Javier García, periodista y ancla de El Observador de RCTV, ha sido asesinado, este fin de semana, de varias puñaladas, en el interior de su apartamento de Caracas.
El hallazgo ocurrió en el departamento del comunicador, ubicado en Colinas de Bello Monte, en Caracas. Se desconoce el móvil del crimen. (my translation:) Javier Garcia, journalist and anchorman of RCTV's Observer newscast, was stabbed to death this weekend in his Caracas apartment.
He was found in his residence at Colinas de Bello Monte, Caracas. The motive for the crime is unknown.
Noticias 24 says that the building's doorman stopped a man who tried to leave the building with a suitcase. When the doorman asked where was he coming from, the man said the suitcase belonged to Garcia. The doorman didn't allow the man to leave with the suitcase.
UPDATE Pierre Gerges, vice president of Reporte Diario de la Economia, was driving his brother's car Monday evening a week ago when two unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle shot him at least 12 times: The IHT has the article, Venezuelan newspaper says executive's killing due to reporting
Last Friday, conservative commentator Ezra Levant was hauled before Alberta's Human Rights and Citizenship Commission for publishing the infamous Danish Mohammed cartoons two years ago in the Western Standard.
Syed Soharwardy, the head of Canada's Islamic Supreme Council, complained that Levant had incited hate against Muslims.
Levant's opening statement was a tour de force as far as punchy defences of free speech go. Apparently viewed almost 200,000 times, it is one of the most-watched clips on YouTube in recent times. It's also on his website, www.ezralevant.com, where he describes the chilling process: "No six-foot brownshirt, no police cell at midnight. Just Shirlene McGovern, an amiable enough bureaucrat, casually asking me about my political thoughts on behalf of the Government of Alberta. And she'll write up a report about it, and recommend that the Government do this or that to me. Just going through checklists, you see ... a limp clerk who was just punching the clock. She had done it dozens of times before and will do it dozens of times again. In a way, that's more terrifying."
It was, said Levant, the epitome of Hannah Arendt's warning against "the banality of evil".
Well, in the case of Soharwardy, it appears that he himself is the subject of a human rights complaint -- for discrimination against women. There's a shocker. It was filed with the Edmonton and Ottawa offices of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Some women in his mosque allege that:
We were discriminated as women and were treated poorly, differently, negatively and adversely by the Directors and Officers of Al-Madinah Calgary Islamic Centre, Islam Supreme Council of Canada (ISCC), Muslim Against Terrorism (MAT), Al-Madinah Dar-Ul-Aloom Ltd and Al-Madinah Calgary Islamic Assembly. In this meeting we were treated diferently from men in the following manner:
· Abusive language uttered towards us;
· Not permitted to ask any questions;
· Danied participation as equal members of the Muslim community;
· Physically and verbally threatened; made to sit in the back of the hall;
· Accused of disrupting and subotaging the proceedings;
· Forced to vacate the pemises;
Followed-up by obscene and threatening phone calls and letters in the mail.
Ezra Levant published the Mohammed cartoons. Here's his opening statement at the Alberta Human Rights Commission - As you can see, he was also told who he was allowed to bring to defend him:
The Levant case highlights how Western societies are paving the road to their own destruction by allowing unelected bureaucrats and lawyers to persecute those who engage in freedom of speech.
Note to Opus readers: The Opus strips for August 26 and September 2 have been withheld from publication by a large number of client newspapers across the country, including Opus's host paper The Washington Post."
Venezuela: El Observador gets back on line, Hugo gives Fidel fashion advice, Evo makes new friends
While Chavez is busy suing Globovision after having closed RCTV, Globovision continues to produce and post videos for RCTV on You Tube twice a day. Here's yesterday evening's (in Spanish): Tamara Slusniys explains that the RCTV webpage, El Observador, which had been shut down from a DOS attack is now back on line El Observador. The actors from one of the RCTV comedy shows is taking their show on the road showing on screen one of the shows they couldn't broadcast when the station was closed by the government.
On Wednesday there was a huge demonstration of students who went to the National Assembly. As the WaPo correctly explains, there have been no opposition lawmakers since 2005. Daniel explains that the students are Settling into a protest routine, Venezuela style
President Hugo Chavez called for the creation of a common defense pact between Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia, while the leftist Latin American bloc announced the creation of a development bank to finance joint projects.
which is something I've been posting on for a while, but now the rethoric's a little hotter,
Chavez said Wednesday that the four-nation Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA, which began as a socialist-leaning trade group, should cooperate militarily to become more independent of U.S. influence. "It seems to be the moment to establish a joint defense strategy," Chavez said. He called for joint military aid as well as intelligence and counterintelligence cooperation "to prepare our people for defense so that nobody makes any mistake with us."
Austin Bay's Washington Times op-ed looks at Venezuela's current land claims against Colombia, Guyana and Holland (because of Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire) and asks, A second Falklands?
One thing is clear, Hugo's networking involves Bolivia, and terrorist-supporting states:
Summary: Despite recent conciliatory gestures between the presidents of Brazil and Venezuela, Brazil's Senate has shown a new determination to block full membership for Venezuela in the trade group Mercosur as part of the fallout from the revocation of Radio Caracas TV's license. If Mercosur denies Venezuela, it could become a more viable trade group, though that greatly depends on Argentina's stance following elections later this year. Ultimately, Brazil will have to leave Mercosur if it does not become a more effective trade body.
After a week's worth of protests against the closing of RCTV, Hugo's PR campaign kicks in: Chavez supporters back TV closure by marching in Caracas, and the The Guardian has a letter signed by prominent Brits who say that,
What is truly amazing is that it has taken five years for the Chavez administration to take action in any way against media that helped carry out this coup
Belmont Club notices how this line is echoed by many,
You would have thought they were singing from the same scoresheet, but maybe they just see things the same way.
My own personal opinion is that anyone would have to be a fool or on the Left not to recognize an incipient tyrant in Hugo Chavez. That does not necessarily mean that his opponents, like the owners of RCTV are honest or upstanding men. They may very well be thugs. That doesn't change the fact that Hugo Chavez is a thug as well. But it seems clear to me that the Left's criteria for judging fascisms is entirely partisan. Although they use such words as "democratically elected" or "legitimate" to justify Chavez, none of these words are really operative, except as protective coloration. What matters is that he is "their guy". He is their thug. Principle, clearly on the Left and possibly among conservatives too, runs a far second to belief.
Meanwhile, Daniel in Venezuela aks, Fiasco at the Chavista march? Take a look at the picture The one on the left is from Globovision, which Chavez is now suing, and the one on the right is from the new TVes, which replaced RCTV.
Authorities here say that RCTV supported a coup that dislodged Chávez for two days in 2002 and consistently violated a range of telecommunications regulations, leading the government not to renew its broadcast license when it expired.
But press freedom groups note that the station has not been officially sanctioned, nor have its owners or managers been charged with conspiracy against the state. Other private stations that were harshly anti-Chávez but have toned down critical coverage avoided the same fate, as communications Minister William Lara readily acknowledged in an interview broadcast Friday on CNN's Spanish-language service.
Polls show that 65 to 80 percent of Venezuelan respondents disagreed with the government's decision to end RCTV's concession, though many were simply upset that they wouldn't be able to see some of their favorite soap operas.
The widespread dissatisfaction has reenergized an opposition movement that lost much of its momentum after its efforts to recall Chávez were defeated in 2004 and after its decision to boycott parliamentary elections in 2005 left it without representation in the National Assembly.
Radio Caracas Television, the station silenced by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has found a way to continue its daily broadcasts -- on YouTube, the popular video Web site.
Although the station is officially off the air, CNN's Harris Whitbeck said its news department continues to operate on reduced staffing, and the three daily hour-long installments of the newscast "El Observador" are uploaded onto YouTube by RCTV's Web department.
In addition, RCTV's Colombia-based affiliate, Caracol, has agreed to transmit the evening installment of "El Observador" over its international signal. The program, which will run at midnight, could reach about 800,000 people in Venezuela
Carter himself had a direct hand in the rise of the dictatorship and in weakening the free press.
In 2004, Carter was an official observer to a rigged recall referendum. He swiftly declared it free and fair. Venezuelans cried fraud and chased Carter around Caracas, beating pots and pans. Despite this, outside Venezuela, Carter's report was taken by the media as credible, and Chavez's regime used it to bolster its legitimacy.
The truth was far sorrier. Carter allowed Chavista officials to select ballot boxes for the observers to inspect and to keep them out of the counting room where fraud is most likely. Carter ignored evidence of electronic rigging and dismissed red flags of irregularities raised by a number of economists.
That wasn't the only problem he created.
In 2004,Venezuela had four robust TV stations, all of which were under fire for their criticism of the regime. Chavez declared them "four horsemen of the apocalypse," and vowed to destroy them.
Just a few days ahead of the August recall referendum, Carter mediated a meeting between one station owner, Venevision's Gustavo Cisneros, and Chavez. The result: Venevision ended its critical coverage of Chavez in exchange for its continued existence. As a result, another station, Televen, caved in, and RCTV stood alone with tiny Globovision, as Chavez critics.
For Chavez, it was a bonanza. Because of the media deal Carter mediated, not only did he get a supine press, but it became easier to shut down the lone holdouts who refused to halt criticism.
Read it all.
3:45PM New names for Chavez's country:
Chavenezuela Chavezuela Hugoslavia
Add more in the comments section pdate: Venezuelastan!
It does not matter whether Chavez remains at Miraflores Palace until he dies of old age in his sleep: this week his revolution died.
The students might succeed in overthrowing Chavez, or might go home when they get bored, or might end up in a blood bath. But in three days they have nailed the coffin of the pseudo revolution that has been tormenting us for too long.
A top opponent of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has demanded the release of jailed protesters as university students poured into the streets for a third day to protest the removal of a leading opposition TV station from the air.
Leaving aside the obvious argument that the judgment over a broadcast network's journalistic content should be left to the viewers, and that Chavez's track record makes him an unsuitable custodian of any country's morals, there is a deeper reason why the case of RCTV is worthy of universal attention. It has to do with the role that, in the absence of checks and balances in the steady march toward totalitarianism in Venezuela, this network was forced to play.
Forced by circumstances, RCTV had become in recent years something of a surrogate National Assembly, a surrogate Supreme Court, and a surrogate electoral authority. "We are not politicians," Granier told me a few days ago, "but in a situation like this you cannot avoid being perceived as part of the political struggle by those who lack effective representation or democratic safeguards, and by those responsible for doing away with both. Simply by providing information to a society starved for information we were placed in that position."
Outlets, particularly television stations, that were once aggressively anti-government have grown docile under threat of sanctions, say press freedom and human rights groups, while the government has used a windfall in oil revenue to start up newspapers and broadcast networks.
Yesterday, the crowds were at their largest and the clashes were at a minimum. At one point, thousands of protesters marched through the streets headed for a neighborhood loyal to President Chavez. Their aim is to deliver letters to a Chavez official, urging the release of 180 people arrested for opposing the view of the president. As the masses approached, the street was blocked by more than 1,000 police officers and National Guard troops. They are shoulder to shoulder, and four to six deep.
Venezuela note: The closing down of Radio Caracas Television has finally brought the entire Spanish press out against the Chávez regime. The protests got good coverage. Now he's threatening to close down the country's other major channel, Globovisión, and CNN. It takes a threat to the media's status, power, and influence to really get it pissed off.
I was caught up in this, broadcasting from just outside the studios. It seems when a group of Chavez supporters got within a few blocks of the station, the police took action.
Over the eerie air raid sirens, shots were fired in the air and people ran for cover. It was not clear who was firing at who, but a few minutes later, more shots rang out.
The atmosphere had become nasty. People ran as fast as they could down the narrow streets to get away from the clashes. We ran with them.
He finished his report with this,
The government says that the station violated broadcast laws and transmitted violent and morally degrading programmes.
However,
The decision to renew the licences of other broadcasters, ministers say, shows that Venezuela is democratic and pluralistic.
Venezuela's government has accused a TV station of inciting a murder attempt on President Hugo Chavez, hours after taking another network off the air.
It said footage shown on Globovision implicitly called for Mr Chavez to be killed. The station denies the claim. ... Globovision was the only TV station to air footage of a large demonstration against the government's growing control over the media.
This time the government has sued. Foreign news servides are also in the crosshairs:
Chavez eyes CNN The government was also suing the US station CNN for allegedly linking Mr Chavez to al-Qaeda, Mr Lara said.
"CNN broadcast a lie which linked President Chavez to violence and murder," he said.
In a statement, CNN said they "strongly deny" being "engaged in a campaign to discredit or attack Venezuela".
Despite protests by democracy activists, Venezuela's oldest television network went off the air at midnight Sunday, victim of a fresh push by President Hugo Chavez to tighten his grip over the nation's media
As my podcast guests explained, now everything depends on the leader and what he wants done:
"The decision was mine" to close RCTV, Chavez said Saturday
As my guests stated in Saturday's podcast, RCTV's license renewal was denied by Chavez's decree, not by due process of law.
But more importantly, and a consolation of sorts for me, is the intensity of the international response to the closing of RCTV. Anyone who is anybody in the world has either condemned Chavez or at least remained silent, and definitely refused to support Chavez. Only a few, a surprisingly very few, have come out to support Chavez and they have no credit anyway. You can see it everywhere, from the desperate and ridiculous accusations of Minister Lara today to comment sections at Publius Pundit from pro Chavez Anglos losing their grip on things. Indeed, one from that side should be pissed off: 6 months of intense propaganda and you get editorials such as the one from Le Monde. Millions of dollars in paid services gone to waste, thousands of hours of "grass root" working for naught. The world is unto Chavez, and them, and they know it.
Yes, it is a small consolation but it is an important one. Chavez has lost any respectability he might still have had, and there is nothing he can do to recover it. When, say, Mugabe or Fujimori did this sort of things, they stopped been received where it mattered. Their regime started to unravel as they started losing the respect of their people even if those for a variety of reasons kept voting for them at first. And we know all that Chavez pins for international stages. Many will be denied him now.
Police broke up an opposition protest using a water cannon and tear gas after hundreds took to the streets on Sunday condemning a decision by President Hugo Chavez to force Venezuela's most widely watched channel off the air.
Soaked protesters scattered while the stream of water swept the street, then sang the national anthem as they returned to face a column of riot police outside the state telecommunications commission.
However sincere the resolutions and letters condemning the act, on Monday morning, when RCTV's right to broadcast is illegally terminated, Chavez will still be the ultimate icon of the world's resented imbeciles and those concerned about the loss of another democratic right in Venezuela will carry on with the business of il dolce far niente at taxpayers' expense. Toothless multilateral bodies have, as Chavez, lost all legitimacy. Its condemnations mean jackshit in the real world. The future looks bleak in Venezuela, that much is certain and has, at last, been properly understood by democrats around the globe, whom are seen in the side of reason, in the side of rule of law.
And where are the American cable news channels? While the BBC, Forbes, the NYT, the Guardian (also here), Reuters ( Venezuela TV station says troops seized equipment) and countless others are covering the story, I have yet to see any reporting at all at CNN, or NBC. Fox News just carried a brief news item.
History is being made and they all are celebrity-watching.
National Guard troops fired tear gas and rubber bullets Monday into a crowd of protesters angry over a decision by President Hugo Chavez that forced a critical television station off the air.
This time it was rubber bullets; in 2004 gunmen fired on Thor Halvessen's mother during a peaceful demonstration. Univision's showing live coverage of the ongoing demonstrations. I'll try to get video to post.
Maria Alejandra Diaz, the social responsibility director at the Communications Ministry, cited recent legislation in Venezuela that enabled the government to shut down media groups for 72 hours if their coverage incited people to engage in violent protests. Ms. Díaz asked news organizations to refrain from reporting on the association's statement, since it could allow viewers, readers or listeners to think Mr. Chavez's government was "tyrannical."
Because that would show it for what it is. Gateway Pundit has more round-up and commentary.
Hours after President Hugo Chavez shut down Venezuela's main opposition broadcaster, his government demanded an investigation of news network Globovision on Monday for allegedly inciting an assassination attempt on the leftist leader.
"It's important that we underline that, although we are constantly referring to the president of Venezuela, it's not because he happens to be the cause of all this. It's because he has chosen that the center of the government is him, nothing is above him. The separation of powers does not exist in Venezuela: the judiciary is subservient to the executive power, the National Assembly was elected with less than 15% of the votes cast, meaning that there was a huge abstention rate. So, for the interest of your listeners, Venezuela is about as self-centered in terms of government power as North Korea, or Cuba, is: Everything depends on the leader and what he wants done.
Here are the facts on the closing of the TV station:
RCTV is the oldest TV station in the country, with the largest share of the audience.
Globovision is the only other major opposition-aligned channel, and it is not seen in all parts of the country. Two other channels that used to be staunchly anti-Chavez, Venevision and Televen, have recently toned down their coverage.
Chile, the European Parliament, the US Senate (including senators Kennedy, Lugar, Dodd, Clinton and Obama), and Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, The Human Rights Foundation, and Amnesty International have passed resolutions condemming the closing
Venezuela is well on the way of becoming a totalitarian state.
I wrote an article for Pajamas Media last February on the Enabling Law. Chavez is legally able to rule by decree, and, as Miguel stated, is pushing for a constitutional reform that would allow him to be re-elected indefinitely.
The government has built a detailed list - the Maisanta database - that documents the political leanings of 12.4 million Venezuelan registered voters. The list is routinely used to deny opposition supporters access to public jobs and government social programs.
Gustavo explained that the database is also used for denying identity documents like passports and ID cards they need to get around, like the [South African] apartheid system. Miguel also stated that the Maisanta database was distributed prior to the recall referendum and you can look up people by their identity number but also by name, and it will give information as to whether he signed against Chavez or not, whether he voted or not, whether he's enrolled in any government programs.
Why does the closing of the TV station matter? As Mora explains
It will get uglier. And there will be no media to cover it. The food shortages, the riots, the violence, the rage in the streets, the Chavista corruption - there will be no one to check it. The broad unity of the people and their big television station will be broken, and again, all that will be left is chavismo, the chavista monolith. This is a real beginning of the end for Venezuela.
And we may hear very little about it because the free press is fading fast.
Meanwhile, as people begin checking the newssites on the Internet, Noticiero Digital, Megaresistenciaand RCTV websites are taken down by denial of service attacks, the effects of which are still being felt hours later. This is compounded by problems with the CANTV network which take down some other news sites in what may be unrelated to the denial of serivce attacks, since all the others are hosted abroad.
The Free RCTV website shows that the closing was scheduled for next Monday.
The disquieting creeping-up of European censorship
Last March I posted that the French Constitutional Council had approved a law that could lead to creation of a parallel judicial system controlling the publication of information on the Internet, effectively banning journalists from reporting violence. At that time, the French government proposed
a certification system for Web sites, blog hosters, mobile-phone operators and Internet service providers, identifying them as government-approved sources of information if they adhere to certain rules.
One of the reasons I post on France is that, where France leads, Europe follows.
Well, today Baron Bodissey posts about censorship in Finland, The proposed law, however, is much more far-reaching and included IM and IRC, and includes the hiring of moderators censors to monitor it all.
The items in italics are the replies by Finnish State Prosecutor Mika Illman on the proposed law:
Hiring an adequate number of moderators would become mandatory, as it already is mandatory for a network publication to have an editor, who is responsible for controlling the journalistic work. ... 3. How does your suggestion take IRC and instant messages into account?
The principle is the same. The administrator would have a duty to monitor the discussion and in due time to take action against clearly illegal material. This is no stronger obligation than the one TV or radio broadcaster has in the case of live broadcast.
Who would pay for all this and how it would be done two of the many unasked questions.
Couldn't happen here, you say? Here in the USA, broadcast radio is trying to censor internet radio. Little Miss Attila explains why you should support H.R. 2060.
In preparation for the 2008 elections, Democrats in Congress are trying to intimidate radio and TV broadcasters into including more Democrat views into their programs.
They are trying to resurrect an antiquated Federal Communications Commission regulation, the Fairness Doctrine, to require that opposing sides be presented to arguments. The Fairness Doctrine emerged at a time of very few radio, then TV, stations. Although in 1969 the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality, in 1974 the Supreme Court did conclude the Doctrine "inescapably dampens the vigor and limits the variety of public debate", and in 1984 that a scarcity of airwaves argument was by then flawed as a multitude of stations emerged and were expected. In 1985 the FCC ceased to support a Fairness Doctrine, and formally scrapped it in 1987. The number of radio stations has doubled since 1970, the former three networks’ TV stations are now challenged by over 500 alternatives, and the Internet carries a wide-diversity of views.
At root of the current push by Democrats is, as conservative columnist Geoge Will observed, "The illiberals' transparent, and often proclaimed, objective is to silence talk radio." Why? "By trying to again empower the government to regulate broadcasting, illiberals reveal their lack of confidence in their ability to compete in the marketplace of ideas, and their disdain for consumer sovereignty - and hence for the public."
Gates of Vienna on free speech in Finland, and here in the USA
Dymphna at Gates of Vienna sent these two must-read posts: Muzzled in Finland
One of the foremost Finnish immigration and islam critical bloggers Mikko Ellilä is facing a police investigation concerning his blog posts.
Please read the posts in full; Dymphna and the Baron are suggesting we take action: Finland Cracks Down
1. If you are a blogger, publicize this on your blog. If you are Finnish, and have additional information on Mikko Ellilä, send it in to us or to other blogs to add to the publicity. In particular, a photo would help — I couldn’t find one. 2. Contact the Finnish authorities. For our American readers, the Finnish embassy has a handy US map with state-by-state contact information here. Here’s the main contact info for their embassy in Washington:
Embassy of Finland 3301 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 U.S.A
The Finnish government is apparently trying to impose Chinese-style totalitarian censorship on the internet. Since the parliament would not approve of any new censorship laws, the government is trying to impose censorship ILLEGALLY by abusing existing laws against hate speech. Such laws were originally obviously meant to be used against Nazi-style "kill all Jews" rhetoric, but since the Muslims use that kind of rhetoric all the time, and THEY are not being interrogated by the police, whereas people who say things like "Islam is a totalitarian ideology" ARE interrogated, the hate speech laws are obviously being used AGAINST their original purpose.
Again, this is an extremely important issue. Do not give in.
I emailed today.
You believe something like this can't happen here? Well, think again.
Any number of groups eager to force their views upon their opponents and their opponents' audiences would swarm aboard any such enterprise. Imagine a law that would require Robert Spencer's Jihad Watch to permit "rebuttal" entries from CAIR, ISNA, or the Muslim Brotherhood. Consider the prospect of environmentalists and global warming flacksters being legally entitled to "equal time" on contrary Websites. Or imagine, if you can, giving Al Sharpton or Louis Farrakhan the legal privilege of forcing a "rebuttal" into this document, in the name of "fairness."
Combine "fairness doctrine" legislation with "hate speech" legislation, some of which is already pending before several state legislatures, and what would anyone be allowed to say without fear of prosecution or a crippling legal action?
Venezuela: Anti-Chavez TV/radio station owner burned in effigy
The video's in Spanish, but they're burning an effigy of Marcel Granier, the RCTV director. RCTV is the oldest TV network in Venezuela, which is the only TV station not controlled by the government. The station is scheduled to close next month. Venezuela News and Views explains how There is an official fascist line in Venezuela, from the government
This video is quite self explanatory, there is only one little section worth translating. At 12 seconds the TV broadcaster says the following: ... they burned the image of Marcel Granier, director of RCTV, for his participation in the coup of April 2002..... Now, this is very grave because to begin with we are on the eve of April 2002 commemorations and also because there is no trial, no official and legal investigation on Granier for his 2002 role. This small legality does not stop the state TV in declaring him fully guilty, fully deserving of him being burning yesterday, and more soon. In a normal country Granier could sue easily a network doing such a lynching.
Ponder that the next time to hear about how Chavez is a-charismatic-leader-helping-the-poor-offering-free-health-care-education-adult-literacy-and-job-training-initiatives-that-help-millions-of-Venezuelanstm.
The French Constitutional Council has approved a law that criminalizes the filming or broadcasting of acts of violence by people other than professional journalists. The law could lead to the imprisonment of eyewitnesses who film acts of police violence, or operators of Web sites publishing the images, one French civil liberties group warned on Tuesday. ... The broad drafting of the law so as to criminalize the activities of citizen journalists unrelated to the perpetrators of violent acts is no accident, but rather a deliberate decision by the authorities, said Cohet. He is concerned that the law, and others still being debated, will lead to the creation of a parallel judicial system controlling the publication of information on the Internet.
And what's next?
The government has also proposed a certification system for Web sites, blog hosters, mobile-phone operators and Internet service providers, identifying them as government-approved sources of information if they adhere to certain rules.
Reporters Without Borders is worrying about "excessive self censorship"
The journalists' organization Reporters Without Borders, which campaigns for a free press, has warned that such a system could lead to excessive self censorship as organizations worried about losing their certification suppress certain stories.
I'm certain that the French government censorship will spare them that worry.
As it was, the French media did their best to not report on, and then underplay as much as possible, the stories about the Halimi murder, the 2006 New Year's day rampage on a train from Nice to Lyon, and the 2005 rioting banlieus, which continued into 2006. Since I'm not as optimistic as Reporters Without Borders, I expect a full news blackout on anything that doesn't reflect well on La Belle France. Everything else will be whitewashed to an appropriate shade.
Fausta was born and raised in Santurce, Puerto Rico and is a long-term resident of Princeton, New Jersey. She discusses New Jersey, taxation, current events, and how news are reported in the French and Spanish-language media at Fausta's Blog.
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