13 April 2006

BBC CREW CENSORED FOR REPORTING HUNGER


The government of Niger is trying to censor media coverage of hunger and malnutrition in parts of the country reportedly hit by a food shortage, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says. Officials have been ordered not to speak to the media about the possibility of famine after authorities withdrew accreditation from a BBC television crew who reported last week on hunger in the central region of Maradi.

The BBC crew said it found evidence that hunger is "creeping through the area", which was seriously hit by famine in 2005. It quoted local officials as saying international and local media would not be allowed to do stories about the food situation as they did not want that subject covered. Niger is the poorest country in the world. Hunger and malnutrition are chronic problems.

A government spokesperson said the BBC crew was granted visas only to cover bird flu cases in the country and should not have reported on Maradi. The BBC crew spoke to aid workers who said there is a culture of denial at the highest levels of the Niger government. They worried that famine could recur in the coming months and donors might forget the suffering in Niger if the government prevented the international community from seeing the problem.

This is not the first time that the Nigerien government has sought to repress media coverage of the country's food crisis. In 2005, the Media Foundation for West Africa reported that authorities pressured journalists to toe the government line and penalised those who reported critically (see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/69348/).

Visit these links:

- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/africa/niger05apr06na.html
- CPJ Report on Niger: http://www.cpj.org/attacks05/africa05/snaps_africa_05.html#nig
- MFWA: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/69348/
- BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4873208.stm
- World Food Programme: http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=1932
- IRIN News: http://www.irinnews.org/
(Photo: © Edward Parsons/IRIN)


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Also from the Communiqué, 13 April 2006

NEPAL: DOZENS OF JOURNALISTS ARRESTED, BEATEN DURING PROTESTS 12 April 2006 VENEZUELA: PHOTOGRAPHER GUNNED DOWN 12 April 2006 THE GAMBIA: JOURNALISTS DETAINED IN WAKE OF ALLEGED COUP PLOT 13 April 2006 BULGARIA: BOMB ATTACK LEAVES MEDIA COMMUNITY SHAKEN 13 April 2006 WEST AFRICA: WAJA WORKSHOP TO FOCUS ON ELECTION REPORTING IN WEST AFRICA 13 April 2006 INTERNATIONAL: AMARC PROFILES COMMUNITY BROADCASTING WORLDWIDE 13 April 2006 BELARUS: IFJ DOCUMENTS REPRESSION OF BELARUSIAN MEDIA 13 April 2006 INTERNATIONAL: REEBOK HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD 13 April 2006 THAILAND: LES MÉDIAS SONT ATTAQUÉS PAR DES PARTISANS DU GOUVERNEMENT 13 April 2006

Niger

Nigerien president endorses Table Mountain declaration, calls for repeal of criminal defamation 1 December 2011 Two newspaper journalists detained over report on judicial corruption 17 October 2011 Editor detained overnight, charged over false publication 3 August 2011 WAN-IFRA welcomes commitment to free press 15 March 2011 Newspaper publisher arrested and released 29 September 2010 See all alerts: Niger


West Africa

EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Jailed opposition figure transferred to isolated cell; attorney suspended 25 May 2012 MALI: Three weeks of media freedom violations 24 May 2012 THE GAMBIA: Police chief says long-missing journalist is in the US 23 May 2012 LIBERIA: Reporter suspended from university for reporting on campus conflicts 22 May 2012 EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Opposition figure wrongly convicted 8 May 2012


 
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