John Emerson

While press freedom is generally respected in Slovenia, a brutal attack against one journalist and the potential prosecution of another have raised some concerns about the government’s commitment to protecting the press. Miro Petek, a journalist for the Maribor daily Vecer, Slovenia’s second-largest newspaper, was attacked outside his home in the small town of Mezica…

Throughout the year, a volatile political situation and a destitute economy made survival the media’s primary goal. Although a peace agreement ended the country’s 2-year-old civil war in October 2000, tension pervaded the country, with two ethnic militia groups–the Isatabu Freedom Movement and the Malaita Eagle Force (MEF)–remaining heavily armed.

The so-called failed state syndrome hampered efforts to reunite Somalia, wracked by inter-clan warfare since 1991. Although the year began with news that the economy was slowly recovering, it ended with a bleak United Nations assessment that Somalia was on the brink of an economic collapse unmatched in its modern history.

While the South African media is widely respected throughout the continent, the South African government’s attitude to press freedom is riddled with contradictions. On one hand, the Promotion of Access to Information Act, which went into effect in March, granted citizens access to any personal information held by the state and private entities. The authorities…

During 2001, a state crackdown on alleged financial misconduct by the country’s major media companies further embittered already contentious relations between President Kim Dae Jung and the South Korean press. In January, the president stated that “it is incumbent upon the news media to practice fair and balanced reporting with responsible criticism.” Only weeks later,…

While press freedom is generally respected in Spain, CPJ has been extremely concerned about a series of violent attacks against journalists and media professionals carried out by the Basque separatist group ETA during the last several years. In 2001, ETA continued its terrorist campaign against the press, maiming Basque journalist Gorka Landaburu with a letter…

Sri Lanka’s mettlesome media endured another year of extraordinary political volatility. Although the administration of President Chandrika Kumaratunga finally lifted onerous censorship regulations and eased restrictions preventing journalists from reporting fully on the country’s long-running civil war, journalists were still routinely threatened and harassed for their reporting. Impunity for crimes against journalists continued to be…

Sudan’s independent and opposition newspapers occasionally feature lively coverage of local political affairs, but the government quickly stifles discussion when the press becomes too bold. Coverage of topics such as the 18-year civil war, government corruption or mismanagement, or other official misdeeds has triggered arrests, prosecutions, and censorship, and has led to a rise in…

President Ronald Venetiaan, leader of a moderate coalition of ethnic parties, proved as respectful of press freedom as journalists had hoped when he took office in August 2000. Since then, no major abuses have been reported in this former Dutch colony of less than half a million inhabitants. Under the previous government, journalists were routinely…

Absolute ruler King Mswati III learned just how small the global village can be when he signed a June 22 media decree that was immediately denounced by human rights organizations and governments worldwide. Decree No. 2 made it a seditious offense, punishable with a 10-year jail term, to “impersonate, insult, ridicule, or put into contempt”…