2003 – 2004• (^) During 2003, 42 journalists were killed world-
wide, 766 arrested, 1,460 physically attacked or
threatened and 501 media censored, according
to Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans
Frontières).
2004 Hutton Report, UK, examines the circum-
stances surrounding the alleged suicide of
government weapons expert Dr David Kelly who
was the source of an early morning BBC radio
report by Andrew Gilligan suggesting govern-
ment claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass
destruction had been exaggerated. Th e Report,
exonerating the government of any blame in the
‘outing’ of Kelly, resulted in the resignation of the
Chairman of the BBC, Gavyn Davies, the Direc-
tor General, Greg Dyke, and Gilligan.
• (^) Rupert Murdoch’s BskyB wins contract, in face
of competition from Independent Television
News (ITN), to supply news to UK’s Channel
Five.
• (^) Butler Report subjects government claims
concerning weapons of mass destruction
(WMD), and the performance of the security
services in monitoring the true situation in Iraq,
to highly critical scrutiny. However, fi nds no one
intentionally to blame for claims which proved
unfounded.
• (^) Phillis Review of Government Communica-
tions.
• (^) Facebook website is launched.
• (^) By now Blogging has become a mainstream
online activity.
• (^) Russia: journalist Anna Politkovskaya is
poisoned on her way to cover the school
massacre in Beslan; later, she is murdered in the
stairwell of her block of fl ats.
• (^) UK: Piers Morgan, editor of the tabloid
newspaper Daily Mirror, resigns following the
publication of pictures – later declared fake –
purporting to show British soldiers ill-treating
Iraqi civilians.
• (^) US: Th e Disney company blocks distribution of
Michael Moore’s documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11
exposing links between the American President
George W. Bush and prominent Saudi-Arabian
families, including that of Osama bin Laden.
• (^) 14th Press Freedom Day. Reporters Without
Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières) announce
that ten journalists and media assistant were
killed between January amd May, 431 journalists
arrested worldwide, 366 physically attacked or
threatened and 178 media censored. In 22 coun-
tries, 133 journalists are imprisoned, including 73
‘cyber-dissidents’, 61 in China.
• (^) Birmingham, UK: the depiction of a rape scene
in a Sikh temple sparks a riot outside the city
programmes ‘more respectful’.
• (^) Poland: Church-run Radio Maryja is shut down
on the orders of the Catholic primate, Cardinal
Josef Glemp.
• (^) US: Iranian fi lm-maker Abbas Kiarostami is
denied a visa permitting him to enter the country
at the invitation of the New York Film Festival to
lecture at Harvard University.
• (^) UK: David Shayler, former M15 offi cer, is jailed
for six months for breaking the Offi cial Secrets
Act by leaking documents concerning alleged
malpractice in the UK secret service.
• (^) Announcement of plans for a 2.6b merger
between Granada (seven ITV licences) and Carl-
ton Communications (fi ve ITV licenses), subject
to approval by the UK office of Fair Trading.
Th e merger leaves only three independent UK
franchises – Grampian, Scottish and Ulster TV.
• (^) Report on human rights in 50 countries by
the Electronic Privacy Information Center
and Privacy International declares that post-11
September 2001 ‘many new anti-terrorist laws
adopted by national governments ... threaten
political freedom’.
2003 Federal Communications Commission
(USA) initiates major shift towards loosening
regulations concerning the delivery of TV and
radio news, considering that many in-place rules
are ‘antiquated’; that is, standing in the way of
further media mergers.
• (^) Global publics fi nd their voice in protesting
against war in Iraq, but million-strong marches
do not prevent US and UK forces going into
battle despite the failure to obtain a United
Nations mandate for military action.
• (^) Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks
tells fans in London that the prospect of the
invasion of Iraq makes her ashamed to be
from the same state as President Bush. Radio
stations part of the conglomerate Clear Channel
Communications (which had off ered fi nancial
sponsorship and on-air promotion for pro-war
‘Rallies for America’) pull the Dixie Chicks from
their playlists. Clear Channel suspends two DJs
in Colorado Springs for defying the ban. Cumu-
lus Media, owning 262 radio stations, bans the
Country Chicks from all of its country stations.
• (^) UK: Merger between independent television
broadcasters Carlton and Granada.
• (^) 29 December in the UK the responsibilities of
the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC),
the Independent Television Commission (ITC),
the Offi ce of Telecommunications (Oftel), the
Radio Authority and the Radiocommunications
Agency pass to the new regulatory body, the
Offi ce of Communications (Ofcom).