John Emerson

Mirroring the larger society, the Nigerian media were severely fractured along ethnic and regional lines in 2001, although mainstream news outlets remained economically robust, dynamic, and politically outspoken. Throughout the year, a host of new publications hit newsstands, many of them in local languages. In the Christian-dominated south, private radio and television stations expanded their…

Under the totalitarian rule of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the press is nothing but a government propaganda instrument. One political observer noted that the only variation in the country’s media is the relative degree of vitriol directed against South Korea, Japan, and the United States, calibrated to suit the foreign policy priorities of…

Working as a journalist in Pakistan has long been a tricky business, and the threats only intensified after September 11, when the military government repudiated the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and then Islamist militant groups at home in order to align itself with the United States in a global “war on terror.”

As the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, entered its second year, Palestinian National Authority (PNA) chairman Yasser Arafat appeared to be fighting for his own survival amidst escalating Israeli military attacks and intense diplomatic pressure from the United States. Despite the PNA’s precarious situation and increasing alienation from the population at large, the PNA showed that…

During 2001, Government officials proposed legislation to toughen repressive press laws, castigated local journalists and media outlets, and prosecuted them for criminal defamation. Panama’s so-called gag laws include a range of articles, laws, and decrees–many promulgated under military governments–that criminalize criticism of public officials and permit prior censorship. In December 1999, following a pledge to…

Although the Papua New Guinean press remains one of the freest in the Pacific, political unrest in 2001 led to several violent episodes in which journalists were attacked. With the exception of Papua New Guinea’s largest radio broadcaster, the state-run National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC), all media outlets are privately owned. Of the three major newspapers,…

Journalists in Paraguay face one of the region’s most difficult working environments, in which threats, attacks, and criminal defamation lawsuits occur frequently. Throughout 2001, the Paraguayan press remained sharply divided between the ruling Colorado Party and the opposition Liberal Party. The press does cover official corruption, but media owners’ allegiances to powerful politicians and businessmen,…

Press freedom conditions improved markedly in Peru during 2001. The victory of centrist Alejandro Toledo, who beat leftist candidate Alan García in the June 3 runoff presidential elections, brought democracy back to Peru, a country that suffered 10 years of authoritarian rule under former president Alberto K. Fujimori.

Despite a tumultuous political culture plagued by corruption, social unrest, poverty, and ethnic conflict, the Philippines steadfastly adheres to a tradition of free expression that makes it one of the most open societies in Asia. The constitution guarantees press freedom, and few government regulations control the print or broadcast media. The Philippine press proved stronger…

Scandal mongering and mudslinging blackened the images of both politicians and the press in 2001, particularly during the run-up to September’s parliamentary elections. The first scandal erupted in January after Rzeczpospolita, a leading Warsaw daily, published a series of investigative pieces on official corruption. Justice Minister Lech Kaczynski accused the paper of conspiring with the…