An image obtained by The Associated Press shows an unidentified detainee standing on a box with a bag on his head and wires attached to him in late 2003 at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq. – from NPR.
Headline: “Correct a black mark in US history’: former prisoners of Abu Ghraib get day in court”
Article by Alice Speri in The Guardian 4/14/24.
//www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2024/apr/14/abu-ghraib-iraq-torture-abuse
This week marked the 30th anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda. This book describes what happened when it was stopped and a new government took over. Another casualty was a free and vibrant
Source: Reporters Without Borders
Article on 8/26/23 from the Washington Post about the police raid on the newspaper in Marion, Kansas.
Headline: “Police raid – what really happened”
“In New York and Washington, word of a police raid on a small Midwestern newspaper caught the immediate attention of a cluster of organizations devoted to asserting First Amendment rights and promoting the safety of journalists around the globe.
“Over the years, these groups have stood up for reporters detained by police while covering stories or pressured by prosecutors to reveal their sources, they’ve gone to court to challenge government officials over access to public records, and they’ve raised concerns about an overt strain of antipathy toward the media increasingly displayed by some politicians and public officials since the dawn of the Trump era.
“Yet an actual raid by police represented a kind of government intrusion on media operations that none could remember seeing in this country.”
Marion County newspaper that was raided by police – someone had a motive
Article from Associated Press by Jim Salter 8/20/23
Headline: “Court documents suggest reason for police raid of Kansas newspaper”
“The police chief who led the raid of a Kansas newspaper alleged in previously unreleased in court documents that a reporter either impersonated someone else or lied about her intentions when she obtained the driving records of a local business owner.
“But reporter Phyllis Zorn, Marion County Record Editor and Publisher Eric Meyer and the newspaper’s attorney said Sunday that no laws were broken when Zorn accessed a public state website for information on restaurant operator Kari Newell.”
https://www.aol.com/court-documents-suggests-reason-police-183901188.html
Opinion article from the New York Times by Lydia Polgreen, 6/13/23
Headline: “It’s Not a Good Sign When People Who Don’t Pay for News Have So Little to Choose From”
“For the better part of two centuries, news that was free (or at least felt free, owing to its reliance on advertising) was good business. But the advertising dollars that once underwrote ambitious mass journalism are now stuffing the pockets of technology billionaires. We’re all — even those of us willing and able to pay for quality journalism — the poorer for it.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/13/opinion/media-layoffs-journalism-internet.html
Article in The Guardian by Oliver Holmes, 5/2/23.
Headline: Media freedom in dire state in record number of countries, report finds
Sub-head: World Press Freedom Index report warns disinformation and AI pose mounting threats to journalism
“The Middle East is the world’s most dangerous region for journalists. But the Americas no longer have any country coloured green, meaning “good”, on the press freedom map. The US fell three places to 45th. The Asia Pacific region is dragged down by regimes hostile to reporters, such as Myanmar (173rd) and Afghanistan (152nd).
“’We are witnessing worrying trends, but the big question is if these trends are a hiccup or a sign of a world going backwards,’ said Guilherme Canela, the global lead on freedom of speech at Unesco. ‘Physical attacks, digital attacks, the economic situation, and regulatory tightening: we are facing a perfect storm.’”
Article from United Pres International by Joe Fisher, 4/30/23
Headline: “Biden shows support for free press at White House Correspondents’ dinner”
“The president’s speech was tailored to supporting journalism in light of attacks against a free press, particularly by Russia. He called on Russia to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been in a Russian prison for a month.”
From the International Business Times:
Fleeing for your life?
