World Press Freedom Day 2010

May 3 marks World Press Freedom Day 2010.

Started by the UN General Assembly in 1993, World Press Freedom Day aims to remind people, governments and institutions of what a free press means for a society and a nation. World Press Freedom Day also has the goal to demonstrate how press freedom strengthens democracy and contributes to development throughout the world.

Using World Press Freedom Day as an opportunity, the leading non governmental organization (NGO) in the world on press freedom, Reporters Without Borders, released a list of 40 countries, individuals, and organizations that are considered to be Predators of Press Freedom. Ranging from the Saudi Royal family in Saudi Arabia to the repressive regimes in Cuba, North Korea and Iran, the ranking by Reporters Without Borders also includes some countries, which many people would not suspect of being in the same category as these authoritarian regimes.

While most of the countries that have the worst Press Predators are predominantly located in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, perhaps the inclusion of Italy and Spain will be surprising to most readers. Although Greece is getting a lot of bad press coverage in the news because of its financial situation, Spain and especially Italy are the only European countries on the list with an organization or politician considered to be a predator of the press.

In Italy, due to the ever growing power of the four mafia clans in Italy, which control over 10 percent of the entire economy, ten Italian journalists who wrote investigative stories on the mafia, now work under 24 hour police protection. Compounding the problem in Italy is the counter productive , remarks by Italian Prime Minister who said in November 2009 that he wanted to “strangle” writers and filmmakers who give Italy a bad image by focusing on the mafia. While these types of remarks would surely cause any other western democratic leader a fire storm of controversy, due to Silvio Berlusconi de facto control of the media in Italy and his known connections to the Cosa Nostra Sicilian mafia, it barely made news in Italy and the international press.

In Spain however, continuing violence and intimidation tactics on the press by separatist movement Euskadi ta Askatasuna (Basque Homeland and Freedom) or ETA in the Basque region of Spain, prompted Reporters Without Borders to include Spain on its 2010 list of Press Predators. As reported by Reporters Without Borders in its Spain summary,

ETA has constantly targeted journalists, both in France as in Spain, since its creation in 1959. ETA’s media victims include José María Portell, murdered in 1978, José Javier Uranga, wounded in a shooting in 1980, José Luis Lopez de la Calle, murdered in 2000, and Gorka Landaburu, who sustained severe face and hand injuries when he opened a parcel-bomb in 2001. Several dozen Spanish journalists are still forced to have bodyguards because of ETA death threats.

In addition to the two European countries making the list, most Americans would be shocked to learn that two of America’s strongest allies in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Israel are also considered to be freedom of the press predators. While Saudi Arabia earns the distinction from Reporters Without Borders due to the Saud family’s hold on the state and the supremacy of its Wahabi ideology requiring total control over news and information, Israel makes the list due to the actions of its defense forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and its denial of the international media to access the Gaza Strip “for safety reasons” during Operation Cast Lead. This was the military offensive that ran from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009, that killed over 1,200 Palestinians.

Please take this opportunity to explore the web site of Reporters Without Borders to get more in depth information regarding press freedom and the dangers faced by journalists, bloggers, and online dissidents. The web site offers an impressive assortment of information related to the Internet and even offers a handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents.