I got the following comment from a person involved in a China-related discussion group.

I never thought I’d say this, but I wish that there were more controls on CCTV broadcasts. Today, there were scenes of an earthquake victim buried under mounds of concrete. He was speaking to reporters. I somehow expected a Hollywood-style ending, but they showed the rescue efforts, which failed, and he was pulled out dead, with close-ups of his bloody face. I told my kid too leave the room, it was too heartbreaking.

So, from we have seen on television, how would you rate the pictures we are getting out of China following the earthquake?

And if anyone with access cares, maybe we can get this cross posted on the Ethics Committee blog.

Dan

Reporters Without Borders is maintaining a steady drumbeat on the press freedoms issues in China as the 2008 Olympics approach.

Remember that Beijing promised to allow more press freedom as the Olympics near. To show their commitment to their word, the Chinese governemnt last week jailed a reporter to four years after he revealed corruption in the local Communist Party operation.

Read the RSF report on China and press freedom leading up to the Olympics.

Some interesting graphics have come out of the campaign to highlight China’s disrespect for press freedom.

• One is a play on the Olympic symbol.
• And another is an interesting way to use a newspaper.

Bottom line: The Chinese government has not lived up to its promises of press freedom.

Interesting posting on the status of Lebanonese media at the SPJ Al-Sahafiyeen site.

http://www.spj.org/blog/blogs/aaj/archive/2008/05/12/20539.aspx

For those not keeing up on such things, “Al-Sahafiyeen” is the Arabic word for “journalists” or “the journalists.” Arab American journalists, through the National Arab American Journalists Association, are working closely with SPJ to help encourage Arab American journalists to join the SPJ. We have more than 250 Arab Americans who now work in either mainstream American media jobs or in the growing but still small Arab American ethnic news media.

Finally some one is paying attention to the growing power of the drug cartels in Mexico.

Several years back the SPJ joined with other journalism groups around the world to raise concerns about the number of journalists being killed or intimidated by organized crime forces along the U.S.-Mexican border.

• In the past 8 years — as the IFJ statment below points out — 24 journalists have been killed.
• Former IJC co-chair Roberty Buckman reported a couple of years ago on the intimidation of border journalists.
• Newspaper buildings were attacked with bombs and drive by shootings.
• The families of journalists along the border — even those who just handled the police blotter beat — were threatened.

Mexico is the most dangerous place for journalists in this hemisphere.

The SPJ once stood with the IAPA, the IFJ and other groups in not only offering words of encouragement to our colleagues in Mexico but we also called on the U.S. government to do more to pressure Mexico to bring the criminals to trial.

To their credit, the Mexican govenrment has been waging a large-scale war against the drug lords.

The latest victim is the national leader of that battle.

Edgar Eusebio Millan Gomez was killed outside his home in Mexico City May 7.

The shooting clearly marks a new phase in the war against the drug lords of Mexico. A war that has been going on for years but whose victims were hundreds of unnamed people along the border and a couple dozen reporters. Too bad no one bothered to give these people’s deaths front page coverage.

The Washington Post and CNN stories on the Gomez shooting talked about the growing problem and the efforts to get the druggies under control. Yet nowhere in their stories was even a mention that the main reason we know so much about what the drug barons of Mexico are doing is because of the work of brave journalists — some of whom were killed becuase of that work.

Would it have been so hard to mention that 24 journalists were killed and anothuer 8 reporters are missing because of the drug lords?

Hell, I will bet damn few American journalists — except for a handful — know how dangerous Mexico is for our profession.

Maybe we can’t get folks in our profession to understand the links between Main Street and the rest of the world thanks to the bean counter mentality of local, local, local. But local now includes the world.

Does anyone really think the drugs these guys in Mexco process are being sold to Mexican in Mexico?

We owe a great debt to the brave journalists in Mexico who are risking their lives to expose the criminal society taking hold along our border. We also owe a debt to the Mexican government that is trying to get rid of this vermin.

Too bad it takes the dramatic shooting of a prominent figure to finally get the story up front.

How much you want to bet there will be little or no follow up in the American media?

Dan Kubiske

Statement by the International Federation of Journalists

May 08, 2008

IFJ and FEPALC Call for Investigation into Disappearance of Mexican Journalist

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its regional organization, FEPALC, today called on Mexican authorities to launch a full investigation into the disappearance of Jorge Carrasco Taracena, a journalist and reporter working for the television channel Televisa.

Carrasco Taracena was last seen on April 30, according to Televisa. He usually covered crime, police news and other local issues for the channel during the nighttime and early morning hours.

“Carrasco Taracena joins a list of at least 24 other dead and eight missing journalists in Mexico in the last eight years,” said Gregorio Salazar, Director of the IFJ Latin America Office, “a country which, in this sense, has shown the bleakest outlook for journalism on our continent.”

Recently an international joint mission of press freedom organizations and journalists visited Mexico to investigate the challenges journalists face as they are increasingly the victims of organized crime, corruption and official failure to punish their murderers. Journalists there also need more support from professional groups, other media and civil society to fight against the impunity that those responsible for attacks on their colleagues enjoy.

“The grave fears for what has happened to Jorge Carrasco,” said Manuel Méndez, president of FEPALC and a member of the Mexico mission, “come in a country, where the number of killed and missing journalists is not only the greatest in Latin America but also raises questions about the lack of alarm that official institutions are showing.”

The IFJ and FEPALC said they will not cease in their efforts until they can reverse the trend that has made Mexico one of the most dangerous countries for journalists in the world.

For more information contact the IFJ at + 32 2 235 2207

The IFJ represents overs 600.000 journalists in 120 countries worldwide

WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY EVENTS IN THE AMERICAS

(From the IFEX web site.)

The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) will be in Maputo, Mozambique as part of UNESCO’s official programme to talk about how community broadcasting is one of the best ways to reach the poorest and most marginalised. It will also present to the world its 14 principles for a democratic legislation on community broadcasting, which comes out of an investigation on best practices in 26 countries. You’ll be sure to hear the buzzwords “diversity”, “pluralism” and “access for all”. AMARC’s annual report on free expression and diversity in broadcasting in the Americas and the Caribbean, which reviews the situation in 10 countries, is also ready for your perusal. Email: gusgomez (@) chasque (.) apc (.) org or find all of these goodies here from 5 May: http://www.amarc.org/ or http://legislaciones.amarc.org/

The Centre for Informative Reports on Guatemala (CERIGUA) punches in with its 2007 report on free expression in Guatemala. On the surface, the situation seems to have improved since last year, with fewer violations reported. But that might be because reporters are keeping quiet to avoid experiencing the wrath of the “poderes paralelos”, or “parallel powers” – the groups involved in organised crime, the drug trade, human trafficking and other illicit activities – which have penetrated the small country and are the newest threat to free expression. Read about how they’ve made their mark in Guatemala and other parts of Latin America here: http://www.ifex.org/download/es/CERIGUA_Informe2007.doc

The Mexico branch of ARTICLE 19 will be releasing its annual report on attacks on the press in Mexico in May. The situation does not bode well, with at least 24 journalists and media workers killed in the past eight years, eight missing and dozens more threatened or attacked in the line of duty. An international mission made up of 11 international organisations, including a slew of IFEX members, just returned from a visit last week and found that organised crime, corruption, and the lack of political will and effective governments are the main threats to free expression – no doubt those findings will be reflected in the report. Look out for it at: http://www.article19.org

ARTICLE 19′s Brazil office will reveal the results of a questionnaire that got up close and personal with its local members. How would they describe the press freedom conditions in the country, and what are the main challenges of freely expressing themselves? For the answers, email: maira (@) article19 (.) org

Last March, BBC reporter Alan Johnston was kidnapped by a group of Palestinian militants while on assignment in Gaza. After 114 days and perhaps as many rallies around the world demanding his release, he was finally freed. What went through his head in those 114 days? What advice does he have for journalists working in the world’s hotspots? And how much of a role did we play in securing his release? Lucky Canadians can ask him themselves, because Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE), the Canadian Media Guild and the International Development Research Centre proudly present “Free to Express Himself”, an evening with Alan Johnston on 30 April in Toronto, his only public appearance in Canada. For details, see: http://tinyurl.com/6d5tyq

Which countries are among the deadliest for journalists and the worst at solving these murders? Colombia, Mexico, Russia and the Philippines are, according to a new “Impunity Index” by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). CPJ has found that justice is served in less than 15 percent of journalists’ murders, and that the absence of justice promotes a higher incidence of murder. Check out the index, being released especially for World Press Freedom Day, to see where your country ranks: http://www.cpj.org/impunityindex/index.html

Freedom House is launching its 2008 Freedom of the Press survey – which has evidently not good news to report, especially for the Arab world. This year, Freedom House is going big – literally. A 36-foot-wide version of its press freedom map will be unveiled at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on 29 April, and become part of the permanent collection. If the U.S. isn’t in your travel plans, bookmark Freedom House’s website to get the survey hot off the press (available from 29 April): http://www.freedomhouse.org/

Other IFEX member events:

- The Guatemalan Journalists’ Association (APG) pays tribute to the journalists who “gave their blood” to do their work: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/93292/

- Violence continues to be the greatest obstacle to freedom of the press in the Americas, with 20 journalists murdered since last 3 May, says the Inter American Press Association: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/93209/

Other events:

- The National Association of Peruvian Journalists (ANP) is holding a demo at UN Park in Lima on 3 May to pay tribute to journalists who have given their lives for their profession, including Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana, who was killed in the Gaza Strip this month. Live broadcast starting at 9am: http://www.cronicaviva.com.pe (click on the radio link on the upper right part of the page)

- ANP and the Colombian Journalists Federation (FECOLPER) are also launching a campaign against the use of taxpayer money to fund tools used to extort money from independent journalists. Contact: anp (@) amauta (.) rcp (.) net (.) pe

- The International Journalists’ Network (IJNet) wants to know what press freedom means to you. Post your comments here: http://tinyurl.com/6jg5oa

- The Association of Caribbean MediaWorkers takes on the sizeable task of raising free expression awareness in a region “in social and economic transition, challenged by changing global circumstances (and) impaired by a colonial legacy”: http://www.acmediaworkers.com

CHINA BARS ATTENDEES FROM FREE EXPRESSION CONFERENCE

How telling it is that a noted editor and a Danish sculptor were denied entry to Hong Kong to take part in a free expression in China conference organised for World Press Freedom Day.

The Hong Kong Journalists’ Association (HKJA) teamed up with the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), PEN, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and others to kick off the 100-day countdown to the Beijing Olympics with a four-day conference that would highlight their Olympian challenge: gaining free expression in China.

Zhang Yu, a Swedish-based editor and secretary-general of the Independent Chinese PEN Center who was due to chair one of the sessions, and Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot did not even make it out of the Hong Kong airport.

Galschiot’s “Pillar of Shame” is a memorial to the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

“The ironies in this situation are painful,” said Isobel Harry, executive director of PEN Canada. “Holding this conference in Hong Kong was to demonstrate that the Chinese people are ready, not only for the Olympics, but for freedom of expression.”

Zhang has twice in the past year been prevented from entering Beijing, and verbally accused of “endangering national security”. This time, he was held for 10 hours after he arrived in Hong Kong from Sweden via London, and then forced to turn around.

“They used various uncivilised means, including cheating (because they never intended to let me in) and threatening physical abuse to force me to leave the soil of my own country immediately, regardless of my request for time with my lawyer to challenge their decision in Hong Kong,” said Zhang.

“This is an obvious indication that the negative impact of the Beijing Olympics on Chinese citizens’ rights is increasing as the Games draw near.”

China, which remains the world’s biggest jailer of journalists, promised in its successful Olympic bid to ensure greater freedom of expression.

But any goodwill shown has been cancelled out by Beijing’s crackdown on dissent in recent weeks. Foreign journalists reporting from China are regularly harassed and even expelled – as witnessed in Tibet.

The situation is even worse in China, with at least 30 journalists in jail.

The most recent sentence was handed down to prominent human rights activist and blogger Hu Jia last month, who got three-and-a-half years in jail for speaking out about China’s escalating crackdown on dissent ahead of the Games. HKJA and IFJ have launched a petition demanding his release, which will be presented to the Chinese authorities on 12 May, Buddha’s birthday: http://tinyurl.com/6g65jc

Conference organisers grimly observed that China’s latest move “serves notice to those who believe that Hong Kong’s freedoms will have a positive influence on China, or that ‘engagement’ with China will magically convince the authorities to change their practices.”

Visit these links:

- WiPC/HKJA: http://tinyurl.com/6237r3

- WAN: http://www.wan-press.org/article17058.html

- WAN’s Free the Press in China World Press Freedom Day campaign:

http://www.worldpressfreedomday.org/

- PEN American Center: http://tinyurl.com/5xvu3b

- IFEX China page: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/147/

WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY EVENTS IN ASIA-PACIFIC

(From IFEX.)

No surprises that China is the focus of many IFEX members on World Press Freedom Day. 30 April marks 100 days before the launch of the world’s biggest sports event: the Olympic Games, kicking off in Beijing on 8 August. Hong Kong Journalists’ Association (HKJA) has teamed up with the International Federation of Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, PEN, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and others to start the countdown with “One Dream: Free Expression In China”. The four-day campaign, not coincidentally ending on 3 May, all happens in Hong Kong, to “reaffirm the freedoms that already exist in Hong Kong and raise the question of why (campaigns) cannot take place in Beijing nor anywhere else in the country,” says HKJA. Besides discussing the press freedom conditions foreign and local journalists encounter in China and Hong Kong, participants will also parade to the Chinese government on World Press Freedom Day to submit a petition and their recommendations, amid an exhibition and arts fair. Email: hkja (@) hkja (.) org (.) hk

“China holds a record no one can break,” says WAN. With at least 30 journalists and 50 cyber-dissidents in prison, China is the world’s largest jailer of journalists. Then there are the foreign journalists, who are regularly harassed and even expelled – remember Tibet? So this World Press Freedom Day, WAN had taken up what they call the real Olympic challenge: to “Free the Press in China!” They want to hold the Chinese authorities to their promise to improve human rights ahead of the Games. WAN is asking newspapers worldwide to show their support by publishing interviews, articles, cartoons and more, available free in six languages – English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, and of course, Chinese – at: http://www.worldpressfreedomday.org

Since the beginning of the year, there have been more than two dozen cases of violence against journalists in Sri Lanka – much of it at the hands of government officials. In not one case of attack or threat have the police taken action to bring the offenders to account. As part of its “Stop the War on Journalists in Sri Lanka” campaign, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is holding a silent march on 6 May. Starting at Buddha Statue in Viharamaha Devi Park in Colombo, the noiseless group will walk to the President’s office to demand immediate action against the war on the media. Look out for banners across Colombo that will be strategically hung around the city the day before. See: http://www.ifj-asia.org/

IFJ Asia-Pacific is also launching its annual South Asia press freedom report. This year’s theme is “Press Imprisoned”, for all those who ended up in jail for their professional media work. Most likely it will be a long list, considering recent events in Pakistan. The report will be available on IFJ’s new regional website on 3 May: http://www.ifj-asia.org/

Last year, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in Indonesia campaigned tirelessly to appeal the Supreme Court’s decision to make “Time” magazine cough up more than US$100 MILLION in damages to former President Suharto for a story that accused him and his family of amassing billions during his rule. Just this month, the government passed an Internet law that makes spreading defamatory information online punishable with up to six years in jail. So this World Press Freedom Day, AJI is tackling one of the biggest threats to press freedom in the country and the region – criminal defamation – in an international workshop on 9 and 10 May in Yogyakarta. Besides getting everyone to agree that it’s a problem, AJI hopes to build a regional network of activists, lawyers and anyone else to advocate for defamation reform. It’s off to a good start, with speakers lined up from a number of quality papers and unions from the neighbouring countries. Contact: sekretariat (@) ajiindonesia (.) org

As the rice (price) crisis dominates the headlines in the Philippines, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility is commemorating 3 May by devoting its May 2008 issue of “PJR (Philippine Journalism Review) Reports” to a critical and timely issue: the economic conditions of Filipino journalists, particularly those working in local communities. Check for its release here: http://www.cmfr.com.ph/_pjrreports/pjr_08.html

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is running with UNESCO’s official theme and is co-hosting a regional panel on access to information and empowerment of people on 2 May in Bangkok. Panellists include reps from CMFR, the independent news website Malaysiakini.com and the Thai Public Broadcasting Service. See: http://www.seapa.org . SEAPA’s Cambodian partner, the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ), will be doing the same but with a Cambodian twist in Phnom Penh on 4 May. Email: umsarin (@) hotmail (.) com

In Bangladesh, ARTICLE 19 and IFJ are teaming up with their local partners, including MassLine Media Centre (MMC) and Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC), on 3 and 4 May to give a leg up to free expression monitoring in the country. Women’s access to info is unquestionably on the agenda, with 64 female grassroots journalists attending. Contact: ifj (@) ifj-asia (.) org then check out: http://www.article19.org for a report

The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) in Australia knows that good food is the way to your pocketbook. That’s why it’s holding its annual press freedom dinner on 2 May under the theme “Breaking the Shackles”. All proceeds will go to the Alliance’s Safety and Solidarity Appeal, which raises funds to protect journalists and their families working in the dangerous Asia-Pacific region. Last year, a massive $60k was raised. While eating and giving, journalists and entertainers and thinkers will also get first glimpse of the MEAA’s 2008 press freedom report, and will find out how the new government compares to the old one, which was bent on controlling information last year. Look out for the report here: http://www.alliance.org.au/

Other IFEX member events:

- The Thai Journalists Association has come out with a meaty report that illustrates how Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej leads the way at discrediting the media. Email: reporter (@) inet (.) co (.) th and see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/93336/

- Caught in the throes of a civil war, the Free Media Movement in Sri Lanka says the media is under siege like never before: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/93215/

- The International Press Institute’s Nepal committee congratulates those journalists who got the news out during the recent constituent assembly elections: http://tinyurl.com/6x2m6c

Other events:

- The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) is organising a wreath laying at the shrine of press freedom hero Marcel H. Del Pilar in Quezon City at 8am on 3 May. Or you might like to come for a night of singing and jamming at “pa imPRESS ka JAM 2008″ at Freedom Bar at 8pm. Email: nujphil (@) gmail (.) com

- The Confederation of Mongolian Journalists is gathering more than 3,000 journalists, a member of parliament and several Mongolian pop stars in Ulaanbaatar to protest criminal media laws that can land journalists up to two years in jail. Contact: chuluun_d (@) mol (.) mn

- The Afghan Independent Journalists’ Association (AIJA) and the Committee to Protect Afghan Journalists (CPAJ) is protesting against Ulema scholars and media owners who have forced stations to stop broadcasting shows because they are “anti-Islamic”. Contact: ifj (@) ifj-asia (.) org

- The Association of Taiwan Journalists is celebrating its annual Journalists’ Day on 4 May, highlighting the recent battle Taiwanese journalists have been waging against the United Nations: because Taiwan isn’t part of the UN, its reporters don’t get accredited to cover UN events. Contact: journaly (@) ms10 (.) hinet (.) net

- The Centre for Independent Journalism in Malaysia hosted two days of talks on how women’s rights activists can use the media as a way to foment revolution, the mainstream media’s paltry performance in covering the national elections in March, and media laws that curb free expression: http://worldpressfreedomday.blogspot.com/

- The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists highlights that none of the nine journalists killed while working in Pakistan in the year leading up to 3 May had received specialist training for reporting in dangerous environments: http://pfuj.info/pfuj/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=171&Itemid=1

From the education of the youngest members of society to the full public engagement of citizens with their political leadership, access to information empowers each one of us to transform our lives and our communities.  Just as water is essential for life to grow, knowledge sustains our capacity to imagine and to change.  When information flows freely, people are equipped with tools to take control of their lives.  When the flow of information is hindered — whether for political or technological reasons — our capacity to function is stunted.

Sixty years ago, the drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declared in article 19 that the right of everyone to freedom of opinion and expression “includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.  As the rapid pace of globalization has strengthened the development of a free, pluralistic, independent and professional media, the significance of this right has never been more evident.  Technological advances have promoted media and information literacy as right for all to access equally.

A free, secure and independent media is one of the foundations of peace and democracy.  Attacks on freedom of the press are attacks against international law, against humanity, against freedom itself — against everything the United Nations stands for.  I am therefore all the more alarmed at the way journalists are increasingly being targeted around the world, and dismayed when such crimes are not thoroughly investigated and prosecuted.

On this World Press Freedom Day, and in this year when we mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I call on all societies to spare no effort in bringing to justice the perpetrators of attacks on journalists.  I pay tribute to all who work in difficult and dangerous conditions to provide us with free, unbiased information.  And I call on every one of us to work for the freedom — and the safety — of the press everywhere.