Europe & Central Asia

Stepanian acknowledges that many television programs do not elicit the kind of interest he would like to see. “Our workers come with Soviet experience,” he explains. “It is difficult for them to forget Glavlit [censorship] and self-censorship and to teach them freedom. Mostly the fault is with the journalists, rather than the government.” There is…

The collapse of Soviet-style journalism has brought a new type of writer to the fore-youthful, enthusiastic, but often without training or experience. A problem in Armenian journalism is the need to replace Soviet-era training with new methods. Ruben A. Satyan says he assigns new recruits at Vremya to senior editors for on-the-job training. Astghik Gevorkian,…

Attacks on the Press in 1997 Introduction: Attacks on the Press in 1997 Imprisoned Index imprision country list Imprisoned Journalists confirmedright1.html Contributors: Attacks on the Press in 1997 Index: Attacks on the Press in 1997 Credits: Attacks on the Press in 1997-Credits Attacks on the Press in 1997 Attacks on the Press in 1997 Imprisoned…

CPJ News Alerts, 1997 Mexico: Killing of Journalist Condemned Indonesia: Ahmed Taufik accepts award Press Freedom Groups Condemn Algeria’s Silencing of Independent Press Algeria: Letter to the Embassy of Algeria 185 Journalists Imprisoned Worldwide Proceeds from Michael Bloomberg’s Book to Benefit CPJ Bosnia: Dayton Accords Broken Letter to Madeleine Albright Cambodian Journalists Threatened by Military…

After serving nearly 32 months in prison for his newspaper’s critical coverage of Turkey’s ongoing conflict with Kurdish insurgents, editor Ocak Isik Yurtçu was freed from Saray Prison on August 15, one day after Turkey’s parliament unanimously passed an amnesty law allowing for the release of several jailed editors.

China Chen Fang BOOK BANNING Aug. 21, 1997 The Communist Party’s propaganda department, the Culture Ministry, and the Press and Publications Administration banned Chen Fang’s 1997 book, Wrath of Heaven: A Mayor’s Severe Crime, for posing a threat to Chinese leadership with its coverage of government corruption. Though a novel, the book describes the infamous…

CHINA Chen Fang BOOK BANNING Aug. 21, 1997 The Communist Party’s propaganda department, the Culture Ministry, and the Press and Publications Administration banned Chen Fang’s 1997 book, Wrath of Heaven: A Mayor’s Severe Crime, for posing a threat to Chinese leadership with its coverage of government corruption. Though a novel, the book describes the infamous…

YELENA MASYUK, correspondent for NTV, captured the world’s attention when she was kidnapped by Chechen armed rebels May 10 and held, along with her two crew members, for 100 days in harsh, inhumane conditions, most of the time in damp mountain caves. She had covered the Chechen war in 1994 for NTV and had endeavored…