Listening Post - Covering Libya's first post-Gaddafi elections

When Libyans vote in the country's first free elections in almost five decades, will they have had the benefit of a free and independent media to help them make an informed decision? Since Muammar Gaddafi's downfall, the country has seen a proliferation of news outlets, from print, broadcast and online. But after decades under Gaddafi's state-run media machine, the transition to a free and open press has not been easy and for these relatively inexperienced journalists, the election will be their biggest challenge to date. In this week's News Divide, we look at the difficulties facing the country's burgeoning media scene as the country takes part in a landmark election. The rise of Kashmir's media The dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir has been a flashpoint on the sub-continent for more than six decades. It is a heavily militarised zone, with more than half a million troops stationed there. Despite the ongoing conflict, it receives little or no media attention. The climate for local journalists is poor: they work under strict curfews, internet access is sporadic and text messaging services are regularly cut off. But anti-Indian protests in 2010 sparked a change in the media landscape. For the first time, a host of new voices were heard and since then Kashmiri bloggers, filmmakers and authors have taken their stories to India, Pakistan and beyond. In this week's feature, the Listening Post's Meenakshi Ravi looks at the rise of Kashmir's alternative media voices.