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RSF condemns restrictive accreditation system for local correspondents of foreign media

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is concerned that the Ministry of Culture and Communications' recent decision to limit accreditation of local journalists to a single foreign media outlet will threaten the foreign media's ability to cover news in Algeria. A decree ratifying the new measure is expected to be adopted shortly.

RSF has asked the Ministry of Culture and Communications to reconsider the measure and allow journalists to work for several foreign media outlets without restrictions, as has been the custom in recent years. The organisation fears that the new measure may seriously hamper the work of correspondents for international media outlets. RSF is also worried that the measure is partially aimed at limiting the reporting of Algerian news in the foreign press.

While defending the restrictive measure, a ministry representative told RSF, "In no country is a journalist allowed to work for several different media outlets. Correspondents must work exclusively for one media outlet."

For several years now, the Ministry of Culture and Communications' Press and Accreditations Office has offered Algerian journalists the unrestricted option of working as correspondents for several foreign media outlets. An annual accreditation was granted and was renewable upon request. Algerian journalists who work for the foreign press have not been issued their 2004 accreditation cards to date.

According to Anis Rahmani, a journalist for the daily "El Khabar" and correspondent for the London-based newspaper "El Hayat" and Lebanese television station LBC, "This measure is aimed at suppressing news about Algerian events and avoiding international scrutiny. The step also represents a genuine threat for foreign media outlets. It is a calculated effort to limit their choice of correspondents in Algeria and stop them from working with those of their own choosing."

Haïthem Rabani, who works for seven different foreign media outlets, including the radio stations Voice of America and Deutsche Welle, expressed outrage over the newly-imposed restrictions. "The measure is likely to encourage newspaper and radio journalists to work under pseudonyms. Television journalists are most at risk. Because they have to send their reports via the studios of the national television station, they will not be able to use unofficial channels. Tapes of news reports may have to be sent out in the suitcases of grandmothers travelling abroad!".