NewsWhore
03-08-2011, 04:20 PM
Freedom of the press is almost a given in the Dominican Republic, with active participation in the SIP, the Pan-American Press Society, and seven print dailies and seven national television stations. However, according to an article on the IPS website, reporter Elizabeth Eames Roebling says all is not what it seems.
According to the writer, these days more subtle measures are used to silence critics and divert attacks on government. The DR's "Press Freedom Index" ranking slipped from 18.1 and 82 on the list of 173 countries in 2008, to 26.13 and a ranking of 98 on the same list in 2010. While the murders and physical attacks on journalists of the past "have largely abated", the article says that many cases of self-censorship and corruption still are present. Manuel Quiroz, the editor-in-chief of El Caribe as well as Tele-Antillas press director Juan Bolivar Diaz both confirmed the use of government paychecks to alter news reporting. Diaz said that at one point every employee at Tele-Antillas was receiving a government paycheck.
See: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54741
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)
According to the writer, these days more subtle measures are used to silence critics and divert attacks on government. The DR's "Press Freedom Index" ranking slipped from 18.1 and 82 on the list of 173 countries in 2008, to 26.13 and a ranking of 98 on the same list in 2010. While the murders and physical attacks on journalists of the past "have largely abated", the article says that many cases of self-censorship and corruption still are present. Manuel Quiroz, the editor-in-chief of El Caribe as well as Tele-Antillas press director Juan Bolivar Diaz both confirmed the use of government paychecks to alter news reporting. Diaz said that at one point every employee at Tele-Antillas was receiving a government paycheck.
See: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54741
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#8)