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16.08.05, 05:10
: International Journalists Expose Media Censorship (Hardcover)
by David Dadge (Editor)
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This hard-hitting collection shows that pressure and persecution are still
inescapable aspects of a journalist's job description. Dadge (Casualty of
War: The Bush Administration's Assault on a Free Press) gathers 14 mostly
first-person stories from journalists about the obstacles and threats they
have faced. Many of the reports concern underdeveloped countries-like Charles
Arthur's account of the murder of Haitian radio journalist Jean Dominique,
and Andrew Meldrum's portrait of Zimbabwe's campaign to demolish independent
media-and follow the traditional, lamentable script of state repression. But
Dadge also includes examples of the subtle but effective censorship imposed
by private interests on Western journalists, including Tom Gutting's
dismissal from the Texas City Sun for criticizing President Bush's handling
of 9/11 in an opinion column, Stephen Kimber's account of the ideological
strictures imposed by the Asper family on its Canadian newspaper chain, and
Jasper Becker's story of the undermining of Hong Kong's once proud South
China Morning Post by owners who toe the Beijing line to protect their
Chinese investments. The journalists take on a range of targets, from
bureaucrats to media conglomerates as well as their own colleagues' lazy
collusion with official sources. The result is a vigorous defense of press
freedoms by journalists who are unafraid to confront the powers that be.
Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All
rights reserved.
Book Description
What happens to journalists who expose uncomfortable truths? How far are
journalists prepared to go in order to report a difficult story? Silenced
provides answers to these questions with the stories of journalists who
risked their careers so that the public might be informed.
From China, where Jasper Becker, formerly Beijing bureau chief of the South
China Morning Post, fought a lonely and unsuccessful battle against owners
willing to soften the newspaper's reporting of the Chinese government in the
hope of protecting mainland investments, to Zimbabwe where the harsh
treatment of The Guardian’s Andrew Meldrum led to him being arrested and
forcibly deported from the country because he dared criticize President
Robert Mugabe, Silenced is a forcible reminder of the risks – both personal
and financial—accepted by the media on our behalf.
Elsewhere, in other parts of the world, journalists face more traditional
problems, whether it is the pressure placed on journalists Gary Hughes and
Gerard Ryle when highlighting police corruption in Australia, or the
aggressive tactics employed by the Belgian authorities against Stern
magazine's Hans-Martin Tillack for exposing a financial scandal at the heart
of the European Union.
When faced with the threat of censorship, all of these journalists reacted in
a similar manner—they chose to report and face the consequences. They decided
to place the ethics of journalism above all other considerations. As such
they are proof that press freedom cannot exist without those who are willing
to uphold its fundamental principals.
Silenced is more than a book on the media; it is an expression of the bravery
and persistence of journalists everywhere.
