Civility by Decree: Comparing Rwanda
Hate speech can have dangerous consequences in any society dominated by the politics of identity. During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, for example, the state-controlled Radio Television des Milles Collines (RTLM) urged its Hutu listeners to exterminate all perceived ethnic Tutsis. RTLMÕs broadcasts were considered instrumental in instigating the slaughter of between 500,000 and one…
Civility by Decree: The view from Kosovo
Kosovar journalists interviewed in Pristina this month, however, were almost unanimously in favor of press regulation. “We need rules for what is news and what is a lie,” says Baton Haxhiu, the editor of Pristina’s most respected daily, Koha Ditore. Haxhiu is voting with his feet, having recently agreed to serve on the Media Policy…
1999 Press Freedom Awards – Speeches
María Cristina Caballero, Colombia In July of 1997, I covered a terrible massacre in the town of Mapirip‡n. Right wing paramilitaries cut many of the inhabitants into pieces during five days. As I was leaving, a very old man without shoes ran to me and said, “Wait! Wait!” He told me, “All of my sons…
Introduction
Since March 24, when NATO began its bombing campaign in Yugoslavia, CPJ has been monitoring conditions facing journalists covering the conflict. CPJ’s latest update reports on the death of two German journalists, a sniper attack on British journalists in Kosovo, and the fact the Albanian-language newsapaper Koha Ditore is being distributed inside Kosovo.(updated June 23,…
News on Yugoslavia
1999 17-June-99 CPJ update: Correspondents Shot in Kosovo; Yugoslav Army Harassment Continues in Montenegro; While Exiled Daily Distributes in Pristina. British journalists injured in Kosovo attack 14-June-99 CPJ Update:German Journalists Killed in Kosovo 09-June-99 CPJ Update: Two Journalists Escape, While One Faces Trial in Yugoslavia 12-May-99 CPJ Update: Journalists Caught in the Crossfire 27-April-99 CPJ Update: Milosevic regime tightens…
Propaganda War in Serbia
“When the bombs began falling in Yugoslavia on March 24, the seven Serb journalists who happened to be visiting our offices in New York during a tour of the United States all ran for the phones. They were worried about the families they had left behind, but they also feared for the survival of Serbia’s…
Radio Station Director Vows to Revive Her News Operation
“During a visit to CPJ’s New York office on April 19, Kosovar Albanian journalist Aferdita Kelmendi described how Serbian paramilitaries forced her to leave Pristina on March 29 after she had hidden for five days in various places throughout the city. ÒWe knew that, as journalists, we would be a target,Ó said Kelmendi, who served…
118 Journalists Imprisoned in 25 Countries
Washington, D.C., March 25 — The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported today in its annual worldwide study of press freedom that at least 118 journalists were in prison in 25 countries at the end of 1998, and 24 journalists in 17 countries were murdered during the year in reprisal for their reporting.
Report on Chilean Injustices Spurs More of the Same
“Investigative reporter Alejandra Matus spent six years researching The Black Book of Chilean Justice. But her book, a historical exposé of the judiciary’s lack of independence, spent less than two days on Chilean bookshelves: On April 14, police confiscated its entire press run at the order of a Santiago Appeals Court judge. That same day,…