VOA标准英语2014--Media Group: Press Freedom Weakens in Several Countries, Cyberspace 几个国家和互联网的新闻自由受限

 

Media Group: Press Freedom Weakens in Several Countries, Cyberspace¹ 几个国家和互联网的新闻自由受限

For the first time, the Committee to Protect Journalists has added cyberspace as a category on its yearly risk list, which highlights places where press freedom is on the decline. The CPJ says while violence and repression² continue to threaten the work of journalists worldwide, online censorship and surveillance are also starting to affect the flow of information. Mariama Diallo reports.

CPJ's list of countries with the biggest decline in media freedom includes Egypt, Bangladesh, Syria, Ecuador, Liberia, Zambia, Russia, Vietnam and Turkey - where hundreds recently protested against planned new restrictions³ on the Internet.  

“Turkey is the leading jailer of journalists in the world.  People have been shot with less leathal rounds and tear-gassed around and sprayed with high-pressure water cannon⁴ in the streets in protest of this bill," said Geoffrey King of CPJ.

Geoffrey King is the Internet advocacy coordinator⁵ for the CPJ. King says new amendments⁶ to Turkey's restrictive Internet law, which the parliament passed Thursday, will make it even worse.

“It would make it much easier for the government to block URLs in some cases without court authorization," he said.

Responding to the CPJ's allegations, Turkish officials told VOA the amendements were made to improve the law and strike a balance between freedom of expression, individual rights and privacy protections.

In Egypt, the CPJ says that, since the military takeover last year, five journalists have been killed, 30 assaulted and 11 news outlets⁷ raided.  20 journalists have recently been arrested, including four from Al Jazeera. Anna Therese Day, a freelance journalist, says via Skype that the situation in Egypt today is very different from what it was during the revolution.

“I worked there freely. I worked by myself. I worked with short sleeves on; I didn’t cover my hair most of the time. Now, that would be unheard of for someone like me," said Day.

Day says she left Egypt because it was no longer safe.

Wars remain the biggest threat to journalists' lives, but CPJ warns that governments' efforts to monitor digital communications could become more damaging to their work.

“Not just targeted surveillance of individual suspects but mass surveillance across society in many countries. That’s why it’s cyberspace and not one particular country being named. Different countries do it with varying levels of rule of law and due process, but it’s quickly becoming very easy for governments to spy on their critics," said King.

 

The CPJ says that recent revelations by former security contractor⁸ Edward Snowden about U.S. cyberspace surveillance could chill newsgathering, by frightening away news sources who need to be protected from retribution.

1 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。

2 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

5 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

6 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

7 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。