有报告表明:世界新闻自由程度下降到12年来的最低点

Report: Press Freedom Declines to Lowest Point in 12 Years 有报告表明:世界新闻自由程度下降到12年来的最低点

A new report says freedom of the press declined worldwide last year to its lowest point in more than ten years.

Freedom House, a group that supports freedom and democracy, said only one person in seven lives in a country where reporters’ safety is guaranteed, and where media are not restricted or pressured by the government.

The report says media freedom worldwide has declined for the past 12 years. Jennifer Dunham of Freedom House described several reasons for the decline.

“One is the, really the heightened level of violence against journalists around the world in, in various settings. And another primary reason is, kind of, the heightened level of polarization, or partisanship¹, in several different types of media environments.”

Powerful media owners and armed militants² pressure reporters to support political groups rather than to report objectively on all groups.

And dictators and other anti-democratic political leaders are trying to stop independent reporting.

The most dangerous subjects to write about include corruption³, land development, religion, and crimes committed by organized groups.

Reporting from areas of conflict and war

Ms. Dunham says reporting from areas where conflict or wars are taking place has become so dangerous and deadly that reporters struggle to get information from those places.

“In Syria and Iraq, we do see just reporters having to risk their lives to get any type of news whatsoever⁴. And, you know, Syria was the place with the highest number [14] of journalists deaths in 2015.”

Reporters’ lives are also endangered in nations with high crime rates. These nations include Mexico and some Central American countries, where local officials are paid bribes⁵ by powerful groups of criminals that grow, sell and transport illegal drugs.

Freedom is also limited in cyberspace⁶. Many countries limit access to websites that may report criticisms of their governments.

And China has more reporters in prison than any other country. Officials there are also starting to examine more closely reporting on the economy and other subjects that were at one time considered safe to report on.

Sarah Repucci also works at Freedom House.

“There’s government bans on certain topics that journalists choose to override⁷, and choose to report on anyway, or choose to try to do investigative reporting on certain taboo⁸ subjects, like corruption of influential⁹ people.”

The Freedom House report says journalists throughout the world refuse to stop trying to get information and report about it even though they face intimidation¹⁰, danger and even death.

Russia

Russia is one of the countries that make life difficult for reporters. Russia often stops foreign reporters from entering areas it controls. Russia and other countries want people to know only their position on events, not the complete truth.

Media experts say press freedoms in Russia have been weakened by President Vladimir Putin. They say his government has increased state ownership of and influence on media. And it has restricted reporting that is critical of the government.

Most Russians learn about news events from television reports. The government has targeted television reporters. Most television stations are now completely controlled by the government.

However, one station in the Russian capital -- TV Rain -- remains¹¹ independent. The privately-owned station is one of the few broadcasters in Russia that regularly reports criticisms of government policies.

Natalia Shanetskaya reports the news on TV Rain.

“We’re not a politically-motivated network. We don’t really see it as our goal to, you know, to challenge the political establishment or anything like that. You know, we just try to be as objective as we can and, and, and that’s really what we’re about.”

Many of the employees of TV Rain decided¹² to work there because it was independent of the government. Some of them left other television stations as the government increased its control. Shanetskaya is one of them.

“Because I actually quit RT (Russia Today) about a month before the Crimea events. I just had a feeling that things there were tightening¹³ in a very uncomfortable way. And, as somebody who was there from the beginning, I found that disturbing.”

But refusing to report only positive news about the government, like state media do, has hurt TV Rain. The station reported criticisms of Soviet¹⁴ military strategy during World War II. The government didn’t like the story, and pressured cable companies to drop the channel in 2014.  

Many people believe the government was looking for any reason to take action against the station. They include Ilya Klishin, the chief of digital media at TV Rain.

“I sincerely believe that if it was, wasn’t that story about, like, the siege of Leningrad they would find something else. Like, it was just a matter of days or weeks.”

In an attempt to survive, TV Rain began putting its programs online for people who paid a fee. Seventy thousand people now pay to see the programs, and its website gets millions of page views every month.

But Klishin says TV Rain, like all Russian media, is being restricted by the government in what it can report.

“We cover everything that doesn’t violate Russian criminal laws.  But, at some point, Russian criminal laws now are contradicting the issues of, of freedom of speech.”

Words in This Story

polarization – n. people and groups separated into opposing groups

partisanship – n. strong support for a particular leader, group or cause

objectively – adv. based on facts rather than feelings or opinions

override – v. to ignore; to defy; to make (something) no longer valid¹⁵

taboo – adj. not acceptable to talk about or do

contradict – v. to say the opposite of (something that someone else has said); to deny the truth of (something)

1 Partisanship   

n. 党派性, 党派偏见

参考例句：

• Her violent partisanship was fighting Soames's battle. 她的激烈偏袒等于替索米斯卖气力。
• There was a link of understanding between them, more important than affection or partisanship. ' 比起人间的感情，比起相同的政见，这一点都来得格外重要。 来自英汉文学

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

4 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。

5 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

6 cyberspace   

n.虚拟信息空间，网络空间，计算机化世界

参考例句：

• She travels in cyberspace by sending messages to friends around the world.她利用电子空间给世界各地的朋友们发送信件。
• The teens spend more time in cyberspace than in the real world of friends and family.青少年花费在电脑上的时间比他们和真正的朋友及家人在一起的时间要多。

7 override   

vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于

参考例句：

• The welfare of a child should always override the wishes of its parents.孩子的幸福安康应该永远比父母的愿望来得更重要。
• I'm applying in advance for the authority to override him.我提前申请当局对他进行否决。

8 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

9 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

10 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

11 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

14 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

15 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？