Journalists stopped by violence and censorship

Press, 4 January 1988, Page 17

Journalists stopped by violence and censorship

By

GRAHAM HEATHCOTE

of AP

London Murders, beatings, expulsions and censorship prevented journalists around the world from doing their jobs in 1987, despite some encouraging signs for press freedom, the International Press Institute said. The institute said even in democratic countries, a “seemingly inevitable trend” of conflict between the news media and the courts developed over the last 12 months. In what it called a “very mixed year for the world’s media”, however, the report found some improvements in such differing countries as Nicaragua, Turkey and South Korea. “Perhaps the most welcome trend is ‘glasnost,’ the new spirit of openness witnessed in the Sovet Union,” said Mr Peter Galliner, the institute’s director. He wondered however, how far journalists would be able to move around within this “controlled freedom.” A new Soviet magazine called “Glasnost” was raided in October and its editor, Mr Sergei Grigoryants, said after being detained and questioned: “No one knows how far the policy of glasnost can go.”

Mr Galliner commented in the 32-page report: "This is the fundamental problem — one with

which all journalists must sympathise: how to deal with this new-found openness? Should its limits be tested, just how far can they be stretched?” The institute has offices in London and Zurich, and is an independent body representing 2000 publishers and editors in more than 60 countries, dedicated to the defence of press freedom. The report, titled ‘'World Press Freedom Review,” appeared in its monthly bulletin for December. Discussing new attempts to curb the news media in Western democracies, Mr Galliner said: "There is a growing trend for Governments to try to introduce new press legislation and to exert more influence and even control on the media directly or indirectly.” In what he called one of the most striking examples of this trend, Mr Galliner cited the British Government’s courtroom battle in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong to suppress the memoirs of a retired intelligence officer, Mr Peter Wright.

The efforts are continuing, despite the publication in the United States of Mr Wright’s book, “Spycatcher,” which is a best seller. The institute’s British national committee told Government law officers the ban had done great harm to Britain’s reputa-

tion as a free democracy with a free press, Mr Galliner said. The report cited problems for the press on all five continents, including 78 countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. It noted the deaths of the American freelance TV cameraman, Mr Lee Shapiro, and his assistant, Mr Jim Lindalos, in Afghanistan, apparently killed in a Soviet ambush; the failure of Chilean authorities to solve the murder of the newsman, Mr Jose Carrasco; and the burning to death in Sri Lanka of four Sinhalese TV crew members. Reporters faced hazards in widely differing countries, the institute said, including Fiji, where two newspapers were closed after a military coup, and Tibet, where Chinese authorities expelled 15 foreign correspondents who had reported anti-Chinese riots. In India, the “Indian Express,” which had alleged corruption in high places, saw its offices raided "if for no other reason than to warn other newspapers of being too critical of the present Government”, Mr Galliner said. The report said despite a marked increase in law suits against the news media in Turkey, the Turkish press was able to function relatively freely, and in Nicaragua, the

main opposition newspaper, “La Prensa,” was reopeped. Even Chile, where "persecution of the press and journalists intensified,” a new opposition daily, “La Epoca,” was launched. “To their amazement, the South Koreans are finding that the press has turned into a vigorous affair from the previous unresponsive news media of the 1980 to 1986 period,” the report said. It praised the United States news media for conducting a “spirited campaign against Government secrecy and restriction.” In this connection, the report mentioned attempts to keep President Ronald Reagan away from the press, the Irancontra affair, and moves to allow official bodies to withhold information that might harm their programmes or commercial intprpst s ? Mr Galliner said 1987 saw a growth in news media monopolies controlled by private individuals such as the Austra-lian-born Mr Rupert Murdoch, Mr Robert Maxwell in Britain, Mr Robert Hersant in France, and Mr Silvio Berlusconi in Italy. The development was bad news “for those who ... feel the media would become no more than the vehicles for the owner’s personal . views,” the director said.