Members of the Tunisian journalists' union recently raised concerns about an alleged decline in ethics in their field, while another group of media professionals claimed that press freedoms were under fire.
By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia from Tunis — 23/12/09
Two different groups of Tunisian journalists are raising the alarm – one about what they call a deterioration of press freedoms, the other about an alleged rash of unprofessional press attacks on public figures.
Last week-end, the ethics committee of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists condemned personal attacks on national, media and political figures.
There is a critical difference between exercising freedom of expression and attacking the personal character of a citizen or a journalist, the union committee declared.
In its December 19th statement, the group also reminded Tunisian journalists that "libel and defamation is a crime punishable under Tunisian law, and … a stark violation of the profession's code of ethics".
The union's call came a week after Tunisian journalists and media activists, concerned by alleged "restrictions and obstacles in all stages of their work", created the National Committee for the Defense of Freedom of Expression and the Press in Tunisia.
In a statement released on December 10th, the latter group claimed that authorities' measures had created "unilateral, stagnant and backward media" that act as a "totalitarian tool for propaganda".
The activists' committee also called for the immediate release of detained journalists and "putting an end to the crackdown on opposition and independent newspapers". It also demanded that the government stop "interfering" with the official union and allow it to hold its legal convention independently.
Zied Heni, a journalist and one of the committee's founders, said Tunisia had witnessed a "serious deterioration" of freedom of the press.
Earlier this year, new government-mandated distribution rules prompted three Tunisian opposition parties to stop publishing for a week. In a press statement published on November 10th, the papers claimed they had been barred from collecting their editions from printing houses. The editors claimed this had forced printers to deliver copies straight to distribution companies, making it easy to tamper with delivery and carry out disguised confiscations.
On top of these allegations, a number of prominent cases involving journalists followed Tunisia's October elections, including the jailing of Taoufik Ben Brik and attempts to quash blogging. Furthermore, on November 2nd, the opposition Ettajdid Movement accused the government of confiscating copies of its paper Attariq Aljadid.
At the time, authorities declined to comment on Ettajdid's complaint, and in a November 6th press conference, Tunisian Justice Minister Bechir Tekkari said that journalists "who commit crimes are still punishable under the law and can't use their profession as excuse to get away with what they did".
Attariq Aljadid writer Sofiene Chourabi told Magharebia last week that the recent show of solidarity among journalists was encouraging.
"I think that the partial consensus that we saw on the launch of the call for media freedom … shows the extent of the danger the press is facing in Tunisia", he said.
Chourabi called on the government to get rid of restrictions on press freedoms and act on its promises to develop the media sector.
For his part, journalist Faten Ghanmi said that self-censorship was now just as destructive to the media as state-sponsored censorship.
"Transparency in the field of journalism requires avoiding censorship, especially the self-imposed censorship that the authorities impose in an indirect way," Ghanmi said, adding that journalism "needs to be rid of these controlling factors before journalists can defend themselves against other pressures".
By Jamel Arfaoui for Magharebia from Tunis — 23/12/09
Two different groups of Tunisian journalists are raising the alarm – one about what they call a deterioration of press freedoms, the other about an alleged rash of unprofessional press attacks on public figures.
Last week-end, the ethics committee of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists condemned personal attacks on national, media and political figures.
There is a critical difference between exercising freedom of expression and attacking the personal character of a citizen or a journalist, the union committee declared.
In its December 19th statement, the group also reminded Tunisian journalists that "libel and defamation is a crime punishable under Tunisian law, and … a stark violation of the profession's code of ethics".
The union's call came a week after Tunisian journalists and media activists, concerned by alleged "restrictions and obstacles in all stages of their work", created the National Committee for the Defense of Freedom of Expression and the Press in Tunisia.
In a statement released on December 10th, the latter group claimed that authorities' measures had created "unilateral, stagnant and backward media" that act as a "totalitarian tool for propaganda".
The activists' committee also called for the immediate release of detained journalists and "putting an end to the crackdown on opposition and independent newspapers". It also demanded that the government stop "interfering" with the official union and allow it to hold its legal convention independently.
Zied Heni, a journalist and one of the committee's founders, said Tunisia had witnessed a "serious deterioration" of freedom of the press.
Earlier this year, new government-mandated distribution rules prompted three Tunisian opposition parties to stop publishing for a week. In a press statement published on November 10th, the papers claimed they had been barred from collecting their editions from printing houses. The editors claimed this had forced printers to deliver copies straight to distribution companies, making it easy to tamper with delivery and carry out disguised confiscations.
On top of these allegations, a number of prominent cases involving journalists followed Tunisia's October elections, including the jailing of Taoufik Ben Brik and attempts to quash blogging. Furthermore, on November 2nd, the opposition Ettajdid Movement accused the government of confiscating copies of its paper Attariq Aljadid.
At the time, authorities declined to comment on Ettajdid's complaint, and in a November 6th press conference, Tunisian Justice Minister Bechir Tekkari said that journalists "who commit crimes are still punishable under the law and can't use their profession as excuse to get away with what they did".
Attariq Aljadid writer Sofiene Chourabi told Magharebia last week that the recent show of solidarity among journalists was encouraging.
"I think that the partial consensus that we saw on the launch of the call for media freedom … shows the extent of the danger the press is facing in Tunisia", he said.
Chourabi called on the government to get rid of restrictions on press freedoms and act on its promises to develop the media sector.
For his part, journalist Faten Ghanmi said that self-censorship was now just as destructive to the media as state-sponsored censorship.
"Transparency in the field of journalism requires avoiding censorship, especially the self-imposed censorship that the authorities impose in an indirect way," Ghanmi said, adding that journalism "needs to be rid of these controlling factors before journalists can defend themselves against other pressures".
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.