John Emerson

Mozambique has changed radically from the days of official censorship and state media control. Since the end of the 17-year civil war between the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) government and the Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) rebel movement in 1992 and the subsequent multiparty elections in 1994, the country has made considerable strides toward democracy–not least…

Namibia’s reputation as a role model for press freedom in southern Africa, thanks largely to its liberal constitution, took another beating in 1999, as both domestic and foreign conflict had negative repercussions on local media. In January, Prime Minister Hage Geingob admitted in a letter to the independent daily Namibian that the Ministry of Defense…

Journalists in Nepal are generally free to report without government interference–unless they choose to cover the country’s four-year-old Maoist insurgency, the most serious crisis facing the state. In the government’s zeal to put down the guerrilla movement, authorities have targeted journalists who report on rebel activities, or who work for publications seen as sympathetic to…

A tense political tug-of-war between government and the press continued as a recalcitrant executive branch persisted in using its power to punish critical media. Relations between the Nicaraguan press and President Arnoldo Alemán have long been strained. Journalists charge that Alemán tends to impede access, particularly to journalists investigating his personal conduct and alleging that…

Niger’s journalists won praise from international observers for maintaining objectivity in a volatile political environment. Following the April 9 assassination of strongman Ibrahim Bare Mainassara by soldiers under the command of Maj. Daouda Mallam Wanke, local independent media joined forces with nongovernmental organizations, political parties, and international bodies to urge an immediate return to democratic…

Following national and presidential elections in February, decades of military rule ended with the installation of a new civilian government on May 29, headed by President Olusegun Obasanjo. Both in Nigeria and abroad, expectations ran high that the dark days of repression under former dictator Gen. Sani Abacha were finally over. However, the transition to…

Despite North Korea’s professed commitment in 1999 to pursuing a course of modernization, the country remained as isolated as ever, maintaining a stringently controlled system to restrict freedom of speech, the press, and any form of unregulated cultural activity. As a result, there was almost no independent scrutiny of Communist leader Kim Jong Il’s stern…

Former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s efforts to muzzle the press, and bring the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government under his personal control, earned him the reputation of a tyrant and badly discredited Pakistan’s democracy. His slide toward authoritarianism ended abruptly with a bloodless coup on October 12, in which army chief Gen.…

A roller-coaster year for the Panamanian press began with a flurry of prosecutions under the country’s infamous “gag laws.” After the outgoing government tried to strengthen the gag laws under the pretense of reforming them, the year ended with the new government repealing some of the gag laws’ most onerous provisions. In the 20 years…

Among many Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, the optimism that accompanied the establishment of Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian National Authority (PNA) six years ago appears to have given way to disillusionment. Widespread corruption within the PNA, its perceived failure in negotiating a just peace, and worsening economic conditions for much of the population…