Here you'll find links to valuable Web sites for practicing journalists, as well as articles on important topics in world journalism.
The Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C., a nonprofit organization started by a journalist and deeply involved in journalism around the world, has started a series on international press freedom.
The first article is about Colombia, and the author, Maria Teresa Ronderos, a Colombian, starts it this way: "The press in Colombia has access to public information, though looking for it can put journalists in grave danger."
You can read this article at http://www.publicintegrity.org
http://www.publicintegrity.org/ga/report.aspx?aid=600 — The Center for Public Integrity’s latest investigation examines the simultaneous decline of press freedoms in four different areas of the world (“The state of investigative reporting”).
The first installment is “Russian media: A dead man still walking,” Yevgenia Albats’ analysis of the Kremlin’s crippling effect on alternative and independent coverage by the Russian media.
“The spy who would rule Peru” describes author Gustavo Gorriti’s 22-year struggle to expose Vladimiro Montensinos as a key figure in the corruption of the Peruvian government.
In “Encounter with an assassin,” Geoff Nyarota writes about being the target of assassination orders for his work with Zimbabwe’s The Daily News and the pressure from President Robert Mugabe’s administration to support government positions.
The final article, “A culture of secrecy,” examines press freedom in the United States. Author Charles Lewis criticizes the American mainstream media for abandoning their watchdog role in society and letting investigative journalism be replaced by more cost-effective methods of reporting.
The report is available online and included links to each country’s report from the Center’s 2004 Global Integrity Report. — Rebecca DeJarlais, rdejarlais@macalester.edu
Based on a survey of 192 countries, editor Karin Deutsch Karlekar pieces together a country-by-country picture of press freedoms in Freedom of the Press 2004: A Global Survey of Media Indepedence. She concludes that 2003 was marked by a worldwide and substantial decline in press freedoms with more harassment, political pressure, and violence being inflicted on journalists. In addition to showing regional declines in freedom throughout the Americas, Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union nations, this year’s report cites specific declines in Italy and Thailand and notes two promotions, Sierra Leone and Kenya. Karlekar predicts that election-related violence, restrictive legislation, and political influences will be this year’s major hurdles for press freedom.
The book includes three essays on the tremendous changes in Iraqi media, the implications of the 2004 Ukrainian elections, and the complicated nature of reaching a global consensus on press freedoms. Karlekar concludes with specific country reports, illustrating the themes from the essays in the issues facing each nation. –Rebecca DeJarlais, rdejarlais@macalester.edu
In today’s global society, covering events isn’t enough—journalists must also be able to understand and interpret their significance for readers. Many reporters, however, lack awareness about news in other countries and are not prepared to write about complex international and economic issues. In Covering Globalization: A Handbook for Reporters, editors Anya Schiffrin and Amer Bisat have assembled a textbook with sections on capital markets, banking and macroeconomics, corporate reporting and trade and commodities to educate reporters so they can ask hard questions. Schiffrin and Bisat argue that a thorough understanding these ideas is especially critical in developing countries, places where channels of communication are limited and disseminating accurate and unbiased information becomes even more important. Covering Globalization also includes chapters on how to write about economic and global issues and sidebars about case studies such as Russian pension reform, dollarization in Ecuador and the banking crisis in Indonesia. — Rebecca DeJarlais, rdejarlais@macalester.edu
Four evaluations about the press —
The Center for Public Integrity’s latest press studies examine the simultaneous decline of press freedoms in four different areas of the world (“The state of investigative reporting”).
In the first article, “Russian media: A dead man still walking,” Yevgenia Albats evaluates the Kremlin’s crippling effect on alternative and independent coverage by the Russian media.
“The spy who would rule Peru” describe author Gustavo Gorriti’s 22-year struggle to expose Vladimiro Montesinos as a key figure in the corruption of the Peruvian government.
In “Encounter with an assassin,” Geoff Nyarota writes about being the target of assassination orders for his work with Zimbabwe’s The Daily News and the pressure from President Robert Mugabe’s administration to support government positions.
The final article, “A culture of secrecy,” examines press freedom in the United States. Author Charles Lewis criticizes the American mainstream media for abandoning their watchdog role in society and letting investigative journalism be replaced by more cost-effective methods of reporting.
The report is available online and includes links to each country’s report from the Center’s 2004 Global Integrity Report. HYPERLINK "http://www.publicintegrity.org/ga/report.aspx?aid=600" http://www.publicintegrity.org/ga/report.aspx?aid=600.
Rebecca DeJarlais, rdejarlais@macalester.edu
A task force from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) is planning the first World Journalism Education Congress, tentatively scheduled for July 2007 in Singapore (“The Proposed First Step Toward Internationalizing AEJMC: Creating a World Journalism Education Congress,” Fall 2004 International Communication Bulletin). Members of the task force are working to secure AEJMC’s endorsement of the conference, which they hope will garner support from similar organizations. The Congress will include an assembly for the world’s top journalism leaders and educators, teaching sessions, opportunities for exchanges, a research area for students to present papers, and lectures on the freedom of media and journalism’s responsibility to the public. — Rebecca DeJarlais, rdejarlais@macalester.edu
• http://www.sipiapa.org/default.cfm: IAPA’s annual meeting, held recently in Guatemala, revealed two dramatically different trends taking root in Latin-American countries (“Freedom on march in Latin America?” from the Dec. 2004 issue of Editor and Publisher). Government speakers from Guatemala and El Salvador voiced a commitment toward freedom of expression. IAPA President Jack Fuller said the Declaration of Chapultepec, drafted by the organization 10 years ago, served as the catalyst for the recent wave of freedom of expression and public access legislation.
Despite the increasing level of government openness, IAPA also presented a list of threats and murders committed against journalists in the past year. Venezuela, specifically, is moving toward more press restrictions. IAPA cautioned that the repressive regime under President Hugo Chavez could spread to nations like Bolivia and Peru. — Rebecca DeJarlais, rdejarlais@macalester.edu
• http://ajr.org/Article.asp?id=3794: In order to garner awareness for the Inter American Press Association’s Unpunished Crimes Against Journalists project, 241 newspapers in the Americas since 2003 have donated ad space to the campaign (“Shocking Ads” from the Dec. 2004/Jan. 2005 issue of American Journalism Review). Nicknamed the Impunity Project, the group produces monthly ads in English, Spanish, and Portuguese telling the stories of murdered journalists.
“It’s meant to be a punch to the nose, and then a call to action so you do something about it,” impunity committee chair Alberto Ibargüen tells writer Lori Robertson. IAPA advocates hope the campaign will continue to pressure Latin-American leaders to increase prosecutions and investigations of unsolved murders.
The Impunity Project’s website, www.impunidad.com, includes archived ads, case and updates, and a petition urging government leaders to take action. — Rebecca DeJarlais, rdejarlais@macalester.edu
• Readers of the World Press Review know it ceased publication with its May 2004 issue after 30 good years. However, you can still go to http://www.worldpress.org and find useful information. The main page is about war and peace, but on the left hand side, click on "world newspapers" under the heading "Reading Rooms" and you'll get a pretty impressive links to scores of newspapers around the globe. For example, under the heading "newspapers and magazines, Africa" you'll find some 40 African countries listed. Click on Ghana, and you'll find links to 10 publications, plus another two dozen listed without links. Good site.
• WPFC has a book out commemorating its 25 anniversary titled, “Voices of Freedom: The story of the World Press Freedom Committee.”
• WPFC also has published, “New code words for censorship: Modern labels for curbs on the press,” an excellent little book.
• The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has a useful booklet: “On Assignment: A guide to reporting in Dangerous Situations.” Contact: Carlos Lauria, Americas program coordinator, clauria@cpj.org
• CPJ also publishes an annual book titled, “Attacks on the Press in 2003,” a worldwide survey it conducts. This year’s preface is by Ted Koppel. You can get much of the information free, however, off its Web site.
• CPJ’s “Dangerous Assignments” is a recurring publication about journalism issues around the world which I think you would read and your students would find interesting.
• “KNIGHTLine” is the publication of the Knight Foundation’s International Press Fellowship News and it’s full of useful press freedom information. The current issue is always posted on their Website at http://www.knight-international.org and to get on their subscriber list, email at knight@icfj.org and ask to receive KNIGHTline.
"Global Media and Communication" is a new SAGE Publications reference journal which plans its debut in May 2005. To sign up for a free electronic sample when it's available, go to http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journal.aspx?pid=106149
