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Journalists
WAIS rejects the cavalier public attitude toward the working press, which
in general does a very professional job of reporting events, although,
through lack of general interest, coverage of international affairs is
thin. People depend more on TV now than on the press for news, even though
the press does a much better job. And, we must add, a more courageous one.
At a dinner meeting of the Committee to Protect Journalism, Ted Coppel
received the International Press Freedom Award. We applaud, but to really
appreciate the situation, consult the IPI Report; the Fourth Quarter 1997
issue has reached my desk. It is published for the International Press
Association, with headquarters in Vienna, at the Times Mirror in Los Angeles.
It gives details of abuses which so far this year have resulted in 27
deaths of journalists worldwide. The AP, which supports the IPI Report,
has distributed a picture of a demonstration in Tijuana, just across the
border, by over 100 Mexican journalists protesting against the abuses to
which they are subjected. The Fraternity of Mexican Reporters says that
since 1995, some 500 reporters have been targets of violent attacks. The
IPI and its Report deserve worldwide support.
Ronald Hilton, 12-09-97
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Re: Journalists
Our good colleague Edith Coliver, a retired executive of the Asia
Foundation, seconded my commendation of journalists, in particular the
International Press Association. She writes:
"Thanks for the reference to the IPI. During my tenure with The Asia
Foundation we worked closely with the IPI, encouraging their activities in
Asia, such as the conduct of seminars on press freedom and responsibility,
investigative journalism, reporting the news, etc. Most of the seminar
lecturers were Asian IPI members themselves, some of them award winning, such
as recipients of the Magsaysay award, Asia's equivalent to the Nobel Prize. "
Ronald Hilton, 12-11-97
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