generalspeaking

All The News

Journalists are a special breed. Those who report from war fronts, who visit refugee camps, who write of the inhumane conditions, the atrocities committed by human beings against one another in the ongoing theatres of war, around the world. All the while knowing full well the danger in which they place themselves; determined nonetheless to expose the public to the veracity of their reportage.

It takes courage, conviction, dedication to their craft. They are compelled to be a voice in the wilderness, a witness to history. To ensure that the world at large is fully cognizant of the misery visited upon civilians, of the wretchedness of waging war. The very futility of combat, the ferocity and searing heat of hatred unleashed.

And then there are journalists reporting from within their countries of origin, detailing government corruption; internal misdeeds and external misadventures. Naming names and creating situations of great embarrassment. Harassment has occurred in places that are the bastions of freedom, including freedom of the press; the United States.

And elsewhere; say, for example, in China, where in that vast country so much can go wrong, and often does. Yet here is a traditionally repressive government determining that it is far better to allow the news to be aired, for people to have an outlet for their frustration, rather than to continually repress the news and risk an unfortunate public backlash.

Not quite as it occurs in countries like Russia, which has been ranked as the third deadliest country for journalist longevity in the world, following Iraq and Algeria. In Russia 49 journalists have met a morbidly final fate in the last 17 years. Reportage is a deadly enterprise in Russia. Is this an rigidly autocratic or a still-functioning dictatorship that demands full control of the news?

And when blatantly obvious murders take place, as in the case of the cold-blooded, full-daylight assassination of Anna Politkovskaya whose published works pointed a finger of blame at Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin cronies, international attention and anger ensured there would be a trial.

Unfortunately, that trial seeks to indict not her murderer, or those who ordered her murder, but tertiary figures accused of 'following' her, and of 'providing her home address'. The identity of the person or group who initiated her murder will never be revealed and that of the perpetrator is not officially acknowledged.

Even a Russian editor of a local newspaper who insisted in publishing scandal-laden corruption relating to local government bureaucrats is beaten so viciously he may not survive. Effectively warning, yet again, other journalists dedicated to ensuring that the country is well aware of the activities of their officials, that to do so may be very inimical to their well-being.

And in a country like Afghanistan where since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, the media has grown monumentally to include 600 print publications, 100 radio stations and 16 television stations. Hundreds of Afghan women now work in journalism and communications, with Afghanistan's 2004 constitution setting out their right as equal citizens to pursue those careers.

Yet the country's journalists remain embattled to the point of a dozen having been murdered over the past four years, including two female journalists. Others have been attacked and fiercely beaten, many forced by circumstances they can no longer control, to leave the country to save their lives and those of their families.

And the country's constitution which supports the free and independent work of its journalists still, unfortunately reflects a rigidly theological attitude more attune to that of the resurgent Taliban determined to exert itself back into control, than that of a growing democracy. With a young journalist facing 20 years imprisonment for writing about women's rights.

From repressive regimes in the Middle East where bloggers in Egypt are sentenced to prison for provoking criticism against the regime, to journalists facing violence in Turkey and Pakistan, the profession is in continual danger. A liberal democracy like Canada, where freedom of expression is guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and where a free and independent press thrives, can also experience problems.

Where, ten years ago, the Sikh publisher of the "Indo-Canadian Times", Tara Singh Hayer, was murdered by an assassin because he wrote critically of the importation into Canada of a violently divisive blood feud for Sikh separation from India. This, after he had originally been shot, and as a paraplegic continued writing and publishing.

Writing of the activities of local Sikh fanatics who, in the name of a dream of an independent Khalistan formed a terror group and planned and executed the Air India disaster of 1985 resulting in the explosion aboard Flight 182 and the death of all aboard the flight - 329 people. Canada's first, and, we hope, last terror attack.

A time-honoured profession dedicated to presenting clear truths to a reading public that has a right to know everything about its society, its government, its justice system, forever in danger.

Labels: Justice, World News

posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, November 18, 2008