10/26/13, "Somali government forces largest radio broadcaster off air," thestar.com
"The largest Somali
radio broadcaster was forced off the air Saturday after police stormed
the headquarters of Radio Shabelle and briefly detained the station’s
three dozen journalists.
.
.
Shabelle, a privately
owned and often controversial station, was based in a government
building near Mogadishu’s airport, considered one of the safer areas of
the capital. Its personnel had reportedly been warned months earlier of
the eviction order but failed to comply with it.
.
.
Many of the station’s
young employees live in the compound, rarely venturing out due to safety
concerns. Since 2007, 10 Shabelle journalists have been killed in
Somalia, considered one of the world’s most dangerous countries for
reporters and photographers.
.
.
Al Shabab, the
Somalia-based Al Qaeda group, often targets the media, but journalists
also face threats from various Somali power brokers more accustomed to
settling disputes with the gun....
But with most Somali institutions desecrated after two decades of conflict, journalism is no exception. Media standards are low, and journalists in Mogadishu are often influenced by business, clan or government disputes or are simply bribed.
Shabelle’s reputation had been tarnished in recent months amid allegations of slanderous journalism and extortion for stories.Somalia’s government
has also been accused of stifling free speech. Earlier this year it
arrested a journalist who had interviewed a woman who said she was raped
by government security forces.
The issue of land
ownership is a larger contentious issue in the capital, which has seen
an unprecedented construction boom and influx of foreign funding.
Thousands of internally displaced refugees occupy buildings and camps
throughout the capital. Their numbers soared during the 2011 famine and
the government has slowly been trying to relocate them and reclaim the
land they’ve been occupying."
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10/26/13, "Somali police force radio station off air," BBC
Reporters Without Borders gave its annual international press freedom award to Radio Shabelle in 2010."
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In 2010 Islamists forced Somali radio stations to stop playing music on penalty of death:
4/13/2010, "Somali radio stations comply with Islamists' music ban," BBC
on the orders of Islamist Hizbul-Islam insurgents who say that songs are un-Islamic.
The BBC correspondent in Somalia says this latest order has strong echoes of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
In the past, militants in some areas have banned watching films and football and forced men to grow beards.
Somalia has not had a functioning central government since 1991 and the Islamist militants control large parts of its territory.
The transitional government - backed by African Union troops and UN funds - controls only a small part of the capital, Mogadishu.
The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says the order to stop playing music and jingles was issued 10 days ago. All but two of the city's 15 radio stations used to broadcast music."...
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