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Almost 500 journalists will be behind bars in 2021. 60 of them are women. That’s two records.
The organization “Reporters Without Borders” takes stock at the end of the year: a mixture of positive and negative. “One year, how many there are,” says Bettina Büsser. She is a freelance journalist and spokesperson for “Reporters Without Borders” in Switzerland.
It is positive that since 2003 so few journalists worldwide have never been killed because of their profession. The many journalists behind bars are negative. “Never since 1995 have so many journalists been in prison as there are today,” she says. 488 in number. Compared to last year, that is an increase of 20 percent.
Journalism and democracy
This number also serves as an indicator of the state of democracy. Because freedom of information is part of human rights. “Thus the situation of media workers always says something about human rights and democracy.”
There are particularly many imprisoned media workers in Myanmar, Belarus and China. “These three countries are part of a trend, namely that states are developing into authoritarian regimes. One does not want to hear any other voices than those of the regime. Freedom of information and human rights are suppressed, ”says Büsser.
The freelance journalist expects that states that develop in the direction of authoritarian regimes will continue to do so. “This is not a good prospect because it always has consequences for freedom of information.”
The many women behind bars are striking. 60 female journalists are currently imprisoned for their work. This results from the positive development that the proportion of women in journalism is increasing, explains spokeswoman Büsser.
Legend:
In Belarus there are currently more women journalists than journalists in prison. “The first to be arrested after the protests were two women,” says Büsser. A Belarusian journalist is Katerina Andrejewa (right).
Keystone
Media workers are also in custody in other parts of Europe. Turkey is an important example. The government and the judiciary have been cracking down on independent and critical journalists since the crackdown on the attempted coup in 2016. Dozens are in custody.
Situation in Switzerland
The basis of freedom of the press and information in Switzerland is stable and good, says the spokeswoman for “Reporters Without Borders”. “Switzerland is one of the top ten countries in our ranking.”
However, there are two “buts”. One is the economic situation. “The media are not doing well economically. That always means downsizing and media concentration. ” There are fewer votes than before, so Büsser. “Diversity is an important characteristic of freedom of information.”
The second problem is the increasing aggressiveness against media workers. There are all over the world, especially in connection with corona demonstrations. «Colleagues are insulted, beaten and spat upon. They are approached very aggressively and negatively. ” It is a frightening development. “You don’t believe them that they just want to do their job, you get the feeling that they are opponents.”
Legend:
According to Büsser, the aggressiveness towards media workers was encouraged by Donald Trump. “He always said that journalists lie and spread fake news. I think this attitude towards journalists will persist. ” Or it takes a lot of energy to rebuild it.
Reuters
Büsser said she could not say in concrete terms how things will continue for freedom of the press and freedom of information. But experience shows that happy things happen again and again and, for example, new laws come into force or are changed that make the work of journalists easier. «And there is a ray of hope; the hope that as many people as possible see journalism as something that is important and should therefore be done well. “