http://www.ifex.org/international/2010/01/05/bilan_2009_gb_bd.pdf
30 December 2009 - Two appalling events marked 2009: one was
the largest ever massacre of journalists in a single day a total of 30
killed by the private militia of a governor in the southern Philippines
and the other was an unprecedented wave of arrests and convictions of
journalists and bloggers in Iran following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's
disputed reelection.
A total of around 160 journalists in all continents were forced to go into
exile to escape prison or death, often in very dangerous circumstances. The
Iranian press photographers crossing the Turkish border to escape arrest or
the Somali radio journalists fleeing to neighbouring countries to avoid
certain death had all reported essential news and information that some
people would go to any lengths to suppress.
Wars and elections constituted the chief threat to journalists in 2009. It
is becoming more and more risky to cover wars as journalists themselves are
being targeted and face the possibility of being murdered or kidnapped. But
it can turn out to be just as dangerous to do your job as a reporter at
election time and can lead directly to prison or hospital. Violence before
and after elections was particularly prevalent in 2009 in countries with
poor democratic credentials.
No one should be surprised that, as bloggers and websites continue to
flourish, censorship and repression have surged proportionately. There is
almost no country nowadays that has entirely escaped this phenomenon. As
soon as the Internet or new media (social networking, mobile phones, etc)
start to play a leading role in the spread of news and information, a
serious clampdown follows. Bloggers are now watched as closely as
journalists from the traditional media.
Our major concern in 2009 has been the mass exodus of journalists from
repressive countries such as Iran and Sri Lanka. The authorities in these
countries have understood that by pushing journalists into exile, they can
drastically reduce pluralism of ideas and the amount of criticism they
attract. "This is a dangerous tendency and it must be very strongly
condemned," Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François
Julliard said as this review of 2009 was released.
For more information:
Reporters Without Borders
47, rue Vivienne
75002 Paris
France
rsf (@) rsf.org
Phone: +33 1 44 83 84 84
Fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51
http://www.rsf.org