(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release: Press Freedom Review: 2005 a Dark Year Fifty-one journalists have been killed so far in 2005 and more than 500 have been arrested, the World Association of Newspapers said Monday in its annual review of press freedom world-wide. “Asia remains the worst region in the world […]
(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a WAN press release:
Press Freedom Review: 2005 a Dark Year
Fifty-one journalists have been killed so far in 2005 and more than 500 have been arrested, the World Association of Newspapers said Monday in its annual review of press freedom world-wide.
“Asia remains the worst region in the world for practising journalism, for the sheer number of persecuted journalists, lack of independent media outlets, and government repression of press freedom,” said WAN in its report to its Board, meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The report said:
– Iraq remains a deadly place for journalism. Eight journalists have been murdered in the past six months, bringing the total number for this year to 19.
– The suffocation of independent media continues unabated in many countries around the world. The governments of China, Cuba, Nepal, Belarus and Zimbabwe persist in their relentless onslaught against the media. Silence from North Korea, Eritrea, Libya and Turkmenistan sends an explicit message concerning the state of the media behind their fortified walls.
The full report is available at http://www.wan-press.org/article8600.html
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups.
