RSF Report: Media In The Eye Of The Storm As Revolutions Sweep The Ara
 

02-12-11 04:36 PM

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1 DECEMBER 2011

Reporters Without Borders takes stock of censorship and infringements of the right to information during the pro-democracy uprisings that began a year ago in the Arab world.

Journalists, and particularly photographers, have paid a heavy price. Eleven media workers have been killed in the performance of their duty, among them several internationally known photojournalists. However, most of the casualties were local journalists.

In its report “Upheaval in the Arab world: Media as key witnesses and political pawns”, Reporters Without Borders looks at the methods used by the authorities to strangle the flow of information during popular uprisings in six countries — Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen — from 17 December 2010 to mid-November 2011.

Bahrain

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The pro-democracy protest movement reached Bahrain in mid-February 2011. The authorities in this small country, which has a population of barely 1.2 million, used a formidable arsenal of harsh measures as they struggled to control the flow of information about the demonstrations and the crackdown by the security forces. These included the interrogation and expulsion of foreign journalists, who found themselves having severe difficulty obtaining visas, threats against those willing to be interviewed by foreign media, harassment of free speech campaigners, arrests of photographers, bloggers and netizens (one of whom died in custody), legal proceedings against free speech activists, etc. At the same time, a propaganda campaign was launched against the main figures in the protest movement, branding them as traitors or terrorists.

Read the Full report here

rsf.org



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