World Press Freedom report for 2005

international | arts and media | other press Thursday May 04, 2006 14:35 by iosaf mac diarmada

Reporters without Borders published their annual report on the freedom of the press and internet yesterday to co-incide with the United Nation's World Press freedom day.

It is important for readers and contributors alike to remember that the idea of "journalism" can not really trace a history longer than Mayday and the struggle for workers' rights, or indeed the emancipation of American slaves, or the long ardous and brave road to full suffrage.

The first journalists, did just what the word implies - they contributed as writers to small circulation journals, and often went without collecting their stipends, and thus decided to form the first "unions". There appeared to be no special qualifications other than literacy. Today we send children to universities to study * how to spell. * how to ask the questions "what? when? where? why?" and then of course how to manipulate it all. an Anglo-saxon model of the "reporter" has taken global hold, and the founders of the "industry" such as Hersch raised to the pedastal.

our so called democracies have completely blurred the lines between journalism, advertising and propaganda.

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Journalism is supposed to be divided into 3 categories,
* the pure and honest reporting of fact without personal opinion.
* the investigation of a story which leaves room open for subjective opinion and wider social speculation.
* the writing of features or opinion columns which rarely strays from subjective opinion arrogantly attempting to set a wider "public opinion" agenda.

It is my contention that "Journalism" as a near guilded profession of honest and scrupulous individuals really only enjoyed a few decades. & it is noteworthy that those early unions not only existed and fought for the rights of their workers in a political and legal climate of censorship and lack of formalised "copy rights" "author rights" etc.,

"Journalism" has undoubtedly in today's society been transformed into a monster which at once serves the causes of Commercial advertising by promoting products, but also the needs of a Capitalist Economy by creating customers. Our commercial media overwhelmingly serves the interests of the Capitalist order by instilling desire and materialist wants whose sole purpose is the continued profits of Corporate entities.

As if that was not bad enough, political reporting has become as sullied an arm of propaganda now in times of supposed "absence of censorship" as in the worst periods of the 20th century when ministries of "Truth" ruled both print pages and airwaves.

& thus when we read this year's "Reporters without Borders" report, we can't really take the high ranking of some states (such as Ireland) that seriously. Media globally is controlled by less than 20 billionaires, all with overt political agenda. & in many states of "comparative freedom", a policy of "omission" guarantees the high placing. Certainly in Ireland there are no laws prohibiting the factual reporting, investigation, or opinion writer on certain issues. Rather these issues are simply not touched, and thus are omitted from what passes for the "national record".

Therefore organisations such as (((i))) indymedia and indeed Wikinews play an ever increasingly important role in the reporting of information, in the archiving of fact, in the promotion of investigation and in the expression of opinion.

the report (in english) :-
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17084

Some facts :-
* 2005 saw at least 63 journalists and five media assistants killed worldwide
* more than 1,300 media workers attacked or threatened
* There are still 57 internet activists imprisoned for their use of the net worldwide.
* The organisation ETA has been removed from the RSF "black list" a little more than a month after its ceasefire and the confirmation that journalists are no longer to work under death threats on Basque issues.

Last news from RSF (Reporters Without Borders)
Internet Governance and WSIS conference
http://indymedia.ie/article/72984
Report for 2004 (ireland ranked 1st)
http://indymedia.ie/article/67220
Report for 2003 (ireland ranked 17th)
http://indymedia.ie/article/61796
Report for 2002 (ireland ranked 6th)
http://indymedia.ie/article/15991

Additional data to be considered with this annual report :-
Amnesty Report on Death penalty 2005
http://indymedia.ie/article/75576