World Press Freedom Day (May 3, 2007)
Marked Around the Globe: All the News
That Gives Dictators, Kidnappers and Killers Fits
Friday, May 04, 2007
Around the world people have more access to news thanks to the Internet. But more journalists are dying, more reporters are being incarcerated and more news organizations are being shut down, according to Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders).
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The Paris-based organization said in 2007 there have been 24 journalists killed, five media assistants killed, 125 journalists imprisoned, four media assistants imprisoned and 65 “cyberdissidents” imprisoned. In 2006, a total of 110 media workers were slain.
On Thursday (May 3, 2007) news organizations around the world marked World Press Freedom Day. Here is some of what happened:
In the United States, President George W. Bush criticized countries around the world for suppressing news. What he left out was that the U.S. has imprisoned two journalists, Bilal Hussein, a Pulitzer-price-winning photographer who worked in Iraq for the U.S.-based Associated Press, and Sami Al-Hajj, an Al-Jazeera satellite news photographer. Hussein is jailed in Iraq without charges. Al-Hajj has not been charged, either, and is being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison at the U.S.-leased Navy base in Cuba. Nor did Bush mention the stepped-up efforts by his Justice Department prosecutors to jail journalists as a way to coerce them into revealing sources.
Here is Bush’s statement about press freedom:
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White House photo, President George W. Bush |
“On this day we commemorate World Press Freedom Day. The United States values freedom of the press as one of the
most fundamental political rights and as a necessary component of free societies. In undemocratic societies where governments suppress, manipulate, and control access to information, journalists are on the front lines of the people's battle for freedom. The danger journalists face in such repressive States can be great -- and even deadly.
“On behalf of the American people, I salute those in the press who courageously do their work at great risk. No independent media are allowed in countries such as Cuba and North Korea, and those who attempt to report are often imprisoned. Repressive laws severely restrict journalists and freedom of speech in countries such as Belarus, Burma, Iran, Libya, Syria, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. We condemn the harassment, physical intimidation, and persecution that journalists, including bloggers and Internet reporters, have faced in China, Egypt, Tunisia, and Vietnam; and the unsolved murders of journalists in Lebanon, Russia, and Belarus.
“Bringing unfiltered information, news, and facts to the people and accountability to their governments is the hallmark of the fourth estate. Today we salute the free press for its dedication to the people's right to know.”
In New York City, the Committee to Protect Journalists released a list of the 10 worst countries for journalists. The ranking of shame was based on how much press freedom had deteriorated during the last five years.
The CPJ ranked Ethiopia as the worst because the number of journalists in jail climbed from two to 18. The report noted eight newspapers were shut down in 2006, the government blocked news Web sites and two foreign reporters were expelled. The nine other worst countries were Gambia, Russia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Pakistan, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Morocco and Thailand.
The European Union’s Organization for Security and Cooperation warned of waning press freedom in Serbia. The OSC cited last month’s grenade attack on journalist Dejan Anastasijevic. He survived the attack on his home, the Associated Press reported.
In Kenya, the Africa News wire noted an increasing hostility to the press, including an incident where Kenya’s first lady, Lucy Kibaki, slapped a journalist during a tirade against “what she termed unfair coverage of the First Family,” the wire story said.
The article did not name the journalist, who filed an assault complaint. After it was dismissed, the journalist fled Kenya, citing death threats.
In Paris, the Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders) held a press conference to discuss kidnappings of journalists. Several former hostages took part in the discussion. Fox News reporter Steve Centanni, who was kidnapped in Gaza City in August of 2006, said he was freed because of pressure from the U.S. government, his network and international organizations.
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BBC journalist Alan Johnston was kidnapped in the Gaza Strip in March of 2007. He was released in July of 2007. |
And around the world, several demonstrations were held calling for the release of BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who was kidnapped in the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday (May 2, 2007), Palestinian authorities said they know where Johnston is, but did not want to mount a rescue operation for fear he would be harmed, the Agence France Presse reported.
