The state of freedom of the press in the world in a series of tweets

31 comments on “The state of freedom of the press in the world in a series of tweets ”

• Comments are now closed

1. karol 1

   12 January 2015 at 10:28 am

   Well spotted. I woke to Al Jazeera’s coverage of the march this morning. I was saddened that other violence and press censorship doesn’t get so much opposition and news coverage.
   • tracey 1.1

     12 January 2015 at 2:11 pm

     sadly the media are at their most ardent and vigilant when their own are attacked… remember Andrea Vance’s treatment prompted some outrage…
     • Murray Rawshark 1.1.1

       12 January 2015 at 3:18 pm

       And world leaders are at their most ardent when they can make a statement against Islam. I don’t see a good ending to any of this.
       • tracey 1.1.1.1

         12 January 2015 at 3:34 pm

         I cant see a good end for the poor of the world, the oppressed of the world, the women and children of Africa, middle east and other nations closer to home…

         this is being used as a big old excuse by some powerful nations… to do what exactly??
2. Karen 2

   12 January 2015 at 10:36 am

   Fantastic post Mickey. When I first heard of the world representatives marching for press freedom I was appalled at the hypocrisy of some of those marching.

   The tweets listing the various atrocities is very chilling. i
   • mickysavage 2.1

     12 January 2015 at 10:50 am

     It is quite an art form to construct a narrative out of a series of tweets. The 140 characters applies real discipline on the style of writing. One series I previously posted on was Giovanni Tiso’s series on dirty politics (http://thestandard.org.nz/giovanni-tiso-on-dirty-politics/)
     • Karen 2.1.1

       12 January 2015 at 11:03 am

       Yes, Giovanni Tiso’s writing is always brilliant, whether it is twitter or his blog.

       I have been trying to wean myself off reading twitter because I have been spending too much time on it, but there is no way I will stop reading Tiso every day.
   • weka 2.2

     12 January 2015 at 10:55 am

     “Fantastic post Mickey”

     +1

     this is why despite its limitations social media is awesome and a saving grace.

     Just hoping there is no-one from the National govt there.
     • tracey 2.2.1

       12 January 2015 at 2:13 pm

       poor JK, probably still sulking that Obama ditched their golf game…
3. Ad 3

   12 January 2015 at 11:22 am

   Pathetic journalists expecting that irony will help anything like something out of America World Police. Levelling the charge “hypocrisy” at a political leader lets everyone off the hook.

   – The journalist can say “job done”.
   – Politician doesn’t give a damn, fronts the media spectacle – job done.
   – The public viewing the spectacle of news shrugs and goes – told ya so. Job done.
   Get me another beer will ya honey?

   I don’t think people are naming yet how different this European response is to either the 9/11 U.S. soil attack responses, or the London bombings, or indeed the Spanish train bomb.

   No-one of course is yet proposing joining hands around the Pentagon and chant until it levitates, to be sure. (Been tried a few years ago anyway).

   But this is a different kind of response.
   Sure it’s orchestrated for media. (Duh!).
   Sure the values of all participants, including politicians, are uneven ( well duh!)

   A real question is: unlike the last ten good-sized crises, can the left build on this 1.5m march and make it a project that changes things for good?

   Only the cynical and the journalists rule it out.
   • Colonial Rawshark 3.1

     12 January 2015 at 1:48 pm

     The march was organised by the power elite, as a photo op for the power elite, in order to reinforce the narrative of the power elite.

     What exactly do you think the Left should “build on”?
     • Ad 3.1.1

       12 January 2015 at 2:14 pm

       They should build on the (twisted, compromised) conscience and greed of the power elite. That’s what we usually do.
4. Ross 4

   12 January 2015 at 1:58 pm

   Oops. Forgot, British Government smashing Guardian computers over Snowden leak. Oh, and detaining Greenwalds partner. Anyone from America there? Snowden, Chelsea Manning, James Risen, Aaron Swarz. Funny how condemnation falls on the most obvious culprits. Seems we’re still blind to some countries where arbitrary arrest, imprisonment, torture and death can befall those who speak the truth. Like, America and Britain.
   • tracey 4.1

     12 January 2015 at 2:14 pm

     but that is different, isnt greenwald a “henchman”, not a journalist?

     http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11324113
   • weka 4.2

     12 January 2015 at 2:17 pm

     Actually the British government oversaw the Guardian smashing its own computers. Nothing so tawdry as doing the smashing themselves 😉

     Detaining Greenwald’s partner was particularly shameful.

     Am wondering now if any govt should have representatives at the rally.
     • Murray Rawshark 4.2.1

       12 January 2015 at 3:21 pm

       I can’t think of one that deserves to be there for the stated reasons. If what they’re marching for is an Axis against Islam, yeah, but they’re not there for press freedom.
   • Colonial Rawshark 4.3

     12 January 2015 at 3:58 pm

     Julian Assange.
     • Ross 4.3.1

       12 January 2015 at 5:43 pm

       Indeed, CR. You prompted me to look, so I did. As in the original list of tweets we condemn the usual suspects. In response I listed the usually cited victims of oppression. But there have been others. What started as a fact check became some ghastly responsibility to record, one by one, each individual act of State sanctioned terror on American and British journalists over the last few years. These are ordinary working journalists and photographers going about their lawful duty to observe, record and report. These were important events like Occupy Wall Street, Earth Day and NATO demonstrations, and the Ferguson shootings. Arrested. Assaulted. Detained. For being journalists. I list them below, each to their own line so they don’t get absorbed into a category: Arrested Journalist, that can be used as a label to dismiss them. Each to their own line because each is a death, the end of our freedom.

       Kristyna Wentz-Graff
       Lucy Kafanov
       Ryan Harvey
       JA Meyerson
       Keith Gessen
       Julia Reinhart
       Molly Crabapple
       John Bolger
       John Farley
       Natasha Lennard
       Kristen Gwynne
       Stephanie Keith
       Marisa Holmes
       Bob Plain
       Peter Harris
       Jonathan Meador
       Malina Chavez-Shannon
       Jonathan Foster
       Ian Grahan
       Susie Cagle
       Alisen Redmond
       Judith Kim
       Stephanie Pharr
       Katelyn Ferral
       Josh Davis
       Julie Walker
       Jared Malsin
       Jennifer Weiss
       Matthew Lysiak
       Karen Matthews
       Seth Wenig
       Justin Bishop
       Patrick Hedlund
       Paul Lomax
       Doug Higginbotham (working for TVNZ)
       Peter Harris (again)
       Faith Laugier
       Mark Taylor Canfield
       Yasha Levine
       Tyson Heder
       Calvin Milam
       Matthew Hamill
       Carla Murphy
       John Knefel
       Nick Isebella
       Justin Wedes
       Paul Sullivan
       Lorenzo Serna
       Jeff Smith
       Charles Meacham
       Renée Renata Bergan
       Stanley W. Rogouski
       Victoria Soble
       Zach Roberts
       Jennifer Dworkin
       Elizabeth Arce
       Alexander Arbuckle
       Adam Katz
       Susie Cagle
       Gavin Aronsen
       John Osborn
       Vivian Ho
       Kristin Hanes
       Yael Chanoff
       Kim Beavers
       Christina Kay
       Luke Rudkowski
       Carlos Miller
       Jerry Nelson
       Alex Darocy
       Bradley Stuart Allen
       Jacquie Kubin
       Elizabeth Arce
       Shawn Carrié
       Steve Rhodes
       Daniel Arauz
       Jessica Chornesky
       Jenna Lane
       Amber Lyon
       Kenneth Lipp
       Maximilian Braverman
       Joshua Lott
       Taylor Hall
       Jess E. Hadden
       Scott Olson
       Kerry Picket
       Ryan Reilly
       Wesley Lowery
       Ansgar Graw
       Frank Herrman
       Lukas Hermsmeier
       Ryan Devereaux
       Coulter Loeb
       Robert Klemko
       Rob Crilly
       Neil Munshi
       Denise Reese
       Trey Yingst
       Mary Moore
       Bassem Masri
       Bilgin Şaşmaz
       Tom Walters
       Pearl Gabel
       Matthew Giles
       Ryan Frank
       Antonio French
       Umar Lee
       Alan Lodge
       Ben Gibson
       David Hoffman
       John Warburton
       Nick Cobbing
       John Fraser Williams
       Roddy Mansfield
       Simon Chapman
       Ben Edwards
       Ursuala Wills Jones
       Justin Cooke
       Paul Smith
       Campbell Thomas
       Martin Palmer
       Maggie Lambert
       John Harris
       Rob Todd

       https://storify.com/jcstearns/tracking-journalist-arrests-during-the-occupy-prot
       http://www.poynter.org/news/mediawire/264273/which-journalists-have-been-arrested-in-ferguson/
       http://www.mega.nu/ampp/www.bilderberg.org/nuj.htm
       • greywarshark 4.3.1.1

         13 January 2015 at 11:24 am

         Thats some List Ross. A lot of work putting thst up. Shocking at seeing the numbers. Thanks.
5. Paul 5

   12 January 2015 at 2:21 pm

   https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/turkey#.VLMhYCuUdIE

   ‘The Turkish authorities continued to use the penal code and an antiterrorism law to crack down on journalists and media outlets in 2012, leading Turkey to imprison more journalists than any other country in the world. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 49 were behind bars as of December.’
6. Brutus Iscariot 6

   12 January 2015 at 2:21 pm

   The NZ Herald, who posted a selection cartoons including those lampooning Christian figures, but none of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons that actually provoked the massacre. So much for solidarity.

   The Associated Press, who have (had) available an image of the “Piss Christ”, a urine soaked effigy of Christ on the cross, but will again not publish any cartoons with the image of Mohammed.

   I’m an atheist, but i abhor hypocrisy. I am free to be vilified by religious types for my non-belief and acknowledge that.

   We should not conflate religion with race. A religion is a human belief system, and thus should be open, as all human belief systems, politics etc, to criticism and indeed ridicule.
   • Paul 6.1

     12 January 2015 at 3:02 pm

     The Herald just isn’t worth any energy discussing.
     It is entertainment not the 4th estate.
   • Colonial Rawshark 6.2

     12 January 2015 at 4:01 pm

     Those press outlets would never normally publish such disrespectful cartoons. Why would they change their normal standards because of terrorist action.
7. Paul 7

   12 January 2015 at 2:22 pm

   https://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/egypt#.VLMhtSuUdIE

   ‘Egypt declined from Partly Free to Not Free due to officially tolerated campaigns to intimidate journalists, increased efforts to prosecute reporters and commentators for insulting the political leadership or defaming religion, and intensified polarization of the pro– and anti–Muslim Brotherhood press, which reduced the availability of balanced coverage.’
8. Anne 8

   12 January 2015 at 3:15 pm

   19) Prime Minister Kopacz of Poland, which raided a magazine to seize recordings embarrassing for the ruling party http://en.rsf.org/poland-violating-confidentiality-of-20-06-2014,46487.html …

   Oops a daisy! There’s a little country down the bottom of the South Pacific wot has a PM and government that does the same sort of thing too. Whatsitsname now?
9. weka 9

   12 January 2015 at 11:28 pm

   A cartoon version of the tweets,

   Nous Sommes Hypocrites

   http://order-order.com/2015/01/12/richs-monday-morning-view-99/
   • Colonial Rawshark 9.1

     13 January 2015 at 12:20 am

     At least 8 journalists were killed in Gaza by Israel in 2014, according to the Guardian – not 7 as the tweets inferred.
10. johnm 10

    13 January 2015 at 12:35 pm

    A collection of war criminals: Cameron and Sarkozi helped destroy Libya which now is enjoying a civil war. Netanyahu bombs women and children as collective punishment in Gaza. Poroshenko massacres with artillery and bombing and sniper fire Russian Ukrainians with the ok of Merkel and Hollande and Cameron. They are all part of the U$ Warshington hegemony system that finances and arms anti Assad fighters in Syria. The Hebdo killers learned their trade in Syria. Blowback anyone?
    • Sable 10.1

      13 January 2015 at 12:53 pm

      Right on the money John +1.
11. Sable 11

    13 January 2015 at 12:52 pm

    The kid forgot to mention the Cameron governments on going attempts to muzzle press freedoms and its often times absurd and highly dubious net censorship.
12. SHG 12

    14 January 2015 at 1:57 pm

    The politicians weren’t actually leading the protest march – the photos were taken at a staged photo op in a closed street surrounded by security, with extras added in to make sure there were heads and bodies behind the front row of politicians.
    e.g.

    https://twitter.com/borzou/status/554605138426736640/photo/1

• Comments are now closed

• Log in
• Donate
• Contribute post

• Articles RSS