Turning the pages back... April 16, 2000 (04/15/01)

Turning the pages back...

April 16, 2000

"The trend toward state-controlled media and the erosion of the most fundamental right of citizens in a democracy - freedom of speech - in a number of countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union is perilous for our neighbors in Europe," said Commission Chairman Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) at the April 4, 2000, hearing on "The Deteriorating Freedom of Media and Speech in OSCE Countries" held by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission).

Speaking at the hearing, Thomas A. Dine, president, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, warned, "The possibility of the emergence of a free media in the post-Communist countries is threatened by a combination of three factors: government efforts to restrict or even suppress media freedom; survival of Communist-era attitudes about the press among officials, the population, and even journalists; and some unintended and unexpected consequences of the transition period itself. Both the extent of each and the mix of all three of these factors, of course, vary widely ... I believe it is most useful here to consider them as a syndrome affecting almost all of them, rather than to examine each of the many countries of this region individually."

Marilyn Greene, executive director of the World Press Freedom Committee, commented, "Our primary focus is on the ways in which international institutions - such as the OSCE, the United Nations, UNESCO, Council of Europe and the European Union - influence press freedom in the world. ... These institutions wield great power, often merely through the moral authority of their resolutions or statements. These words can be forces for freedom and democracy - or they can provide cover for authoritarians seeking justification for restrictions on the free flow of information. I wish I could say that freedom of expression and of the press is thriving in the 55 nations participating in the OSCE. Sadly, I cannot."

Source: "Helsinki Commission hearing airs concerns about press freedoms" by Chadwick R. Gore, The Ukrainian Weekly, April 16, 2000, Vol. LXVIII, No. 16.

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