“Press freedom will be total,” promised Gen. Robert Gueï, Côte d’Ivoire’s new head of state. General Gueï, 58, who overthrew the government of President Henri Konan Bedie on Christmas Eve, made this announcement just hours after his nine-man junta imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in this west African country, historically noted for its political stability. However,…
After securing reelection in a hastily arranged January snap poll, President Nursultan Nazarbayev continued to consolidate his grip on the press by harassing independent and opposition media, covertly buying out some outlets, and attempting to put others out of business. Nazarbayev boasts that his regime privatized state-run media but generally fails to mention that most…
Among the increasingly authoritarian leaders of Central Asia, Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev is perceived as relatively democratic. At least publicly, Akayev has attempted to accommodate Western demands for improvements in the legal climate for media. Yet Kyrgyzstan’s small but feisty independent press is increasingly muzzled, and journalists say the Akayev administration is to blame. In…
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…
Poland became a member of NATO in April 1999 and looks forward to further integration with the West, including European Union membership in the next few years. The country has free and relatively professional media, but Poland’s positive press freedom record is marred by the government’s retention of criminal- libel statutes despite President Alexander Kwasniewski’s…
Political shakeouts and instability once again plagued Romania, complicating its hopes for admission to the European Union (EU). In December, President Emil Constantinescu effectively ousted Prime Minister Radu Vasile from the government and replaced his entire cabinet. Often blamed for the country’s continuing economic decline, Vasile was also evicted from the ruling Christian Democratic National…
“We have to protect the state from the media,” said Mikhail Lesin, the head of Russia’s new Ministry for the Press, Radio and Television Broadcasting, and Media Affairs, shortly after taking office in July. Coming in advance of the country’s legislative and presidential elections, it was a stunning statement of Kremlin intent. Lesin’s demonization of…
Slovak media function in an increasingly competitive market that has forced many newspapers and broadcasters out of business. Slovakia’s economic difficulties have put pressure on the advertising market, which is dominated by national dailies and magazines. The editorial policies of most media outlets are largely independent of the government and individual political parties, although business…
Attacks on the press, while still rife, have slowed down since the end in 1997 of Tajikistan’s five-year civil war, during which 29 journalists were murdered in the line of duty. But the government has found other means to keep a tight lid on the press. Throughout the year, the government of President Imomali Rakhmonov…
While the government of Prime Minister Basdeo Panday pressured journalists to cover only the positive aspects of national life, several violent incidents highlighted the adversarial relationship between officialdom and the press. The Panday government established the National Broadcasting Network (NBN), which unites various state-owned television and radio stations into a single corporate entity. Panday urged…