http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/395/50528NigeriaNollywood_l.jpg"I don't sell cocaine," says the video vendor in Kano's Rimi market when I ask for Adam Zango's music video CD Bahaushiya. He is not referring to the white powder, but instead a new illegal substance -- Hausa films that have not passed through the Kano State Censors Board. The video CD in question is an especially hot drug: a series of six music videos satirising corrupt old men, lamenting fickle girlfriends, and featuring dancing Hausa girls.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has urged the Communication Minister of Niger, Mohamed Ben Omar, to stop his crackdown on the Press House, an independent media support group, after he threatened to dissolve its board and all the member associations."Minister Ben Omar’s comments represent a serious abuse of power and reflect his determination to silence any independent voice that can defend journalists and media workers in Niger," said Gabriel Baglo, Director of the IFJ Africa office.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on the Senegalese judiciary to investigate and prosecute the persons responsible for ordering the ransacking of two Senegalese newspapers after 12 members of the gang were convicted. Among those convicted were relatives of the former Minister for the Craft Industry and Air Transports.

Andrew Berends, the American filmmaker who had been detained by Nigerian State Security Services was returned to the United States Wednesday. He was escorted to his plane by Nigerian immigration officers without an explanation as to why he was being sent home. Berends was never charged with a crime, and had a legal business visa in his passport at the time of his detainment.

Though the phenomenon of rural-urban migration is on the increase in Uganda, the trend can be reduced with the extension of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services to rural busy ‘growth’ centres. According to Hon. Kasamba Mathias, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kakuuto County in Rakai District, the tendency to migrate to urban areas may be a thing of the past if people are able to access information.

Our attention has been drawn to the effort by the Nation Media Group to “stop corruption in media circles” by establishing an e-mail address to report corrupt photographers, reporters and editors. The group promises that “those who are found to have flouted our ethical principles will be dealt with firmly”.

Dancing the toyi-toyi, stomping their feet and singing protest songs, more than 100 residents of the informal Joe Slovo settlement in Cape Town and their supporters rallied outside of South Africa’s Constitutional Court last month in support of the community’s right to adequate housing. Nearly all had traveled 28 hours by train to attend the hearing concerning the future of their community.

The OSCE Special Representative for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, Eva Biaudet, has urged OSCE participating States to put victims' rights at the centre when investigating and prosecuting human trafficking cases. "The victim-centred approach means taking the needs of the trafficking victim to be protected, assisted and ultimately empowered to live a dignified life, as the fundamental starting point during all phases of criminal proceedings," Biaudet said at the opening of a high-level conference in Helsinki.

Reporters Without Borders condemns growing Egyptian government control over the media, especially the broadcast media. Egypt already has a repressive press law and a state of emergency law that has been in effect since 1981. In November, parliament is due to examine a new broadcasting bill that is causing further concern. At the same time, several production companies working with foreign satellite TV stations have already been censored this year.

Rural farmers from the Lango sub-region in northern Uganda have learnt how to use mobile phone Short Message Service (SMS) to get prices of agricultural produce, seeds and markets. The service, so far restricted to MTN Uganda mobile telephone subscribers enables one to get for instance price information by selecting MTN services, then commodity prices, and selecting the name of the produce from the menu. Alternatively one can type the name of the commodity and send to 8198.

The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), which represents journalists in the country, has launched a programme to provide life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to its HIV-positive members.

A meeting of the members of the Indian Ocean Commission in Addis Ababa has decided to give the go-ahead to connect their island-members by fibre to each other and the rest of the world. The connecting cable would be available on non-discriminatory terms and under a low-cost, high volume regime

It was bad enough for web publishing when the challenge was to persuade marketers to move money from 'old fashioned' magazines and radio to the 'new and trendy' Internet. Now there's something newer and trendier! The success of MXit has been phenomenal. The instant messaging service available via cellphones has more than three million subscribers in South Africa.

Reporters Without Borders is saddened and dismayed by the murder of Paul Abayomi Ogundeji, a reporter for the privately-owned daily Thisday and a member of its editorial board. He was gunned down in Lagos on 17 August, less than two years after Godwin Agbroko, the chairman of its editorial board, was killed in similar circumstances.

Reporters Without Borders has hailed the decision by the National Press and Publications Council (NPPC) to allow the English-language Sudan Tribune daily to resume publishing after being suspended since 1 September. “This is a very satisfactory decision,” the press freedom organisation said. “The NPPC is sending a positive signal at a difficult time for the Sudanese press.”

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists are calling for a new strategy to remove harsh media laws that have been used to intimidate and stifle independent journalism. The IFJ says the government has indicated its willingness to have a full review of the extensive legal regulations that have been put in place over the past five years.

The Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has condemned Tuesday's arrest and detention of its officers, community elders and some journalists at Iwherekan community, Delta State by soldiers guarding gas flaring sites operated by Shell. The group demands their immediate release and an apology from the military and Shell.

The Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA) is seeking a determined and dynamic collaborator (male or female) to fill the position of Information Pluralism and Média Development Programmme Coordinator. The Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA) is a Regional Non Governmental Organization based in Dakar (Senegal) and operating in West Africa. PIWA has as mission to contribute to the construction of a democratic space of communication for change and social justice in Africa. PIWA. The deadline for application is October, 03rd 2008

This course examines globalization and its socio-economic consequences. It offers an analytical interpretation of the ongoing debates concerning the dynamics, institutional structures, and central processes of globalization and the organized resistances of civil society groups and networks worldwide. Inherent in this examination is a critical understanding of the role and nature of hegemony in the relations between countries in the institutions of global governance. Application Deadline: September 15, 2008.

The Committee to Protect Journalists is dismayed by the failure of the Egyptian authorities to shed light on the disappearance of a prominent journalist, five years ago, in one of the most secure districts in Cairo. Reda Helal, a senior editor at Egypt's leading state-owned daily "Al-Ahram," mysteriously vanished on August 11, 2003, on his way home from work in a heavily guarded area in the center of the Egyptian capital.