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ANALYSIS: THE HEAVY PRICE OF A FREE MEDIA
By Claude Salhani
United Press International
May 2 2007
WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- The media, it is said, is the watchdog
of democracy.
As such, it was the press that brought down a president in the United
States because he had cheated and broken the law. And it was the
press that made it possible for a president opposed to democratic
norms to be voted out of office in a Ukraine that was still hanging
by threads onto the remains of the Soviet orbit.
It is also the press that allows the public to be informed of
irregularities at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, for which it
sometime gets blamed; or for reporting atrocities being committed
in Darfur, for which it gets praised. Or yet, for its reporting
on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, for which it gets both praise
and insults.
But all this comes with a price, a heavy price, paid in human lives.
So far this year 29 journalists and media assistants have been killed
while doing their jobs, according to the Paris-based media watchdog
group Reporters Without Borders.
RWB chose May 3, the 17th World Press Freedom Day, to remind the world
of the dangers facing the media on a daily basis. Besides those 29
who gave their lives in the service of truth, there are a further 129
media workers who are rotting in various prisons (125 journalists and
four media assistants) for having attempted to speak the truth, a truth
that offended a despotic ruler, a president-for-life or an ayatollah.
The list of offenders is sadly a long one and includes countries
such as Iran, Syria and China, or armed groups in countries such as
Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Iran; or yet,
narco-traffickers in Mexico and Colombia.
And although China has tried to better its image with the 2008 Olympic
Games due to be held in Beijing by easing restrictions on foreign
correspondents, local journalists continue to be jailed.
Among those jailed in China are bloggers or cyber-dissidents. Today
there are no less than 65 cyber-dissidents doing jail time in various
countries for expressing their opinions online in countries where
that is frowned upon.
In its yearly report on the state of the media around the world,
RWB updated what it calls "predators of press freedom."
"Last year was not a good one for press freedom around the world,"
the report states. A total of 82 journalists were killed while on
assignment, almost half of them in Iraq, a country that remains most
dangerous for the media where killings and kidnappings are common.
Around the world nearly 1,500 journalists were physically attacked
or threatened and more than 900 news media were censored. Reporters
Without Borders calls it "the worst year for global press freedom
since 1994."
And sadly, 2007 does not promise to be any better. To date 29
journalists have already been killed. Among them was Hrant Dink, an
Armenian journalist who was gunned down by Turkish ultra-nationalists
in Istanbul. His killers disagreed with his views to reconcile Turkey
and Armenia.
In Russia, Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead at her home in Moscow
last October. Both defended the right of an unpopular minority. Both
were killed because they told the truth.
And in Lebanon, journalists who dared to speak out against the Syrians
were targeted, such as Gebran Tueni, publisher of the influential
Arabic language daily An-Nahar, who was killed by a car bomb.
RWB has added to its list of leaders directly responsible for
kidnapping, harassment or murder of journalists -- the presidents of
Laos, Choummali Saignason, and Azerbaijan, Ilham Ali.
The Mexican drug cartels come second to Iraq in the number of
journalists killed while on assignment.
Among the countries that require special attention for press harassment
are Eritrea and neighboring Ethiopia. And Iran, where the conservative
camp within the government does not hesitate to remind journalists
that they have no rights.
In Egypt, a blogger has been sentenced to four years in prison for,
among other things, "insulting" President Hosni Mubarak, making him
the first blogger to be tried in the Arab world. A sad first indeed.
In Cuba, Fidel Castro may not be in full control of the country, but
that does not prevent him from continuing to crack down on the press.
Twenty-six journalists are in Castro's prisons. Their crime was
disagreeing with the government.
And in nearby Venezuela, Hugo Chavez continues to come down hard on
the leading national media that support his opposition.
The one bright spot in this rather dark report is the news from
Denmark, Britain and France, where lawsuits brought by Muslim
organizations against news media that published the cartoons of the
prophet Mohammed were acquitted.
One may only hope that next year will not be as violent for those
who risk their lives to bring you the first draft of history.
By Claude Salhani
United Press International
May 2 2007
WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- The media, it is said, is the watchdog
of democracy.
As such, it was the press that brought down a president in the United
States because he had cheated and broken the law. And it was the
press that made it possible for a president opposed to democratic
norms to be voted out of office in a Ukraine that was still hanging
by threads onto the remains of the Soviet orbit.
It is also the press that allows the public to be informed of
irregularities at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, for which it
sometime gets blamed; or for reporting atrocities being committed
in Darfur, for which it gets praised. Or yet, for its reporting
on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, for which it gets both praise
and insults.
But all this comes with a price, a heavy price, paid in human lives.
So far this year 29 journalists and media assistants have been killed
while doing their jobs, according to the Paris-based media watchdog
group Reporters Without Borders.
RWB chose May 3, the 17th World Press Freedom Day, to remind the world
of the dangers facing the media on a daily basis. Besides those 29
who gave their lives in the service of truth, there are a further 129
media workers who are rotting in various prisons (125 journalists and
four media assistants) for having attempted to speak the truth, a truth
that offended a despotic ruler, a president-for-life or an ayatollah.
The list of offenders is sadly a long one and includes countries
such as Iran, Syria and China, or armed groups in countries such as
Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Iran; or yet,
narco-traffickers in Mexico and Colombia.
And although China has tried to better its image with the 2008 Olympic
Games due to be held in Beijing by easing restrictions on foreign
correspondents, local journalists continue to be jailed.
Among those jailed in China are bloggers or cyber-dissidents. Today
there are no less than 65 cyber-dissidents doing jail time in various
countries for expressing their opinions online in countries where
that is frowned upon.
In its yearly report on the state of the media around the world,
RWB updated what it calls "predators of press freedom."
"Last year was not a good one for press freedom around the world,"
the report states. A total of 82 journalists were killed while on
assignment, almost half of them in Iraq, a country that remains most
dangerous for the media where killings and kidnappings are common.
Around the world nearly 1,500 journalists were physically attacked
or threatened and more than 900 news media were censored. Reporters
Without Borders calls it "the worst year for global press freedom
since 1994."
And sadly, 2007 does not promise to be any better. To date 29
journalists have already been killed. Among them was Hrant Dink, an
Armenian journalist who was gunned down by Turkish ultra-nationalists
in Istanbul. His killers disagreed with his views to reconcile Turkey
and Armenia.
In Russia, Anna Politkovskaya was shot dead at her home in Moscow
last October. Both defended the right of an unpopular minority. Both
were killed because they told the truth.
And in Lebanon, journalists who dared to speak out against the Syrians
were targeted, such as Gebran Tueni, publisher of the influential
Arabic language daily An-Nahar, who was killed by a car bomb.
RWB has added to its list of leaders directly responsible for
kidnapping, harassment or murder of journalists -- the presidents of
Laos, Choummali Saignason, and Azerbaijan, Ilham Ali.
The Mexican drug cartels come second to Iraq in the number of
journalists killed while on assignment.
Among the countries that require special attention for press harassment
are Eritrea and neighboring Ethiopia. And Iran, where the conservative
camp within the government does not hesitate to remind journalists
that they have no rights.
In Egypt, a blogger has been sentenced to four years in prison for,
among other things, "insulting" President Hosni Mubarak, making him
the first blogger to be tried in the Arab world. A sad first indeed.
In Cuba, Fidel Castro may not be in full control of the country, but
that does not prevent him from continuing to crack down on the press.
Twenty-six journalists are in Castro's prisons. Their crime was
disagreeing with the government.
And in nearby Venezuela, Hugo Chavez continues to come down hard on
the leading national media that support his opposition.
The one bright spot in this rather dark report is the news from
Denmark, Britain and France, where lawsuits brought by Muslim
organizations against news media that published the cartoons of the
prophet Mohammed were acquitted.
One may only hope that next year will not be as violent for those
who risk their lives to bring you the first draft of history.