( Moscow times) The government has drafted legislation that would make it easier for news agencies to contest plagiarism of their reports, drawing cheers from state publications like Interfax and RIA-Novosti, but critics say the bill is too vague to be effective. [..]

(Journalism) The Independent has teamed up with Tweetminster to launch a new service promoting more open communication between voters, politicians and political journalists. Livewire will allow users to track updates to the microblogging service from UK MPs, parliamentary candidates in addition to political journalists, commentators and political news sources. [..]

American Journalism Review (AJR) senior contributing writer Sherry Ricchiardi has won the National Press Club's Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism. The award is for the best media criticism published in magazines, newspapers, newsletters or online. [..]

(Press Gazette) The Ministry of Justice has named four public bodies that should be covered by Freedom of Information laws - but campaigners have said the list does not go far enough. Academy schools, the Association of Chief Police Officers, university admissions body UCAS and the Financial Ombudsman Service would be included within the scope of FoI Act under the new plans. [..]

500 Journalists Gather in Brazil for Training in Investigative reporting ( Knight Center ) Approximately 500 journalism professionals, students, and professors met in São Paulo on 9-11 July to attend the 4th Congress of the Brazilian Association for Investigative Journalism ( Abraji ). [..]

( Knight Center ) The Ochberg Fellowship , a program of the Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma , is offered to reporters, editors, photographers, and producers from all media who have at least five years experience. [..]

(Poynter)"When times are tough in the news business, it is especially important to celebrate excellence in journalism," says National Press Club president Donna Leinwand. "These reporters represent the best of our craft." || SAJA.org: South Asian Journalists Association names its contest winners. See SAJA web site : http://saja. [..]

(CPJ) Distributors blocked the July 4-10 edition of The Economist from entering Thailand for an article that covered the mounting threat of lese majeste complaints to the country's Internet freedom and freedom of expression, according to a local distributor and international news reports. [..]

(Press Gazette) The government has firmly rejected any suggestion of statutory controls over the press and said it would not interfere with the status of the Press Complaints Commission. Liberal Democrat Lord Taverne called for a review of the PCC's status and described it as "a paper tiger" after more allegations of phone-hacking at the News of the World emerged last week. [..]

A group of journalists including some of the UK ’s most active and distinguished investigative reporters, agreed to support Britain 's first major not-for-profit initiative to fund public interest investigative journalism. At its launch, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) announced a £2million grant from The David and Elaine Potter Foundation (http://www.potterfoundation. [..]