World press freedom day

Monday was World Press Freedom Day, and the news was bleak. For one, journalists
are dying in record numbers. A short Amnesty video
depicts photos of journalists with their current status: threatened,
jailed, murdered. Some were punished for writing about rights, others
just for asking questions. Iranian cartoonist Nik Kowsar, exiled in
2003 for an editorial cartoon, still cannot return to his home
country. Argentina recently axed a new
law designed to improve the country’s
limited access to freedom of expression.

But you didn’t have to travel far to see journalists facing free speech restrictions, according to the new report from the Canadian Journalists for Freedom of Expression. Canadian authorities retained American journalists at the border during the Olympics, police were caught impersonating journalists, access to information remains murky and a recent wide-reaching publication ban has prevented journalists from reporting on a high-profile court case (and today Ontario announced it would not be stepping in). Other Canadian journalists are busy fighting for net neutrality.