Report calls Brazil the “the country of thirty Berlusconis”

31 Jan 2013 | Brazil, Uncategorized

A report issued by world-wide non-profit organization Reporters Without Borders denounced Brazil’s ever-worsening landscape for journalists — citing violence and legal harassment against media professionals, as well as the heavy concentration of media outlets owned by a small number of companies as the country’s main obstacles to becoming a fair place for working in journalism.

The report is based on fact-finding visits to the two biggest cities in the country — São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro — plus capital Brasília in November 2012.

This year, Brazil came in 108th place in the organisation’s 179-country Press Freedom Index —- a nine position plummet from last year’s ranking due mostly to violence against journalists during 2012’ mayoral election campaign. Brazil had already being down 41 positions on the previous ranking

Reporters Without Borders also said Brazil’s media landscape as dominated by roughly ten companies, most of them holding a strong dependence on the financial power of the public sector.

“Press and broadcast media’s editorial independence is undermined by heavy dependence on advertising by the government and its agencies,” states the report.

Another issue cited by the report was the high number of lawsuits targeting censorship against media outlets — one example being the newspaper O. Estado de S.Paulo, which has been prevented by a court ruling of publishing news about a police operation that could incriminate the son of a former President.

The report also referenced the 2012 electoral period, in which Google was ordered to remove or alter the content of over 300 websites.

“It’s hard to think that preventive censorship could be able to contain the flow of news and information on the internet. Even so, Brazilian courts have targeted online information”, said the organisation.

The report also suggested that balance could be brought to the country’s media landscape through passing new bills to reduce the high concentration of media ownership and restricting government advertising.

Malawi: journalists beaten and detained to prevent them covering protests

25 Jul 2011 | Index Index, minipost, News and features

Reporters Without Borders has revealed several journalists covering Malawi’s recent protests have been beaten and detained, while the government has banned radio stations from covering the demonstrations. The protests were in place to express anger against fuel shortages, price hikes and a general decline in the economy, as well as to call for more democratic governance.

Kuwaiti media banned from reporting on Iran ‘spy ring’

17 May 2010 | Index Index, Middle East and North Africa, minipost, Uncategorized

The Kuwaiti media have been banned from reporting on the dismantling of an Iranian spy network by prosecutor-general Hamed Saleh Al-Othman. The spy ring— which was publicly revealed on 1 May—  was gathering information about Kuwaiti and US military bases on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Al-Othman told Al-Aan newspaper that he blocked further reporting of the case in order to allow the police and judicial authorities to investigate it without additional pressure. Reporters without Borders called the ban “a serious obstruction of investigative reporting.”

Cambodian media ‘threatened’ by government

15 Mar 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized

The Cambodian government has used “threats, intimidation and legal action” to reduce the quantity of independent media reporting in the country, a new report has claimed. According to Reporters Without Borders, the governing Cambodian People’s Party is severely limiting journalists’ ability to report on private sector abuses and corruption. The report also condemns Prime Minister Hun Sen for failing to adhere to a promise made in 2006 that Cambodian journalists would no longer be jailed for their work.