| Revision as of 15:45, 7 August 2007 editJohn Smith's (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers13,813 edits Undid revision 149777084 by 69.248.82.2 (talk)← Previous edit | Revision as of 21:43, 7 August 2007 edit undoJohn Smith's (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers13,813 edits removing irrelevant material - so what if it is funded from that source?Next edit → | ||
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| ==Criticism== | ==Criticism== | ||
| Reporters Without Borders' impartiality has been questioned. 19% of their total funding comes from public grants, including in the past from the ].<ref></ref><ref>Z Magazine. </ref> However, RWB openly criticises countries both from the developed and developing world for their treatment of reporters, including the United States of America. | |||
| === Cuba === | === Cuba === | ||
Revision as of 21:43, 7 August 2007
"RWB" redirects here. For the dance company, see Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
Reporters Without Borders, or RWB (Template:Lang-fr, Template:Lang-es, or RSF, Template:Lang-de or ROG) is a Paris-based international non-governmental organization that advocates for freedom of the press. It was founded by current Secretary General Robert Ménard.
Press freedom
Reporters Without Borders states that it draws its inspiration from Article 19 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that everyone has "the right to freedom of opinion and expression" and also the right to "seek, receive and impart" information and ideas "regardless of frontiers." This has been re-affirmed by several charters and declarations around the world. In Europe, this right is included in the 1950 Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
Reporters Without Borders is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, a virtual network of non-governmental organisations that monitors free expression violations worldwide and defends journalists, writers and others who are persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression.
In 2005, Reporters Without Borders shared the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought with Nigerian human rights lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim and Cuba's Ladies in White movement.
Over the years, RWB has published several books to raise public awareness of threats to press freedom around the world. A recent publication is the Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents , which was launched in September 2005. The handbook provides technical tips on how to blog anonymously and avoid censorship. It includes contributions from renowned blogger-journalists Dan Gillmor, Jay Rosen and Ethan Zuckerman.
Criticism
Cuba
Tensions between Cuban authorities and RWB are high, particularly after the imprisonment in 2003 of 75 dissidents (27 journalists) by the Cuban Government, including Raúl Rivero and Oscar Elías Biscet. RWB describes the Cuban regime as "totalitarian" and criticises Fidel Castro's regime. RWB has been described as an "ultra-reactionary" organization by the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, Granma.
Lucie Morillon, RWB's Washington representative, confirmed in an interview on 29 April 2005 that the organization had received money from the Washington-based Center for a Free Cuba ($50,000 in 2004) and that a contract with the US State Department's Special Envoy to the Western Hemisphere, Otto Reich, required them to inform Europeans about repression against journalists in Cuba. However, the organisation has denied that its campaigning on the issue of Cuba were related to these payments. 1.3% of its total funding came from this source.
A Paris court (tribunal de grande instance) ordered RWB to pay 6,000 Euros to the daughter and heir of Alberto Korda for non-compliance with a court order of 9 July 2003 banning it from using Korda’s famous (and copyrighted) photograph of Ernesto "Che" Guevara in a beret, taken at the funeral of La Coubre victims. RWB said it was "relieved" it was not given a harsher sentence.. The face had been superimposed by RSF with that of a May 1968 CRS anti-riot police agent, and the postcard was handed out at Orly Airport in Paris to tourists boarding on flights for Cuba. Korda's daughter declared that "Reporters Without Borders" should call themselves Reporters Without Principles". Headed by Robert Ménard, RWB also burst into the Cuban Tourism Office in Paris, obstructing the running of the office for nearly four hours. Ménard and several RWB members received prison terms in Cuba. Orlando Gutiérrez, founder of the Cuban Democratic Office in Miami, received over one million USD from USAID (United States Agency for International Development, an agency which has been accused of working with the CIA) to promote subversion on the island and coordinate plans with RWB.
RWB claims it has been the target of hostility from the Cuban authorities since the arrest of 75 dissidents in March 2003. Cuba’s representatives have called for the withdrawal of its consultative status with the United Nations . According to Granma, they lost in March 2003 their UN approved NGO status for one year, as a result of their uncivilized behavior during the opening session of the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva.
Haiti
Cuban supporters also find RWB's reporting of press freedom in Haiti during and after Jean-Bertrand Aristide presidency suspect, arguing that it is biased due to funding from the United States.
Worldwide press freedom index
RWB compiles and publishes an annual ranking of countries based upon the organization's assessment of their press freedom records. Small countries, such as Malta, and Andorra, are excluded from this report. The 2006 list was published on 24 October 2006.
The report is based on a questionnaire sent to partner organisations of Reporters Without Borders (14 freedom of expression groups in five continents) and its 130 correspondents around the world, as well as to journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists.
The survey asks questions about direct attacks on journalists and the media as well as other indirect sources of pressure against the free press. RWB is careful to note that the index only deals with press freedom, and does not measure the quality of journalism. Due to the nature of the survey's methodology based on individual perceptions, there are often wide contrasts in a country's ranking from year to year. The ranking also states it takes into account pressure on journalists by non-governmental groups, for example the Basque terrorist group ETA in Spain or the Mafia in Russia, can pose serious threats to press freedom.
A higher index indicates more restraints on freedom of the press.
Template:Reporters Without Borders/Worldwide press freedom index
References
- European Parliament. Ladies, Ibrahim and Reporters joint Sakharov prize winners
- http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=542
- ^ Reporters Without Borders ordered to pay 6,000 euros to Korda’s heir over use of Che photo, RSF, March 10, 2004 Cite error: The named reference "RSFChe" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- CounterPunch. Reporters Without Borders Unmasked
- Reporters Without Borders.Income and expenditure
- CounterPunch. Reporters Without Borders and Washington's Coups
- Reporters Without Borders. How the index was compiled
See also
External links
- Reporters Without Borders
- Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide press freedom index 2002.
- Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide press freedom index 2003.
- Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide press freedom index 2004.
- Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide press freedom index 2005;
- Reporters Without Borders. Worldwide press freedom index 2006.
| Sans Frontières/Without Borders NGOs | |
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