Freedom Forum will publish its annual report on Tuesday April 29. The Economist has had a look at it in advance and writes that ”the ex-communist countries show the biggest relative decline in media freedom in the world.”
The drop is larger than in Asia, Africa and Latin America, not exactly strongholds of freedom.
Latvia’s score slips from 19 to 21, after the government put pressure on public television to cover Russia in a less critical manner. I wrote about one such example here.
Slovakia’s falls from 20 to 22, Poland’s from 22 to 24 and Slovenia’s from 21 to 23.
One important reason for this development is widening regulation of the media. Slovakia has just passed a law that will give anyone mentioned in an article the right to an equally prominent rebuttal, that cannot be accompanied by editorial comment.
Across the former Soviet bloc insult laws are being used to intimidate the media. In Bulgaria defamation of public figures is considered a crime. In Russia and other countries in the region journalists can be sued for offending somebody’s honour and dignity. When I was a correspondent in Russia dozens of this kind of proceedings took place every other week.
It was never ordinary people who pursued these actions, it was powerful politicians and business people.
In Bulgaria 60 cases went to court in 2006, and a further 100 in 2007.
The Economist writes that the constitutional court in Romania just restored a tough defamation law that criminalises ”insult”.
The paper quotes US ambassador to Romania Nicholas Taubman who has called on the legislators to ”strengthen their own accountability… rather than try to hamper the efforts of a free media to exercise its legitimate role in Romania, either through criminalising journalistic efforts or otherwise intimidating independent media.”
The development in Eastern Europe is another sign that we need a consolidated effort to fight ”insult” laws around the world. As the examples indicate these laws are being used to silence critical voices.
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1 Comment
1. Balder:“The development in Eastern Europe is another sign that we need a consolidated effort to fight ”insult” laws around the world. As the examples indicate these laws are being used to silence critical voices.”
I agree with Mr. Rose on this one.
And the whole report on the problems with freedom of the press in Eastern Europe is depressing.
But before we praise ourselves (some countries in the West) for not having these problems, I think there are some other aspects of press freedom we ought to consider.
The report addresses the effects of government interference and legislation.
But there are other ways in which the so called free press in the West, and here I will use Denmark as an example, acts in a way which produces very similar results.
Just a few days ago the Lisbon Treaty was signed in Denmark.
Anyone who is familiar with the content of this document, and its implications, will know that signing this agreement has very far reaching consequences.
But the Danish press has in no way been trying the least to enlighten the public about these consequences, and what this treaty really means.
In Denmark both news papers and TV stations have been talking day after day about minor issues; a minister who allegedly spent a little too much on wine and cigarettes with taxpayer money, the fate of a handful of Iraqi asylum seekers in the Danish system, and scores of other stories of only very limited interest,importance and consequence. These stories have been discussed and dissected by the media for hours on end.
About the far reaching consequences of the Lisbon Treaty, they have been silent as a grave.
Why?
Well, almost all politicians, except the slightly nationalist Danish People’s Party and the tiny fringe Marxist party Enhedslisten all agree on the virtues of the European Union and its progress, and so do almost all journalists, TV stations and newspapers!
On the internet and in the blogosphere, there have been published scores of well documented articles about the implications of the Lisbon treaty. Almost none of this has found its way to the main stream media.
There is an almost total blackout on this issue, on which the elite of journalists, media and politicians seem to agree completely.
By contrast at least 50 % of the population is skeptical about giving more power to the EU bureaucracy.
Now where does this leave the western press, compared to the eastern European media?
The practical result is exactly the same. Important news is deliberately being kept away from the public.
This tendency can be seen not only in Denmark, but in most other European countries as well.
While in the Eastern European countries legislation may be the problem, what we see in the west is a silent agreement between the ruling political elites and the media; a clear conspiracy.
In the light of these reality, I think the great concern about freedom of the press in Eastern Europe, no matter how real and serious this problem may be, in fact is just another distraction, used to black out the democratic problem we have in the West.
Consider reading some of the articles where the deliberate attempts from politicians and media to hide the truth about the coming undemocratic super state are being exposed listed here:
http://balder.org/eu
Apr 27, 2008 - 11:00 amhttp://euro-med.dk
http://wiseupjournal.com/ (The Irish Referendum Campaign)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4291770489472554607&hl=en