Author: OPC of America

The Libyan government released four New York Times journalists on Monday, six days after they were captured while covering the conflict between government and rebel forces in the eastern city of Ajdabiya. They were released into the custody of Turkish diplomats.

At least one journalist was killed when Yemeni security forces opened fire on protestors in the capital Sanaa Friday, according to news reports and local journalists.

Based on reports, the four missing New York Times journalists are in the hands of the Libyan armed forces. In an interview Thursday night with ABC’s Christiane Amanpour, the son of Libyan leader Muammar el-Qaddafi said one of the NYT journalists would be released — and he referred to the person as “she,” which suggests photographer Lynsey Addario.

Four foreign journalists, one of them a winner of an OPC Foundation scholarship, were arrested at 7:30 a.m. March 14 in the SANA’A, Yemen apartment they shared on charges of “residing illegally in Yemen” and were deported from the country.

Nerves are fraying among the 100-plus journalists who have been gathered — or been trapped — for more than two weeks here at the Rixos Hotel as guests of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and the Libyan government.

In what’s becoming an increasingly popular trend, major networks are leaking compelling soundbites via Twitter to promote their upcoming interviews. The latest example is CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and his interview airing tonight with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Anderson Cooper has made a career out of risking his life to gather news, and rarely has the CNN anchor appeared as rattled as he did tonight reporting from Japan. Discussing the possible meltdown ongoing at Fukushima’s Dai-Ichi plant with nuclear expert Jim Walsh, Cooper received the news of a new hydrogen explosion on the same complex. Upon hearing the news, Cooper turned to his crew, asked where the wind was blowing, and, in a moment of visible frailty, asked if it was time for him to go.

Bill Keller rips media at large for creating a culture that allows aggregating sites like Huffington Post to flourish, and even says that Arianna Huffington once aggregated him in person.

Consumer-obsessed, sensationalist, and passionate about their work, digital upstarts are undermining the old media — and they may also be pointing the way to a brighter future.