Venezuela: Police raid last anti-Maduro newspaper
The paper s general manager called the seizure, which followed a court ruling, an attack on democracy. The move is the latest blow to press freedom in the Latin American country.
El Nacional is the last independent newspaper in Venezuela and its website is regularly censored
Venezuelan authorities seized the main offices of the anti-government El Nacional newspaper on Friday after the media organization failed to pay a $13 million (€10.7 million) fine related to a defamation ruling.
Venezuela s Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) ordered the paper to pay the fine last month, ruling on a 2015 lawsuit against the outlet filed by Diosdado Cabello, a lawmaker and member of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela.
Africa continues to be a violent continent for journalists
Breaking News
COVID-19 has been identified as a burning factor fuelling the use of force to prevent journalists from working in Africa. This was said by Reporters without Borders in its 2021 World Press Freedom Index, indicating that although there was less deterioration in Africa’s “Abuses” score, it continues to be the most violent continent for journalists.
The 2021 Index shows that journalism, the main vaccine against disinformation, is completely or partly blocked in 73% of the 180 countries ranked by the organisation. The data reflects a dramatic deterioration in people’s access to information and an increase in obstacles to news coverage, further showing that journalists are finding it increasingly hard to investigate and report sensitive stories, especially in Africa, Asia and Europe.
الصحافة والفساد و«ورق حائط» جونسون | مدى مصر madamasr.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from madamasr.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Autocracy stymies study freedom
9
Academic freedom is one of the less discussed dimensions of freedom of expression, in comparison to press freedom and freedom of internet users. However, it has recently been thrust into public debate across Asia. As autocracy strengthens across the region, academic freedoms concurrently have deteriorated.
So how has this been taking place across Asia?
In Southeast Asia, for example Thailand, the challenge to academic freedom comes from the ultra-conservative elements in society. Royalists and other conservative groups are acting as vigilantes, attacking some academics and students, who express views perceived as anti-monarchy. As a result, academic work and activities are monitored and these groups lobby universities and higher education authorities to discipline or even expel students and staff.
Cloudy outlook for Argentina. | Art by Joaquín Temes
A growing sense of disillusionment appears to be consuming Argentina. Stuck in a global pandemic with extremely limited access to Covid-19 vaccines, those living here have the added value of suffering a deep stagflation that has taken real wages to their lowest levels in nineteen years. The conversation among those with the possibility of emigrating to the northern hemisphere in search of a better standard of living is about moving to Miami or Europe, particularly among college-educated millennials, while the price of flights to those destinations has skyrocketed. As the political class goes deeper and deeper into the election campaign, increasing the aggressiveness of the public discourse, Argentina’s dwindling middle class is desperately looking to sell the last few dollars they hid under the mattress in order to pay the bills, while the rich are flying to the United States in order to get vaccinated, and their kids mull whet