Press Freedom?

To protest against the growing atrocities by the state police and authorities, nearly a hundred Manipuri journalists surrendered their accreditation cards on October 27 along with a letter to the Prime Minister. The letter was to be passed through the Director of Information Manipur to Dr. Manmohan Singh. Exasperated with incidents in the recent past where journalists were targeted by the police, the protesting media commented that it was safer for them to function as ordinary citizens than as journalists.

The letter addressed to the Prime Minister by All Manipur Working Journalists Union (AMWJU) says:
“In the recent past, the state government had been trying to browbeat journalists in Manipur into submission with threats of de-registration and state action compounded by an arrogant state police force, already infamous with widespread allegations of staging numerous fake encounters, the most recent being the July 23, 2009 ….

The most recent cases of intimidation of the Press are: storming of some media houses in Imphal by goons of chief minister Shree Okram Ibobi Singh's home constituency of Thoubal with active support from the state police force on 25 September, 2009; and threatening of two journalists returning home from duty at gun-point…”

The journalists are vulnerable targets not only in foreign countries; often they are threatened and suppressed even at home.

The penalization of the media by the government is not a recent phenomenon. Whenever a government is under scrutiny or under the strict watch of the human rights groups, media becomes the obvious target of suppression.

Last year, during the Eelam War IV, Sri Lanka was under the constant watch of the international human rights groups. Instead of improving on the human rights front, the Sri Lankan government narrowed down the Press Laws further. . The official government line was sternly repeated "Criticism and dissent in times of war is treason."
When the war commenced, suppression of media freedom and threats to journalists increased. Over the last three and a half years, 20 journalists and media workers have been killed.

On 6 January 2009, the studio of the Maharaja Television Network was attacked by armed gunmen. Two days later, the editor of Sunday Leader Lasantha Wickrematunga was shot dead by two men on a motorcycle when he was on his way to work.

The assassination became remarkable because of the editorial he wrote in anticipating his death in which he blamed the Rajapaksa government for using assassination as a tool to repress the media. He said “Murder has become the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the organs of liberty”
Foreign correspondents covering countries which are subjects of controversies internationally are often imprisoned on espionage charges. These countries who try hard to keep their furtive affairs from the western world keep a stringent watch on reporters who come from overseas.
On October 17, Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari was freed after spending 120 days in Tehran's Evin prison. The "Newsweek" correspondent was covering the controversial presidential elections in Tehran.

Similarly, two US journalists were arrested by North Korea on charges of espionage. They were sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment each. Only after massive intervention by the US Government, they were released.

Press freedom, which is essential in a democracy, is being curtailed especially in conflict zones. Hundreds of journalists are killed every year. If the situation continues, there might be a time when, like the Manipuri journalists, people will choose to remain common citizens than continue their work as journalists

Twittering Scandals

(Photo Source: Google)


It must have been an awkward situation when Ms. Sonia Gandhi heard that she and her son were referred to as ‘cows’ by a minister from her own party. On the one hand, party workers, often before elections, usually worship Sonia Gandhi’s posters, and on the other hand, the Minister of State for External Affairs, Sashi Tharoor mocks her on Twitter. She wouldn’t have minded the same from the Saffron Brigade – after all, she is the Holy Cow!

Almost a month ago, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his deputy Shashi Tharoor were asked to vacate their five-star hotel accommodation after Congress President Sonia Gandhi intervened and decided that Ministers in the government for the ‘aam janta‘(common man) must renounce such luxuries. To set an example for the Ministers, Ms. Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, on different occasions, have traveled in second class train compartments.

Vis-à-vis this development, the conversation on Twitter between Tharoor and a journalist went as follows:

Kanchan Gupta: Tell us Minister, next time you travel to Kerala, will it be cattle class?
Shashi Tharoor replied: absolutely, in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows.

When the media spotted this exchange on the social networking site, word spread like wildfire - the Tharoor-Twitter saga was front page news! Sashi Tharoor almost had to resign for his ‘irresponsible act’ of dishonoring the princip(al)le of the Congress Party

For many Web 2.0 users, social networking sites and blogs are their personal spaces; most often, they also become a personal venting space for the whole world to see.
Twitter, the microblogging site which has created a new online frenzy, helping celebrities save big ‘moolah’ in publicity expenses, has become the ‘land of controversies’.

Recently, Meghan McCain, the 24 year-old-daughter of former Republican presidential candidate John McCain, was ‘hurt’ because of Twitter. Her promiscuous and revealing photograph on ‘Twitpic’ has landed her in big trouble. This picture found the top spot on various blogs and tweets, and she was bad mouthed all over the Web. The controversial photograph even made it made it to prime time on CNN

Demi Moores’s 27-year-old husband, Ashton Kutcher, had to apologize for the obnoxious comments he made about his neighbor on Twitter. You can’t really blame him, it is human to get annoyed if your neighbor has a better job than you do.

These Twitter controversies are propelled way out of proportion by the other media that thrive on celebrity scandals. The numbers of Sashi Tharoor’s followers on Twitter have multiplied since the Twitter drama. But the latest fans were disappointed because his tweeting frequency has seen a major drop. The urbane politician, who used to tweet at least thrice a day earlier, now tweets only once in three days post-controversy. Holy Cow!

Miss McCain who was virtually unknown earlier, has now become famous all over the internet, so much so that the first three pages of a Google search on ‘Twitter controversies’ are dedicated to her.

While Tharoor referred to two of his fellow party members as cows, Aamir Khan called his rival Shahrukh Khan a dog who licked his feet. He went on saying on his blog “Shahrukh is licking my feet and I am feeding him biscuits every now and then. What more can I ask for...Shahrukh smells too much, I think he needs a bath.”

(Photo Source: Google)


Though SRK didn’t seem to bother about the post, the 932 comments on the post said it all. After the media started its usual chorus, blowing the issue completely out of proportion, Aamir offered his justification on the very same post. He cleared up the issue by admitting that he had bought a new house and that the dog that came with it was named Shahrukh Khan. However, not every scandal is resolved so easily.

Slumdog Millionaire brought glory to India - so said Anil Kapoor, but Amitabh Bachchan on his blog had openly showed his displeasure regarding the portrayal of India in the film. In fact, it was after Amitabh Bachchan’s reaction that many bloggers and critics went beyond the commotion and fanfare to criticize the movie. They later claimed that better movies were made on India.

If you are a celebrity, it takes just a blog or an innocent tweet to bring you a whole new order of publicity. The gossip hungry media will take care of the rest!

A special feature by the New York Times

Conflict, life and Job

“I thought of my wife and family, and I was overcome with shame. An interview that seemed crucial hours earlier now seemed absurd and reckless,” reminisced David Rodhe, a New York Times journalist who was held hostage by the Taliban for seven long months.

The South Asia correspondent of the New York Times, who reported on Af-Pak for seven years before he was kidnapped in November is one of the many journalists who paid the price for abiding by the ethos of their profession. It could be the lure of adventure or passion for the profession that made them choose a conflict zone as their workplace.
In 2001, the world saw the gruesome images of the Wall Street Journal’s South Asia Bureau Chief Daniel Pearl’s beheading in Pakistan. Hundreds like him are still out there with their cameras, pens and note-pads, covering the war in these conflict areas.

Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and assassination happened at a time when the Islamic extremists’ rage against the American forces was at its peak. Annihilated at the war-front and frustrated in their mission, they wanted revenge against the US and the western world, to remind these adversaries about their own superiority. Daniel Pearl, who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, fell victim to these volatile sentiments.



In the emails sent by the Al-Qaeda prior to his murder, Daniel Pearl was shown in an appalling state – blindfolded, hands tied back and face bruised. The terrorists said that Pearl’s treatment was in reciprocation to the condition of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay

Over the years, journalists have become vulnerable targets in conflict zones, where miscreants use them to settle scores and convey tough messages to their enemies.
In a message sent by Al-Qaeda during the Daniel Pearl incident, it said: “this cycle will continue till no American journalist can enter Pakistan."

The message came across stronger, when it was reported that Pearl’s body had been cut into ten pieces and buried in a shallow grave on the outskirts of Karachi. Experts say that Pearl’s Jewish roots brought him the excruciating torture, which another non-Jew might have escaped.


In Afghanistan, in the last one year, 13 journalists have been kidnapped, both local and international - David Rodhe, Tahir Ludin, Sultan Munadi and Stephen Farrell, to name a few. But the kidnapping of New York Times foreign correspondent Stephen Farell and David Rodhe shook the western world, while local reporters who lost their lives went unnoticed.

Identifying the potential opportunities of a foreign blood Taliban started targeting the foreign correspondents who came to their country for ‘fair reporting Not only could they demand massive ransom amounts but also seek to have prisoners released
From the personal accounts of the foreign journalists kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan, it is observed that Taliban do not physically harass them. It is the local reporters accompanying the foreigners as translators who face the brunt.

Sultan Munaidy, a local correspondent who was kidnapped along with the Italian journalist Stephen Farrell, was shot dead while Farell was left alive. Tahir Ladin, who was the translator for New York Times Journalist David Rohdell, was lucky; his life was spared except for sporadic torture for being a ‘friend’ of the enemy.

Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan went missing in Somalia when their respective countries refused to pay the ransom of US $2.5 million. Brennan and Lindhout, a freelance television and print reporter from Sylvan Lake, were kidnapped on August 23 2009 near Mogadishu. A Somali journalist accompanying them was also abducted.



Meanwhile North Korea, suspected of clandestine nuclear operations, officially confirmed that that it was holding two American journalists. North Korean soldiers had arrested Laura Ling and Euna Lee who were chasing a story all the way to the China - North Korea border while their cameraman and guide escaped and informed the authorities. They were sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment on charges of espionage and entering North Korea illegally and committing "hostile acts". They were freed after massive intervention by the US government.

In many countries where the Government is under scrutiny for various reasons, freedom of the press is curbed in the name of ‘disrupting peace’ and those journalists who dare to break the law are arrested. Recently in Sri Lanka’s Eelam war, many journalists were arrested and killed.

Freedom of speech, fair and unbiased reporting as set out in the book of ethics for journalists - this is what every journalist tries to accomplish; and while covering conflict zones, the journalist strays outside that bubble of being a journalist-observer and suddenly ends up being a participant in his own story.