Despite North Korea’s professed commitment in 1999 to pursuing a course of modernization, the country remained as isolated as ever, maintaining a stringently controlled system to restrict freedom of speech, the press, and any form of unregulated cultural activity. As a result, there was almost no independent scrutiny of Communist leader Kim Jong Il’s stern…
Poland became a member of NATO in April 1999 and looks forward to further integration with the West, including European Union membership in the next few years. The country has free and relatively professional media, but Poland’s positive press freedom record is marred by the government’s retention of criminal- libel statutes despite President Alexander Kwasniewski’s…
Political shakeouts and instability once again plagued Romania, complicating its hopes for admission to the European Union (EU). In December, President Emil Constantinescu effectively ousted Prime Minister Radu Vasile from the government and replaced his entire cabinet. Often blamed for the country’s continuing economic decline, Vasile was also evicted from the ruling Christian Democratic National…
“We have to protect the state from the media,” said Mikhail Lesin, the head of Russia’s new Ministry for the Press, Radio and Television Broadcasting, and Media Affairs, shortly after taking office in July. Coming in advance of the country’s legislative and presidential elections, it was a stunning statement of Kremlin intent. Lesin’s demonization of…
Slovak media function in an increasingly competitive market that has forced many newspapers and broadcasters out of business. Slovakia’s economic difficulties have put pressure on the advertising market, which is dominated by national dailies and magazines. The editorial policies of most media outlets are largely independent of the government and individual political parties, although business…
Attacks on the press, while still rife, have slowed down since the end in 1997 of Tajikistan’s five-year civil war, during which 29 journalists were murdered in the line of duty. But the government has found other means to keep a tight lid on the press. Throughout the year, the government of President Imomali Rakhmonov…
While the government of Prime Minister Basdeo Panday pressured journalists to cover only the positive aspects of national life, several violent incidents highlighted the adversarial relationship between officialdom and the press. The Panday government established the National Broadcasting Network (NBN), which unites various state-owned television and radio stations into a single corporate entity. Panday urged…
For years, Turkey has had one of the liveliest yet most restricted presses in the region. This paradox was again on display in 1999. Print and broadcast media continued to cover sensitive social and political topics and were often unbridled in their criticism of the government–notably during the authorities’ sloppy rescue efforts after the devastating…
Among all the countries of the former Soviet Union, Turkmenistan stands out as having the most repressive climate for journalists. President Saparmurat Niyazov, known as Turkmenbashi, “father of all Turkmen people,” has created a personality cult not seen since the days of Stalin. In the capital, Ashgabat, a huge statue of Niyazov dominates the city…
Over the past several years, Ukrainian press freedom has deteriorated to such an extent that Ukraine, unlike even neighboring Belarus, now lacks any genuinely independent major news media. From a barrage of violent assaults in 1996Ð97 to relentless bureaucratic pressures and lawsuits aimed at bankrupting them, media outlets have been forced into the arms of…