Reporters Without Borders

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Reporters Without Borders, or RWB (French: Reporters sans frontières, or RSF) is "an international non-governmental organization devoted to freedom of the press".

RWB/RSF is a member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, a virtual network of non-governmental organisations that monitors free expression violations worldwide and campaigns to defend journalists, writers and others who are persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

In January 2007 RSF received the Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award, a prize set by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. [1]

"In 2005, the organisation won the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought." [2]

RWF's website notes that: "The Saatchi & Saatchi agency designs and conducts all our media campaigns." [3]

In November 2006 "The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) have expressed concern about the proposed amendments, which are part of a penal code review." [4]

In October 2001 the Burma Media Association (BMA) "joined the international network of organizations in Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders)." [5]

People

Listed Staff

Accessed August 2007: [6]

Not listed

Funding Sources

Robert Menard, the Secretary General of RSF, was forced to confess that RSF's budget was primarily provided by "US organizations strictly linked with US foreign policy" (Thibodeau, La Presse).

  • NED (US$39,900 paid 14 Jan 2005)
  • Center for a Free Cuba (USAID and NED funded) $50,000 per year NED grant. Contract was signed by Otto Reich
  • European Union (1.2m Euro) -- currently contested in EU parliament
  • Rights & Democracy in 2004 supported Reporters Without Borders-Canada [1]

"Grants from private foundations (Open Society Foundation, Center for a Free Cuba, Fondation de France, National Endowment for Democracy) were slightly up, due to the Africa project funded by the NED and payment by Center for a Free Cuba for a reprint of the banned magazine De Cuba." [2]

Principal focus of RSF activities

  • Cuba
  • Venezuela
  • Haiti

Reporters Without Borders-Canada Board of Directors

Accessed August 2007: [13]

Press Freedom Award

"The Reporters Sans Frontières-Fondation de France Prize, worth 50,000 francs, has been awarded annually since 1992 to journalists who, through their work or attitudes, have demonstrated their devotion to press freedom.

"In previous years the prize has gone to:

  • 1992, journalist Zlatko Dizdarevic, of the Sarajevo daily Oslobodenje
  • 1993, Chinese journalist Wang Juntao, of Economic Weekly
  • 1994, Rwandan journalist Andre Sibomana, editor of the magazine Kinyamateka
  • 1995, Christina Anyanwu, editor of The Sunday Magazine, Nigeria
  • 1996, Turkish journalist Isik Yurtcu, former editor of the pro-Kurdish daily Ozgür Gündem
  • 1997, journalist Raul Rivero, founder of the Cuba Press news agency.

"The Prize has been awarded in past years to : Zlatko Dizdarevic (Bosnia-Herzegovina - 1992), Wang Juntao (China - 1993), André Sibomana (Rwanda - 1994), Christina Anyanwu (Nigeria - 1995), Isik Yurtçu (Turkey - 1996), Raúl Rivero (Cuba - 1997), Nizar Nayuf (Syria - 1998), San San Nweh (Burma - 1999), Carmen Gurruchaga (Spain - 2000), Reza Alijani (Iran - 2001), Grigory Pasko (Russia - 2002), Ali Lmrabet (Morocco - 2003), Michèle Montas (Haïti - 2003) and to the independent newspaper The Daily News (Zimbabwe - 2003).

"Several winners were released from prison just a few months or even weeks after being awarded the Prize, including Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet (who won it on 10 December 2003 and was freed on 7 January 2004), Russian journalist Grigory Pasko (won in December 2002, freed in January 2003) and Burmese journalist San San Nweh (won in December 1999, released in 2001)." [14]

"This year [1998], the six other nominees for the award were:

"The five journalists nominated for the 11th [2002] prize were: Gao Qinrong, Bernardo Arevalo Padron, Michele Montas, Grigory Pasko, and Myroslava Gongadze. [16]

"Winners of the Prize 2004

"The Prize is awarded to:

- Journalists who have shown devotion to freedom of information through their work, through taking a stand or by their attitude. " The winner in this category is Algerian journalist Hafnaoui Ghoul, provincial correspondent of the daily paper El Youm and head of the regional office of the Algerian Human Rights League (LADDH). He was imprisoned for six months for alleged libel after exposing corruption and abuses by local officials. He was conditionally released on 25 November this year.

- A media outlet that exemplifies the battle for the right to inform the public and to be informed.

"The winner here is the Mexican weekly Zeta for its investigative reporting and courageous editorial positions. Its motto is " Publish what other papers don’t ". This policy has cost three of its reporters their lives. Despite these big setbacks, the staff refuses to be intimidated and the paper’s management is maintaining its stand. The paper’s battle continues.

- A defender of press freedom.

"The winner is former Beijing University philosophy teacher Liu Xiaobo, who heads the Independent Writers' Association, the only one of its kind in China. Liu is determined that the Chinese media should become a counterweight to the all-powerful Chinese Communist Party. He is tirelessly fighting for the universal ideal of press freedom, calling for the release of imprisoned journalists and cyber-dissidents and posting articles on the Internet and in Hong Kong and diaspora newspapers. For all this he risks being re-arrested at any moment." [17]

  • Tolo TV, winner of a 2005 Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France press freedom award. [18]
  • Zhao Yan, "contributor to the New York Times, winner of a 2005 Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France press freedom award". [19]

"OMV supports the organisation Reporters Without Borders by financing the Press Freedom Award for Journalists in the EU Accession States The winners for 2004 were journalists from Eastern European countries that are now neighbours of the EU: Anca Paduraru from Romania, Alina Anghel from Moldavia, Andriy Sevchenko from Ukraine." [20]

2002 International Jury

"Hamed Hamidzada (Afghanistan), Andrew Graham-Yooll (Argentina), Rubina Mohring (Austria), Mainul Islam Khan (Bangladesh), Olivier Basille (Belgium), Colette Braeckman (Belgium), Zlatko Dizdarevic (Bosnia-Herzegovina), Sebastiao Salgado (Brazil), Maung Maung Myint (Burma), Ricardo Gonzalez (Cuba), M'Baya Tshimanga (Democratic Republic of Congo), Domenico Amha-Tsion]] (Eritrea), Francis Charhon]] (France), Noel Copin]] (France), Laurent Joffrin (France), Elise Lucet (France), Sabine Christiansen (Germany), Michael Rediske (Germany), Guy Delva (Haiti), Alessandro Oppes (Italy), Ricardo Uceda (Peru), Alexey Simonov (Russia), Fernando Castello (Spain), Vicente Verdu (Spain), Alice Petren (Sweden), Laurence Deonna (Switzerland), Sihem Bensedrine (Tunisia), Alla Lazareva (Ukraine), Alan Rusbridger (United Kingdom) and Ben Ami Fihman (Venezuela)." [21]

Otto Reich connection

"The man who links RSF to these activities is Otto Reich, who worked on the coups first as assistant secretary of state for Latin American affairs, and, after Nov. 2002, as a special envoy to Latin America on the National Security Council. Besides being a trustee of the government-funded Center for a Free Cuba, which gives RSF $50,000 a year, Reich has worked since the early 1980's with the IRI.'s senior vice president, Georges Fauriol, another member of the Center for a Free Cuba. But it is Reich's experience in propaganda that is especially relevant." [3]

Principals

Contact details

Reporters sans frontières
International Secretariat
5, rue Geoffroy-Marie
75009 Paris - France
Tel. 33 1 44 83 84 84
Fax. 33 1 45 23 11 51
E-mail : rsf@rsf.org
RSF Website: http://www.rsf.org/

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch

References

  1. ↑ Jewel Huang, "Reporters Without Borders wins Asia Democracy and Human Rights award", Taipei Times, accessed August 23, 2007.
  2. ↑ About Us, RSF, accessed August 24, 2007.
  3. ↑ Income and expenditure, Reporters Without Borders, accessed August 23, 2007.
  4. ↑ SINGAPORE THREATENS TIGHTER CONTROL OVER INTERNET AND FREE EXPRESSION, IFEX, accessed August 23, 2007.
  5. ↑ Media: Online News Providers, Sea Media, accessed August 23, 2007.
  6. ↑ Contact Us, RSF, accessed August 23, 2007.
  7. ↑ About fD, freeDIMENSIONAL, accessed August 23, 2007.
  8. ↑ Saleem Samad, The Intelligence Summit, accessed August 23, 2007.
  9. ↑ George Tarkhan-Mouravi, accessed August 24, 2007.
  10. ↑ Letter from China, American Journalism Review, accessed August 24, 2007.
  11. ↑ Designs for Independent Media in Iraq, Stanhope Centre, accessed August 24, 2007.
  12. ↑ Freedom of Expression in Cyberspace, UNESCO 2005, accessed August 24, 2007.
  13. ↑ Reporters Without Borders Board of Directors, RSF-Canada, accessed August 27, 2007.
  14. ↑ [http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=12143 Hafnaoui Ghoul wins the Reporters Without Borders - Fondation de France Prize 2004], RSF, accessed October 3, 2007.
  15. ↑ Alert, IFEX, accessed October 3, 2007.
  16. ↑ Russian journalist Grigory Pasko wins 2002 RSF-Fondation de France Prize, IFEX, accessed October 3, 2007.
  17. ↑ Russian journalist Grigory Pasko wins 2002 RSF-Fondation de France Prize, IFEX, accessed October 3, 2007.
  18. ↑ Asia still plagued by the old demons of authoritarianism, RSF, accessed August 24, 2007.
  19. ↑ 2006 Annual Report, RSF, accessed August 24, 2007.
  20. ↑ Reporters Without Borders, OMV, accessed August 23, 2007.
  21. ↑ Russian journalist Grigory Pasko wins 2002 RSF-Fondation de France Prize, IFEX, accessed October 3, 2007.

External links

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