Blogging for freedom of expression and against bad journalism
2007-06-27
A group of Tunisian bloggers is pulling together to denounce the lack of freedom of expression in the country, while others are campaigning against bad journalism.
![[File] This photo circulating the internet calls on bloggers to reject mediocre journalism.](/cocoon/awi/images/2007/06/27/070627awifeature2PHOTO_001.jpg) [File] This photo circulating the internet calls on bloggers to reject mediocre journalism. |
Tunisian bloggers were angered recently by police intimidation of independent magazine Kalima starting May 17th, raising questions once again about the lack of press freedom in the country.
In his post, "Kalima Tunisie: libérez la parole," Tunisian blogger Cos-Maux-Polis joined the World Association of Newspapers in its condemnation of "the intimidation and repression of the independent press in Tunisia". He called on bloggers to join Samsoum in blogging "on the 1st of July for the freedom of speech and to break taboos in Tunisia".
This is the occasion "to [end] the silence on many subjects … by condemning this situation which is damaging and hurting this country that is dear to us. Let's regroup… and publish articles or subjects that are censored in the country," wrote the Tunisian blogger.
"We are fed up. We need a real change, not a revolution, just [to] express ourselves freely," commented Samsoum Blog. "I understand that it is a high risk project, but what can we lose? [The government] stopping our blogs, we can create a blog for the occasion. We will post our notes in a new blog. We will create an aggregator for the occasion and see what happens. If the 300 blogs and the aggregator are censored, no problem. We will do the same thing with the new addresses."
The debate took another turn after Salmazen called on her fellow bloggers to use the initiative to denounce journalists who "forget that freedom of expression also has limits and norms". According to the blogger, freedom of expression should be used to express oneself and to expose real facts, rather than those driven by political motives. The blogger called for assistance in decrying mediocrity and the "freedom of expression for morons".
Salmazen's call came in response to an article published in Middle East Online. The article quoted an Al-Watan report on the alleged "existence of a satanic group in Tunisia that includes 70 young students"; it also discussed secret meetings and strange rituals.
In response to Safone'space’s post "Cheap media and consequences: do we react or what?", demone-angelique posted a draft of a letter addressed to Middle East Online. "I’m a Tunisian young Women, I’ve read the article you took from a Tunisian Newspaper called 'al-Watan' about Satanism. I just wanted to ask you to check the sources of your information the next time you want to publicise something. Because this cheap Newspaper isn’t credible, rare are the persons who buy it and read it."
The debate taking place among bloggers caught the attention of Ounormal, who wrote that the struggle against mediocre media and the blogging day for freedom of expression overlap, "because the fight against an ignorant and absurd press is a priority for the freedom of expression in our country".
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maaroufi mouldi Posted 2007-06-28
Every professional journalist knows the extent of damage an article can cause ,so let us not dream about facts ,let us not pretend about truth and let us not forget the consequences of what we can face when we write something fictual about somebody and lets be truthfull to ourselves first and to our readers fore most.You can be sued for false accusations or false reporting and you can go to prison for non disclosure of documented facts .As long as these and other points not mentioned here , like a licence to write in the press portal or other are respected i do not think there is a problem in tunisia.
العبيدي محمد كريم Posted 2007-07-12
We shouldn't forget repressing freedom by religious authority and society. As an atheist and renegade I suffer from both.
Acharif moulay abdellah bouskraoui Posted 2007-07-25
The majority of journalists in the written press speak about the freedom of expression but themselves want to reign as dictators on their soapbox of the written word without giving a chance to beginners or to other, more competent writers out of fear of competition. Some offer freedoms to poorly qualified correspondents who profit from swindling the people. They benefit from their access to and dialogues with local and provincial authorities, who play the part of SMASSRIA or of crooks in society, playing the role of a cop. This is not only wrong, but insane and wrong. Thus, journalism should be open to the youth and the competition of other authors. And journalists should constantly verify even the smallest of acts by their correspondents.
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