
Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific desk, told Reporters Without Borders “We are outraged by the way the military took control of the media with what now turns out to have been the aim of misleading the public and facilitating its coup d’état.”
China
From Jornal Tribuna de Macau, another submission for the international edition of Local People With Their Arms Crossed. (Front page courtesy Newseum)
