Online journalists go to jail more often than other forms of media

If you still think that being a blogger and an online journalist is insanely cool because the income from various banner exchange services, AdWords and SAPE has recently been scaled, then the International Committee to Protect Journalists ( Commeitee to Protect Journalists ) strives to remind you that not everything is so cloudless. Online journalists, including bloggers, are suffering more today than representatives of any other form of media around the world. According to a recent study, online journalists now make up the largest group of prisoners among all media.

Of the 125 journalists who went to jail while performing their work in 2008, 45% percent of them are “bloggers, reporters for online publications or their editors”. China still continues the 10-year-long initiative to imprison representatives of free speech and holds first place in this field, while Cuba, Burma, Eritrea and Uzbekistan continue the list.

And even despite the fact that in comparison with 2007, the figures have slightly decreased, the committee recalls that arrests happen most often to freelance journalists. If you think that it is difficult to get to you while sitting at home - I dare to disappoint, everything is just the opposite: without the support of large media companies behind their backs, lone bloggers and writers do not have the resources to protect themselves.


CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon says: “Although the idea of ​​a proud blogger working in pajamas at home may seem very attractive to someone when it comes to persistent knocking on the door - as a rule, no one can help them . We all must stand up for their rights - from Internet companies to other journalists and media moguls. The future of journalism is exclusively online, and we are now in a state of battle with the enemies for the freedom of the press and the word. ”
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The results of the movement against the regime can be very harsh - the CPJ has compiled a complete list of imprisoned journalists and their arrest stories. In Burma, for example, Nei Von Latt (Nay Phone Latt) started his own blog, in which he wrote from different Internet cafes, but angered the ruling party of Burma only by publishing caricatures of some generals. He was arrested on January 29, imprisoned, charged with “public insult” and sentenced to 20 years and 6 months in prison.

The list is present and the United States, for its attitude to journalists in Iraq. According to the CPJ reports: “... officers of the US military, occupying not the most recent places, were put in prison by dozens of journalists in Iraq — someone for days, but someone for months — without any trial or investigation. In truth , in such cases, it is very rare to initiate legal proceedings. " This time, the USA has entered the list for the fifth time.

via ArsTechnica