The Irony Of Holding Media Summit In Doha

One has to wonder at the senise of humor of the people who decided that holding summit on the future of the media and press freedom in Doha Qutar.

Qatari authorities arrest another European TV crew

A BBC crew was arrested in Qatar on 2 May for filming Nepali workers without permission, becoming the second European TV crew to be arrested in the space of a few weeks for trying to cover the conditions of migrant workers in the run-up to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Reporter Mark Lobel said no charge was brought against him and the three other members of his crew, but they had to spend two nights in prison and their equipment was not returned.
The BBC crew was invited on a tour organized by the government to show improvements in conditions for migrant workers. Saif al-Thani, the head of the government’s press office, said they broke the law because they entered a workers’ camp without permission, thereby trespassing on private property.
After being released, the BBC crew was finally able to leave Qatar on 10 May. The German TV crew that was arrested on 27 March also had its equipment confiscated.

These journalists were detained for investigating the appalling working conditions for those working to construct facilities for the 2022 World Cup.

Somehow below statement doesn't quite inspire confidence about protecting journalists when the government hosting the event tightly controls the country's media.   

The urgent need to protect journalists - and the future of their profession - will be the focus of two events in Doha this week.

Do journalists need protections which ensure their ability to work without fear of censorship, arrest or death? Of course. Yet, like Doha the previous two summits were held, first in Beijing and the second in Moscow neither having an exemplary record when it comes to protecting a working free press.

  

  

World press freedom index 2014: Reporters WIthout Borders

 

  Reporters Without Borders released their annual press freedom index: Japan ranked at 59 dropping six places

Censorship of Fukushima

Arrests, home searches, interrogation by the domestic intelligence agency and threats of judicial proceedings – who would have thought that covering the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster would have involved so many risks for Japan’s freelance journalists? The discrimination against freelance and foreign reporters resulting from Japan’s unique system of Kisha clubs, whose members are the only journalists to be granted government accreditation, has increased since Fukushima.

Often barred from press conferences given by the government and TEPCO (the Fukushima nuclear plant’s owner), denied access to the information available to the mainstream media (which censor themselves), freelancers have their hands tied in their fight to cover Japan’s nuclear industrial complex, known as the “nuclear village.” Now that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has tightened the legislation on “state secrets,” their fight will get even more dangerous.

The 2014 World Press Freedom Index spotlights the negative impact of conflicts on freedom of information and its protagonists. The ranking of some countries has also been affected by a tendency to interpret national security needs in an overly broad and abusive manner to the detriment of the right to inform and be informed. This trend constitutes a growing threat worldwide and is even endangering freedom of information in countries regarded as democracies. Finland tops the index for the fourth year running, closely followed by Netherlands and Norway, like last year. At the other end of the index, the last three positions are again held by Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea, three countries where freedom of information is non-existent. Despite occasional turbulence in the past year, these countries continue to be news and information black holes and living hells for the journalists who inhabit them. This year’s index covers 180 countries, one more than last year. The new entry, Belize, has been assigned an enviable position (29th). Cases of violence against journalists are rare in Belize but there were some problems: defamation suits involving demands for large amounts in damages, national security restrictions on implementation of the Freedom of Information Act and sometimes unfair management of broadcast frequencies.

Killing The Messenger -video

Murder is the leading cause of work-related deaths for journalists as censorship increases worldwide. Journalists have been killed, attacked, kidnapped, or forced into exile because of their coverage of war, crime and corruption.

In 2006, UN resolution 1738, which demanded greater safety for journalists in conflict areas, was passed. Since then, over 600 news media workers have been killed, while more have been imprisoned or disappeared while on the job. Countless others have been intimidated into self-censorship or have gone into exile.

Journalists reporting from Mexico, Russia and the conflict zones of Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria tell their personal stories of kidnapping, intimidation, and beatings. They have experienced the loss of colleagues in the field and have been close to death themselves.

It isn't just countries involved with armed conflict in the Philippines 34 journalists were killed in the Maguindanao massacre

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called the Maguindanao massacre the single deadliest event for journalists in history.[5] At least 34 journalists are known to have died in the massacre.[6] In a statement, CPJ executive director Joel Simon noted that the killings, "appears to be single deadliest event for the press since 1992, when CPJ began keeping detailed records on journalist deaths."[5] The CPJ further noted that, "Even as we tally the dead in this horrific massacre, our initial research indicates that this is the deadliest single attack on the press ever documented by CPJ."[5] Even before the Maguindanao massacre, the CPJ had labeled the Philippines the second most dangerous country for journalists, second only to Iraq

Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index 2014

Press freedom or lack there of in Asia.

Japan ranked 59 in this years index for issues such as these:

Censorship of Fukushima

 

Arrests, home searches, interrogation by the domestic intelligence agency and threats of judicial proceedings – who would have thought that covering the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster would have involved so many risks for Japan’s freelance journalists? The discrimination against freelance and foreign reporters resulting from Japan’s unique system of Kisha clubs, whose members are the only journalists to be granted government accreditation, has increased since Fukushima.

Often barred from press conferences given by the government and TEPCO (the Fukushima nuclear plant’s owner), denied access to the information available to the mainstream media (which censor themselves), freelancers have their hands tied in their fight to cover Japan’s nuclear industrial complex, known as the “nuclear village.” Now that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has tightened the legislation on “state secrets,” their fight will get even more dangerous.

South Korea ranked 57

In South Korea, independent journalists Kim Ou-joon and Choo Chin-woo were accused of broadcasting “false information” and “defamatory content” about President Park Geun-hye’s brother and father in their satirical podcast “Naneun Ggomsuda.”

South Korea has laws which make it illegal to defame the President.  That covers everything from straight up reporting to using satire to lampoon the President.  It's also illegal to rebroadcast or publish material from North Korea even when used in a comedic skit or writings.

China ranked 175

CHINESE BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING, AND 

EXPORTING ITS METHODS

In a speech shortly after his appointment as Communist Party general secretary in November 2012, Xi Jinping addressed journalists directly: “Friends from the press, China needs to learn more about the world, and the world also needs to learn more about China. I hope you will continue to make more efforts and contributions to deepening the mutual understanding between China and the countries of the world."

Woe to any journalist who thought he was saying “Describe China’s stark realities” when what he really meant was “Follow the Party’s propaganda to the letter!” Since the speech, the authorities have arrested more journalists and bloggers, cracked down harder on cyber-dissidents, reinforced online content control and censorship and stepped up restrictions on the foreign media.

Embarrassing officials or exposing corruption means risking public condemnation. Luo Changping, a journalist who was forced to leave Caijing magazine in November, Liu Hu, a New Express reporter who was arrested for disseminating “false information”, and the New York Times newspaper are among the recent examples of journalists and news media that have been punished for investigative reporting. Human rights activists and dissident bloggers such as Xu Zhiyongand Yang Maodong (also known as Guo Feixiong), who were jailed on trumped-up charges are among those who paid a high price in the past year.

The daily “directives” to the traditional media from the Department of Propaganda, the constant online censorship, the growing number of arbitrary arrests and the detention of the largest number of journalists and netizens in the world (including 2010 Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo) have made China a model of censorship and repression. Adoption of the model is unfortunately spreading in the region.

Vietnam has stepped by information control to the point of being close to catching up with its Chinese big brother. Independent news providers are subject to enhanced Internet surveillance, draconian directives, waves of arrests andsham trials. Vietnam continues to be the world’s second largest prison for bloggers and netizens. Of the 34 bloggers currently detained, 25 were arrested since Nguyen Phu Trong became the party’s general secretary in January 2011.

The party took censorship to a new level in September 2013 when it issued Decree 72 banning the use of blogs and social networks to share information about news developments. It shows that the party is waging an all-out offensive against the new-generation Internet, which it sees as a dangerous counterweight to the domesticated traditional media.