News from Mexico, Japan, Turkey

Known for his dedication to independent journalism, especially radio and television, Bacher served as the director general of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) for 20 years intermittently between 1967 and 1994. He was named an IPI Fellow in 2003. In 1999, a jury of Bacher’s peers named him Austrian journalist of the 20th Century.

Last week, during a meeting of 40 junior Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members, several lawmakers and a guest lecturer, popular novelist Naoki Hyakuta, blamed the media for the poor reception of highly controversial security bills and reportedly called for the government to “punish the media” by pressing businesses to reduce their advertising in newspapers that question the party’s policies.

A ruling by Turkey’s Constitutional Court that a journalist’s suspended prison sentence for “insulting” public officials via the media violated the freedom of expression is a positive development, the International Press Institute (IPI) said. But IPI added that the true test of the impact of the decision, which cited rulings by the European Court of Human Rights, will be whether lower courts choose to follow it and whether it leads to renewed efforts to reform laws that give government officials heightened protection from scrutiny.

IPI welcomed a decision by Tanzanian lawmakers to heed demands from media groups and withdraw two proposed acts that purported to strengthen free expression and access to information but would instead undermine those rights as the country approaches fall elections.

Despite its ongoing transition toward democracy, Myanmar took a step backward in terms of media freedom last week when a court officially closed its investigation into the murky death of a freelance journalist killed in October 2014 while in military custody.