Results matching “facing governme”

"Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom"  is a conference organized by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and a coalition of leading press freedom groups, held on April 18-19 in Maison de la Chimie in Paris to raise the consciousness of the journalistic community, especially sports journalists, to the press freedom conditions they should expect to encounter in China.

A Chinese journalist jailed for her reporting told the conference today that press freedom and human rights have worsened in China and that conditions for journalists in the run-up to the Olympics are "considerably more catastrophic" than they were when she was arrested 15
years ago.

"Freedom of the press and human rights constitute the most serious problem currently facing China," said Gao Yu, who was arrested in 1993 and sentenced to six years in prison for sending two articles on current affairs to a Hong Kong review. She was charged with "divulging state secrets", a catch-all charge often used by Chinese authorities to stifle independent reporting and dissent.

Her arrest came weeks after China's failed bid to host the 2000 Olympics. It was her second jail term; she had previously served a 15-month sentence in 1989 for her coverage of the Beijing democracy movement.

She compared her case to that of Hu Jia, a human rights campaigner and citizen journalist who was sentenced to three years in prison earlier this month. "As the Olympic Games approach, this case demonstrates in a terribly emblematic fashion the position of the Communist Party in confrontation with freedom of expression," she said. "It also shows the riposte of the Chinese authorities to the demands of the international community."

Despite promises of reform made ahead of the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese authorities have not only failed to respect them, but they have intensified their crackdown on journalists and others who seek to exercise their right to freedom of expression. Foreign journalists now reporting from China in the run up to the Olympics are regularly harassed and even expelled, as was the case during the March 2008 events in Tibet. This violates the Organising Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games pledge that foreign media would have "complete freedom to report when they come to China".

Ms Gao, the 1995 laureate of the WAN Golden Pen of Freedom and the first laureate, in 1997, of UNESCO's World Press Freedom Prize, said:  "At the approach of the Olympic Games, all Chinese who have suffered oppression hope to be able to utilise the occasion to seek justice; the international community hopes that the Chinese government will improve the situation of the press and human rights in line with the promise made in 2001.

"But the Chinese authorities see these internal and external pressures as 'politisation of the Olympic Games. Unhappily, counterattacking against these criticisms by repressing the freedom of the press only underlines this contradiction."

"The experience of China and the Olympics is, in fact, yet one more example of the terrible naivety and short-sightedness of those in leadership of our governments, our sports organisations and our businesses as they deal with repressive regimes like the one in place in Beijing," said Timothy Balding, CEO of WAN, who opened the session featuring Ms Gao.

"History, if nothing else, amply demonstrates that dictators do not voluntarily and spontaneously give up power, do not loosen the chains, do not remove the gags, after sudden illumination and conversion to belief in freedom and other human rights. They do so when they are forced to, generally through a combination of intense internal opposition and dissent," he said.

The full program can be found at here.

For more information on WAN's international campaign, in the run-up to the Olympics, to hold China to the promises it made in its successful Olympic bid to improve the press freedom and human rights conditions in the country, please go here.

Source: WAN

The World Association of Newspapers and World Editors Forum have asked Jacques Rogge, the President of the International Olympic Committee, to call on Chinese authorities to honour their Olympic pledges to respect press freedom and the right of journalists to cover events.

In a letter to Rogge, who will go to Beijing next week, WAN and WEF said: "The government crackdown on journalists and others who seek to exercise their right to freedom of expression has intensified in recent months. At least 30 journalists and 50 cyber-dissidents are currently held in Chinese prisons for peacefully expressing their views.

The letter asked Rogge to help ensure that China honour the pledge it made in its successful Olympic bid to allow foreign media "complete freedom to report when they come to China."

Rogge said last week he was conducting "silent diplomacy" with the Chinese government, which is facing growing protests over its repressive policies in the run-up to the Olympics.
"We also ask that your 'silent diplomacy' becomes voluble and public if the Chinese government does not immediately release from jail all those detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression", said the letter from WAN and WEF.

WAN has also written directly to the CEOs of 12 major Olympic sponsors asking them "to express your strong moral opposition to the repression of basic human rights in China and, in particular, the daily violation of all acceptable standards for freedom of expression."
 
Full details of the WAN campaign for press freedom in China, including a conference in Paris on 18 and 19 April with a coalition of press freedom groups, an advertising campaign and a letter-writing initiative, can be found here.

Source: WAN

According to a poll conducted for the BBC World Service, 56% of the 11,344 people interviewed in 14 countries thought that freedom of the press was very important to ensure a free society. But 40% said it was more important to maintain social harmony and peace, even if it meant curbing the press's freedom to report news truthfully.

Cry havoc and let slip the blogs of war (or, sense and nonsense about citizen journalism).

Saturday Editor of The Times and World Editors Forum President George Brock writes about the burgeoning field of citizen journalism, deeming that the term is a "misnomer". Despite the potential of the phenomenon to change the media landscape, when it comes down to it, all publications will be judged on the level of trust the audience has in them.

News Dissector Danny Schechter and friends at MediaChannel.org are extending their scrutiny of the media to Europe. The media and democracy activists who watchdog American news outlets and government will join forces with US/Swiss journalist Mark Stenzler to launch a Geneva-based European initiative.

The example of the Minivan newspaper shows the difficulties independent newspapers are facing in countries where the situation of press freedom is critical.

In July 2005, after having waited for over one year, Minivan has been granted a license to print newspapers in the Maldives. A daily newspaper called Minivan and a weekly newspaper called Vagutu have been registered. The company already runs a radio station and web sites from abroad. Already then the website Minivannews.com was citing an industry insider saying, "The government may well allow lots of newspapers to register but those that do – and are critical of the government – will find themselves constantly in court with huge fines. It’s a subtle way to censor the press whilst projecting to the international community that you have press freedom because all these newspapers are granted licenses."  

Following the election of conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, times for Iran's press - that has been struggling with financial and political pressure since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 - seem even harder than before.

According to the BBC reformist papers that had just been launched were shut down after only a few editions and reformist journalists have been jailed. On the other hand the 30 daily newspapers (number according to official statistics) are also facing a decline in readership as more people move to the internet to get their news. The BBC reports: "Newspapers in Iran now face a number of major challenges. They are under pressure from their readers to be more open, while the government insists that they should not step out of line."

Source: BBC(through Mediachannel)

Here's some more news about what's happening at The First Middle East Publishing Conference in Dubai.

Here's some more news about what's happening at The First Middle East Publishing Conference in Dubai.

According to Afrol news, "Despite ten years of peace and stability, an economic boom and relatively consolidated democratic values, Mozambique's media are still struggling to gain a proper foothold. In particular the independent press, facing tough competition from subsidised state media, still suffer from lack of capital and management expertise. Mozambique's almost 19 million inhabitants have access to a total of ten publications, of which only two are published daily. None of these two are privately owned and the independent press only manages to distribute nation-wide through costly fax services. According to a recent report by the government-owned Sociedade de Noticias, the main daily newspaper in the country, 'Noticias', has a circulation of around 13,000 copies. The other daily in Mozambique, the 'Diario de Moçambique', which is published in the central city of Beira, has a print-run of 5,000. The Panafrican media network, 'RAP 21', spoke to Fernando Lima, chairman of the privately-owned MediaCoop Group in Mozambique. "In Mozambique, 'fax publications' are very popular. A couple of computers, some phone lines, a modem, and you are in business. Usually these dailies have four A4 format pages, including advertisement," says Mr Lima."

Press executives from across Central Asian came together in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Monday for a World Association of Newspapers' conference aimed to provide practical solutions to the many problems facing independent media in the region. Fifty publishers and journalists from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia were joined by speakers from Serbia, France, Denmark, Canada, Finland and the United States in an effort to find ways to combat the obstacles that are hindering independent media development in the region -- restrictive press laws, poor infrastructure and the absence of professional organisations among them. Participants in the event, called "Media in Danger/Media in Transition", said there was a greater need for solidarity in the region and common actions to aid media and journalists in danger. They also emphasized the need for international support to pressure their governments, citing the success of international pressure in preventing the approval of a new media law in Kazakhstan in March. In addition to combating the well-known problems, several speakers warned against an over-reliance on donations, which might be hindering the commercial success of newspapers in the region.

Source: World Association of Newspapers (see press releases section) or contact Larry Kilman, WAN director of communications

Dan Kennedy writes in the Boston Phoenix: "The question of whether reporters have a legal right to protect their confidential sources has been with us for at least a generation (in the US). By one estimate, some 18 reporters have spent time behind bars during the past dozen years for refusing to name sources or provide information they had obtained in confidence. Rarely, though, has the issue been as prominent as it is right now... Time magazine’s Matthew Cooper has refused to identify his confidential sources to Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor trying to find out who exposed undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame. The upshot: Cooper faces jail, and his employer a hefty fine. The New York Times and the Washington Post have been dragged into this as well...

Maybe the first good news in Algeria since the Bouteflika re-election... According to Reuters, "The Algerian Government has held rare talks with dozens of independent newspaper editors to try to end a long-running feud, only a day after another editor was jailed for slandering an official. Relations between President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the north African country's leading national dailies hit new lows this month after the imprisonment of several journalists... Until now the Government has refused any discussions with the media but diplomats said Sunday's discussions suggest it may be feeling pressure from critics abroad as Algeria re-enters the international community after years of isolation."

Source: Reuters via ABC. See also our former posting.