World Press Freedom Day

21st anniversary of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, 2014

About this blog

2nd May 2013 Harare, Zimbabwe

Case study: Zimbabwe

On April 1, 2007, I was captured by the police and dragged to the Harare Central Police Station’s notorious Law and Order section. I was pushed into a stuffy room and ordered to sit on a dirty, green carpet. Behind the desk was a lick-spittle man – tall, dark, thin and stern-faced. On the neat Mahogany desk […]

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2nd May 2013 Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

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by Colin Williams

Director of Public Prosecutions in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Case study: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

My team of prosecutors in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will meet in Kingstown later today to announce new guidelines to ensure transparency and equal access to information for the media about criminal procedures. Prosecutors and journalists will launch the new ‘Prosecution Media Protocol’, a first for the Caribbean, which sets the ground rules for […]

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2nd May 2013 Dodoma, Tanzania

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by Erick Kabendera

Freelance journalist

Case study: Tanzania

I grew up surrounded by people who had everything they required to lift themselves and their communities out of poverty. Despite this, they and their communities remained deep seated in abstract poverty. I felt that becoming a journalist would help in some way: it would make me an agent of change by bringing their stories […]

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2nd May 2013 Hanoi, Vietnam

Case study: Vietnam

In 1988, when Dr Ha Si Phu wrote a think-piece entitled “a shared journey of the intellect” it was subsequently photocopied and passed from hand to hand by his closest associates. This piece, which exposed flaws in Marxist-Leninist theory, was well received by intellectuals and the wider public at that time. Right after that, for […]

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2nd May 2013 Brasilia, Brazil

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by Marcelo Moreira

President of the Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism

Case study: Brazil

Journalists are the eyes, voice and ears of a society. When you kill a journalist you contribute to creating a blind, mute and deaf community, unable to understand the environment around it. The killing of journalists is the most severe aggression towards freedom of expression worldwide. Every person has the right to knowledge. Those who […]

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15th March 2013

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Turkey, Iceland, press freedom, Google

What links Turkey, Iceland, press freedom and Google? My recent blog “World Press Freedom Index:  Turkey” was the most-read blog I have written since coming to Turkey.  So I was interested to see reports recently about the balance which all countries must strike between media freedoms; genuine security concerns; and ensuring that the extent to […]

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7th February 2013

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

How bad is corruption in Turkey?

This seems to be the time of year for international comparative indeces.  I blogged recently about the latest statistics on press freedom.  Now someone has pointed out that I didn’t cover the latest Transparency International Corruption Index, published in December. The Transparency International figures are controversial.  The full name of the index is “The Corruption Perceptions […]

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5th February 2013

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by Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

World Press Freedom Index: Turkey

This time last year I wrote a blog about freedom of the media in Ukraine reporting on the latest press freedom index released by the international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders. So I was intrigued to see Reporters without Borders publish their 2013 World Press Freedom Index recently. Since I arrived in Turkey a few months ago, Turkish journalists […]

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About World Press Freedom Day

To mark the 21st anniversary of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, 2014, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office aims to “shine a light” to highlight repression of the media…

To mark the 21st anniversary of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, 2014, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office aims to “shine a light” to highlight repression of the media and freedom of expression using personal testimonies and other accounts from around the world.

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