President Joaquim Chissano, restricted by constitutional term limits, announced that he would not seek reelection in 2004. This was unusual in southern Africa, where leaders such as Frederick Chiluba of Zambia and Sam Nujoma of Namibia have indulged in constitutional manipulation in an attempt to stay in power.
Journalists and press freedom advocates from around the world attended a UNESCO conference on press freedom held in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, on May 3, World Press Freedom Day. The conference celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Windhoek Declaration, which affirmed that a free and pluralistic press is essential for democratic government.
A year of extraordinary violence and political upheaval severely strained Nepal’s young democracy and posed profound challenges for the country’s media. Scores of journalists were detained after the declaration of emergency regulations in November, and 17 remained in prison at year’s end. The first major crisis for the press in 2001 began on June 1,…
During his last year in office, President Arnoldo Alemán continued to show intolerance and hostility toward the press. His administration supported a law requiring compulsory registration for journalists and doled out state advertising to punish or reward media outlets, depending on their coverage.
Two years ago, Niger’s media ombudsman judged the local press healthy. In 2001, that assessment seemed optimistic at best. Journalists in this vast, impoverished country remained at odds with the administration of President Mamadou Tandja. In January, three local media rights groups accused public authorities of “suffocating the press.” The Niger Press Association (ANEPI), the…
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…