What's new in the news?
THE FREE PRESS AND THE FAKE PRESS
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28527
On World Press Freedom Day, Amnesty International celebrates "the
mighty blog" as having "profound implications for press freedom and
human rights." The organization states, "People in Iran and China
have used blogs to expose violations by their governments and
provide the outside world with information." Yet, in both countries,
"the authorities have increasingly targeted bloggers to stifle
dissent." According to Freedom House's annual survey, "the United
States has suffered 'notable setbacks' in press freedom," slipping
to 24th of 194 countries. One reason is "a number of legal cases in
which prosecutors sought to compel journalists to reveal sources or
turn over notes or other material." Another is the paid pundit and
video news release controversies. Such fake news "may be even worse
that poisoning public debate on specific issues," said
communications professor Martin Kaplan. "It corrodes the ability of
real journalism to do its job."
SOURCE: Inter Press Service News Agency, May 2, 2005
For more information or to comment on this story, visit:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/3638