International   

Plea to ensure media freedom on war front

PARIS MARCH 22. Reporters Without Borders has called on the United States to guarantee that the media can work freely and in safety in Iraq, the organisation said in a press release.

It urged U.S. authorities not to obstruct the media in its reporting of the war. While expressing concern that the U.S. military might censor the reports of journalists officially allowed to work among U.S. forces and that those who opted to work independently would not be protected, it called on U.S. forces not to destroy Iraqi media facilities.

The organisation welcomed the U.S. invitation to more than 600 journalists from all over the world to report from the battlefield.

But the organisation expressed concern over the 50-point "ground rules agreement'' that journalists are required sign.

The rules spell out what can or cannot be covered. The distinction is very vague and commanders of military units are given the final authority on whether to allow something to be reported or not.

Rule 6 permits unit commanders to "embargo'' news that may damage "operational security.''

The range of such news is also poorly defined and the duration of the embargo not stated. Rules 40, 41 and 43, which ban pictures of the faces of prisoners of war and soldiers killed in the fighting, undermine the right to inform the public, the organisation said.

It was up to journalists, not the U.S. army, to decide what could or could not be shown.

It expressed concern at the working conditions for journalists who choose not to be officially incorporated into the U.S. military operations and who U.S. officials had several times warned could be in danger.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Debilitating strikes on the cards
• Britain, Kuwait may benefit in post-war equation
• Colombo, LTTE for better truce compliance
• Benazir demands Parliament session to discuss ISI's drug trade
• Mood depressed in England
• Australian journalist killed
• MMA poses a threat to civil liberties: report
• U.S. War Council to take stock of campaign
• Plea to ensure media freedom on war front
• Prisoners pose challenge for allied troops

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu