UN Chief: Arab Spring Helped Ease Media Repression

The United Nations and media rights groups marking World Press Freedom Day said the Arab Spring has loosened the control of a few governments over journalists, but additionally they said many countries still repress the media.

At an international Press Freedom Day event in Ny, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the expansion of latest media voices within the Arab world played a "central role" inside the recent fall of autocratic governments. He said social media, mobile telephones and satellite television helped millions of folk gain their first chance of democracy.

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But Ban also expressed outrage about deadly attacks on journalists all over the world, saying greater than 60 were killed last year.

Reporters Borderless said 21 journalists were killed this year and condemned what it calls the "furious pace" of attacks. The gang cited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Islamist militias in Somalia because the worst violators of media freedom.

The U.N. chief called for "all concerned: to avoid and prosecute" violence against journalists. He said "defenders of a free press are safeguarding our rights and we must, in turn, ensure theirs."

The Freedom House rights group said the center East and North Africa experienced "dramatic if precarious gains" in press freedom last year. The crowd cites Egypt, Libya and Tunisia for significant gains due to the Arab Spring. However it said Bahrain and Syria launched "harsh media crackdowns."

The group also said China, Russia and Iran kept tight grips at the media by detaining government critics and closing down media outlets.

Iran and Syria also fared poorly in a Committee to guard Journalists report at the "10 Most Censored Countries."  However the group said Eritrea topped its list since the government only allows tightly supervised state news media.

World Press Freedom Day was enacted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1993 to evaluate the state of media freedom and pay tribute to journalists killed inside the line of duty.

 

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

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